Things I look forward to in ‘Chain of Gold’

We are officially one week away from the release of Cassandra Clare’s long anticipated Chain of Gold! It’s the sequel to The Infernal Devices, which concluded in March 2013, and now, almost seven years later, we’ll get to read about the children of the beloved Infernal Devices characters, see old friends, and go on new adventures. Cassie has been sharing a lot of information about her new books set in Edwardian London over the past years – look out for an overview of the most important things she revealed this coming Sunday – so I sat down and thought of some things I can’t wait to read about.

Here’s what I’m looking forward to in Chain of Gold and The Last Hours in general:

1. The mystery surrounding Jesse Blackthorn

Okay, so what is the deal with Jesse B.? We know that he’s dead because of Magnus’s findings in The Midnight Heir, but we also have this snippet (“Jesse sighed and looked up at the chandelier. “I have two ages,” he said. “I am twenty-four. And I am sixteen.”) and then there is this mysterious paragraph in October’s flash fiction: “She [Lucie] never blamed Jessamine for not knowing there was a fourth kind of spirit. Even if Jessamine had known, she could not have prepared Lucie for the fact that meeting him would change her life forever.” The last line mentions a male character, so Jesse could be a ghost, but why is the art he’s been in showing him as a regular person and not as a ghost?
There is also the whole ‘Lucie married Jesse’ issue aka what we know or are led to believe from Clockwork Princess’ family tree. Yes, we do know that not everything is correct on this found object, but some things have to be, right?
I think it’s pretty save to say that there is a connection between the Herondales and the Blackthorns because in City of Heavenly Fire’s epilogue it’s specifically mentioned that Tessa “had a particular interest” in the Blackthorns. This would make perfect sense if the Blackthorn kids were descendants from Tessa’s daughter Lucie.
There’s still the whole ‘Jesse died/is dead’ problem, though, and I think it’s possible that we’ll get to see a successful resurrection in TLH. Of course, it’d be a bit unusual for no one to mention this – “Hey, remember how great-grandpa Jesse was brought back to life?” – but maybe this was hidden by the Clave or more likely the people who were involved? We will see but I’m excited to meet Jesse!

2. Matthew Fairchild after Cast Long Shadows and Every Exquisite Thing

Oh, Matthew! My heart broke for him in Cast Long Shadow and Every Exquisite Thing didn’t lessen my feelings for him. He is carrying an unbearable and unthinkable weight on him and in EET we had an inkling of how it affected him. How/what is James’s parabatai like two years later? Will he have confided in anyone or will he be suffering all alone? I really want him to be okay.

3. Charlotte as Consul

Who isn’t excited to see Charlotte Fairchild as consul? A female Shadowhunter in the highest position the Clave has? I’m pumped to see Charlotte in this position and hopefully she’ll kick some ass and make sure that the whole Clave is more progressive! Let Charlotte show the men what a woman is capable of! Charlotte = boss woman for me. 😊

4. Will Herondale

My love for William Owen Herondale is no secret so I am immensely excited to see Will in TLH! He’s happily married to Tessa, has two lovely children and his loyal friends – what more could we have wanted for this sarcastic yet lost boy in TID? I can’t wait to see a more mature Will now, although I hope we’ll still get to see him talk about ducks and demon pox. 😀
Seeing Will as a father is certainly going to be very exciting and my fingers are crossed for some cute dad moments and maybe one or two romantic moments between Will and Tessa. This Wessa shipper can hope, right?

5. Friendship moment between Will, Magnus and possibly Henry

Magnus and Will became friends when Magnus helped with Will’s ‘curses’ and from The Midnight Heir we know that Will and Tessa always spoke fondly of Magnus. He was also crucial to Henry’s invention of the Portal and these two often wrote letters to stay in contact.
Magnus is bound to return to London/appear in TLH so I hope Cassie will give us some moments with Magnus and Will or even Magnus, Will and Henry.

