Episode 49: The Beast Within
Episode 49 of The Descent Is Easy discusses The Beast Within, Episode 18 of Season 3 of Shadowhunters.
In which we discuss relationships, heart break, repression and maybe overidentify just a smidge…
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19th April 2019 @ 8:31 am
the jaia (is that the ship name?) leaves me worried for alisha…….
hadhgdahf
19th April 2019 @ 6:46 pm
Jaia is Jace/Maia (even tough it should totally be Mace and everyone is wrong!!) so I have no idea what Jordan/Maia is.
19th April 2019 @ 8:30 am
BUT YOU DO REPRESS ‘Feelings™’, and that is literally my (and a lot of other peoples) coping system. and its not healthy, but it tricks you into feeling its healthy cos you are repressing the feelings and arent thinking about them? and it follows with magnus’ habit of running away from scary situations(though that was much more a s1 and s2 thing), so like, continuity? yay?
also those shaky hands broke me. think magnus is more broken though
19th April 2019 @ 6:45 pm
the shaky hands were AMAZING
20th April 2019 @ 5:13 pm
Yes but nooooo BECAUSE THEY HURT
19th April 2019 @ 8:24 am
okay, but the thing is, (and im sorry if you addressed this in the ep; i listened to this ep over several days which is NOT something i normally do cos my brain refuses to retain all the info) we dont know the ‘power levels’ of the different demons: lillith isnt a prince of hell (though she is canonically powerful) and though they may be close enough in power to basically have the same ease in gaining access to earth; if asmodeus is a lot more powerful (whether in general or in…getting into earth?(also, asmodeus is in his home dimension? cos i dont think that lilliths home dimension is edom? so asmodeus may be naturally more skilled due to his location)) it is possible that alec thought he wouldnt have been able to pass into earth through vera.
BUT that does mean that
a) bad descision on alecs part; DO YOUR DAM RESEARCH
b)he did do his research and knew- thats worse?
c)theres a high im completely wrong and there is no difference in power
d)there is no difference in good and bad descicions (most likely tbh)
idek anymore, im probably wrong
did any of that make sense?
19th April 2019 @ 6:45 pm
we don’t know the exact power balance between lilith and asmodeus, no. though from all we hear they are pretty evenly matched, really. it sounds like they’ve both taken advantage of the other one being weakend by something or other, to gain the upper hand, and hang on to control, only to in turn loose it, when the other is weakened.
there’s also the fact of the missing limp and cane… we have no idea just how powerful magnus is but clearly insanely powerful, and that extra boost of power (magic) is what gave Asmo the edge over imprisioning Lilith, curing his limp (apparently. because the alternative is that the actor and show runner just forgot, and that’s not great) AND potentially be able to just get to earth. it’s possible. but we really need some rules.
we’re not going to get them. doesn’t mean I won’t grumble about not having them, though
20th April 2019 @ 5:11 pm
I mean, yeah
18th April 2019 @ 12:53 pm
RE: The Asmodeus and Alec deal.
Asmodeus does explicitly say that “Magnus can never know… or else the deal is off”. So maybe he could take the magic and immortality back if Alec told Magnus – or even if Magnus figures it out independently – after the fact.
Also, it’s “end your relationship” – not “don’t be his boyfriend” XD.
We also don’t see the end of the channeling; the metaphorical phone has not been put down when we cut away. So the fine print can still be worked out, we just don’t see it because the casual viewer isn’t interested in that stuff.
Also, do we know how demon deals work in this world? Normally there is a magical ‘deals can’t be broken’, either due to massive consequences or a literal, ‘the deal, once agreed, will be carried out by magic if one party tries to renege’. We know Alec hasn’t decided when the phone is put down, but the deal could 100% be conditional, a ‘if you do this I will do that, if you don’t then I’m not obliged in any way’. (Oh you pretty much just said that; this is what happens when commenting while listening.)
18th April 2019 @ 10:56 pm
no, we know NOTHING about demon deals. Which is why I constantly find myself filling in the lack of world building with ‘well, this is normally what happens in fantasy’ and then occassionally they subvert it, by giving actual rules about stuff, but most of the time they just don’t explain anything, so you go with ‘the obvious’, and then the obvious doesn’t make sense or wouldn’t work that way, so I then get hung up on not being able to make what they are doing fit with what is logical to me/the genre, or alternatively trying to come up with rules for their world, that makes all of the different options work and… it’s kinda fun. kinda super exhausting 🙁
18th April 2019 @ 11:06 am
RE: Magnus, 15 hours and full dark outside. I really tried to make it work:
1. I think Alec could have been waiting for 5 hours. After the first 20 minutes or so, he’d have taken breaks from actively waiting and worrying, probably by spending time on his tablet, which allows him to stay where he is. At first he’d look at the door and worry every few minutes; after about an hour, he’d be up to half an hour or so passing between active fidgeting. At least that’s how I work. And Magnus may not have come home until his chosen bar (would that still be the Hunter’s Moon?) closed. So I could easily see it being 1am.
