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melishade · 1 year

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Oh my God, that deleted scene makes me think of how Pixis would react to Elita-1.

Previous Episode of the Beloved Timeline

Pixis would be so jealous, and so proud that Optimus managed to bag a woman like that. So proud.

So after Optimus and Elita have a really good cry session and hug at the fact that both of them are alive, they begin to talk about what exactly happened with each other and how they ended up here on this planet. Elita explains how the crew saved her life after she went into stasis lock, but the Decepticons attacked the ship with scraplets, causing the ship to crash land. But the ship fell apart and flung her into the water, sparing her the fate of getting eaten alive. But instead of going back to save the people on the neutral ship, she ran, and she had been running and surviving on this world for twenty years.

Optimus is absolutely devastated at the fact that Elita was all alone, and it's very apparent the horror and guilt is etched in his face. Elita has to prompt him to tell his side of the story, and Optimus explained what happened during the war, how he got the Matrix, fleeing the planet and ending up on Earth where the war continued. He tells her how the Autobots did win the war and how he had to sacrifice himself in order to ensure that the Well could create new life.

"So, I could very well be talking to a spirit right now?" Elita tried to tease, but Optimus could see the guilt and shame in her optics, trying to cover up her pain.

And both end up apologizing at the same time, which startles them both. They explain why they're apologizing. Optimus is apologizing for letting his anger get the better of him in that moment. For not realizing that she was in stasis lock and going into a fit of rage instead of grabbing her and taking her to safety. She wouldn't have been left alone, and it was his fault. Elita retorts by saying that he was grieving in that moment, and to know that she was loved like that made her spark happy. But Elita still has to apologize for not coming back. Not finding a way back to the war and back to Optimus. She had been scraping by to survive instead of putting her life on the line for the Autobot cause. Now to know that the war was over and that she didn't really do anything to stop it, on top of that, somehow managing to survive while so many more noble had fallen? Oh, it fills her with such shame and grief. Optimus has to tell her 'no'. It wasn't her fault. She couldn't have been able to control what had happened and how. She did what she had to do to survive. It happens in war. Maybe it was the part of him that was so happy to see her, but Elita is not feeling any better. 20 years of guilt doesn't go away.

"Optimus...I...I'm not the same person I was when we last saw each other," Elita proclaimed.

Optimus was stunned at the statement, but Elita merely chuckled at his confusion.

"I mean, look at me." Elita gestured to her faded armor, "I look like scrap. I haven't been able to talk to someone in 20 orbital periods. I'm...damaged."

"...I am not the same mech you once knew either," Optimus proclaimed, "The war has taken its toll on me. To lead and to guide has been...mentally draining."

Elita couldn't help but smile bitterly at that, the survivor's guilt eating at her.

"But...I cannot wait to learn about you all over again," Optimus declared with a small smile.

Elita stared at Optimus in surprise before she began to laugh, and her laughing caused Optimus to chuckle. Somehow them laughing together, ease the pain in their sparks just a little.

Meanwhile, the Survey Corps are still freaking the fuck out. Because WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT'S OPTIMUS' GIRLFRIEND?! Hanji demands to know why in the fuck Levi knew about this shit! And Levi explains that he knew after Levi's squad died because Optimus wanted to empathize with him. Also, how the fuck does Mikasa know?!

"Bonding?" Mikasa guessed, wiping her mouth of the water she choked on.

"So Optimus tells the two of you about his long lost love, but not me?!" Hanji exclaimed, "I am insulted!"

"Hanji, that's not even the point right now!" Levi reminded.

"It is very much so!" Hanji declared.

"Optimus has a girlfriend," Jean could only mutter, "I never expected someone like him to get...anyone. He just seems so quiet?"

"So does that mean that Optimus has had sex?" Sasha raised her hand.

"Sasha, what the fuck?!" Eren yelled, "That's not something I need to hear right now!"

"It's a simple question!" Sasha retorted.

"It's a gross question!" Eren declared.

"It is a valid question!" Hanji agreed, "Did Optimus get laid and how does it work?!"

Eren could only scream and cover his ears, trying to block out the mental image that was trying to form.

Everyone is just going through it, and it is something that takes up hours of conversation. The military heads do get wind of this because of the commotion it initially caused, but they don't know that Elita is Optimus' love. Out of respect, the Survey Corps will keep that under wraps, but they are certain someone heard it with all the commotion they created.

