The Shadowhunter Chronicles/Extras

The subpages listed here contain a compilation of the extras, cut scenes, short stories, and other bonus features or special content within the series, released alongside The Shadowhunter Chronicles or by Cassandra Clare herself. These include deleted scenes, follow-up extra stories shared after series completion, etc.

On this page will be a compilation of said extras not released alongside a specific series but still released by Clare herself.

Note: Text added here belong to Cassandra Clare, and her publishers for some stories, taken from the public domain. They are copied verbatim and is not to be revised in any way.

Better in Black

Texts

A mini-story told through texts between Jace Herondale, Clary Fairchild, Simon Lewis, and Isabelle Lightwood. This was included in Walmart's special edition of Better in Black.

Newsletter

At times, Clare adapts her newsletter into a letter that would exist within The Shadowhunter Chronicles. This is often done for fun during a holiday and sometimes can be considered canonical.

Happy Halloween from Shadowhunter Academy

A missive from Luke Garroway to the residents at the Shadowhunter Academy-In-Exile preparing them for the mundane holiday activities around Halloween time.

source: Cassandra Clare's Halloween 2021 newsletter

Dear Students, Staff, and Faculty,

Welcome to our first autumn at Shadowhunter Academy-In-Exile! It is a beautiful time of year here, a cavalcade of constantly shifting colors, of warm days and cooling nights…and also the time of year when mundanes most engage in strange, magic-related behavior.

Under normal circumstances, of course, the Academy would be operating on its usual grounds in Idris, where mundane customs are nowhere to be found. But here we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of the mundane world, and if you are not used to spending time so close to mundanes, here I’d like to offer some guidance for having the best possible October.

This is the time of year when mundanes around the globe perform rituals and hold festivals dedicated to the powerful non-mundane entities of the world. They do so now because, traditionally, they are offering gratitude to these spirits for the food they’ve successfully grown over the year, and asking support for increased success in growing more in the future. It’s believed that these rituals go back to the earliest days of humanity, when we first began to engage in farming at all, and had to work out agreements and treaties with the Fair Folk around our shared use of the land. (That’s why such rituals are found almost universally around the world.)

As a result, while some of the festivals and customs you’ll see are performed as only frivolous fun, others are taken quite seriously. In addition, because of all this ritual, the veils between worlds really are at their thinnest now.

GHOSTS

Many of you know this already, but the farm is extremely haunted, and everybody is going to be out and about a lot this month. Most of you who can see ghosts will already be familiar with Ol’ Hedriksen, who normally can be found sitting atop the abandoned grain silo hurling insults. In the month of October he may be found also hurling rotten fruit, so I suggest keeping well clear of the grain silo until we are well into Allhallowtide.

The headless horseman might be around. For those of you into mundane literature, yes, this is “the” headless horseman, or at least he claims to be. The best way to handle him is to not act shocked and horrified by his headlessness. That’s just what he’s hoping for. If you remain casual and refuse to respond to his hopeful cackling and gesturing meaningfully at the head under his arm, he will quickly realize he is old news and go try someone else.

There’s a scarecrow out in the wheat field who you might see getting suddenly closer and further away when you blink. That’s Steve, he’s just like that.

FAERIES

There are always a LOT more faeries around in mundane lands in October. Some are here because the veils are thin etc etc but others just like pumpkins and cider. To which I say: who doesn’t? The point is that by tradition, this is a time of year where faeries and mundanes may encounter one another more commonly, and that this is normal for mundanes and doesn’t require interference by us in most cases. The faeries have been doing this harvest-season revelry a long time and they are good at picking their moments. Obviously use your judgment, e.g., cait-shith eerily watching a mundane family from the roofline of a barn, fine; goblins invading a shopping mall food court, we should step in.

