Cassandra Clare shares two confusing ‘Lord of Shadows’ snippets
Source: Cassandra Clare’s Pinterest
Cassandra Clare is spoiling her fans these days. Lady Midnight, the first book in her The Dark Artifices trilogy, has been on shelves for 18 days now and we have already gotten a couple of snippets from book two, Lord of Shadows.
DO NOT GO ON READING IF YOU HAVEN’T FINISHED LADY MIDNIGHT YET!
There is a spoiler in the following paragraph.
Cassie has been answering fan questions about Lady Midnight for a while now and since there are a lot of characters in the first book, fans are divided in regards to shipping/new couples. One character that is stuck in a love triangle (or maybe even a love square?) is Mark Blackthorn. Some fans ship Mark with Cristina (myself included), others ship him with Kieran. Of course the shippers want to know whether their ship is endgame, but Cassie is “the Iron Man of no spoilers” so she is staying mum. To confuse her fans, she just shared two very opposite snippets on her tumblr.
“I know.” Mark brushed his lips across her forehead. Cristina could feel his heart pounding. “We’ll figure it out. We’ll fix it.”
***
Kieran sat up rather reluctantly. The waves of his hair had lightened to blue; he turned around, and leaned back against Mark, rather as if they were on horseback and Mark was behind.
Who do you ship? Marktina or Kierak? If you mention spoilers in the comments please give a short spoiler warning for other readers.
TMI Source 
Mark and Cristina.
SPOILER-ISH – BE WARNED!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kierak though I hate to say it. I think Christina should be with Perfect Diego because I liked how they communicated with each other in Lady Midnight and it would be cute if they ended up together despite all that’s happened. It would be like true love finally realized!
Mark doesn’t seem to love Kieran as much as Kieran loves Mark. It’s almost like Mark only was with Kieran because there was no one else in the Hunt who was kind to him or would defend him. And now that he has his family, he might not want to go back to Kieran at all and Kieran knows that.
Kieran just seems broken and wants someone who will stay with him forever since everyone else has abandoned him or been mean. I don’t like what he did in Lady Midnight, but to some degree I can understand (that doesn’t mean it’s right though AT ALL). I still can’t get over what he did, but I’m not going to be very spoilery and I can’t say that I hate him either. The more Lord of Shadows snippets there are, the worse I feel for him and the more I hope he finds someone who’ll be with him forever if Mark won’t. He is definitely the most mysterious character and I hope he plays a big role in the series!
Toodles!
I love Kieran and Mark, but I have to agree: Mark only loved him because he was the only person who was kind to him. I think it is more likely–and probably more happy ending-y–that we see Mark with Cristina. But I definitely agree: Kieran deserves to be with someone who will love him forever!
*SPOILER ALERT*
But, guys, we are forgetting over here how heartbroken Mark was when Kieran betrayed him… He truly loves Kieran and wants to forgive him but he can’t because of what happened to Julian and Emma. But I think that towards the end of the series, the both are going to return to Faerie but at the same time will also not be bound by the laws of the Hunt.
Kierak!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KIERAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (my names kieran btw) (find me a mark and ship us lol) (i have a boyfriend, hes so my mark)
He should be with Emma 😆 before the books come out, I wanted them together. Only because she couldn’t be with Jules.. But if they somehow find a way around the law, I would definitely want Emma and Julian to be together!!
Kierak!!! So hard!!!!
“Remember that a blade made by Wayland the Smith can cut anything,” maybe this includes a parabatai bond? She could use it to sever their runes?
Yes! That would be so cool! My imagination has spouted several ways they could sever the bond, but that’s a really good one. Other ones I’ve thought of would be:
1. One of them dies + resurrects. Okay, unlikely, but still.
2.One of them becomes a silent brother. Probably not this one, as it’s what happens in TID.
3. Random spell/ magical event.
… I’ll see if anyone’s come up with anything else.