Optimus eventually does have to leave Elita for the time being to allow her to recover and to explain his absence. He tells the military that Elita is a high ranking Autobot that was considered deceased during the war and that the neutral ship that they found was the one that she was on before she got stranded on the island. He omits the fact that the two are in a relationship, which the Survey Corps are relieved about because they made the right call about keeping their mouths shut. When they hear the fact that she's been on this world for 20 years, they are understandably frustrated because she could've help, but Optimus says that she tried to come to the walls and was immediately met with cannon fire. So they all come the the conclusion that Rod must've covered it up. Optimus explains that for now, she needs to rest and recover and she will be caught up to speed about what their current situation is.

The military accepts this. The Survey Corps do not. Once the meeting is over, Optimus is immediately pulled aside in a makeshift classroom and the Survey Corps immediately sit down in anticipation for a god damn explanation.

Optimus took a deep breath. "You are allowed to ask questions."

Everyone's hand immediately shot up.

"None of which are inappropriate," Optimus declared.

Half of the hands went down. Optimus stared at Hanji as she kept her hand raised with a tight expression, tapping her foot on the floor.

"Hanji-,"

"Dear Optimus Prime," Hanji began with an innocent smile, "It's me. C'mon. You know my shit's gonna be inappropriate."

Honestly, Optimus should've expected this reaction.

Ymir and Historia kind of come into the middle of this, ready to give their own demands, but the bomb is dropped on them that Optimus has a significant other that's alive and is here right now. The two decide to politely sit and listen in, trying to process what the hell is going on.

(So it's gonna be just a little bit more before Elita is introduced to the Survey Corps because she just needs a moment of rest right now. And the Survey Corps are trying so hard to comprehend. But it's gonna be a while before other people find out too.)

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bronyinabottle · 1 year

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by the way do you know I’m going to make an anime called Nautica & lycoris cozy in it the prime timeline cozy and her name is Cozetta and you do know I meant to say give cozy empathy and a conscience and the pain would be from guilt it’s not brainwashing but giving her the tools to reform if she chooses to and you say How do you go about redeeming someone who wants to end all life on the planet 1 name Vegeta from dbz he killed planets and if it’s starlight sunset will be upset Cozetta can take i

The thing is with the Dragonball example there's two factors with Vegeta here. Not only was mass-genocide normal for Saiyans. Like, apparently even before Frieza placed them under his whim it was just something they did for fun. Frieza obviously was more than happy to condone it.

And by all means Saiyan/Namek saga Vegeta was a bad guy. And many of his kills are more than likely implied to have stayed. Including many of the innocent ones. There's no denying that, and even the most diehard Vegeta fans would say that's the truth. I would however say that Vegeta isn't the Dragonball example to be comparing Cozy to. I'd say that IDOTS Cozy is more of a Kid Buu situation with maybe a little bit of Cell in there. Obviously Cozy isn't as powerful as either of those villains, but they're both created/"parented" by villains (Bibidi/Babidi and Dr. Gero) that are probably as fucked up inside as their creation, the goal of total destruction is in line with Kid Buu along with the evil intelligence that lets her manipulate and seeking more power like Cell. (We should also keep in mind that while Buu is said to be like hundreds if not thousands of years old, Cell is technically 6)

I suppose then maybe you'll point out Kid Buu was reincarnated into Uub. But let's say what do you do if that's likely not possible. As reincarnating requires death to happen first, and it's clear on what happens when someone evil dies in the IDOTS universe that isn't possible to just have them become sentient again. From the moment an evil character dies in the IDOTS universe, any sentience they have is gone and they become dark magic that ravages a part of the planet.

The other factor is that while there is an afterlife in the IDOTS universe. Death is not curable by looking for seven trinkets and wishing from a magic dragon that they could be restored back to life good as new. Spirits stay spirits, death still has a consequence. I'd consider myself a fan of Dragonball, but I'd understand people having the criticism of the franchise that it treats death like just a slap on the wrist for it's recurring characters after all that happens. Even major deaths that are initially made to be a big deal such as Goku's sacrifice against Cell are eventually reversed when it came time for the Buu Saga and thus kept Goku alive to eventually make both GT and Super.

