'Shadowhunters' Season 3: EP Teases 'Dark' Clary

by Diane Samson / Aug 28, 2017 01:52 PM EDT

Clary (Katherine McNamara) is no longer the nice, innocent girl that fans were introduced to in the pilot episode of Freeform's "Shadowhunters." According to co-showrunner Todd Slavkin, the urban fantasy teen series will explore the character's "dark" side in Season 3.

Clary has entered the point of no return in the previous season's finale. Not only did she kill her own father, Valentine Morgenstern (Alan Van Sprang), she repeatedly stabbed the rogue Shadowhunter until he lies lifeless on the ground.

Jocelyn's (Maxim Roy) daughter has really grown up to become the hero she was meant to be, and fans will see her even more fierce and brave in "Shadowhunters" Season 3. In an interview with TV Line, Slavkin talks about how the finale changed Clary.

"We can't say enough about Kat McNamara's performance throughout the entire finale. In that fight, her ferociousness and her relentlessness at killing him felt like this was a huge move forward with this character," he explains. "Clary will never be the same after this. Both of her parents have died, and she's the one who killed her father. There's no going back to the little 18-year-old talking about art school. She's embracing her Shadowhunter heritage more than ever."

This new version of Clary might be different from what fans are used to, but it could also help her in the long run. To recall, while the threat of Valentine is over, Clary is still to face her biggest opponent yet.

The season finale of "Shadowhunters" introduced Jonathan Morgenstern (Will Tudor), the real son of Valentine who has demon blood running in his veins. In the same interview, Slavkin clarifies that Sebastian Verlac is really dead but the man who took his identity, Jonathan Morgenstern, might still be out there.

"Book fans will know about the destiny of Jonathan Morgenstern," he teased. "B]ut for the fans who haven't read the books, we don't want to tip that."

She also has to deal with Jonathan's mother, Lilith, who appeared in the second season finale. How she will figure into "Shadowhunters" Season 3 remains to be seen.

Freeform has already renewed "Shadowhunters" for Season 3, but no premiere date has been announced as of this writing. Fans can likely expect new episodes of the teen fantasy drama in 2018.