A DIFFERENT WORLD HOLDS THE KEY TO FINDING VALENTINE: Clary finds herself in a strange reality.
Clary and Jace get a tip from Meliorn that they can find Valentine by locating a portal in another dimension, but only Clary can venture into this new world. What Clary finds in this alternative universe is that life there is as if the threat of demons no longer existed and Shadowhunters were no longer needed. While she realizes that this dimension is the life she always dreamed of, Clary must act fast or she will lose herself in the alternative world forever.
Meanwhile, Alec and Isabelle must face the consequences of the Downworlder attack.—-
Tropes:
- Alternate Self: Clary and later Jace displace their alternate selves when they enter the other universe. Clary meets the alternate selves of Alec, Izzy, Simon, Jace, Magnus and her parents, and sees Luke and Hodge in a commercial for Magnus's psychic readings.
- AU Alec is an event planner who is much more comfortable with his sexuality than his main counterpart, is less of a Straight Gay in his mannerisms, and starts pursuing AU Magnus as soon as they meet.
- AU Valentine never turned evil, is Happily Married to AU Jocelyn, and runs a tech company where AU Izzy works as a developer, which is this dimension's "Institute".
- AU Izzy is less elegant than her main counterpart and instead Endearingly Dorky, with glasses and a Star Wars T-shirt, and is implied to have a crush on Valentine although she's dating Simon.
- AU Jace is a barista with his own food truck, Java Jace, which replaces the Java Jones coffee shop we're familiar with. He and Clary are dating.
- AU Simon is practically the same as his main counterpart, since he was never a Shadowhunter in either world. He's still Clary's best friend, although there's no indication he still has a crush on her, he's dating Izzy, and he and Clary's boyfriend Jace are buddies. He's still a musician and performs at the Institute party Valentine and Izzy are hosting that Alec organized. And of course, since he hasn't gotten involved in the supernatural world through Clary because she isn't involved in it herself, he hasn't been turned into a vampire.
- AU Magnus is still a warlock, since parentage has to be the same across parallel worlds, but hasn't done serious magic in a long time and needs to take a pick-me-up potion to re-galvanize his powers to assist Clary. He's been making his living performing psychic readings to help people find their paths in life. Per his TV commercial, he helped AU Luke and Hodge, who now have their own bookstore and dojo, respectively.
- There's not much about how the AU Clary that Clary displaced differs from Clary as she was at the beginning of the series, except that she was raised by two Happily Married parents (Valentine and Jocelyn) and has a larger group of friends than just Simon.
- Alternate Universe: Clary is taken to a world where she and her Shadowhunter friends grew up with mundane lives because demons were defeated a long time ago and Shadowhunters were no longer needed, while Downworlders have disguised themselves as mundanes.
- Foreshadowing: There's no indication of AU Clary and Jace being related.
- In Spite of a Nail: Clary's circle of friends in the alternate universe where there are no Shadowhunters still consists of Simon, Alec, Izzy and Jace.
- Mythology Gag:
- During AU Magnus's commercial, Luke says that he owns a bookstore, having quit the police force on Magnus's advice. In The Mortal Instruments, Luke ran a bookstore.
- AU Simon and Isabelle are dating, as in the books. In the TV show, this doesn't happen in the main universe until near the end of the series.
