Magnus tries to impress the Lightwoods by throwing a party.  However, there looks to be a party crasher. Here are the highlights from episode 8 titled, “Love Is a Devil.”

Battle Of the Warlocks

Magnus’s party to impress the Lightwoods is crashed by another warlock after his guests begin to hallucinate. The warlock discovers that his spell book is missing and places a protective shield around his loft as he checks each attendee of the party. Coming up with no suspects, he finds himself recalling an old French spell that caused his friends to hallucinate and a certain warlock with a particular fondness to them.

Putting the pieces together, Magnus searches out the mysterious white and orange cat that he had granted refuge that morning. He eagerly searches for the feline with his friends in tow, revealing the true form of the cat, Iris.  She is the same warlock that tricked Clary into a blood oath to bring her mother back from dead, and attempted to use Clary in a failed attempt to impregnate her with a demon/warlock child.

My favorite scene in the episode was the epic warlock showdown. Shadowhunters has stepped up their game with their special effects this season and the fight between Magnus and Iris was something straight out of a big budget action film scene. The fight had me on the edge of my seat and cheering for Magnus to take down Iris. I was clapping with approval as he sent Iris to the clave and how he fought to protect those he cares about.

However, there is still one major problem: Valentine has Magnus’s spell book and can unbind all the spells the warlock has casted. Also it was discovered that Clary has pure angelic blood, and Valentine is looking to use his own daughter to activate the Soul Sword.

Simon and Clary

Looks like everyone’s favorite vampire gained the courage to tell  Clary just how he really feels for her. The two take their friendship to the next level with a kiss and attend Magnus’s party  hand and hand. Their new relationship status sparks a hint of jealousy out of their former crushes Jace and Maia.

This leads to some insecurities from Clary when she sees Simon and Maia kiss through a hallucination. Could moving past friendship to dating cause problems for these two? Time will only tell if old feelings for others will plague the future of their relationship.

Notable Moments:

• Isabel looks to be in more trouble as her addiction to vampire venom has over taken her life. She leaves her better judgement behind as she begs Raphael to bite her after her body goes through withdrawals. Raphael is reluctant at first and even apologizes to the heavens for biting Isabel. She comes back to the handsome vampire a second time as the effects of the his bite wears off quickly. She pleads for him to bite her one last time in order to keep her addiction a secret from her family. Raphael seems to have a soft spot for Isabel and agrees to bite her again. This time with more hunger. All I can say there is nothing good about this development and it’s only a matter of time before Isabel’s addiction is discovered.