As much as it is cool that Dragonball got to have more new stuff as of late. It does seem like it ruins just about the perfect ending when it seemed like the savior of the earth was being passed down to Gohan from then on. Doesn't help that poor Gohan has been pretty much humilated most of the time since. Sure he got to beat up Super Buu real good, but then he had the drop the potara earring moment before he too was absorbed, and being tossed aside in Resurrection F like trash. Dragonball Super Hero has helped alleviate this somewhat, but those years of Gohan losing the spotlight back to his father aren't suddenly gone because of the new Beast Gohan form.

And while the ability to speak with the spirits of the deceased itself kinda treats death with a slap of the wrist as well. It's not as simple as they're alive again after a wish as in Dragonball. The best that can be done possibly, is what is brought up in the Sunspark story where potentially living beings willing to share their bodies with a spirit can be the closest to them being alive again (And a recommended period of splitting before the end of the 3rd day after the merger). Though even from that point, it should be noted it's recommended that both parties are willing to a merger even in that case.

The problem with your assumption of "tools to reform" with IDOTS Cozy is she would never choose to if given the chance. She played a willing part in the death of Sunset, and thus was a part of why Starlight was led down a dark path. There is no current path to unpetrifying Cozy under those circumstances that wouldn't cause issues. Even empathy must have it's limits. Starlight and Chrysalis each have tragic circumstances that they couldn't do much about, and compare with eachother to begin a bond with eachother as they got to know the other more as they never actually had the time to speak with one another while they were simply being a hero and a villain.

Trying to reform IDOTS Cozy on the other hand, is like any of us trying to reform the most unashamed Neo-nazis you can find on the internet.

And I know you keep mentioning whatever this Cozetta fic is, and that's perfectly fine. You don't have to have a Cozy that agrees with the IDOTS interpretation. I do not wish to make everybody think Cozy is an irredeemable monster in all cases. That's just the direction I decided to take her in this MLP AU. The show didn't give us alot of backing on Cozy, so it's possible to give her a more sympathetic backstory (Although I do think that's hard to reconcile with the fact she was sent to Tartaurus next to Tirek) if you really want to. I don't even think the canon Cozy was meant to be as evil as I'm interpreting in IDOTS. Everyone is allowed to take Cozy any direction they want with any fics that take place after the show. The idea is just not to demand people restrict themselves to a "popular" interpretation of Cozy as if that's what all Cozy fics should be like.

I've said it before, I have no ill will against Cozy as a character. I only took the direction I did since it fit with the story I wanted to tell. I have never intended to shame the character or any fans who prefer a more positive outlook on Cozy. The goal is IDOTS Cozy to be the irredeemable monster, while she co-exists just fine with Cozy's from other fanfics and/or stories that do have a Cozy capable of change. If you've seen Pony tumblrs for years, you should know of a practical multiverse where even the most goody-goody MLP characters are portrayed as unashamed serial killers (Namely most grimdark blogs with Pinkie as the main character). If you can keep that in mind, that's all you have to get to understand.

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fimawari · 4 years

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Thoughts on the comic and Skully's Identity. [Slight Spoiler Warning? Not really any plot spoilers just details and characters.]

So a lot of people accept that Jay is probably Skully, either surviving or something else. However there's also speculation that it could be Alex, Jessica, or even Seth Wilson, a few thinking about Tim. (Though I would rule him out as the artist drew what he looked like in the Comic on another post) So I raked out every detail I can. Of course it can all just be a stylistic choice but whatever - make of it what you will.

It could just be some new random asshole, but It's a given they know Jessica, so it is very likely to be Jay. He presumed she was gone, unless he watched the last Entry. That would also explain "It's you" sort of "oh shit" moment. Jay was also set on looking for Jessica, so if he did survive, you could assume that would still be one of his motives. Tim wouldn't likely have that "it's you" moment because he knows Jessica is alive. Alex might have that reaction though. I believe he presumed that she was gone.

It also takes two things from Brian and Tim. The hoodie and the plastic mask. So this person has likely seen both of them and came to imitate their appearance.

Coat Buttons

The Jacket appears to have snap on metal buttons. It's typical for this style of jacket (similar to a utility jacket, which would be useful and warm to run all over the goddamn woods at night) to have the buttons placed on top of the left side for a men's jacket. (Of course it could just be any person in a men's styled jacket, but still.)

I picked this out because it's paid attention to very carefully as a detail. Of course that's good for continuity, but I know for filming Marble Hornets they were very careful with detail and hinting at things.

