Shadowhunters The Final Hunt: What is happening to Magnus’ magic?

Monday’s episode of Shadowhunters casted doubt on the integrity of Magnus’ newfound magic. How much trouble will it cause him in the long run? Keep reading for our thoughts on what could be in store for the series most beloved character.

Warning! Spoilers for the latest episodes of Shadowhunters and the Mortal Instruments book series follow. You’ve been warned.

In the newest Shadowhunters episode, “A Kiss From a Rose,” everyone’s favorite High Warlock of Brooklyn—though he’s currently out of commission—Magnus Bane (Harry Shum Jr.) makes a deal with the newest High Warlock, Lorenzo Rey (Hamilton‘s Javier Muñoz) to get his magic back.

While this development definitely brightens Magnus’ spirits, something seems a bit off with this new magic. For starters, it has a yellow glow to it when Magnus’ magic is typically blue. It’s just a slight visual cue but it’s enough to suggest something is very wrong.

One of the biggest shocks of the mid-season finale last year was when we learned Magnus sacrificed his magic to destroy the Owl. Over the past few episodes, we’ve seen him struggle with what it has meant to be a mortal after centuries of having almost unlimited power.

Despite what we’ve seen of Lorenzo’s general shadiness, it makes sense that Magnus—who is at the end of his rope—would turn to him for a solution. As High Warlock, Lorenzo is obligated to help Magnus in spite of their previous feuding, though Lorenzo has also forbidden other warlocks from doing the same. It leaves no choice but for Magnus to make a deal with Lorenzo to get his magic back, offering “any material possession” in exchange.

At the Institute, Alec (Matthew Daddario) and Underhill are looking into the location of the Morning Star sword. There are quite a lot of books to look through, which is the perfect opportunity for Magnus to show off his newly restored magic. He manages to narrow down the results to a dead mundane in Belgium, but his behavior is very similar to how he acted in episode twelve—rushing around and always on the go. Alec seems to pick up on it right away but puts his concerns aside for their mission.

After discovering the sword in Belgium is a fake (and the real one can potentially raise an army of demons if Jonathan gets his hands on it), Magnus and Alec portal to his apartment, where Magnus immediately starts packing. He tells Alec that he gave up his apartment to Lorenzo in order to get his magic back. Magnus explains to Alec just how important having magic is, saying:

"…My magic…It makes me feel alive. Yes, I can do fabulous tricks, travel around the world, help the people I love but, more than that, magic connects me to everything around me. Without magic, I feel like a stranger. The world keeps on going and it’s like—it’s like I’m not a part of it. Like suddenly I don’t matter…without magic, I can’t feel it."

It’s definitely important to not discount how Magnus is feeling at this moment, that in spite of the risks Lorenzo warned him about—his body rejecting the magic—he believes the risk is worth it, that giving up his apartment is worth it because “at the end of the day it’s just a thing.”

While Magnus put the kibosh on killing Lorenzo, Alec isn’t letting it go that easily, promising directly to Lorenzo that when he “slip[s] up…[Alec] will be there to take [him] down.” As satisfying as it is to see Alec defending Magnus, it might not be a great idea to alienate Lorenzo just yet, since it seems like Magnus is already having a bad reaction to the replacement magic.

Though we don’t know exactly why Magnus is having this negative reaction so quickly after the magic transfusion, it’s not a stretch to assume the problem is related to Magnus’ parentage. His father, Asmodeus (Jack Yang), is one of the Princes of Hell. This means Magnus is an incredibly powerful warlock, much more powerful than Lorenzo, and it’s very likely that Lorenzo’s magic isn’t quite the caliber and quality of Magnus’ own. His body isn’t compatible with magic that can’t keep up with him, so it’s rejecting it. And it certainly doesn’t help that these side effects are caused by actively using magic as we see in the promo for episode fifteen.

Additionally, we also know from the trailer that there will be more physical manifestations of Magnus’ body rejecting this magic, like seizures. With what we know from behind the scenes photos (with thanks to Magnus’ ever-changing wardrobe) something bad is on the way for Magnus and Malec in the next couple episodes.

Another potential cause of the rejection could be Asmodeus even more directly. After all, he is the one who took Magnus’ magic in the first place; who’s to say he didn’t place invisible conditions on that deal, such as making sure Magnus is unable to use any type of magic, in the hopes he’ll return to Edom and get it back under the condition he rules alongside Asmodeus. While this theory can’t be ruled out quite yet, we do, however, have a tease from Daddario, saying Alec will ” ‘make some poor decision in his efforts to help Magnus.’ “ 

In the books, Asmodeus kidnaps Magnus, leading the remainder of “Team Good” to go to Edom and rescue him. From the trailer, there’s a very short clip of Alec in tears and surrounded by the same crew from the books. The most likely course of events, and the “poor decision” Alec makes, could be that he makes a deal with Asmodeus to save Magnus’ life. We know that Asmodeus wants Magnus ruling at his side, and Alec, wanting desperately to save the love of his life, is willing to do anything to save Magnus. Asmodeus is not above exploiting Alec’s desperation to get what he wants.

With the end of the season approaching quicker than fans would like, it will be interesting how far the show will take the Edom plot from the books. It’s a major chunk of the final novel, but the show is becoming short on episodes to fully flesh it out. Could it be that Magnus will be stuck in Edom until the series finale? Let us know your thoughts below.

All three seasons of Shadowhunters are currently streaming on Hulu, with new episodes being added on Tuesdays. For more on Shadowhunters, follow us on the Hulu Watcher Twitter Account @HuluWatcherFS or on the Hulu Watcher Facebook Page.