Shadowhunters' Katherine McNamara Teases 'Brutal' Season 2 Finale

Shadowhunters is gearing up for an insane Season 2 finale with the Shadow World and the Downworld on the brink of war. Valentine (Alan Van Sprang) and his children are caught in the middle of the entire debacle.

We never thought we'd see the day when the Downworld would unite with Valentine (or when he'd deign to unite with any of them), but that day has come and it's going to mean some seriously tough choices for these characters, downworlders and shadowhunters alike.

Here to answer all your burning questions is Katherine McNamara with some great teases about what to expect in Monday's finale episode.

Shadowhunters Scared us to Death and then Broke our Hearts

Can we assume Sebastian/Jonathan (Will Tudor) is actually dead?
Katherine McNamara: Sebastian is one of the most powerful beings in the shadow world, so we never really know what is going on with him. I think it's safe to say that we should all not relax yet because whether or not Sebastian is alive or dead - or rather Jonathan is alive or dead - there's still Valentine to deal with. He still has two of the mortal instruments, and he knows where the third is, and he's on his way. So we have a lot to deal with. And also, there's the Seelie Queen (Sarah Hyland), who's having her own sort of side scheme happening as well.

Assuming Clary thinks he's dead, is she at all conflicted about that?
McNamara: I think Clary will always be conflicted about her brother because she never even got the chance to have him as a part of her life. The person that would have been her brother never really got the chance to even exist because of Jonathan's demon blood and the experiments and Jonathan's time in Edom.

The fact that Clary's lost her mother and Valentine will never truly be the father that she needs - Clary really has no biological family left. Regardless of her resentment towards Jonathan and the fact that he tried to kill her and all of that, it's still her family. There will always be a scar on her heart from losing them.

How deadly is this alliance between the Seelie Queen and Valentine going to be?
McNamara: It's pretty deadly. Valentine is the root of all evil in the Shadow World, and then you have the Seelie Queen, who is nefarious in her own right and will go to great lengths to get whatever she wants. On top of that, we all know that the Seelies always align themselves with the winning side -- or what they expect to be the winning side. The fact that the Seelies have pushed away from The Clave and have aligned themselves with Valentine is very scary.

Are we going to find out what Valentine whispered to her last week, or is that a mystery for another season?
McNamara: Let me put it this way; a lot of things come to the surface in this finale.

Can you say why the Seelie Queen is so fascinated with Simon (Alberto Rosende)?
McNamara: We really don't find out what her true plan is, but we know that Simon is kind of an anomaly in the Shadow World in the same way that Jace and Clary are anomalies because of their angel blood and the same way that Jonathan was an anomaly because of his demon blood.

Simon is the only daylighter to exist in hundreds of years. Most vampires thought daylighters were a myth. With that ability that he has comes kind of a power and a danger to the way that things have been established, and the Seelie Queen sees the advantage within that. I feel like the Seelie Queen likes to collect powerful beings, potentially ones that could be a threat to her, potentially ones that she could use as weapons. She's slowly assembling an army of her own, I think.

In that army are Magnus (Harry Shum Jr.) and Luke (Isaiah Mustafa). What can you tease about how they play into the finale?
McNamara: Well, we've seen the unrest in the Downworld from the beginning of Season 2, and things are finally coming to fruition, but it's forcing leaders like Luke and Magnus and Alec (Matthew Daddario) to make these difficult choices, where they truly have to choose between their heart and their duty to their people.

That's when it becomes difficult because you have Luke and Magnus, who are downworlders and who have to think about their people, but also Luke is basically Clary's dad and Simon's dad and the person who looks out for all of these young folks. And then you have Magnus who is so in love with Alec and wants to be there to support him but can't because he also has to support his people. It's these sort of difficult choices that will shape the future of the Downworld.

Shadowhunters: It's Totally Okay to Feel Bad For Sebastian/Jonathan

What does that kiss between Jace (Dominic Sherwood) and Clary mean moving forward?
McNamara: For the first time in basically the entire series, you have Jace and Clary both at a point where they're willing to explore this relationship and where they're ready to commit and dive in and see what this connection really is for them. There's kind of a beauty in that, but also we saw in Episode 19 there's an immense power in that too. When the two of them combine and allow their emotions to access their angelic abilities, they can literally accomplish the impossible.

Now that they've both finally had a kiss that wasn't induced by the Seelie Queen, they're both in a place where they can be more open to the possibility of what a relationship could mean for both of them.

Do you think there's a future there, or are they destined to be kept apart by one thing or another forever?
McNamara: Jace and Clary have had a connection since day one. They've had an electricity between them, and they've quite literally been drawn to each other. That will never go away. The reason that their connection is so powerful is it goes beyond attraction, it goes beyond anything physical, it goes beyond the hardships that they've been through.

It's truly that the two of them are meant for each other, and if they can overcome these obstacles, they will be able to, hopefully, have their happy ending. But the obstacles are pretty intense, and we've got some surprises in the season finale.

What kind of surprises can you tease?
McNamara: One surprise that I don't think a lot of people know about yet is my first original single is on the soundtrack of the finale and is being released on Monday. I've been working on music for a long time, but I haven't had time to properly commit to it because of the show and everything, but it's a song that I wrote after Season 1. It's really special to me. It's one of the first songs that I wrote that I've finally felt was the beginning of who I am as an artist. It just so happens that the subject matter fits into the show, and the musical style fits into the show really well. When the powers that be heard it, they tried to find a place for it. Ultimately they did, and I'm really grateful.

You teased deaths, plural, coming by the end of the season. Does that mean there's still more deaths to come in the finale?
McNamara: You've definitely seen one major death, but we're still a long way from the finish line. Stay on your toes, grab some tissues, grab the comfort food of your choice. This finale is brutal, you're going to need it.

Shadowhunters air Mondays at 8/7c on Freeform.