Cassandra Clare Unveils Ty Flower Card, First Chain of Thorns Snippet in May Newsletter

The wait between Shadowhunter Chronicles book releases is always excruciating. However, longtime fans knows that those months are always made more bearable by a constant stream of snippets and news. Author Cassandra Clare has always made a habit of posting teasers and official art for her upcoming projects. Well, her May newsletter was full of so much information that I’m still struggling to process it.

Of course, we were already expecting a snippet from Chain of Thorns – the final book in the Last Hours series and the next Shadowhunter book set to be released. We were not, however, prepared for the content of the snippet. From the newsletter:

Paladin.

The word echoed in Cordelia’s ears. Though she had clambered blindly into a fiacre with Matthew, though they were rattling quickly through some part of Paris, she still felt as if she were standing in front of the cabaret, hearing the guard refuse her entrance. I know what I know. You cannot come inside.

Because you are corrupted within, said a small voice inside her. Because you belong to Lilith, Mother of Demons. Because of your own foolishness, you are cursed. No one should be around you.

“Daisy?” Matthew’s worried voice seemed to come from far away. “Daisy, please. Talk to me.”

Cassandra Clare, Chain of Thorns

We already knew that Cordelia would have to deal with the consequences of her oath to Lilith in this book, but this proves that she won’t be able to escape it by running off to Paris. I could have told her that. It’s nice to see that we’re going to get to see lots of Cordelia and Matthew in Paris.

Chain of Thorns isn’t the only Shadowhunter Chronicles book coming out soon, though. Now that The Last Hours is close to wrapping up, it’s finally time to turn our attention to The Wicked Powers.

Warning: spoilers for Queen of Air and Darkness ahead!

This final Shadowhunter Chronicles series doesn’t yet have a release date – or even titles for the books – but we do know that it’s going to follow Kit, Ty and Dru, three years after the end of The Dark Artifices. Kit and Ty, of course, ended on very bad terms the last time we saw them, so we’re all very eager to see them reunite.

In preparation for The Wicked Powers, Cassie has been releasing updated flower cards, with the TWP characters at they age they will be in the new series. We got Kit’s new flower card a few months ago, so of course we had high hopes for the Ty flower card. The real thing completely surpassed those expectations. Just look at it:

Obviously it’s really cool to finally see eighteen-year-old Ty, and makes me so much more excited for the actual series. If you were too distracted by the fact that we actually have art of TWP-era Ty to notice the finer details of this piece, I wouldn’t blame you, but you don’t want to ignore this:

1. Ty is wearing two necklaces. One is Livvy’s locket, which he took from her pyre in Queen of Air and Darkness and has been wearing since her death. The other is a Herondale necklace (you can see the Heron design on it). It was originally Kit’s, passed on to him by his mother, but Kit gave it to Ty in Ghosts of the Shadow Market. This confirms that Ty has, indeed, been wearing it for the entire 3 years between The Dark Artifices and The Wicked Powers.
2. The lynx is another thing that was introduced in Ghosts of the Shadow Market. Ty rescues and adopts a lynx cub named Irene while he’s at the Scholomance. Evidently, she will be playing a big role in TWP.
3. I don’t see how you could have missed it, but yes, the quote is indeed “I have loved you & you haven’t known it,” evidently referencing Ty’s feelings toward Kit. This is, I believe, the first time we’ve gotten explicit confirmation that Ty loves Kit, although it wasn’t exactly difficult to figure out.

According to the newsletter, this flower card is also supposed to be a “cryptic hint” at a “fun secret project.” Personally, I’m stumped, but if anyone has a guess, let me know.

Here’s Kit’s card, in case you didn’t see it the first time:

The other interesting tidbit of Shadowhunter Chronicles news in the newsletter was a reference to Cassie “having a lot of fun and productive Hollywood meetings,” with exciting news coming soon. The only Shadowhunter Chronicles adaptation said to be in production right now is an Infernal Devices TV show at the BBC – which is not in Hollywood. Cassandra Clare has also made it pretty clear that she plans on being a lot more careful about adaptation after what happened with Shadowhunters. Could she be working on a new adaptation? I’d be surprised, but it kind of sounds like that’s what’s happening.

There’s certainly lots to think about, and lots to look forward to for Shadowhunter Chronicles fans.

What did you think of Cassandra Clare’s May newsletter? Let us know in the comments or on social media!