Or Emma straight out disfigures the parabatai rune with the Wayland Smith blade
True true
But they also have the Black book remember
Kierak! I love them together. After reading The Lady Midnight, i understand why Kieran did what he did, though i don’t agree. But sometimes one does stupid things when one is desperate. I also agree that Kieran loves Mark more than Mark loves him. Maybe Mark just wanted a friend when he had no one. And sometimes this is confused with love. I just hope there is a chance for the two of them to really be together. And if in the end it will not be them together, then i hope Kieran meets someone who will love and stay with him.
On Christina, i hope he and perfect Diego be together. They are for me a perfect couple.
For Emma and Jules, there must be a way out of this parabatai thingy. There is always a first for everything, just look at Malec. I being optimistic as i like them both.
Mark and Cristina. She studied faerie so understands Mark and what he went through better than anyone.. It’s way too comfortable and easy for her and Perfect Diego to be together having been together previously and coming from the same country etc.
I think Kieran’s going end up feeling betrayed or end up like Yuno Gasai from Mirai Nikki! TBH I don’t think Christina and Mark would actually be that good together nor do I think Kieran and Mark would be. Mark doesn’t love Kieran in the way Kieran loves Mark, it almost seems like Mark likes Kieran as a best friend or maybe even family but Kieran loves Mark as if Mark was the only thing keeping Kieran alive. Mark can’t return Kieran’s love. I feel sorry for Kieran, he was really cute. The weird thing is they are really similar. Mark is likely the only person to ever show Kieran true loyalty even true love, I think until Mark came, Kieran was only love/respected for being the king’s son or at least felt that way and his father basically sold him like a pawn. As with Mark when he joined the Wild Hunt the only person their to love him or show loyalty to him was Kieran, Mark was only really respected because of being half shadowhunter. They weren’t made to be lovers. Kieran is going to shatter like glass if he isn;t careful.
I think that Emma and Mark would be a perfect match instead if struggling with Julien why not be with the brother his both handsome and definitely talks like a true poet. Mark seems to know what he wants and he speeks from the heart I like he doesn’t stand for people who try and hurt his family understandable. I think Mark should forgive Keiran so they can be friends.
Hell no Emma and Julian are in love and they will find away to be together.Getting with Mark instead is wrong.Just no.
The choice is so difficult!! I ship Kieran and Mark, but I ship Christina and Mark more. BUT I also ship Christina and Perfect Diego, and I ship them more than I ship Christina and Mark. My shipper heart is so divided right now!!!
I actually don’t think that Mark could have a lasting romantic relationship with Kieran or Christina, though I can see Christina and Perfect Diego possibly staying together for a while.
Mark x Cristina. Their bond felt natural and genuine and it didn’t come from pain, loneliness and dept. While I enjoyed the Kierark chemistry, they didn’t click as much for me. I also have to admit that Kieran trying to take away his free will was the one thing that convinced me that I do not ship them.
Still the only ships I would not be ok with are Mark x Emma and Diego x Cristina.
MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY. I hated the whole “You either choose me or your family who you’ve been separated from for years scene.” Completely un-sexy for me. I don’t care if you ARE a beautiful, tortured faerie boy. Plus, with Cristina, Mark got to feel more human and have natural conversations where he just opened up to her. (Sorry, I know i’m like super late).
Mark and Cristina!
Marktina!!!!!
Ugh I feel so conflicted!!! The only ship I am for sure on board with is Julian x Emma! I don’t really know about Mark and Kieran, for I didn’t like what Kieran did to Mark. As for Mark and Christina, I’d have to read some more scenes between them to determine my feelings, and as for Christina and Diego, it’s clear that they really care for each other, but as others have mentioned, it would be a pretty easy relationship.
Mark and Kieran for sure! I like Christina much more with Diego.