2. Height

They're only seen crouching up to a door with Jessica on the other side, but if they both stood straight, they'd come to be about the same height, which was true for Jay and Jessica in the series.

3. You are broken but you CAN be fixed

This is what the masked figure says to Jessica. Similar to ToTheArks video saying Alex was broken, but couldn't be fixed. That might line up with Jay's motives because he continued to think he could solve the situation. It could be argued he also believed Alex could be saved from the Operator. It it were Alex, it could be his own changed perspective in whatever "form" this is now. That would be quite interesting to see why he would go from wanting to destroy the tapes to actively giving someone the tapes.

4. Not a point but something I noticed.

On the Rosswood bulletin, there is a blurry poster that looks like it could be a "Missing" sign. Who for - I don't know, but it does kind of appear they have glasses, so it could be Alex? This could also just be meaningless background illustration.

In the same frame, Adam also talks about people getting lost in the woods and says, "The Majority of them were recovered safely but," and he stops. That's a pretty cliffhanger "but" there Adam.

Closer inspection of the Rosswood Map shows Rosswood Rd, mentioned in the series, and was supposed to be the road off the usual parking lot they stopped in when meeting up, and an X location to hard to read atm, but it is off the beaten path.

5. In a silly doodle drawing in the comic files, I did notice this poster with a skull on it. It may just be nothing but could also be implying that whoever is in the skull mask died and came back.

Also I appreciate that the soda is Conk.

6. It's Fall about 10 years later after the first incidents in Rosswood began, in the timeline 2019 ish, but that is apparent from the trees outside and the time the comic was created at.

7. Jessica has a "Sarah" in her phone. Could he literally the millions of Sarah's but I'll point it out anyway. But more interesting barely covered is Tim's contact.

8. I was thinking about why their seems to be Blue Lenses in Skully's mask, they're even visible from a distance. Now this is really digging at the bottom of barrel but when Jessica grabs the pipe to defend herself, it's highlighted by red for emphasis. Red and Blue have often been a scheme for duelity and such.

This repeats again in the second title page:

A lot could be discerned from it. Maybe she is Skully, like a second half of her, as one of her nightmares is fighting against herself. May also not mean that and be another symbol of duelity, red vs blue.

I don't think the blue is styling choice because you can quite clearly see eyes in Masky's drawing. I believe there is definitely something covering their eyes - like lenses. Their "fashion choices" are also leaning towards the expensive side I noticed. Unless they just stole it went to a goodwill and got lucky. A utility jacket like that would cost somewhere beyond a $100 unless you're lucky. I'd pay to see a cryptid running around in Gucci in butt-fuck-nowhere Alabama in the middle of the night. Or who knows maybe Alex got some prescription lenses put in that shit.

9. Do I even have to explain the symbolism of a Jay.

10. I can say with good certainty this probably symbolises Jessica's memory of Alex.

11. Some damning evidence, whoever is in the mask has access to the original entry files, not just downloaded YouTube stuff. Jay, Tim, Totheark would likely have access to that. Alex was pretty dead-set on having all the traces deleted, I'd doubt he'd have them all uploaded to a computer.

12. No idea what this might represent besides some metaphor for life being a merry go round, but in the postcard Skully is chilling on a horse lmao. "Stuck in a loop of unhappiness." Ring a bell?

13. Can't attach another photo but the abandoned house Jessica goes to has "Bones" written on it, much like the Hospital did. In the original series they said that graffiti was just there, so maybe they decided to work with it? Who knows maybe it's some kind of new group? Maybe ToTheArk vs "Bones?" You CAN'T be fixed vs You CAN be fixed.

14. I also can't speculate what it exactly means, but it's obvious Skully can talk, not seen previously with the others. Whether out of an inability or just not wanting to. Could be argued it's a person behind the mask by choice, not volition. We also don't really know if Brian chose his path or became that. But he became a masked cryptid after supposedly "dying". We also never see people "die" just assume they have died or are dead and they disappear. Tim implies that it's just feeding off them, physically or mentally. They always die off camera or get fucked off somewhere by the egg head. They appear dead afterwords, with Jay and Brian, but still missing. All of their bodies were taken by the monster and are god knows where in some seperate dimension. This is borderline r/im14andthisisdeep but what is "death" in this series. Does it mean gone permanently or just "gone" ... For an unknown amount of time. People die, but do they stay that way? Or do they die ... In one sense, but not the other, Losing something of themselves from before, and becoming something new. That would awfully explain Brian's behavior after Alex "killed" him. It's also implied there are others apart of ToTheArk that were never shown in the series, suspected to be other members of the original cast who maybe had "died" and come back as someone else. Something broken.

