Shadowhunters Review: Beside Still Water (Season 2 Episode 20)

Tensions come to an all-time high as Valentine makes his way towards Lake Lyn to raise the angel Raziel on Shadowhunters Season 2 Episode 20, “Beside Still Water.”

Going into the season finale we all knew that we would be losing someone that we care about deeply, Luke being my primary concern on the death we would inevitably have to deal with. I was in no way ready for what happens at Lake Lyn.

Jace dying at the hands of Valentine is something that never even crossed my mind, well, because never in a million years did I think that Jace could be on the chopping block. The chemistry that he and Clary share the entire time while at Lake Lyn has me swooning.

Clace has grown on me tremendously since the beginning of Season 2B and seeing Clary watch Jace die right in front of her absolutely tears me apart. The way Alec is being torn apart as Jace dies is done so beautifully. Alec is having half of his world disappear, and there’s nothing to do but sit there and endure the pain until he can no longer feel Jace.

Honestly, Jace and Alec’s parabatai bond breaking hits me more than Clary watching Jace die because Alec has no idea what’s going on. He knows that Jace is in trouble and he can’t do anything to save him. And just like that Jace is gone.

The only critique I have for the Lake Lyn scenes is how come Clary was knocked out by Valentine with only one hit while she has a weapon? To me, that would be the perfect moment to introduce a new rune for Clary.

Just as Jace’s eyes begin to glow and allows him to break free from captivity as Clary’s head is about to be chopped off, Clary should have the same thing happen to her. She watches the love of her life die in her arms, but somehow that doesn’t break something inside of her? It seems like a missed opportunity to me.

I am, however, incredibly happy that Clary has the chance to give Valentine what he deserves. Clary deserves the right to kill Valentine for all that he’s done to her life, and it’s incredibly pleasing not to have her only stab him once, and that be it.

I don’t remember the last time I’ve actually yelled out loud at my television, but I certainly did as Clary stabs Valentine over and over. She makes sure that there is no way Valentine could come back somehow after she’s finished with him and it’s glorious.

It seems fitting, since this is Shadowhunters, that we’d be given a chance to believe that everything could be okay now that Valentine is gone and there’s no chance of the downworld being eradicated, only to have it yanked away.

All seemed to finally be right in the world – Magnus and Alec finally makeup and realize that they need each other, Maia and Simon are enjoying themselves, and Jace and Clary are back together again.
All was right, and then all of a sudden Jace is having some attack outside the bar, Simon is with the Seelie Queen, and Jonathan’s mother has formed out of all the demons that escaped Edom.

Which leaves us with multiple questions – why is Simon back with the Seelie Queen? What deal did he make with her? Why is Jace having an attack and why would he not tell anyone that Raziel brought him back from the dead? Who is Jonathan’s mother?

We finally get rid of Valentine, and now it looks like someone ten times worse has shown up and is ready to wreak havoc.

“Beside Still Water” is an excellent end to the second half of Season 2 of Shadowhunters and only makes me look forward to Season 3 even more.

Other Thoughts:

• Luke’s partner is so persistent that she’s going to confront him about being a werewolf in a packed bar full of supernatural creatures. Either she has balls of steel, or she’s plain dumb.
• A drunk Luke is something I didn’t know I needed until this episode.
• With Simon making a deal for his friends to leave the Seelie Realm safely it makes me look forward to Maia possibly fighting to save her man in Season 3.

What did you think of this episode of Shadowhunters? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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Shadowhunters airs Mondays at 8/7c on Freeform.

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