OTHER GUIDELINES

I do not need to reiterate that even light necromancy is still necromancy and forbidden by not only the Academy but the actual Law. There are no exceptions to this rule. Any necromancy is too much necromancy.
Mundanes will be putting weird effigies up around their homes. Please check anything BEFORE reporting. To reiterate, please DO NOT report a twelve-foot skeleton demon attacking a mundane house only for the teachers to find it was purchased by mundanes at a local superstore.
Don’t assume everything is NOT real, either, as it would in fact be very clever of an actual twelve-foot skeleton demon to choose this time of year to attack a mundane house. It’s never happened that I know of, but the point is, check before you act.
If you see a procession of reapers around a cart laden with corn, and they invite you to “join them in their dance to the corn mother,” please report them to the main office. We have talked to them about this extensively and they know full well they’re not supposed to bother Shadowhunters. (Mundanes should also be discouraged from participating if they are around, but the Accords contain some weird provisions about corn cults.)
Corn mazes are also best to avoid, since in my experience they tend to lead to the offer of a dance to the corn mother sooner or later; see above.
Another mundane tradition this time of year is to go out into the middle of the woods, somewhere far away from others, and tell stories to one another about ghosts, spirits, demons, and other supernatural evils, for the purpose of scaring one another. In my experience, this may be fine for mundanes but can be stressful for Shadowhunters, who have to face these entities in combat and do not need to use their creative powers to make one another more frightened of doing so. (Drusilla Blackthorn, THIS MEANS YOU.)
Do not get onto any hayrides. Whether mundane or wild fey, these will not be a good time.
If anyone comes to the front door, THEY MIGHT WELL BE A MUNDANE IN A COSTUME. Please make sure you have clarified this BEFORE you start talking about Downworld business, or attacking them as a demon. Once you have confirmed they are a mundane child, you may give them a piece of candy from the bucket next to the door. Do not yourself eat the candy from the bucket. Not because it’s enchanted, but because I don’t want to have to make a return trip to Price Chopper for mini chocolate bars.

Happy Halloween, as the mundanes say —

— Your headmaster, Luke Garroway

Love Spells Are Bad News memo

A memo from Luke Garroway to the residents at the Shadowhunter Academy-In-Exile regarding a love spell that was illegally cast by Dru Blackthorn and Thais Pedroso and caused a number of complications. This letter is referenced in the 25th installment of Secrets of Blackthorn Hall and is tentatively considered canon.

source: Cassandra Clare's Valentine's day 2022 newsletter

Thais and Dru—

Good morning!

Hope that after last night you managed to get some sleep.

We need to talk. I wanted to give you a heads-up that tomorrow morning I will be sending the following memo out to all the students and staff. I won't include your names, but I'd like to see both of you in conference in my office on Wednesday at 9 sharp to discuss what happened and how.

— Luke

Dear Students, Staff, and Faculty,

Love Spells Are Bad News.

As all of you surely know, last night the Academy was briefly overtaken by the effects of a classic “love spell” that grew unmanageable. While—as you also know—magic of all kinds is forbidden to Shadowhunters generally, and that does include the ones who are Academy students, so-called “love spells” are a particularly terrible thing to experiment with, for a variety of reasons. Here are four of those reasons.

1. Love spells are mind control.

There’s no getting around this one. Love spells are neither morally nor ethically acceptable, because they involve changing a person’s feelings against their will. Consider the horror of a demon using such magic to wreak havoc. Even the Spiral Labyrinth, who do not ever usually intervene in the behavior of warlocks, will come down hard on one of their own doing something like this.

2. Shadowhunters don’t do magic.

This is for a reason! It’s not just a point of pride. Shadowhunter history is full of examples of mundanes experimenting with magic, and inevitably it tempts its users to corruption, to power, to controlling others. It’s believed that it is precisely this temptation that caused Raziel to provide us with the magic of the Gray Book and only the Gray Book. (Even there, some runes are unreadable in the book except to Silent Brothers, because of the possibility of tempting the user to evil.)

3. Love spells are imprecise and temperamental.

You are not Magnus Bane! You will be, and now have been, amazed by how easily a spell intended to work on one person can instead grow to an enormous cloud of magic that covers an entire Academy campus.

4. Love spells are disruptive to the community.

This is true emotionally, but also more directly, as we found out last night. And sadly, I must address some of the specifics.

First: you’ll be relieved to hear that official apologies have already been sent to the High Warlock of Seoul as a result of an estimated three hundred fire messages falling on the heads of a certain band during a concert. Also apologies are due to a certain Ms. T. Swift. Details to follow. My conclusion: You must all stop listening to mundane music immediately. It is clearly turning your brains.

Many of you chose to spend the evening singing loudly below the windows of your beloved. Please return all Spanish guitars to the weapons room as soon as possible. No questions asked.

I don’t know how a kissing booth was constructed so quickly, but it is in the process of being dismantled as I write.

None of the spontaneously declared marriages will be recognized by the Clave, or mentioned to your families.

Those of you who have been delivered breakfast in bed from a mysterious benefactor may as well go ahead and eat it. The breakfast itself is likely unenchanted.

Classes are canceled this morning, but will resume this afternoon. The staff will take care of turning away whatever doo-wop groups, singing telegrams, candygrams, etc. were ordered to appear at lunch today. Professor Loss and I will be available in our offices for either personal or relationship counseling for the rest of the day and, I’m guessing, well into tomorrow.