Tim seems to be an outlier. It's presumed he has avoided death, and essentially kept his mentality. But still slips into another form out of his control, usually in response to the monster or the hooded man being near and stealing his pills and shit. Is he between death? Is that why doucheslender follows him? "The one that got away." Istg I don't take drugs.

That was Michael from Vsauce thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

#Marble Hornets #mh skully #mh jessica #mh tim wright #mh jay merrick #mh alex #Mh theories #idk what else #marble hornets comic #pulling shit out of my ass #updated #fima

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bluephoenixdruidicprincess · 5 years

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Shadowhunters 3x11, Lost Souls -- Review

It's that time of the year again where I put myself through the torture of enduring this show. Watching this show is like going on an endurance run. You drag your feet when you first start, when you get acclimated to the level of exercise, you think "hey, this isn't too bad" and then by the end, it's just pain...but also a sense of pride that you made it through. That's been my experience with the show, anyway. And it's basically how I felt about Shadowhunters 3x11, Lost Souls.

I would like to preface this review with saying that I am NOT a huge supporter of this show. I do enjoy certain elements of it but I'm not what would be classified as a devoted fan. For me, Shadowhunters is not a good show and I do get very critical of the show in my reviews. Honestly, for me, I watch the show because 1) I'm too curious not to and 2) I find that this show can be so bad its funny and that's how I reap enjoyment out of it. I am not at all invested in this show or its characters anymore. I'm just watching to see what happens. If you're a die hard fan and you lash out at everyone who has a different opinion than you, you might want to skip these...I'm just saying. My reviews may not be for you. If you do decide to be a total troll, well then pay attention to the below disclaimer.

This is going to be an honest review of my thoughts and feelings regarding this episode. If you're the kind of Shadowhunters fan where you only want to hear positive things about the show, this is not the place for you. If you decide to stick around and get offended by what is said, then that's on you. I warned you. Just know that if you send me any rude comments or messages, I will 100% ignore you. I find that's the best way to deal with bullies. I work 14 hour days. Do you really think I want to waste my incredibly valuable free time dealing with derogatory comments? Hell no. This review will consist of my honest opinions. Opinions are never right or wrong. I'm not telling YOU how to think and feel. I'm telling you what I, quirky and socially awkward me, think and feel. So please, lets discuss with dignity and respect. If I'm critical about this show, it's only because I want it to get better. There is, in fact, a difference between hating a show and being critical of it. I do not hate Shadowhunters, I am being critical and analyzing the flaws as I would with any other show. There are positives but there are also negatives. It's great if you want to promote positivity with this show (and I encourage you to do so) but that doesn't mean I'm not going to point out the things that are legitimately wrong with it. Also, keep in mind that despite the fact that I do like the books, me being critical of this show has nothing to do with my fondness for the books. I don't really care if the show deviates from the source material as long as the changes are good, it makes sense, and it doesn't create plot holes within the confines of the world the show has created. My problems with this show are problems I would have with any show or book for that matter. I think it's perfectly reasonable to take issue with a show that has plot holes, shoddy world building, and inconsistent characters. There will be spoilers for the books and movie.

We are at last embarking upon the final episodes of this show and if this episode is what's going to set the tone for the remaining episodes, then I'm glad it's the final episodes because...well, this episode wasn't great and is a perfect example of what I won't miss about Shadowhunters. Bland and cringey dialogue, more characters than it knows what to do with, and too much jumping across plot points. There are individual moments in the episode I enjoyed but overall, this isn't an episode I loved.

The Loss of the Mary Sue

I'm not entirely certain of the timeline in this episode. The episode never specifies on exactly how many days have passed since the 3A finale but I'm going to estimate about a week or so. Everyone believes Clary died in the explosion caused by Lillith attacking Simon.

