Shadowhunters season 3 episode 5 review: Stronger Than Heaven

Lilith has regained control of her Owl and Clary has lost a piece of her soul. Spoilers ahead for last night’s episode of Shadowhunters!

Last week on Shadowhunters, we seemingly put the nail in the coffin on Raphael and Izzy’s relationship. This week, we might’ve seen the end of Clace. Hopefully, both are temporary, but let’s go over this.

Once again, we picked up right where we left off, with Lilith at Magnus’s apartment. She’s there as herself — sort of. Lilith isn’t wearing any kind of disguise, but she does tell Magnus she’s a Warlock.

Considering he was the High Warlock of Brooklyn, he notes how odd it is that he doesn’t know her. That’s easy, it’s because she’s “not from around here,” which might be the understatement of the century.

Lilith may be a Greater Demon, but what she needs is beyond her level of expertise. What could be out of the reach of the mother of all demons? An anti-love potion.

Fortunately for her, that’s an easy recipe for Magnus. But it’s strong; it will erase any feeling ever felt for another person. He feels a bit better about the decision after she explains it’s for a soldier, whose love is getting in the way of his work. Somehow this raises no red flags, so Magnus hands it over, minus one ingredient. To fully work on Jace, the potion needs a piece of Clary’s soul.

Retrieving that falls to yet another of Lilith’s henchdemons, an almost-human hellhound, tracking her scent. Shadowhunters’ demons are really playing with their physicality this season and it’s terrifyingly awesome.

It’ll take some time to find Clary though, and in the meantime, she’s still working on Jace.

Clary still thinks his issues could be a side effect of his resurrection. And Jace agrees, in part. But to him, the resurrection was just a trigger for something that’s always been there.

He’s convinced that since Jonathan is truly dead, the problems are actually rooted in Celine Herondale’s medical history. So, Jace has decided to seek treatment in the City of Bones. The Silent Brothers are probably great listeners.

That’s a little extreme for Clary, though. After all, Jace could be deemed unfit for duty and de-runed. She wants to talk to an angel about it directly because that’s apparently less dangerous.

Until she can figure out how to reach Ethuriel — because no, you can’t just text an angel — Jace decides to lay low and take a personal day (even Shadowhunters get those) at Hunter’s Moon.

It’s a small Shadow World after all because who should he see but Simon.

SHADOWHUNTERS – “Stronger Than Heaven” – Someone is out to get Simon and Jace is on the hunt to find out who it is, meanwhile Clary turns to Luke to find a way to help Jace. Alec worries about the future of his relationship after learning more about MagnusÕ romantic past. This episode of “Shadowhunters” airs Tuesday, April (8:00 – 9:00 p.m. EDT) on Freeform. (Freeform/John Medland)

ALBERTO ROSENDE, DOMINIC SHERWOOD

Simon’s pretty stressed at this point, because on top of an uncontrollable bomb on his forehead, he also somehow lost his gig at the bar. Jace can’t figure out his own problems, but he can figure out Simon’s — at least about the mark.

Don’t be mistaken; Jace isn’t helping Simon because he cares. He’s helping because Clary cares. One last Clace moment for the road?

As Jace investigates, he becomes the first person outside of Luke (and technically Maia) to meet Kyle. The guy seems fine — it’s the guy’s apartment that worries Jace.

Finding a place in New York is tough. Having one fall into your lap, stuffed to the seams with décor and memorabilia you love? Seriously unlikely. Especially since Jace doesn’t believe in luck.

It makes sense, considering luck hasn’t exactly been favoring Jace lately. So it’s not a shock when Kyle catches them snooping. Nor is it a shock — at least for the audience — when Jace reveals that Kyle is a werewolf.

It is a serious jolt for Simon though. He had no idea, and he’s pretty peeved. It doesn’t matter that Kyle’s part of the Praetor Lupus, an organization of guardians, sent to protect Simon from the Mark of Cain.

What matters to Simon is that Kyle didn’t tell him, so he’s moving out.

Meanwhile, Malec is thinking about moving in together. Well, Alec is. When he floats the idea by Magnus — while wearing one of Magnus’s shirt, the cutie — it falls flat. Magnus admits it’s a “wonderful idea… for the future.”

