Shadowhunters is a sci-fi/Fantasy TV show that airs on Freeform, based upon the Mortal Instruments novels written by Cassandra Clare. Season 3 premieres soon, so here are some reasons to start watching, if you’re not already!
Strong female characters and relationships
The sci-fi/fantasy genre has sometimes lacked in female leads, so it’s nice to have a show that has women kicking ass. Clary and Izzy are two women, two strong shadowhunters, who fight demons on the show. They’re both so strong and such incredible fighters, so it’s great to see women in a power role, saving the day and fighting monsters.
What is also great about Clary and Izzy is that they’re two women who support each other and are there for each other. Sometimes media portray women turning their backs on each other and being cruel and vicious to one another, so it’s nice to have two characters that change that pattern. Clary comes into her new life as a shadowhunter, and Izzy embraces her as her sister and helps train her. They talk to each other when things are going wrong and they pick each other up.
Another great female character is Maia, who is werewolf. In season 3, Maia’s character will be upgraded to a series regular, so viewers will get to see more of her character kicking butt this season.
The great thing about all the women is that they all have tough parts of their life that they’ve had to overcome. Each has had their own battles, but they stayed strong to fight through them.
LGBT Representation
Alec and Magnus, are two of the main characters, who are two men in a romantic relationship together. Alec is a gay shadowhunter, and Magnus is bisexual warlock. This couple gets a lot of screen time, and viewers get to see them treated just as fairly as straight couples. Magnus and Alec talk about their problems with their lives, about their relationship, and viewers get to to see them kiss and hang out, like it’s nothing weird, because it’s not.
The show also has Raphael, an asexual vampire. It’s great that the show includes different parts of the LGBT community.
Awesome Mythology
The show is about humans with angelic blood, who are trained as warriors to fight demons and protect normal humans. The show has other creatures, which they call Downworlders, who are any creature with demon blood in them. This includes, vampires, seelies, warlocks, and werewolves. The Downworld is supposed to live in peace with the angelic creatures, and not harm any normal human. If you’re a fan of any show with mythology in it, then this is a great show for you.
Family
While the show has a lot to offer in the romance department, it also has a lot to offer in family relationships, both blood and chosen. Izzy and Alec, are brother and sister, and like all brothers and sisters, they get on each others nerves, but they always have their backs. They train together and fight together on missions, and they support each other. Izzy is supportive of Alec and his feelings for Magnus, when the rest of his family are not as okay with it, and Alec stands by and helps Izzy when she’s on trial.
Another great duo is Jace and Alec, who are adoptive brothers, and also Parabatai, which means they’ve taken an oath to protect each other in battle. They’ve grown up together, trained together, and fought side by side. They are not just there for each other during fights with demons, but they also help each other with their relationship problems. Even though they are not blood related, they love each other so much, and they are family.
Clary and Luke are another pair, that are not blood-related, but they are family. Clary didn’t know her father growing up, so Luke, a police officer, family friend, and a werewolf, becomes her adoptive father. When Clary finds out she is a shadowhunter and her mom is taken, Luke becomes her mentor as she navigates her way through this new part of her life. He’s not her father by blood, but he is always there for Clary and protects her.
Awesome Villains
The first two seasons, Valentine was the main villain. He turned out to be Clary’s father, and the parabatai to Luke, who was basically Clary’s adoptive father. He played all sorts of mind games with Clary, he was cunning, clever, and an evil villain, with a misguided and prejudice view. He was a villain viewers loved to hate, because he hurt and manipulated everyone. Season three brings Lilith as a new villain, and from the previews Freeform has shown us, she looks very intriguing as well.
Season 3 premieres tonight, Tuesday, March 20.