I CAN’T CHOOSE! I really like Mark. Kieran likes him and he likes Kieran too. But Mark was jealous about Cristina and Diego’s kiss. AUGH! Um. I think I would choose Cristina tho. Cuz Im still a teeny bit mad at Kieran for telling Iarlath (ugh that rat) to whip Julian.
I do hope for Mark and Kieran but i won´t put my hopes high. For more that Cassie is fair to LGBT character in her books, i don´t think she will go for Kieran and Mark. She spend too much time on Mark and Cristina – thou i cannot see for the life of me their chemistry.
And the whole Christina seeing Mark and Kieran and Mark jealous of cristina and diego makes me think that Cassie already have her end game there. 😦
At least, i can feel happy for Jemma! 🙂
Spoilers!
I truly hope Kierark, because I loved Kieran so much, and he seems like such a broken character. I’m headcanoning that Lord of Shadows is Kieran’s father, the Unseelie King, so hopefully we get more Kieran in this book. Cassie always treats her LGBT characters well, so I’m hoping Kieran won’t die, but I could see him sacrificing himself for Mark. I shipped Christina with so many people in this book, but I like where she ended up with Diego; they seem cute together!
Tbh, I don’t really know anymore- throughout the book I loved all the Kierark moments and wasn’t the fondest of Christina, but I just can’t see Mark and Kieran working out, as much as I want them to. I think that Mark seems to be confusing love for Kieran with friendship, at one of the toughest points in his life. Despite this i do think Kieran really does love Mark, though I think he’s a bit controlling- with trying to get him punished to return to the hunt, I really don’t know anymore, I guess I’ll just have to wait and see what Cassie does!
Mark and Cristina!…?
Ugh
Marktina they had a great chemistry and I think Mark was lonely and Kieran was there when he needed him it’s more love out of necessity than actual true love
Am I the only one who ship the Julian/emma/mark love triangle? I mean yeah at the end I want emma and julian together but while I would LOVE her to be with Mark
I think that it would a crazy book to read if this happened but it is a Cassandra Clare book so that’s bound to happen anyway.
I liked Christina with Diego, they have chemistry and friendship. A love triangle is good in a book some times but sometimes I like love to be easy and natural. As for Mark and Kieran I read someone comment he’s mistaking friendship with love, real love is friendship and they are both attracted to each other. But I don’t think either one is ready for a commitment yet. I’d like to see Mark be single for awhile and get closer to his family. Then down the road maybe Kieran or maybe some we haven’t met yet.
Kierark all the way! At first, I loved Markstina too much, but boom. Kieran came, and I love his character too much. I mean seriously Cassie? Ocean coloured hair? I so love him. My favourite ship in TDA so far is Cristiego. It’s really natural to me, and I feel bad for Diego (I also LOOOVE his character. “Perfect Diego.”) but I’m fairly sure Markstina and Drusilla & Diego will end up together. *cries for Kieran*
I never even considered Drusilla & Diego. But isn’t Drusilla only 13? And Diego is, like, 17 or 18? I was thinking it might be Livvy + Diego? since Livvy is 15 and therefore closer to a serious age . . . Idk man. Every ship in TDA leaves me with a feelings headache. Can’t wait for Lord of Shadows!
Anyone else banging their head against a wall?
I definitely ship Kieran and Mark over Mark and Cristina because, yeah I agree that it seemed like mark stuck with Kieran because of his kindness towards Mark, but remember *SPOILER* the whipping scene in the book! MEGA HEARTBREAK FOR BOTH KIERAN AND MARK RIGHT THERE! 😪😩💔 plus I just really love the general friendship and relationship between Kieran and Mark and would be absolutely ECSTATIC if they really did end up together ❤️💞
I’m not sure. Cristina and Perfect Diego have not done anything wrong to the other. So Mark and Cristina’s sparkling ship is postponed. I don’t necessarily like Kieran. He is too self-centered, and I haven’t truly forgiven him even though I see where he was coming from at the time. But the best option was to shut up, nothing he said was good. When Julian stepped up he should have said nothing. He should have considered how Mark felt emotionally not ‘Yay everyone but Mark!’ He could of at least hid his relief for Mark’s sake.