2. While I have slept for more than 12 hours in a shot before, it’s more normal for the marathon nights to include brief periods of wakefulness. Also, we don’t know when that 15 hours starts – shortly after the last ep ends, sure, but not neccessarily in the following 5 mins. And Magnus clearly hasn’t just rolled out of bed. All told I could see the scene being 16 – 16.5 hours after Magnus got back. Maybe 17 at a push to get the makeup just right?
3. It’s the end of October. I’m pretty certain on that one. Sunset in New York city was 17:53, civil twilight ended 18:21, nautical twilight 18:54, astronomical twilight 19:25. That establishing shot could have been astronomical twilight, nautical twilight at a push; but after 18:21 for sure.
I basically need Magnus to have gotten back after 3; then I don’t have to be pushy with the rest of it. He was really determined to stay drunk. Alec is used to long nights, and wasn’t leaving when he’d stayed this long, and was getting more than a bit worried now. Some places are open to 3 in NYC I’m sure. Magnus got back after 3. Problem solved. (Kind of, not really, I tried.)
18th April 2019 @ 10:54 pm
I really appreciate you trying!! however someone on twitter just pointed out that we can see the time on Alec’s phone, when he check it, shortly before Magnus comes in, and it’s 8:47 so yeah, 9pm is roughly when Magnus comes in…. SIGH!!!
but serious points for trying!!!
18th April 2019 @ 9:25 am
I have never seen a Malec sex tape fic and that’s outrageous!!! Ohfreckle recently wrote ‘Magnus with his camera’ porn and that was quite nice, but no, no sex tape fics as far as I am aware 🙁
I think the response to Malec in generally and of course especially this week has been fascinating. I’ve seen diametric opposite opinions on whether this is a good arc (with, as you say, need for more fleshing out, but when is this not the case?) or the laziest writing in the world. There seems to be a really strong voice that is about ‘why can’t writers think of anything to do other than break couples up??? it’s boring!’ and I do get that. Like, I would have LOVED a storyline in which everyone stops being self sacrificing idiots, talks to each other, and POWER COUPLE to the rescue! but that’s a different story. yes, a story I would like to see, and will read in fic until the cows come home, but it’s not a story I was ever expecting from the show… does that make sense?
–It’s fun to tweet angst and come up with ridiculous theories, but we are all fine at the end of the day. But I have seen quite a few people who were really genuine about it and I just want to give them a hug and tell them it’s all gonna be ok, as well as question why on earth they are watching this show if they can’t handle angst and drama😂–
oh my god yes! I always thought we’re all just putting it on because twitter is melodrama and it’s hilarious! and then I kind of realised that maybe we’re not all just putting it on.. and maybe me putting it on means that other people think I am genuinely dying in despair when I was just trying to fit in with the overall mood, because I thought we were all putting it on… oops? hahaha
like, I haven’t cried once in season 3b. I’ve been close and then the show just hasn’t managed to nudge me over the edge. which is a shame because i LOVE to cry at television. Ruth has a heart of stone, she doesn’t cry, so she’s not a benchmark but I cry at the waitrose commercials every year and baking competitions and everything!! so that’s a shame. but it doesn’t mean I’m not going to be all over twitter going SADNESS! DESPAIR! FLOODS OF TEARS! but then I read about people saying they ‘literally haven’t stopped crying’ and suddenly think… they might actually mean that? and if so… wow.
— it just makes me so mad because Maia was my favorite female character on this show and I can’t even stand to watch her scenes lately. —
100%
IconicNephilim is doing a poster series and wanted people to write in with quotes about the actors/characters of the 8 mains and I really wanted to talk about Alisha/Maia and then had to stop myself because everything I’ve been saying about her character up to now.. I feel like I have to reevaluate what I think about her.
— Not 4 episodes ago he proved that he still can’t control his temper and that he makes dangerous and hotheaded decisions because of it.—
I completely agree!! He got kicked out of the Praetor for acting rashly and getting a tonne of people killed and of the back of that Maia goes ‘You’re exactly the kind of dude I want as a second in command!’…? REALLY???