The episode opens with Jace, Izzy, and Alec chasing after a downworlder and Jace makes some very shoddy decisions in this fight that lets you see just how reckless he's become in the wake of Clary's "death". We then get a montage of everyone missing Clary and the more significant one is Jace, that's the one they spent the most amount of time on. He's basically walking through Clary's room remembering all the times he spent with Clary...so basically three memories. Another classic example of what I've always been talking about when it comes to the adaptation changes. Clary and Jace have barely spent any amount of time together, even less actually dating and I'm supposed to believe that they're each other's one true love...not going to happen because the show didn't develop it at all. There's a moment in the montage where Jace starts looking at Clary's drawings and getting really emotional about it and I felt nothing because Jace has never been shown to take any sort of interest in Clary's artwork before. In fact, if it weren't for that one scene in 3A, I wouldn't even have known that Clary was still drawing. By the show deviating from the books in the way they did, Clace had less development but yet the show still wants to continue the aspect of Clace being hopelessly in love from the books. You can't make a significant change from the source material and then pages down the line expect to pick up exactly where you left off. By making the change, you changed the entire context of the relationship so now the entire story has to change in order to fit that new narrative. Sadly, the Shadowhunters writers have not figured that out yet and continue to make that same mistake...or they're lazy, it could be that, too. Jace eventually gets so depressed that it's implied that he's contemplating suicide but Izzy is able to talk to him and get him to think. And then she just leaves him after making him promise he won’t go through with it. If anyone's wondering, if you catch someone who you believe may be contemplating suicide, do not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, LEAVE THEM ALONE!!! Particularly in a dark room. Being in a dark enclosed space is not the kind of place that typically sends out positive energy. But I suppose I can cut Izzy a little bit of a break. It's entirely possible the Shadowhunter world doesn't really understand how to help someone who's experiencing suicidal thoughts. They certainly didn’t help out Jace’s mother. Alec also confronts Jace about this in probably the only believable scene in this entire episode. Seriously, I've never been a Jalec shipper but I totally understand why people ship them. Matt and Dom are probably the only actors who actually have any chemistry with each other. But Alec tells Jace he's doing the memory of Clary a disservice and that if Jace were to die, it would destroy him as well. In other words, Jace isn't the only one who's going to be affected by this decision. Jace eventually is called by Luke who for some reason appears to be living in a motel room. I don't know why but whatever. Luke doesn't believe Clary is actually dead and he tries to convince Jace through some really weird conspiracy theory that probably even flat-earthers would find difficult to believe. But hey, if it leads to them finding Clary, I'll go with it. And I understand why Luke is unable to accept even the possibility that Clary might be gone for good. He can't think that about someone who he basically views as his daughter and the last connection he has to Jocelyn. Luke gives the evidence to Jace and tells Jace to at least check it out.

Simon, understandably, is also having a difficult time with all this. And Maia returns to give him emotional support despite leaving for a very particular and totally understandable reason but Simon needs her so of course she comes back for him. It's not like Maia exists for anything else but for Simon's character arc. Both Simon and Izzy kind of passive-aggressively shame Maia about leaving. And I'm particualrly disappointed in Izzy telling Maia about what happened to Simon's family as that's a very deeply personal issue and Simon should've been the one to tell her. It wasn't Izzy's secret to tell. I get that they were trying to use that scene to exposit information to the audience but there were better ways of doing that. Hell, it could've just been Izzy making an off-handed comment about Simon. Maia could've been talking to Izzy about how badly Simon is doing with the Clary situation and Izzy could've been all, "especially with what happened with his family" and Maia could've been shocked and Izzy could've been flabbergasted because she didn't know Maia didn't know. That would've been a much better way for the situation to be handled. But I'm not too pleased with Izzy saying in response to Maia not knowing, "well how could you? you weren't around." Just the insinuation that Maia should stay around and support her man and not go off and get in the right head space to properly heal herself after dealing with the re-emergence of her abuser. But I suppose I shouldn’t expect any different from Izzy seeing as she, herself, also only exists to give support the other characters. I think these passive aggressive intonations of shaming Maia are really horrible and shame on the writer. Maia, Izzy, and Simon decide to work together to find a way to get rid of the Mark of Cain from Simon's forehead. They talk to Raphael who now works at a soup kitchen in Detroit and Raphael tells them the tale of some dude chilling in the sewers of NYC who could possibly be the oldest vampire alive and may have answers to the removal of the Mark of Cain. Maia decides not to help Simon on this as its a bad idea for a werewolf and a vampire to meet and I almost forgot that was a thing, the show so rarely does anything with the vampire vs werewolf dynamic. But of course Maia has to back off to give room for Sizzy. I’m really not a big fan of Sizzy being explored here as everything that made Sizzy fun and interesting in the books has been completely stripped from the show. I’d much prefer Saia on the show. But really, I just want Maia and Izzy to have their own character arc, though that doesn’t revolve around shipping.

