Shadowhunters The Final Hunt: Which couples will survive the finale?

From Magnus and Alec to Simon and Izzy, all of the couples on Freeform’s Shadowhunters are having a tough go of it in the latest episode. Can they overcome the big hurdles coming their way before the series finale? Keep reading for our analysis of the situation.

Warning! Spoilers for the latest episodes of Shadowhunters and The Shadowhunter Chronicles book series follow. You’ve been warned.

Shadowhunters ended with a major heartbreak Monday night when Alec (Matthew Daddario) broke up with Magnus (Harry Shum Jr.) in order to get him his magic back. While their relationship woes are certainly the most devastating, the other couples in the episode are having their share of troubles as well.

Before we breakdown Malec’s big break up—since there are even bigger repercussions coming in episode nineteen for them—let’s take a look at where “The Beast Within” left the other major couples of the show.

At the beginning of the episode, Clary (Kat McNamara) and Jace (Dominic Sherwood) seem to be doing just fine—they’ve come up with a plan to get rid of the “twinning” rune by using a modified version of heavenly fire retrieved by Simon (Alberto Rosende) in last weeks episode. The formula, thanks to the broken up pieces of Glorious, should burn out Jonathan’s (Luke Baines) demon blood and the demonic bond that connects him to Clary. Unfortunately for Clary, Jonathan has a lot of demon blood.

Despite having a stronger formula than what was given to the Downworlders, it’s not strong enough to break the bond. Isabelle (Emeraude Toubia) says that she can isolate the nanoparticles of Glorious to make a stronger formula, but it will take some time. But time is not on Clary and Jace’s side, as she’s becoming more drawn to Jonathan every day.

While waiting for the new formula, Clary and the Lightwoods hunt the recent infestation of Dravek demons. Everything goes according to plan until Clary begins acting more hostile than normal. She snaps at Isabelle and that pushes her and Jace to find the demons’ hive on their own, but that’s when things take a turn for the worse.

The queen of the hive reveals herself and manages to knock Clary out. As she lies unconscious, Clary has a vision of Jonathan and Jace—both of them trying to pull her to their side. But with the actual Jace fighting a demon, he’s unable to be her voice of reason and pull her from Jonathan’s thrall. She accepts Jonathan’s hand and we get our first glimpse at Dark Clary.

By the end of the episode, Clary has knocked out Jace and rescued Jonathan from the Institute. In next week’s episode, it looks like she and Jonathan are just getting started on their evil sibling world tour when it’s interrupted by Jace, who manages to find Clary somehow. It also looks as though a fan favorite Clace moment from City of Lost Souls will also be featured in the episode if the nightclub scenes are anything to go by. But if going by the books is any indication, Jace’s presence won’t keep Clary from her darkest impulses while Jonathan is still around.

Speaking of the books, another couple seeming to rise from the ashes in this episode are Maia (Alisha Wainwright) and Jordan (Chai Hansen). However, much like the books, their coupling is pretty upsetting for fans of Maia’s character.

After we learn in season 2B that Maia was turned and abandoned by her ex-boyfriend Jordan—and in season 3A we see how incredibly reluctant she is to forgive him for that—having her forgive him and offer him a place as pack beta. Of course, Jordan’s near-death experience at the Jade Wolf was traumatic for Maia, and he does seem like he’s put effort into changing through his work with the Praetor Lupus. Nevertheless, it’s hard to divorce this sudden camaraderie from the literal panic attack he gives her in 3A. Maia being absent hasn’t helped the situation either—she hasn’t appeared in several episodes during season three.

The audience doesn’t get this emotional pay-off of Maia really forgiving Jordan—or even working through the complicated feelings she clearly has—and it’s a shame to see her getting romantically involved again with someone who abused her. Considering how well other characters’ trauma is handled, it highlights just how poorly the show treats Maia’s.

While seeing Maia inherit the Alpha title is extremely satisfying, it makes fans even more frustrated to see her development slide backward on this issue; and if they go the book route of actually killing Jordan, it’s just causing her even more unnecessary pain.

On a lighter note, since it is the Halloween episode, it’s only fair that one of the characters gets to celebrate. Since Simon’s sister, Becky is back in town they head to the Hunter’s Moon for a drink, and some light exposition about the Downworld (because Becky is a placeholder for potential new viewers and the episode was originally supposed to air during Freeform’s 13 Nights of Halloween).

After finding out he and Maia have broken up, Becky decides to play matchmaker with Simon and Isabelle. She tells Simon that he’s clearly interested in Izzy, which he denies until he begins helping Izzy with the new formula to extract Glorious. It seems as though Isabelle is also interested as they almost kiss before the Institute is breached. Ironically, them being forced together by Becky leads to some organic development between the two of them.

The show has been pretty heavy-handed in its development of Sizzy, and maybe it would feel less forced if they were able to have a fourth season of development. In the books, Simon and Izzy are only casually dating in the last two novels, before Simon’s memories are erased in the final book. They’re only on solid footing as a couple at the very end of the Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy novellas, which aren’t optioned for adaptation. If the show had a season four, it would allow Simon and Isabelle more time to grow as characters as well as a couple. While they’re cute on the show as it is—and they’ll likely end up together in the finale—that doesn’t change the fact that there’s a lot of wasted potential here.

What are your thoughts on the various canon couples in Shadowhunters and what do you think is in store for them? Let us know down below!

Shadowhunters: The Final Hunt airs Mondays on Freeform. 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.