Shadowhunters, also known as Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments, is an American supernatural drama television series developed by Ed Decter, based on the book series The Mortal Instruments written by Cassandra Clare. It premiered in North America on Freeform on January 12, 2016. Primarily filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the series follows Clary Fray (Katherine McNamara), who finds out on her eighteenth birthday that she is not who she thinks she is, but rather comes from a long line of Shadowhunters, human-angel hybrids who hunt down demons, and has to deal with the struggle of forbidden love.

The series received mixed responses from critics, but attracted a large audience for Freeform and won several awards, including one GLAAD Award, six Teen Choice Awards and five People’s Choice Awards. The series was canceled after three seasons, but two extra episodes were ordered to properly conclude the story; the second half of the third season premiered on February 25, 2019, with 12 episodes ordered. The two-part series finale aired on May 6, 2019.

On her 18th birthday, Clary Fray is accepted into the Brooklyn Academy of Arts. That evening, while out celebrating with her best friend, Simon Lewis, Clary sees a group of suspicious people that nobody else can see. She follows them into a nightclub and witnesses them killing a demon. She is then confronted by one of them, Jace Wayland, who reveals that he and his companions are Shadowhunters.

Clary soon learns that her mother, Jocelyn Fray, has been kidnapped by a rogue group of Shadowhunters led by Valentine Morgenstern, who seeks to obtain the Mortal Cup, a powerful artifact that can create more Shadowhunters or control demons. Clary also discovers that she has inherited her mother’s ability to draw magical runes that grant various abilities to Shadowhunters. With the help of Jace and his friends Alec Lightwood and Isabelle Lightwood, as well as other Downworlders such as the warlock Magnus Bane and the werewolf Luke Garroway, Clary embarks on a quest to rescue her mother and stop Valentine’s evil plans.

Along the way, Clary develops romantic feelings for Jace, but their relationship is complicated by the revelation that they are siblings. However, they later learn that this was a lie orchestrated by Valentine to manipulate them. Clary also struggles to balance her mundane life with Simon and her new Shadowhunter life with Jace and his friends. Meanwhile, Alec and Magnus fall in love and face various challenges as an interspecies couple.

In the second season, Valentine activates the Soul Sword, one of the Mortal Instruments that can kill all Downworlders in its vicinity. He also experiments on Downworlder blood to create new hybrids under his control. Clary and Jace join forces with their estranged brother Jonathan Morgenstern, who was raised by Valentine and has demon blood in his veins. They manage to stop Valentine from using the Soul Sword, but Jonathan escapes with the Mortal Mirror, another Mortal Instrument that can summon the Angel Raziel.

In the third season, Jonathan returns with a new face and allies himself with Lilith, the mother of all demons. He plans to resurrect Clary using her blood and the Mortal Mirror. However, Clary fakes her death and goes into hiding with Jace. Meanwhile, Simon is cursed with the Mark of Cain by the Seelie Queen as a protection against Jonathan. The Mark causes anyone who harms Simon to suffer seven times worse. Magnus loses his magic after trading it for Alec’s life when he is fatally wounded by Jonathan.

Clary and Jace eventually reunite with their friends and allies to stop Jonathan and Lilith from summoning Lucifer, the father of all demons. They succeed in killing Lilith and banishing Lucifer back to hell, but Jonathan survives and steals the Heavenly Fire serum that can destroy his demon