SHADOWHUNTERS – “Stronger Than Heaven” – Someone is out to get Simon and Jace is on the hunt to find out who it is, meanwhile Clary turns to Luke to find a way to help Jace. Alec worries about the future of his relationship after learning more about Magnus’ romantic past. This episode of “Shadowhunters” airs Tuesday, April (8:00 – 9:00 p.m. EDT) on Freeform. (Freeform/John Medland)

HARRY SHUM JR., MATTHEW DADDARIO

As much as it hurts for Malec fans, Magnus makes a fair point — they’ve only been together for a few months. Then again, when you know, you know — and Alec knows how much he cares for Magnus. Maybe we can revisit this idea sooner rather than later.

But first, the men have to sort through some things; specifically, a box of things.

At the start of the episode, Magnus is looking through a box of trinkets. Alec discovers later that the box holds a picture of Magnus with a man named George. But the rest of the stuff isn’t George’s.

In fact, each item in there belonged to someone Magnus loved and outlived. It’s a beautiful sentiment, but a daunting one for Alec. He doesn’t just want to become an item in a box for Magnus one day.

Unfortunately, that’s the downside of a being in a relationship with an immortal. They put it to rest for now, but I can just feel this one coming back to haunt us. Unless somehow, they make Alec an immortal. (It didn’t happen in the books, but you never know).

Then there’s the relationship between the Shadowhunter and the mundane. Izzy has finally decided to give Dr. Charlie a chance and it goes pretty well — until a demon cuts the night short. With her new and improved demon-detecting bracelet, she tracks Lilith’s helper to the alley. After splitting into two separate demons, hydra style, Izzy manages to take care of it.

She even manages to meet up with Dr. Charlie again, who takes her to get stitches. Maybe there’s hope for them yet. But I still miss Raphael already.

Eliminating that demon didn’t go unnoticed by Lilith though. Now, she has to get her hands dirty herself. And off she flies — yes, flies. Her true demon form is a dragon type thing. It’s not the scariest looking demon we’ve seen this season, but it gets the job done.

She’s on the hunt for Clary, who happens to be at Luke’s farm with his sister Cleophas. He’s fully in the loop about Jace now, because Clary just can’t lie anymore. “It’s not who I am,” she told him tearfully.

So, he takes her to Cleo. You can’t text the angels, but an Iron Sister can reach them. Unfortunately, Cleo hasn’t been able to get through lately. But she thinks Clary might be able to. But, as always, there’s a huge risk. She’d be the first person to summon an angel that’s not an Iron Sister, and Ethuriel could be ticked. Fortunately, he’s not. He’s just worried.

After reassuring Clary that what’s happening to Jace is not because of her wish, he warns that Jace has still become vulnerable. A great evil has entered Clary’s world, but it has a master. And its name is Lilith. Sadly, Ethuriel doesn’t get the chance to say that part. Lilith is the mother of all demons, and the queen of bad timing, ripping his heart out before he can give Clary the name.

Then, she just takes a piece of Clary’s soul. Call me an optimist, but I hoped Clary would be able to put up at least a bit of a fight. A blast from the destruction of an angel is admittedly hard to recover from, but still a bit of a letdown.

With a bit of Clary’s soul in hand, Lilith returns to her Owl — who is back at Hunter’s Moon. Simon got his gig back, and agreed to accept help from Jace and Kyle, but on his own terms.

Jace has also made the decision to go through with his plan and head to the City of Bones. He’s already talked it through with Alec, ending in a much-needed parabatai hug.

But, since Clary is MIA — aka still recovering with Luke and Cleophas — she gets to find out via voicemail. Of course, that’s if Jace still goes. After turning his back on his drink — come on, Jace, rookie mistake — Lilith successfully spikes it.

Now, he feels like a new man, and Clace has officially hit rocks.

It was a bummer of an episode, in terms of story, but it’s still forward momentum. Despite showing herself to multiple people, Lilith herself is still in the shadows. Now, with Jace’s newfound “dedication,” things are likely to start moving very quickly.

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Shadowhunters airs on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST on Freeform.