The Malec B-Plot

We have a Malec B-plot that I found just completely unnecessary wherein Iris returns and kidnaps Magnus because she wants to get Madzie back. She falls for the most obvious trap in the world and hopefully we never see Iris again. What it does for Magnus's story works I guess but I just found it to be a really obtrusive subplot that didn��t fit at all with the episode. I'm not sure if it's just the fact that I've been away from the show for a year so I can see the the show a little more clearly now but the Malec chemistry is no longer working for me. Maybe it's just that I've always paid more attention to how alarmingly unequal their relationship is but I'm looking at the body language they're giving off and its not the kind of body language you would expect from lovers. They're so stiff around each other and not relaxed at all.

In fact, there's a line in this episode where Malec has just put Madzie to bed as they're baby-sitting her and Alec kisses Magnus and Magnus tells him to stop because they have a child in the apartment currently. Alec kind of scoffs because it's just a kiss and Magnus is all, "You know how we get." And I'm like, "Do we really, though?" There's plenty of scenes of them talking and I can buy them as friends with that but lovers? I’m having a difficult time actually buying that now. Like I said before, the Jalec scene was way more believable than any Malec scene in this episode.

But Magnus decides he doesn't want to feel helpess ever again so he decides he needs to learn how to fight. Honestly, I was surprised to learn that this is implying he doesn't even seem to really have any basic self-defense capabilities. The way he was swinging the sword earlier in this episode lead to me to believe otherwise. Plus, Harry Shum Jr is a pretty buff dude but I guess maybe Magnus lifts weights and that’s it. Alec decides to help him out on this venture, though.

Siblings Reunited

We find out that Clary is indeed not dead and that Jonathon's back. I'll be real, here. It's kind of hard to feel sad for Jace or Simon or Luke or anyone really regarding the "death" of Clary, considering this entire episode is interspliced with moments of Clary being very much alive. Honestly, I think this episode would've functioned better if it was just about showing everyone going through all the different stages of grief regarding Clary and at the end of the episode when they've hit the acceptance stage, that's when we see Clary wake up in the apartment with Jonathon. But whatever. The show decided not to go that route so we have to make do with what we got. Clary wakes up and looking pretty damn fantastic for someone who's been asleep for days. Not a strand of hair out of place, make-up is flawless, and not a wrinkle to be found on her clothing. In fact, I think they're in even better condition than they were when Clary initially had to put them on. Clary also isn't even the slightest bit groggy, she knows exactly where she's at and everything. Clary does comas well. Jonathon tells Clary that it is indeed him, her big brother and that before Lillith was sent to hell she sent them away to Siberia, apparently. Clary plays nice for a little bit with Jonathon but decides to chance out in the cold of Siberia. It's nice to see that in her state of unconsciousness her muscles didn't atrophy from lack of movement or deteriorate from lack of food. But Clary fails in her escape, Jonathon finds her and brings her back. Clary tries to stab him with a knife but they both find out that what happens to one person will also happen to the other. So yeah, we're full in City of Lost Souls plot here which is ironically the title of this episode. Shadowhunters has never been all that subtle. This new actor for Jonathon is going to take some getting used to. Will Tudor did a phenomenal job with him so its difficult to see this new guy as Jonathon. But it also is difficult to take Clary's anger and hatred of Jonathon seriously when you think about all that Jonathon's really done on the show is kill a shadowhunter Clary had never met before and then injured Max and Max swiftly recovered. Clary is all about painting him as the worst possible being and indeed, in the books, he is but here, while he may be a bad guy who's done really bad things, I don't know if its deserving of that level of hatred. We haven't exactly seen a lot of his horrifying dastardly deeds. Another example of making a change and then thinking you can still keep the same storyline at a later point in the story. I'm certainly not saying I wanted Max to die but story-telling wise, it would make the emotions Clary's feeling here a little more believable. But I'm actually really interested to see where this whole Jonathon and Clary plot goes. In the books, it's Jace that's put in this situation so it'll be interestig to see how the show tackles Clary being in this situation. I'm also wondering, because they seem to be trying to stay away from the incest vibes here, is Jonathon going to gain an unhealthy obsession with Jace instead of Clary? In the books, Clary was who Jonathon was creepily obsessed with. He was equating possession with love and viewed that Clary belonged to him in every way imaginable. So since the roles of Clary and Jace have been reversed here, will Jonathon's obsession now change from Clary to Jace? Probably not but it would've been interesting to see for sure. I mean, if you're going to do a role reversal, you might as well go all the way, right?

