Shadowhunters Review: Thy Soul Instructed (Season 3 Episode 4)

 

Jace hits a breaking point, Simon finds a new place, and Izzy makes a difficult decision on Shadowhunters Season 3 Episode 4, “Thy Soul Instructed.”

After everything that Jace has been through since Season 1, it’s astonishing that he’s been able to keep himself sane this entire time. I am happy that Shadowhunters is introducing mental health issues and showing some representation.

One thing that I hope comes from bringing this topic to light on the show is that they do it justice. Now that it’s actively playing a part in Jace’s storyline I don’t want it to suddenly become a distant thought when he figures out that Lilith is the reason why he’s blacking out and can’t remember.

It’s shocking that with Jace’s mental health family history that we haven’t seen it brought up before. Especially after being kidnapped and tortured on multiple occasions. I feel like after everything is done and over with it would make sense for him to have PTSD.

Now, I’m not saying that I /hope/ they give Jace PTSD for the sake of keeping the conversation going, but I’m also saying that it better not just disappear when Lilith does.

Mental illness is not something that just goes away, and there are a few instances on the show where small things that we can’t actually see on the screen disappear and will take a while to make a reappearance.

I think that Alec’s worry for Jace is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. Jace’s mother began forgetting where she was, hallucinating, and eventually went on to commit suicide. Now Jace is acting the same exact way, and if he doesn’t get any help, there’s a chance that he could do something stupid and Alec is scared of that happening.

I can’t help but tear up when Alec confronts Jace about how he’s been acting and feeling lately. Bringing up a conversation about mental illness is a hard thing to do, especially when someone hasn’t been diagnosed, and you’re in the beginning stages.

Alec and Jace may be parabatai and have a sacred bond, but this feels more personal to me than that because Alec directly brings up how his mother killed herself and that it could be hereditary. Alec has a fear deep down that Jace could end up getting that bad, and he’s trying everything he can do to try and get through to Jace, to get him to open up to him.

While we’re on the topic, I also think it’s ridiculous that neither Clary or Jace will tell Alec and Izzy what happened at Lake Lyn. Alec and Izzy aren’t just a normal pair of friends that Jace see’s occasionally at work, that’s his family, and they deserve to know the truth of what happened.

It’s incredibly idiotic to think that either Alec or Izzy would go to the clave and tell them about using the angels one wish. They both know that Clary made the decision in the heat of the moment and it was the right one to make.

Luke and Simon’s relationship has been rough the past few episodes, but now it’s gotten to the point where Luke is calling in people to watch Simon? Who is the praetor and why are they going after Simon? Why would Luke call them in the first place?

Simon is a smart kid, which is why he should see all of the signs about Kyle from a mile away. It’s too coincidental that Simon gets kicked out and all of a sudden this guy offers him the best place he could want at a moments notice.

If Kyle knows that Simon is a vampire could that be why he made the off-hand comment about letting him know when he brings a girl over? It’s obvious if he’s with some sort of secret organization then he already knows about vampires and werewolves.

Initially, I thought that Maia was in on it because of how adamant she is for Simon to take the offer, but it turns out she’s just as bad at judging new situations. Although, I love how she stands up for Simon against Luke and puts him in his place.

Luke acts like he wants to have nothing to do with Simon anymore and the fact that he took the packs side makes it worse, especially when they are the ones who attacked Simon. But, I can cut him some slack for talking to Jace and not ignoring him when he easily could’ve done so.

Izzy and Raphael had so much potential in them, but Raphael had to screw that up trying to make himself a daylighter. I can’t believe that Raphael would obsess over being a daylighter so much that he’d resort to turning someone into a vampire lab rat, torturing them to learn.

I don’t like Heidi, but I understand why she wants Raphael to die. He kept her locked up and tortured her for god knows how long and no matter what you’re reasoning it doesn’t change the fact that you did a horrible thing. Raphael having to endure part of his leg burning off is what he deserves.

Other Thoughts:

• Lilith is now working her way towards getting rid of Clary, which means that things are going to get messy.
• I hope that Jace goes to the Silent Brothers like Luke tried to get his mother to do. If he does, they would be able to help him figure out what’s happening.

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

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Shadowhunters airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on Freeform.

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