6. Lucie’s demon power

So far we only know that Lucie does have some kind of power and that it’s different from James’s. It’ll be interesting to see what Lucie can do thanks to her demon grandfather. Will her power be useful and will she be able to control it?

7. James and Matthew’s friendship

You could argue that James and Matthew have big shoes to fill after Will and Jem’s closer than brothers relationship. Will and Jem are #goals but do we really want a Will and Jem 2.0? James and Matthew are very different characters so their friendship is bound to be different as well. I have no doubt that these two will be very close and have some awesome parabatai moments. They both know how special ‘Uncle Jem’ was and still is to Will, so I’m sure the boys will cherish and always support each other.

8. Lucie and Cordelia’s friendship

We’ve seen these two in Cassie’s flash fictions and know Will is basically delighted that his daughter is going to become parabatai with a Carstairs. Lucie and Cordelia wrote lots of letters over the years and only met occasionally. What will Lucie and Cordelia’s friendship be like once the girls are actually together? Similarly close as Emma and Cristina’s from The Dark Artifices or totally different yet still awesome? I can’t wait to read about the first female parabatai in Cassie’s Shadowhunters universe (I’m not counting Julie and Beatriz because they weren’t primary characters)! It’ll also be nice to see two sets of parabatai in one book series and how these two differ.

9. James and Cordelia’s relationship

Do I/we barely know anything about these two? Yes. Do I still ship them? Yes! We know that Cordelia has been in love with James for a very long time and we also know that they are going to get engaged because of a “reasonable reason.” I can’t wait to find out this reason, but I’m so much more interested in finding out whether James will also fall in love with Daisy eventually so that their marriage becomes a true love marriage. I think reading about James realizing that he truly loves his wife would a lot of fun. Please give me some cute Jordelia scenes, Cassie! 😊

10. The old The Infernal Devices gang

Raise your hand if you can’t wait to see glimpses of Will, Tessa, Jem, Henry, Charlotte, Sophie, Gideon, Cecily and Gabriel! I know these characters aren’t the main characters this time but I hope we’ll still get to see their lives one way or another. How is Charlotte doing as Consul? Is Will still borrowing Gabriel’s carriage without asking? Are Tessa or Will going to mention books they’ve read? Are there any new and cool inventions thanks to Henry?
They have overcome so much and I hope they are all happy. 😊

11. Grace and Tatiana Blackthorn

From what Cassie has shared online so far and also from rereading The Midnight Heir, I can’t say that I’m a fan of these ladies. Tatiana is as mad as a hatter – I’m pretty sure that’s a Will Herondale quote – and Grace is just so mysterious. Who are her parents? What is up with her and James? Tatiana seems like a lost cause, but maybe there is hope for Grace and I will end up liking her. I’m doubtful right now but Cassie is just so good at writing questionable characters that you still somehow like.

12. Alastair

Let’s face it: Alastair was a jerk to James, Matthew, Thomas and Christopher. He was a bully and said some really horrible things to James and Matthew (see Nothing But Shadows and Cast Long Shadows). He’s going to see a lot of the Herondales once he’s in London and it’ll be interesting to see how he’ll interact with his former school mates. There’s no doubt that he’s going to be around James since their sisters are going to be parabatai. Is it possible for the boys to become friends or at least friendly after all that’s happened or will their animosity stay?

13. Anna (as a heartbreaker)

Anna has sworn to never have her heart broken again, but will she succeed or will there be another young woman who turns her head like Ariadne Bridgestock turned hers in Every Exquisite Thing?
I love how confident Anna was the end of the short story and judging from the snippets and Cassie’s tumblr posts, she is beloved by her family and friends. She doesn’t seem to give a damn what other people think of her and she just lives her life like she wants to. It’ll be interesting to see how the other Shadowhunters/the Enclave react to and treat her.

So this is my list and now I want to know from you, what are you looking forward to in Cassie’s new book/trilogy? Sound off in the comments below or share your list with us on Twitter (@TMI_Source)!

Chain of Gold hits book and online stores next Tuesday!