Shadowhunters - S1E2 - The Descent into Hell Isn’t Easy

Previously on Shadowhunters, ‘The Mortal Cup’

The descent into hell isn’t easy, but it sure is sexy. Everyone on this show is impossibly pretty and thin. That’s not a complaint; just an observation.

This episode was a big information dump. Jocelyn, Valentine, and others were part of a group called The Circle. They were into some bad shit apparently, and The Clave (the shadowhunters’ governing body) disbanded them. Those who didn’t die were punished or banished. One such member, Hodge, is now the head of The Institute (the hidden facility where the shadowhunters live and train). He’s forbidden from leaving or talking about what he did as a member of The Circle. If he tries to speak on it, a rune on his neck sears his flesh. This shouldn’t make him a reliable source of information, but that doesn’t stop Jace and Clary from asking if he might know Valentine’s whereabouts or where Jocelyn might have hidden The Mortal Cup.

When the group realizes Jocelyn had a warlock wipe Clary’s memories, they take her to The City of Bones to meet with The Silent Brothers, the only ones able to retrieve them.

Meanwhile, Luke suspects Clary saw him speaking with Circle members and now doesn’t trust him. He’s right, of course. He takes items from Jocelyn’s apartment to the police station for safekeeping. Dot, the real one, also looking for Clary, first visits Magnus who hits her with a quick, “Bye, Felicia.” Despite Clary having a vision of Dot being taken by Valentine’s men (via the necklace Jocelyn gave her), she and the shadowhunters are too late to save Dot.

The Silent Brothers retrieve some of Clary’s memories, including one that reveals Valentine is her father. There’s little time to process this info as Simon is promptly kidnapped by vampires.