Shadowhunters “The Fair Folk” Recap: The Seelie Queen Plays to Win

The Seelie Queen in Shadowhunters, explained

The episode runs two stories at the same time, and both are about trust. In the first, Clary, Jace and Simon travel to the Seelie court because the Seelie Queen has told the Clave she will discuss Kaelie's crimes only with Valentine's children. In the second, Alec and Isabelle host a meeting of Downworlders at the Institute, the first test of the new head's promise of transparency. Each plot ends with someone betrayed.

It is the fourteenth episode of the second season, which ran for twenty episodes in two halves, from January 2 to March 6 and from June 5 to August 14, 2017. Chris Grismer directed it, and Taylor Mallory wrote it. The Seelie Queen is played by Lola Flanery in this installment, and Sarah Hyland also plays the character during the season, though not in this episode.

The court sits under the hill in the fairy lands, and the way in is through a brook in Central Park. Clary, Jace and Simon take turns jumping from a bridge and arrive in a forest that is beautiful and deadly. Time moves differently there, sometimes faster, sometimes slower, and Jace warns the others not to touch, smell or taste anything. Simon finds out why when he touches a bleeding tree and comes away with blood and dead flies. Jace pulls him back and explains that the plant is a kill tree, which wraps its vines around anyone who gets too close and tears them apart.

The main cast is on screen throughout: Katherine McNamara as Clary, Dominic Sherwood as Jace, Alberto Rosende as Simon, Matthew Daddario as Alec, Emeraude Toubia as Isabelle and Harry Shum Jr. as Magnus, with Isaiah Mustafa as Luke and David Castro as Raphael. Will Tudor plays Sebastian, and Alan van Sprang plays the imprisoned Valentine, who has only a brief scene.

The fey, in the show's lore, have both angel and demon blood, which makes them elegant and cruel. They cannot lie, but they are skilled manipulators of the truth. That rule drives the Queen's whole performance in this episode: she never has to say anything false, because she can arrange the facts so the guests do the damage themselves.

At the court: the queen who looks like a child

When they arrive, the Seelie Queen looks like a girl in her preteens. Jace tells Clary that she is using magic to look that way, and that the ancient creature underneath is anything but a child. She is surprised that Simon came, since she did not invite him, but Jace tells her he is a valued ally and the queen lets him stay for the meal.

The Queen questions Clary about what Valentine's children can do, and Clary says she is an only child. The Queen asks the two to demonstrate their abilities, and they hedge by saying they are still learning. When that does not work, the Queen asks to speak with Simon alone.

The kiss of her deepest desires

Alone with Simon, the Queen offers an alliance. She argues that Shadowhunters will always choose their own kind over Downworlders. Simon declines, because he believes that Clary would never do that to him. The Queen answers with a trap: vines tighten around Simon and Jace, and Clary is told that she can free them only with the kiss of her deepest desire.

She kisses Simon first, and nothing happens. She then has to kiss Jace, and the vines release both men. The kiss proves what the Queen suspected, and what Simon had refused to admit: Clary still has feelings for Jace. The Queen has done exactly what she set out to do, since the damage is the point. Simon leaves the court without his two companions.

At the Institute: Raphael, Meliorn and Sebastian

Back in New York, Alec holds his cabinet meeting for the first time, and Magnus, Raphael and Meliorn attend as representatives. Alec and Magnus agree to keep things strictly professional, which makes Magnus overly courteous and funny to watch. Sebastian is part of the Institute's security team, and he handles Isabelle and Raphael with a little too much interest. Raphael asks what his intentions are, and Sebastian replies that he just wants to be her friend, then tells the older vampire that he is a reminder of the darkest time in her life.

Raphael takes the point. When Isabelle later says she wants to see where their connection could go, he rejects her, using Sebastian's words. One slip, he tells her, and he would be biting her again while she craves his blood. Maryse also returns from Idris, tells Isabelle about Robert's infidelity, learns that her daughter already knew, and hears about the yin fen addiction. The two make up in one of the episode's most tender scenes.

Luke, the phone call and the looped cameras

The darkest plot belongs to Luke. He has asked for the Soul Sword to be destroyed, and the Clave will not do it, so Downworld wants Valentine's death instead. Alec promises to push for a quick execution, but the Mortal Cup is still missing and the Shadowhunters are not ready. After the meeting, someone leaves a phone outside the Jade Wolf for Luke to find. A distorted voice offers to get him into Valentine's cell.

Luke agrees after a frustrating day. The cameras are disabled for five minutes, and he heads to the detention center. Sebastian then tells Alec that the cameras have been looped, and the two stop Luke before he can kill his former parabatai. Luke admits that someone helped him. Alec lets him go without charges, because he wants to show that he did not come to persecute Downworld.

Key moments from the Seelie Queen episode

• The court: Clary, Jace and Simon visit the Seelie Queen, who says she will speak only to Valentine's children.
• The kiss: Clary kisses Simon and then Jace, and the vines release the two men.
• Maryse and Isabelle: a long-delayed conversation about Robert and about yin fen.
• Raphael and Isabelle: Raphael turns down Isabelle, citing her history with his blood.
• Luke and Valentine: Luke tries to kill Valentine in his cell and is stopped by Alec and Sebastian.

Seelie Queen review: the verdict

The best sequences of the Seelie Queen episode are the ones where nothing is said directly. The court is a good set, the kill tree is a nice piece of rules-explaining that also works as a warning, and Lola Flanery plays the Queen with a flat, amused menace that makes the child's face more frightening than any monster. The kiss scene is cruel, and it is cruel in a way the story needs.

The weaker half is the Institute plot, which is crowded. The Raphael and Isabelle scenes and the Maryse reconciliation both deserve more time than the schedule gives them, and Luke's attack on Valentine arrives with a speed that makes his motive thinner than it should be. Still, the final scene in Sebastian's apartment is the best hook of the season so far. He plays the same piano piece Jace was playing in the morning, and the episode shows a man tied up in his closet.

Seen as a love-triangle episode, it also settles a long-running question. Jace and Clary have been circling each other since the first season, and the kiss forces both to stop pretending. Simon, who has been the loyal friend in the middle, is the one who pays. For a show that spent much of its first run on that triangle, the Queen is a fair villain: she makes everyone say what they already knew.

The Seelie Queen herself says that she allies herself with the winning side, and the episode makes the point that the winning side is not the one the Shadowhunters think. Anyone catching up on season 2 should watch this one for Sebastian, even though the Queen is the title attraction. The Clace kiss will be discussed for weeks, but the real news is who set up the phone call.

Sources

• Shadowhunters, Wikipedia — season 2 episode list, cast and air dates