Let this be a learning experience for us all.

Luke Garroway

Hair Memorandum from the New York Institute

Written for April Fool's day, a memorandum from Jace Herondale addressing an Instagram post of Clare's in which she states Jace dyed his hair. Due to its nature, this should not be considered canon.

source: Cassandra Clare's April Fool's 2023 newsletter

MEMORANDUM

FROM: J. C. HERONDALE, NEW YORK INSTITUTE

TO: ALL INSTITUTE HEADS

IN RE: HAIR

Greetings, fellow Shadowhunters, Downworlders, and in-the-know mundanes. Jace Lightwood Herondale here, your favorite Shadowhunter and three-time winner of the Golden Stele for Most Attractive and Sinewy Institute Head^[1]. Recently it has been brought to my attention that I have been the victim of a terrible slander. I present this report today, to be sent in fire-message format to all Institute Heads worldwide: to correct the record, yes, but more importantly to provide a more thorough survey of the relevant information regarding the New York Institute and its main officers.

I. SITUATION REPORT

As you know, a schism has caused our homeland of Idris to be occupied by an insurgent, reactionary faction of Nephilim. This has severed the Clave’s ability to enter Idris and to engage in normal governmental operations. As a result, the New York Institute has become a much more central and important location than ever before. Not only are we now the home office of the Consul-in-Exile, the Headmaster of the Shadowhunter Academy-Also-in-Exile as well as the Warlock and Werewolf representatives to the Council, we are also the closest Institute to said Academy and therefore charged with its defense. As such, the interests of the New York Institute can be said to truly be commensurate with the interests of the Clave at large.

II. THE SLANDER

A most dire accusation has been made against me, and in doing so, it has impacted the morale of my Institute, which, as per §1, is of utmost importance at this precarious time in Shadowhunter history.

Specifically, I have been accused of DYEING MY HAIR.

III. THE RESPONSE

The accusation is, unfortunately, not more specific than this. It is unclear if the accuser means to suggest that I merely add artificial highlights to my hair, or that I use dye to alter its natural hue -- or much more dire allegations. That I, perhaps, actually use bleach to lighten my hair to the blond color for which it is famous across six continents, or even that I might have need to mask the appearance of early-onset gray hairs.

Let me be clear: none of these have any basis in fact. My hair is and has only ever been its own natural shade and tone, inherited genuinely from my parents and untouched by any treatment or modification by magic or chemical. Its thick texture, gentle waves, and brilliant luster are merely the result of good fortune and a regular regimen of washing and conditioning.

To suggest otherwise is to undermine the cause of the liberation of Idris and to weaken the resolve of our allies.

A few, more given to conflict resolution than I, have tried to find a position of compromise, suggesting that it is possible that my hair has been positively affected by the experiments my father performed on me as an infant involving angel blood. It is true that I cannot fully rule out the possibility. But I strongly doubt it, and I believe you should as well, for one can find (through rigorous searching) hair that is nearly as superb as mine even among the mundane population, who obviously have not benefited from any such magics.

IV. RELEVANCE TO THE NEW YORK INSTITUTE AT LARGE

While the slander has been directed solely at me, the other main representatives of the New York Institute are also aggrieved, and feel strongly that an attack on the hair of one of us is an attack on the hair of all of us. To that end, and at their request^[2], I want to provide reassurances regarding the current status of the hair of all of us here. I hope that it will offer comfort and optimism in this dark time. I have provided a helpful letter grade for each of those mentioned here, using the standard measure where “S” is the highest grade, followed by A, B, C, D, F. My own hair will be used as the S-tier standard.

CLARY FAIRCHILD

If anyone on this list qualifies for the highest tier, it is of course Clary Fairchild, the co-head of the Institute and my constant beloved. Her hair is of the finest red color, shining gold in the light and flowing around her face in waves that only serve to highlight the natural blush of her cheeks and the freckles which so fetchingly decorate her face. To look upon Clary is to be reminded of the beauty given to us by the Angel; to run one’s hands through her hair is to weep with the beauty of this world. RANK: S

SIMON LOVELACE

Unfortunately, Clary’s parabatai’s hair has suffered greatly, perhaps the most of any of us, with the rupturing of the Clave. Out of sorrow and discontent he has, unwisely, been dedicating a significant portion of his time to his rock band, in which he plays the electric bass guitar alongside several mundanes (of no other consequence). Under the wretched influence of these mundanes, he has made an attempt at lightening his own hair to create an effect he described to me as “kinda punk and a little emo, but also not.” I cannot tell you what this is intended to mean: only that applying bleaching agents to his previously completely acceptable brown hair has turned it an unpleasant color which Clary has labeled “chromium green.” For the moment, he looks as though he has a dead snake on his head. Both Clary and Isabelle have volunteered to shave the green out of his hair entirely, but he has so far avoided their clippers and announced he will wait for it to grow out naturally. All of us here are looking forward to his full recovery in time; rest assured that, like the loss of Idris, Simon’s appalling appearance is only temporary. RANK: D (under normal circumstances: B).