I have seen the Promo. Ruth doesn’t watch them. I watch them within about 3 seconds of finishing the current episode because PROMOS ARE FAIR GAME!! hahahahaha but yeah… ah man. we’ll see where this goes… let’s yell about things next week! haha
18th April 2019 @ 9:20 pm
The Great Repression is also a ‘Magnus as a camboy’ fic that’s pretty good, but I’ll have to check out Ohfreckle’s fics because I don’t think I have read any of theirs before. But also, what is this fandom doing?! Not one Malec sex tape fic?! I’m disappointed!
I think that the breakup trope can be boring, but I personally don’t think it is in this case. In fact, I think that this break up is better written and more interesting than the 2×18 one mostly because Magnus’ reasoning was so unclear and the writers couldn’t seem to make up their minds on why it was happening. In 3×18, I completely understood why Alec was making the choice to break up with Magnus. Of course, another break up after this one would be boring and lazy writing in my opinion, but this one didn’t bother me the way it did some people. Besides the fact that it’s obviously not going to last long. The writers didn’t have the balls to leave them broken up in 2B and they don’t have the balls to do it now. I am actually kinda convinced they are gonna get back together next episode tbh, but we’ll see.
If there was a season 4, Malec learning not to be self-sacrificial idiots should have been the main storyline lmao. But for this season, that is completely in character for both of them so, like you said, I never expected anything else. And who knows maybe we will still get our power couple Malec!
It’s really hard to get me to actually cry during a TV show. I have teared up several times watching Shadowhunters and I actually did shed 1 tear, literally just one, when I rewatched the breakup scene in 3×18, but yeah they never really manage to get me to fully break down like I want them to. And it was a Monday night so there is a possibility that the tear was just because I was tired😂 I do always wonder about if people are joking on Twitter or not because I tweet the same stuff they do and I’m actually just sitting at home enjoying life, but your right…maybe there are people actually having emotional breakdowns over this…😬
I’m not even sure that I have to reevaluate Maia because if I went back and watched season 2 through 3A I would love her and see her the exact same way as I did then, but it’s like an entirely different character came back after 3×08 and whoever it is isn’t Maia. I know you haven’t finished the books yet so I won’t spoil anything, but it seems like they might actually be following her storyline from the books and that was one of the main things I hoped they would change 🙁
Can I borrow some of Ruth’s self-control? Because I have none lmao. Though I don’t exactly know what my state of mind would be like if I was going into these episodes totally blind😂 I need the teasers and a whole week to process and prepare myself for the whats coming haha
18th April 2019 @ 11:11 pm
yes, I have read the great repression. though the camboy aspect goes out the window pretty quick for high stake drama and kidnapping. which is totally fine but… lol
well, i’ve just done an AO3 search and I found one single story which I gave up on reading after a few paragraphs. Google did however suggest the tag ‘Magnus Is A Sex God’ so that’s fun hahaha
— I personally don’t think it is in this case. In fact, I think that this break up is better written and more interesting than the 2×18 one mostly because Magnus’ reasoning was so unclear and the writers couldn’t seem to make up their minds on why it was happening.–
I absolutely agree. Like, 2×18 was heartbreaking because Alec was heart breaking and he didn’t see the break up coming and when he realised I died a little inside… but mostly I also didn’t see the break up coming, because it made no sense. and then 19/20 and the getting back together was all generally just a big mess.
whereas yeah, I understand this and while I don’t think it’s the right decision, I understand how Alec thinks it seems like the right decision.
And yes, if they broke up again, that would be ridiculious but 2×18 kind of wasn’t even a break up. even Alec called it ‘our fights’ not ‘our break up’. This is an actual break up.
–I have teared up several times watching Shadowhunters and I actually did shed 1 tear, literally just one–
hahaha was it like Matthew’s single man tear in 2×17? 😀 😀
–I know you haven’t finished the books yet so I won’t spoil anything, but it seems like they might actually be following her storyline from the books and that was one of the main things I hoped they would change 🙁–
if you mean the Maia/Jordan thing I am aware of that. No clue how it happens, but I know the general story line and that yeah, the entire fandom was hoping it wouldn’t happen… And I guess I’ve still got some hope that I’m just being previous in my annoyance at what is happening and that actually, they’re not going there? maybe? =/
–Can I borrow some of Ruth’s self-control? Because I have none lmao. —
i’m currently avoiding all social media because of that damned sneak peek that is EVERYWHERE and i really don’t want to watch it. argh!!