The Clave Acting Shady AF

The Clave is being super shady right now. They appear to be doing experiments on the incarcerated downworlders and all I can say is, "do we really need this?" And also, "Why is it being implied that Jia knows about this and is okay with this?" The interesting thing about Jia in the books was the fact that she was the first step in the leadership to help get rid of the more corrupt aspects of the Clave and instigating change. But I suppose it's per the norm for the show to make everyone but the main group a bad guy instead of morally grey. As I've said before, this show has no concept of subtlety. I can only imagine that this is leading into the part in City of Glass the show hasn't done yet wherein the alliance rune is going to be introduced but instead of using it to fight Valentine, they're going to use it to fight Jonathon. That's what these downworlder experiments seem to be leading into as it reminds me a lot of Valentine experimenting in the books. I'm sure there was 0 social commentary intended when writing this into the show, though...but I think its safe to say it's totally social commentary. The show isn't very subtle, once again.

But good news is it looks like Ollie is gone for good so yay! I am side-eying the show, though about that. What was the point of introducing her if you weren't going to do anything with her? I'd say they probably wasted about half of 3A with Ollie unnecessarily. But maybe if this show hadn't been cancelled, Ollie would've played a more significant role? Well anyway, at least some of the fat has been trimmed.

My biggest issue, as always, is the dialogue. The dialogue felt extremely one-note. It was almost like the writer made a flow chart of what they wanted to happen in this episode and was like, "crap! I guess my characters do need to speak, here's some lines to explain what's going on." The dialogue basically existed solely for the purpose of giving exposition but the real kicker is that it was really unnecessary. I could've had this episode on silent (and that might've even have made it an improvement) and I would've understood what was happening perfectly. The dialogue really didn't add anything to the experience, it just made the episode feel more awkward than it already was. And then there continues the trend of Shadowhunters treating their awesome plans as if they’re the most clever plans in the world when in actuality, the plan is beyond obvious and it was super cringey and awkward seeing Izzy being treated as this amazing strategist for making the obvious move. And the episode was already plenty awkward with the constant cutting. It's really difficult to enjoy any particular subplot going on in this show when we only spend maybe 30 seconds to a minute on any particular moment. I kind of wish this show structured their episodes more around themes as opposed to plot. Plot is temporary, plot is always changing but exploring themes through plot gives you more of an appreciation not only for the characters but the story, itself. While I didn't mind sequences in this episode, at the end of the day, it just kind of left me feeling empty. I also think the acting felt a little stilted as well. I wasn't a big fan of any of the performances given in this episode and whereas I've never thought anyone on this show was oscar-worthy for their performances in the past on this show, their performances have always been maybe a C+ to a B. But in this episode, it just didn't feel like any of the actors' hearts were in it. Now granted, that could be a side effect of the script because, as I've mentioned before, the script wasn't great. Or it could've been the directing. There's a lot of reasons for why acting can feel stilted and it very rarely has to do with the actor or actress being bad at acting.

I've made notes about how the dialogue and acting was stilted but those weren't the only things that were. The fight choreography and the blocking felt a little off as well. For starters, the fight choreography did not feel organic. It was strangely reminiscent of season 1 fight choreography. The constant jump cuts so you don't see too much of what's actually happening and just feeling like fight scenes move very slowly. Like the reaction times between sword swing to parry were very slow and it kept on taking me out of the moment. Then you also had moments where Alec and Izzy catch up with Jace in the sewer and everyone's staring at the seelie they're trying to capture for a good 5 seconds before the actual fight continues. And then there's just strange blocking choices where a character walks to a point in the room and then delivers their line but the walk to the new mark wasn’t organic and actually made the line feel more awkward.

I'd probably give this episode a C+. It was passable, with enjoyable moments but ultimately not something I have any desire to return to. There were cute moments (primarily Jalec and Madzie), but overall as an episode, not something to be too terribly impressed with. And yes, there were moments I did like. It’s not my fault the show just had more bad parts I felt compelled to talk about.

#shadowhunters 3b #shadowhunters 3x11 #shadowhunters lost souls #rife with unpopular opinions #read at your own risk

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