ISABELLE LIGHTWOOD

As in all things, Isabelle Lightwood’s hair is immaculate and worthy of the great admiration it inspires. The contrast between her and Simon Lovelace is always quite striking, but never more so than now, as her appearance lights up each room she enters while his prompts questions about possible chemical spills and comparisons to a fictional mundane character known as “The Joker.” (Again, his situation is temporary, and we trust he will be restored to full strength soon.) When braided and set for battle, Isabelle’s hair inspires her allies and strikes fear into demons. RANK: S

ALEC LIGHTWOOD

Here we have a curious situation, it is true that Alec Lightwood’s hair is the parabatai to my own. As such, it is attractive, steadfast, brave, and rousing. Alas, while the hair itself is fine material, he simply WILL NOT TAKE CARE OF IT THE WAY I TELL HIM TO. No matter how many excellent products are gifted to him, no matter how many times he is lured into a fine salon with a promise that it is actually an arrow shop, the Consul continues to look as if he cuts his hair in the dark with nail scissors. And yet - allowances must be made. Our Consul struggles beneath a heavy burden of responsibility, by which I mean he has two children who constantly put gum in his hair. Considering all he has to face, I cannot but feel that the hair of Alec Lightwood is hair that one would not hesitate to follow into battle, which is what truly matters. RANK: A

MAGNUS BANE

At this moment in time, Magnus Bane, the Consul’s husband and warlock representative to the Council, has hair that cannot be achieved through mundane or even Shadowhunter means. Though largely black, it is shot through with flecks of gold, and at the tips it faded smoothly to an electric blue that closely resembles the color of his own magic. As always, Magnus takes a look that might not pass muster on a lesser man and makes it not only his own, but a target of envy from all around him. It is widely believed (though denied) that such an effect is what Simon Lovelace was hoping to attain in his recent unlucky tonsorial experiments. That the effect of his hair can only be created so perfectly with the use of magic does not diminish what Magnus manages to achieve here. RANK: A

CHURCH THE CAT

While the oddly long-lived cat known as Church is currently residing in the UK under the care of others, he was a longtime resident of this Institute and is still considered by most of us here as a kind of unofficial mascot. Recent photos have confirmed that, as befits a cat of the New York Institute, Church continues to have a fine, rich coat of the slate-blue color normally associated with his Persian breeding. Despite his usual bad temper, he is a fastidious groomer and keeps himself free of mats and unsightly tufts of shedding fur. His color is set off by his luminous gold eyes, which provide an excellent contrast. His coat presents an excellent picture when seen as a whole, but special consideration should be made to its greatest details, namely the slightly lighter color between his toes, and the tufts that rise from his owl-like ears. RANK: S

V. CONCLUSION

I hope that the thoroughness of the information contained here has brought reassurance and inspiration to all those who receive it. To sum up, my own hair has never been better, and remains entirely natural in its source. The state of the hair of the New York Institute is strong, and with the exception of a single mishap, which we are recovering from, we foresee only positive developments in the domain of our hair in the months and years to come.

Yours in the Name of the Angel,

Jace Herondale

[1]This award was created by Clary Fairchild and is presented once a year on my birthday by a jury consisting of only the most discerning and aesthetically informed Nephilim available: specifically, Clary Fairchild.

[2]Or at least, with only their mildest objection.

Seasons of Shadowhunters

As part of the "Kraig's Retirement Party!!!" tier in the Seasons of Shadowhunters kickstarter, those backers could commission a letter between 500-1,000 words from one character to another written by Clare herself. Clare later shared these letters for public consumption online and are likely not canon.

A letter from Kit to Ty, never sent

source: Cassandra Clare on Tumblr

Ty, Ty, Ty.

Your name looks strange written out like that. Like an abbreviation. But Tiberius would be so formal. I never think of you that way. Or, I suppose I should say, I never thought of you that way. Tenses matter in these situations, I guess.

