Freeform announced that their show, Shadowhunters, would conclude after the third season. This left fans from all over the world furious and heart broken. How could this show with a great cast, entertaining storylines, and a dedicated fanbase—termed Angels by the cast—get canceled?
Shadowhunters is a television adaption of Cassandra Clare’s book series, The Mortal Instruments. The show follows Clary Fray as she discovers she is a Nephilim and that it is her destiny to protect the world from the downworlders—vampires, werewolves, faeries, warlocks, and demons—that wish to destroy it. She builds her skills alongside fellow shadowhunters alongside the Lightwood family—Alec, Isabelle, and Jace Wayland. She also has assistance from her mother’s best friend Luke, a New York City detective with his own connection to the supernatural world, and her best friend Simon.
The show came to be after the movie The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013) failed to produce enough hype in the theater and the film series was canceled. Some fans were thrilled to see another go at adapting their favorite story. Other fans were concerned that it wasn’t going to live up to the expectations of the novels. But, after the show premiered, it gathered a loyal fanbase that loved the show. Sure, the first season wasn’t perfect, but as the show progressed so did its quality.
Once the devasting news of the show’s cancel spread, fans–myself included–were heartbroken. How could they take away our opportunity to watch Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane’s relationship develop and strengthen over time? How they could no longer let us watch Isabelle and Clary go to the ends of the earth to fight for their loved ones? So, the fans rallied together. Petitions were signed, Twitter takeovers commenced, and letters were written. But, the most astonishing the thing the fans pulled off was the way they came together. They raised money and purchased time on a Time Square billboard to air a poster that read #saveshadowhunters.
The rest of season three premieres on FreeForm on February 25th and I am not ready for this to end yet.