Needless to say Mark and Cristina.
Is Kieran here the same one that Izzy Lightwood had as a boy friend?
No, that was Meliorn. He was just a Faerie knight whereas Kieran is a Faerie prince.
Kierark, obviously
Mark and Cristina.I think she would be good for him.I don’t trust Diego or Keiran.What happened in Fairy should stay there.
I actually ship Mark and Emma… I know most of you probably wants to kill me, but guys don’t you think they would be a beautiful couple together? Of course, my OTP stays Emma and Julian, and I see Emma and Mark just as an “experience” for them, but honestly I’ve shipped them since the prologue of COHF. But if I had to choose from Kieran and Christina, I would probably choose Christina. I like Kieran,, but I think what he did to have Mark back with him (let Julian and Emma being whipped) is a truly selfish gesture, and so I don’t think he deserves Mark anymore.
I only ship Jemma for now. Think I must “know” about Mark a little bit more and understand his feelings.
But, I must confess I didn’t like Kieran very much at first.
Mark and Christina definitely! They’ve become my biggest ship for the Dark Artifices so far. After everything that Mark’s been through Christina comes in and it’s just this simple love and trust between them that I can see truly growing into something so beautiful. Mark had Kieran in the hunt and I think that that was very important and I’m glad that he did have someone, but I feel like their relationship is a bit unhealthy. I don’t totally hate Kieran, but some of the things he’s done are hard to forgive, and even then I could never be with someone who would do that to my family. Kieran is a broken man that I’m interested in learning more about, but I really didn’t like him with Mark. They have a bond, but the romance kind of made me uncomfortable. Whenever there was those little Marktina moments, I was squealing in delight. Those two really make me happy.
All that being said, I’m afraid that Mark and Kieran are probably going to end up together, just as Cristina with probably end up with perfect Diego. There was far more with Kieran and Mark together and the same with the other two. I like Diego, but with Cristina it just seems to obvious and boring. And as I’ve said, the Mark and Kieran romance just doesn’t feel right to me at all. I really hope I’m wrong and Cassie surprises us…MARKTINA FOR LIFE!!!
Kieran + Mark.
Christina and Mark! Would be perfect together as she helps Mark become Himself again. I think she’s who he truly ants and I thinks she wants him too!
Kierak 🙂 and Jemma
I am going to choose Kierak – My reason for that is: Every love is complicated and somewhat confusing. Kieran, I can see, love Mark and cares so much for him that he would even stay around Nephilims and do whatever is been told. He did for sure very stupid thing, but Mark felt heartbroken when Kieran betrayed and I’m sure he is trying to think about his choices, Kieran however is willing to prove himself worthy. What I am trying to say is every love has problems even theirs, so my reason for shipping more Kierak is because I think Mark really loves him but because he is disappointed he wants to check if Kieran will do some same shit again.
Have you guys read Lord of Shadows yet?
I am devastated, shattered, by the ending.
Reeling.
Only Game of Thrones can ease the pain I carry from this ending- Draw nearer, July!
First, it always astounds me how much better and better as a writer Cassandra Clare keeps becoming.
In LoS, she has broken my heart.
I had no idea how invested I was in some characters until they died.
At first, I was struck by this death that seemed so reckless, so, unnecessary.
Then the more I thought about it, the more it struck me how, still senseless and tragic it was, but how much it will change the characters in it.
The lengths they will go to to bring this person back.
The way they will re-shape the world because of this death.
Everything has changed.
This is the best book ever. I can not say enough good about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
is there going to be another book about the shadowhunters? the last book, lord of shadows seemed unfinished.
Of course!! The last book in The Dark Artifices is called Queen of Air and Darkness and it’s going to be published on December 4, 2018!
You can read a first synopsis on our website – just have a look around to find it – but beware of spoilers!