It’s late, past midnight, and I’m sitting on the windowsill in my bedroom at Cirenworth. Jem and Tessa gave me one of the best rooms. Of course they did. It has a view out over the gardens. Sometimes I see the ghost of a dog there, a golden retriever I’m pretty sure, running in and out of the flowerbeds. He seems like a pretty happy ghost. I think about how much you like animals and how much they love you, because of course they do. But it’s too late; this dog passed away a long time ago. You probably couldn’t even see him. It’s too late for a lot of things, now.

I’m still mad at you, and I don’t feel good about that. Maybe if I could forget, I could forgive. But I can’t forget that night you brought Livvy back. I’ll suddenly remember even when I’m thinking about something else. I’ll be in the middle of helping Tessa in the garden and suddenly I’ll turn around and I’m back in Idris.

I remember I told you I loved you. I remember I told you I would help you, but not if you raised Livvy from the dead. Not if you did necromancy. But you wanted that more than you wanted me.

And I understand that. I’m not angry about that. Here’s what I’m angry about: when you brought Livvy back, you changed yourself. You made yourself a different person than the one I loved. I don’t know the person you are now. You took yourself away from me. I can’t forgive that. And you made me someone who has to keep a secret I never wanted to keep. I was raised by someone who had so many awful secrets, and when I started my life as a Shadowhunter I wanted to do it openly, and honestly. But now I’m just someone else with secrets I can never tell. Just like my dad.

It makes me angry, so angry. I want to yell at you. I wish you were here so I could yell at you.

Kit

A letter from Chairman Meow to Church

source: Cassandra Clare on Tumblr

Church Cat,

My person, the taller one, promised me that he would bring this message to you at your new palatial home in England. He has told me that the palatial home actually belongs to your human, but I do not believe him. That sounds like humanist anti-cat propaganda.

He also said he did not know what a small cat would do with such a large home. Clearly he does not understand us at all. As you know, there are many rooms that can be important in a cat’s domain. There is the room for lying around sleeping in, and the room for chasing mice, and the room for meowing loudly, and room with the best sunspots for napping in, and the room with the best furniture for sharpening claws, and the room where there are most likely to be mice.

This is the second time I have mentioned mice. I must be hungry. I will find my other human and alert him that it is time for the can-opener. Please accept this housewarming gift of a false mouse stuffed with drugs. The humans call it catnip. I’m sure you have enjoyed it before, since you are very old.

Meow,

Meow

A letter from Magnus to Will

source: Cassandra Clare on Tumblr

A letter from Jace to Clary

source: Cassandra Clare on Tumblr

Dear Clary,

You said you wanted me to write you a letter for your birthday, so here I am, writing that letter. At first I thought that maybe you weren’t serious. After all, we live in the same house. We are not separated by time, dimensions, or the turbulent ocean, which are the usual reasons people write letters.

I thought maybe you were being self-effacing, that you just didn’t want me to go to any trouble, especially when we have wedding planning coming up (hopefully soon—since we’re waiting on a peace process, it could be a while).

So I came up with the idea of taking you on a flying motorcycle to see the Northern Lights, but when I suggested it you said no, you only wanted a letter.

I suggested we portal to the south of France and pick lavender and have a picnic, but you said no, you wanted a letter.

I suggested we use our Shadowhunter skills to break into the Met so you could stand in front of every painting for as long as you want, but you said no, you’d rather have a letter.

I suggested we portal to the Tokyo International Anime Fair, because I remembered you saying you’d always wanted to go, but you said no, you’d rather have a letter.

I suggested I could find you the best, most beautiful sword that you’d ever seen, and had your initials carved into it, or a subtle message like “I <3 Jace” but you said no, you’d rather have a letter.

And then I realized that while we have had an amazing time together all these years, and we’ve always gone around the world and seen incredible things, that things are different now. Now there is a shadow hanging over everything, the shadow of the situation in Alicante. And I realized that what you actually wanted is something you can keep with you that reminds you of hope.

So let me tell you, in this letter, why you should hope.

Because no matter what we are facing, we are still us, Jace and Clary. We still have our friends and the people who love us. We have faced so much together, and we have always come out of the darkness into light. And in the end, I believe that love will always win out against hate, because I have faced some of the greatest evil that has ever been known, and the strength I have found in how much I love you has always carried me through. So keep this letter with you, even the in dark moments. Especially in the dark moments. I hope that it brings you comfort to know that I love you more than life itself. And if it doesn’t, remember: You could have had a flying motorcycle ride to see the Northern Lights, and you turned it down.

yours,

Jace