Alec and Jace Parabaiti part two Shadowhunter's.
Trigger warnings for talking about self-harm
This is a continuation of the series about Jace and Alec as I seemed to find that I didn't think I had a good handle on this relationship. It seems to be so complex and again when Clary comes into the world things change for everyone so we see that Jace was in with Izzy about the mission to save Melorne a Seeley from the city of bones, and we see that Alec can't control his anger towards Jace as Part of the vow that they took was, to be honest with each other and Jace has been lying to Alec he has been going behind his back putting the institute at risk and at this point, Lydia is in charge so Alec is feeling frustrated lost, and angry at his closest friend essentially ditching him for a girl that he barely knows. We see that Jace knows that Alec was in love with him and that under all of that masking he is scared.
However, this is the point where Alec is straight down the line and will act by the Law as we know that the shadow hunters have a saying that " The law is hard but it's the Law," yet it does seem to be able to be interpreted to have compassion at times. Yet we see that Jace seems to support Izzy in running this clandestine mission and it shows that the Downworlders and the Shadowhunters can really work together when the chips are down. Something that becomes important in later episodes of the show as it shows how complex the relationships can get and it is a mirror into how complicated the "real world," is I don't like the framing of the "real world," as we all live in a world and it's how we see and through what world view we see ourselves but we see that when we can change how we see the world we see what I would consider being a more realistic view, than what we see. Being able to change and educate ourselves on a topic is a great thing. Even after our formal schooling as I don't like people saying when you hit the real world, do we not think that school is real. This is where we see that the shadow world that the advantage is that people can be made to believe that it's not real.
As we see that this is Alec operating from a very fragmented worldview as he sees that the Law is the only way and that the others are doing the wrong thing as this comes from a place where he has built his whole identity around being a shadow hunter and this is where his self believe comes from. Yet we do see that Meliorn can escape and can pay back the "life debt," to Clary and we see the alternative dimension. I have a post on this dimension in early posts.
The clip below shows that they still have a strained relationship as Clary's mother did try to exploit this relationship and left Alec unconscious and Magnus strained himself to keep him alive.
We see that Alec is in a really dark place emotionally and we see that he blamed himself for things that he really didn't have any control over, that he couldn't save Jace from, valentine, the city of bones, that he was responsible for letting a demon in and during being possessed by that demon we see that he killed Clary's mother ( Joslyn)
He is self-harming in a way that he is focusing on his archery when we know that he doesn't need to be we also see that Jace knows what he is going through as they are bonded that they can feel each other's physical and emotional pain. Something, in reality, is called mirror-touch synaesthesia. Yet we see that in a way Jace and Alec don't need to even be in the same room to feel each other's pain. Or They could also be considered to be empaths in the way that we see people able to almost sense another's need before they even ask but wait until they are asked.
This is him letting his anger explode and we do wonder how long has he been living with this anger and how has it been allowed to get this far? In answer to this question that Shadow hunters are trained that emotions are nothing but a distraction and to control them.
Yet we see by having this black and white all or nothing thinking it's not actually good for anyone in the Shadow world. This then presents the question of how they control their emotions and how are they guided in life if the Law's that they live by are inherently unjust, at times to the downworlders and open to a large amount of abuse as we will see when I get around to doing the work for Izzy's kangaroo trial.
We also see that the conflict that is in Alec in his worldview is shaped by a sense of obligation and moral responsibility. However they are born to be the protectors of the "mundane world," and the Down world however what his responsibility is hard to define and we see Alec discussing this with Magnus at a later date.
To my perception, we also see a low level of emotional blackmail from Jace who has grown up with a high level of self-belief because he was passed by Maryes and given everything as he was a "Traumatised," Child. I do believe that this is at some points acceptable but at others. It annoys me because when we see it play out in reality we see that siblings grow to resent the other siblings and until recently in disability circles, they didn't consider the siblings now thanks to a change in thinking we see that they do a whole family support system so the siblings can have attention away from the disabled or foster child.
The way that he is talking shows a large amount of what we would call cognitive dissonance and this we see in very conflicted people whose image and identity are built around structure and when this structure falls we see that they have a disconnect between who they believe themselves to be and who they really are as this is before Alec is out of the closet.
He is rationalizing what he is doing as it's by the law yet at the same time there is the disconnect that he still feels guilt for what he can't control therefore we see that the guilt he lives with is a secondary emotion only to anger. This is him letting his anger explode and we do wonder how long has he been living with this anger and how has it been allowed to get this far
After this clip in the episode, he escapes to Magnus's place and can process his emotions as we see that his hands are still bleeding we see that this guy is almost a white savor complex in that he wants to save everyone as that is his mission in life, yet we know we can't save everyone from themselves the need to want to be saved. We also see that people do care for Alec but he won't let anyone but Jace and Magnus into his personal life something that is a very unhealthy thing to do is to be a loner. This complex is Alec's mission in life but we know that something is missing and we do see that Magnus says straight up to Alec that there will always be a mission and a problem to solve but if you don't make time for the things you care about you will forget why you are fighting at all. Something that I needed reminding of due to the move and being so driven to establish myself after some physical and mental health issues.
The complexity of this relationship is challenging for me to talk about as it show's how complex friendship's can be due to people's perceptions and not reality as Jace for a while didn't want to be saved and this has played on Alec's mind we see that Alec over think's a typical symptom of anxiety.
He admits to Magnus that he couldn't face Clary but I do wonder if he could face Jace as well.
We need to remember that Alec has been bought up to believe that his best isn't good enough for his family and it's only through Habituation that he is still able to be functional, as the shadow hunters live in what is a religious community it seems that we are seeing really complex group dynamics at play her as Clary coming into the world has upset the balance in this community. Alec feels this the most as he bares the brunt of the consequences of Jace's and Izzy's decision to seek answers for her. Yet we do see that without her Alec would never have been able to find Magnus.
This sense of Habituation we see plays into Alec's eventual finding of his self-image and being able to achieve actualization as a human / Shadow hunter as we see that it's the Angel blood that gives the shadow hunters the ability to carry out their mission.
We also see that Maxes Rune ceremony they make a vow to uphold the laws of heaven and this in the context of Alec and Jace's relationship is complex as at its core this relationship has to be one of trust and respect and this is showing what happens when this trust is broken as this world plays by similar laws to "Reality," but we do see and it's an underlying question of "What is reality?" as we see that Alec, Jace, and Clary have all been brought up in different worlds but see that this is their reality.
Also through this world, we see that they accept the reality of evil in the world as it's their mission to protect it and the vow of the Parabaiti is essentially a vow that the other person will always have a safe place to land. Yet we see a real gap in the world views of Alec and Jace as we see Alec finally allowing himself to accept who he is we see that Jace seems to think that Alec and he are a package deal.
However, thinking that you are evil and being evil are two very different things as we see some actual demons, and because Jace when he is taken by Valentine he is brainwashed to believe that he is evil. This goes to situational ethics as what you believe about yourself can shape how you see and interact with the world if you believe you are inherently good you will seek out good things for yourself.
If you believe that you are inherently bad you will seek out bad things and punish yourself for them. This punishment may not be deserved as good people can make mistakes and people who believe that they are doing good things can be doing harm to a lot of others.
So we see that the angel that created the shadow hunters and gave them their mission is treated as a god-like figure, yet we see that Clary does see the truth of the wish and sees that it's a curse. Yet we see that it does have consequences for Alec and Jace and this will be my next post on this relationship.
Reading for this post.
Parabatai | The Shadowhunters' Wiki | Fandom
The Council | The Shadowhunters' Wiki | Fandom
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