Am I the only one who feels like the discrimination against Downworlders arc in the Shadowhunter Chronicles is being mishandled?
Before I go further, I want to say that I truly adore Cassie Clare and her writing. I've been reading these books for over ten years now, and they mean a lot to me. That being said, I find myself truly conflicted with the direction she’s taking with this aspect of the Shadowhunter universe.
An imperative story arc across the entire chronicles is the oppression of the Downworlders by the Clave and Shadowhunters in general. We have had two major villains, Valentine and the Cohort, motivated by their hatred for Downworlders, and two more, Malcolm and Mortmain, motivated by their suffering due to the oppression of Downworlders.
As we're coming to the end of the series, I am concerned that this arc is not progressing as much as it should have by now, accompanied by the fact that I don't think it's being discussed in-universe in the right way.
A major example of this is the racism (specism?) of the Shadowhunter protagonists. Now, I'm hesitant to bring this up because, simultaneously, it's one of my favourite things Cassie has done with this arc because it's heartbreakingly realistic. The main Shadowhunter characters, despite their heroic qualities, have still been raised in a culture convinced of their own superiority. That doesn't disappear overnight.
So we have these constant microaggressions from the people we're meant to be idealising; Jace calling Magnus "warlock" despite being friends for years, Emma infantising the pixies. Which, I know, might seem small and insignificant, Magnus doesn't seem to mind and the piskies were, admittedly, small and adorable.
Jace winked at Magnus. "Prepare to helped, warlock, whether you like it or not."
~ Queen of Air and Darkness, Chapter 22
But Magnus was also alive prior to the signing of the first accords, when it was borderline enouraged for Shadowhunters to kill Downworlders, and the piskies do seem to possess an advanced intelligence enough that Emma's treatment of them just seems... insensitive.
"I am so ready to hunt down those tiny adorable creatures and give them what for," said Emma. "SO READY."
~ Lord of Shadows, Chapter 20
The issue arises when they aren't called out for it. They're never corrected. Another microaggression that was common in The Dark Artifices was the constant implication from the Blackthorns that Faerie and Fae customs is this brutal, backwards, treacherous culture. Kieran and Gwyn, our resident Faerie main characters, rarely try to combat this narrative even when their partners push it. The one time that Gwyn actually DOES shut that argument down perfectly is at the whipping, in a situation where he's playing the less moral role.
"Careful, boy," rumbled Gwyn. "You have your laws and we have ours. The difference is only we do not pretend ours are not cruel."
~ Lady Midnight, Chapter 22
The ONLY time I've seen these attitudes called out and challenged on a consistent basis is by Simon in Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy.
"I think that's gross," said Simon. "You know, the way you think vampires are."
Julie made a face at him. "You're so sensitive, Simon. Why must you always be so sensitive?"
"You're so terrible, Julie," said Simon. "Why must you always be so terrible?"
~ Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy, Born to Endless Night
That was something I really loved about these short stories, because, to me, they seemed to really confront the main issue of the series head on. And Simon, as a former Downworlder turned Shadowhunter, was the perfect vessel for the discussion. But Simon is no longer a main character, not in any recent series, and not in the future ones.
This further backs up a controversial point of mine that Mark, Kieran, and Cristina should have been the primary characters of The Dark Artifices, as their story more closely correlates with the issues of the series.
But there is a point where the protagnists' microaggressions become less frustrating and more blatantly dangerous. It's set up as the villain's state of mind that Shadowhunters' lives are more important than Downworlders'. That's the core of the Circle's and the Cohort's beliefs. However, there are multiple times where are main characters' completely buy into that
A small detail that I feel is brushed over in the series is the technicalities of the laws regarding Downworlders. Particularly the one where it's confirmed that there are no legal protections on Downworlders having a trial.
"So why isn't there a Downworlder jail?" Simon said. "Why aren't there Downworlder trials?"
"That's not how it works, Simon," Julie said.
~ Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy, The Lost Herondale
This conversation segways off a conversation Simon has with Isabelle when he expressed irritation at her having killed a vampire he was questioning the guilt of. Isabelle doesn't understand what he's having an issue with.
The complete injustice of the law becomes even more frustrating when compared to that of Shadowhunter criminals. A vampire is accused of killing mundanes, the Clave sends an execution party. Maryse and Robert plot against the government, help launch a coup, murder countless Downworlders, and they get promoted to Heads of an Institute. Oh, sorry, 'exiled'.
But nothing hits this nail on the head more than the final battle in QoAaD. Obviously Team Good™ is worried about the potential of harming The Cohort members if there was a violent outbreak. The worry for the Unseelie folk who were literally just following orders from their monarch was less noticable.
"Because these Cohort members are all Shadowhunters," Jace said frankly. "I've been trying not to kill them... but it's a lot harder not killing people than killing them." He sighed and threw a knife at an attacking pixie.
~ Queen of Air and Darkness, Chapter 31
It becomes even more ridiculous when the only law focused on amending Downworlder rights changed on screen (page?) is the right for them to fucking marry Shadowhunters. Because god forbid Shadowhunters can't marry who they want, right Alec?
Look, maybe I'm being a bit too harsh here. Because the Downworlder-Shadowhunter Alliance and Simon and now operating mostly off-screen. But that's my point, they shouldn't be. This is a major arc for the Shadowhunter Chronicles and it feels like we're missing a lot of the victories.
And my worry when looking at the new protagonist group in The Wicked Powers is that there isn't a strong Downworlder voice. Especially with Cassie saying that Faerie/Shadowhunter offspring are technically Shadowhunters. Though I don't really see how, considering they biologically have as many Faerie traits as they do Shadowhunter.
But with Kit primarily identifying as a Shadowhunter, and Ash spending most of his time with Janus, it feels like the two contestants for the FAERIE crown are both more Shadowhunter than Faerie.
Which, if I were a Faerie, would piss me the hell off. I hope Ash’s faerie heritage and CULTURE (he’s a RAISED faerie) isn’t erased.
Maybe this is something that will be addressed more fully in the final series, and I genuinely hope it is. The Downworlder–Shadowhunter conflict has always been one of the most interesting and morally complex parts of this world. I’m excited to see where the story goes, but I also hope it doesn’t shy away from confronting its own central issue.
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