19th April 2019 @ 1:32 am
‘Magnus is a sex God’😂 I mean that makes sense, but I can’t believe there are enough fics with that for it to be an actual tag lmao
Yeah don’t get me wrong 2×18 broke me, but the writing was so all over the place that it kind of lessened the impact or something lol. And I didn’t even think about the fact that Alec called it a “fight”. Yeah, 3×18 just all around works for me as far as a storyline goes, even though I dont think Alec should have made that decision.
My tear was exactly like Matthew’s!! I should be an actress!😯😂
I mean I’ll wait and see how the story for Maia and Jordan plays out, but I have little hope at this point….
Yeah, I waited a whole 3 seconds before watching the sneak peek😬 And I’ve watched it a good 30 times so far…Good luck avoiding the internet until Tuesday! You are a stronger person than I am lmao
20th April 2019 @ 5:12 pm
Sorry about randomly joining the convo here, but I just wanted to say on the book thing I AGREE SO MUCH. LIKE. SERIOUSLY.
K I’ll leave now lol
17th April 2019 @ 10:53 pm
I really appreciate the concern this episode because I am not gonna lie, it was rough😂 Also, I was out in public listening this and when you mentioned the sex tape I lost it. That fic has surely been written, right? Also, I had to go back to check and see if I did accidentally write that and I can totally see how you would see that if you just glanced quickly at that sentence😂
I already kind of mentioned it over on the 3×16 episode, but I’ll repeat it again here, I actually don’t mind the angst as long as it’s not unnecessary angst thrown in because the writers didn’t know what else to do with the characters. And while this, like pretty much every storyline/character on this show, could have used a little more time and space to get to all of these points a little more…organically, I overall really love Magnus/Malec’s story arc this season. And I know that these two characters are gonna end up happy, so its gonna be overwhelming and heartbreaking in the moment, but I actually do love all of these scenes. And I appreciate how they are really giving Matt and Harry a chance to shine because they have always been great actors, but their performances for the past 3 or 4 episodes have been just…I don’t even have the right word for it.
And I don’t have any right to tell people how to feel about these things, but I genuinely don’t get either the extreme anger or despair that some people seem to be feeling about it. I know a lot of the stuff on Twitter is just people being melodramatic because I do it, that’s how it works. It’s fun to tweet angst and come up with ridiculous theories, but we are all fine at the end of the day. But I have seen quite a few people who were really genuine about it and I just want to give them a hug and tell them it’s all gonna be ok, as well as question why on earth they are watching this show if they can’t handle angst and drama😂
I agree that we are gonna have to accept that the writers have forgotten how they first wrote Jordan’s character. And I am trying really hard to, but it just makes me so mad because Maia was my favorite female character on this show and I can’t even stand to watch her scenes lately. At least the ones with Jordan. They make me so uncomfortable and even Chai and Alisha’s acting and chemistry can’t fix it. It’s like Maia isn’t the same character anymore. The Maia we got in 3×15 was the Maia we have always had, but every other episode in 3B, not that she has had an overabundance of them, haven’t felt at all like the Maia we had up until 3×08. Like with Sizzy, it seems like the writers want them to be together so they are kind of forcing them into a relationship when they aren’t there yet, and in my opinion, should never be there again. In my opinion, if we are pretending that the whole possessive, jealous, stalking, creep thing didn’t happen, Jordan still hasn’t changed enough for me to be okay with forgetting the other stuff. Not 4 episodes ago he proved that he still can’t control his temper and that he makes dangerous and hotheaded decisions because of it. And he isn’t a new werewolf anymore so what’s their excuse now? Also, I don’t know if you’ve seen the promo for 3×19 so I am not gonna spoil anything, but I am sure I will be back with MANY things to say about them next week🙃
I am not even gonna rant about Sizzy again. I still don’t care about their relationship and I agree, the sudden romance came out of left field, but that’s how I have felt about them all season so…
I really feel like I just repeat myself every week about Jordan/Maia and Sizzy and it’s getting a little bit exhausting tbh.
Overall, this was a really good episode imo(stuff I mentioned above aside), Becky was adorable, Maryse was gorgeous, the drunk werewolf gave me much joy, and I loved them all actually going on regular missions this episode. The Alec/Jace and Alec/Izzy scenes were also great even though the Izzy one made me sad *sigh*
I can’t wait to see what we have coming for us next week! More pain I’m sure. Remember when Malec was babysitting, strolling around Chinatown, and having sexy sparring sessions? Yeah…those were the good old days😐 😂