City of Bones

Chapter 17 brings the novel’s romantic tension to a head. Jace and Clary’s picnic is an excuse for them to be alone together, and Jace plans it as a romantic gesture. Clary not wanting to leave shows she has feelings for Jace, and the kiss makes both of them realize how much they want to be with the other. Simon’s reaction shows Clary the truth of his feelings, which she’s been unable to see because she only viewed Simon as a friend. Simon leaves because he’s angry with Clary and the situation, but he also feels rejected. Clary doesn’t feel the same way about Simon, which makes her feel guilty. Jace uses quiet anger to cover his hurt at how easily Clary dismissed the kiss. The way all three put aside their anger and pain to retrieve the cup shows that, while emotions are important, sometimes other things take greater precedence.

Clary finds the Mortal Cup hidden in the tarot card here. The runes she uses to extract it are not new, but the Shadowhunters have never seen them used in this way, which suggests this skill is unique to Clary’s family. The Shadowhunters detected no demon energy at the apartment building because Abbadon possessed Dorothea only enough to watch what went on in her apartment. Once Clary extracts the Mortal Cup, Abbadon brings the rest of his essence through the portal, destroying Dorothea and bringing his full might down upon the Shadowhunters. Abbadon demands the Shadowhunters give him the Mortal Cup. Since it is never specified what demons might use the Mortal Cup for, it may be that Abbadon works for Valentine or that the demon wants it to keep it out of Valentine’s hands. Earlier, the portal is referred to as a five-dimensional door that Jace explains can take people anywhere on this plane of existence. Either Jace did not know or did not specify that the portal could go to other dimensions as Abbadon uses it here.

Simon shooting out the skylight makes Jace and the other Shadowhunters realize that humans are not useless. From the vampire bike that stopped working at sunrise, Simon pieced together that demons can’t survive in direct sunlight. Knowing the building better than the Shadowhunters allowed him to aim directly at the dirty skylight, using years of archery to make the shot with one arrow. After this point, Simon is not accepted fully into Shadowhunter society, but he is not sent away either. Since the Clave frowns upon humans knowing their secret, this suggests that Jace and the others are willing to go against the Clave when they believe strongly in something.

These chapters set up the rising action and climactic sequence of the novel. Hodge reveals himself as a double agent who works for Valentine. After the uprising, the Clave banished Hodge to New York and cursed him to never set a foot outside the Institute. Angry because the Lightwoods didn’t receive the same punishment, Hodge made a deal with Valentine that included turning over Jace and the Mortal Cup. Hodge makes Clary’s prison invisible because, despite his betrayal, he cares for her and wants to give her a chance to save herself. The message he throws in the fire is for Magnus, asking him to help Alec. Hodge also never contacted the Clave, and by not doing so here, Hodge shows that he does not want the kids to get in trouble for his actions.

The poem Clary recalls in Chapter 20 is The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot (1922). The poem consists of five parts that expound upon the finality of death and bleakness of World War I. In the line Clary quotes, Eliot partially commented on the trenches used in the war, where soldiers would lie and wait to charge and fire upon the enemy. These trenches are famous for hosting rats, among other vermin, and the specific term Rat’s Alley calls to the illnesses rats brought to the soldiers as well as how disease spread quickly.