The Seelie Queen is the secondary antagonist of the Freeform TV series Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments, serving as one of the two secondary antagonists (alongside Jonathan Morgenstern) of Season 2B, a major antagonist of Season 3A, and one of the two secondary antagonists (alongside Lilith) of Season 3B.
She was played by Lola Flanery in her child form. For her adult form she was played by Sarah Hyland in Season 2B and Kimberly Sue-Murray in Season 3B.
Biography[]
Beginnings[]
The Queen has been alive for a long time. At one point, she mentored Sia and Björk, two Seelie musicians who became famous among mundanes.
Severing ties with the Clave[]
In 2016, the Clave asked the Seelie Queen to send scouts to look for the Shadowhunter fugitive Valentine Morgenstern. When the scouts did not return, the Queen and the Seelies in general cut off official communications with the Clave. Though the real motive behind it was not confirmed, one of her knights, Meliorn, implied that the possibility that Valentine may win the war against Shadowhunters, as well as what they deem to be the unfair treatment of the Fair Folk under the Accords, may be the reason. When she learned that her knight Meliorn accompanied Shadowhunters into one of her realms shortly after, she punished him.
Meeting with the Queen[]
After Kaelie, a Seelie from her Court, killed many shadowhunters in revenge for her brother Samuel's death, Alec Lightwood, the new head of the New York Institute, requested a meeting with the queen, to which she agreed as long as it was with "Valentine's experiments", so Jace and Clary, along with Simon, went to the Seelie Court. There they met the queen, who was using her seelie magic to masquerade as a child. During the meeting, which consisted of a meal, the queen told them that Kaelie had been helped by a seelie knight but that she had already took care of him, and according to her words, he was now "dead, dead, dead".
She later asked for a meeting in private with Simon where she attempted to drive a wedge between him and the shadowhunters by admitting that Clary still harbored feelings for Jace, as shadowhunters would always choose each other, but Simon remained unconvinced. Shortly after that, the three attempted to leave and the queen used her magic to tangle Simon and Jace with deadly vines, which would kill them the moment they reached their throats. The only way to free them was by kissing the one whom Clary's heart most desired. She kissed Simon, but the vines were still tied on them, so Clary kissed Jace instead and the vines set them free, proving that Clary did have feelings for Jace, but this also destroyed her relationship with Simon.
Soul-Sword lie and Downworld alliance[]
After finding out that Valentine still possessed the Soul-Sword and that the Clave and Alec had been lying to the Downworld, Magnus and Luke went to the Seelie Court to have a meeting with the queen. She greeted them and was not surprised at all when she received the news and in her opinion the Downworlders should start a war against the shadowhunters. Luke disagreed while Magnus was given time to consider, so she gave him a red rose and told him that when the petals turned black, his time to consider would be up.
Later on, Magnus went back to the queen to make a pact regarding the impending actions of Valentine and his son Jonathan Morgenstern. Since they knew that Valentine planned to use the Mortal Instruments to raise the Angel Raziel and wish for the immediate destruction of all demon-blooded creatures, the queen offered shelter to all of the downworlders at her court, so Magnus accepted her offer on behalf of the warlocks and convinced Luke and Raphael of accepting as well on behalf of the werewolves and vampires respectively.
After that, the four of them arrived at the Institute and she refused Alec's proposal of working along with the shadowhunters to stop Valentine.
Since the Queen asked about Simon, he went to talk to her, and the Queen appeared to him using an adult form rather than the one she used earlier. She offered Simon protection in exchange of going against the shadowhunters, and when Simon refused, she got greatly upset because he had rejected her twice, something that no one had ever done to her.
Helping Valentine in secret[]
Later that night, she met with Valentine since he requested an audience with her and she was initially against him, but when Valentine whispered something to her ear, she changed her mind and told Valentine to have a walk with her in the park.
After the walk, she allowed him to enter Idris and then she had the female werewolf, Maia Roberts, kidnapped, knowing that Simon would desperately find her. When Simon effectively did, he was accompanied by Luke, and they discovered the Queen's deal with Valentine.
While Luke was looking for Maia in the Wander Woods, the Queen stayed with Simon and she allowed them to leave after a Simon made a bargain with the Queen in order to guarantee Maia's freedom.
After Valentine's death at the hands of Clary and the party between the shadowhunters and downworlders at the Hunter's Moon bar, Simon went back to the Seelie Court, where he was greeted by the Queen, who was happy with his presence and told him that they would have so much fun together.
Mysterious mark granted[]
Once at the Seelie Court, Simon decided to sing, to the Queen's delight, and then she made Meliorn put a special mark on his forehead that could only be ported by a Daylighter vampire, explaining the reason why she was interesed in Simon daylighter status. When Simon asked her what were the mark's powers, she told him that in the due time he would figure it out by himself and allowed him to return to New York.
Confronted by Lilith[]
The greater demon Lilith went to the Seelie Court to clear out certain things with the Queen. When Lilith arrived, she murdered several seelies and apologized for showing up uninvited. They talked about Eve, Adam's second wife, and it was shown that Lilith grew resentful because the seelies granted her beauty. Terrified of Simon's mark, Lilith demanded that she remove it, but the Queen defiantly refused, arguing that she gave Simon the mark because he was a daylighter, and the seelies helped everything in nature that was unique and different. Angered, Lilith attempted to kill the Queen, but to save her own skin, she made a negotiation with Lilith instead: telling her The Owl's whereabouts.
Mark removed for good[]
Simon and Isabelle went to the Seelie Court accompanied by Meliorn where Simon told the Queen that he went to see Cain, the oldest vampire and Abel's brother, in order to find how to remove the Mark of Cain. She accepted his decision of removing the mark, saying that with Lilith banished back to Edom, he could do whatever he felt like. The Queen initiated a ritual which consisted of Simon grabbing a rock he brought to her, the one Cain used to kill his brother. The rock then ignited itself and began to burn Simon, lifting him in the air and causing him a lot of pain. The rock's effects stopped and Simon fell to the ground, rendering him unconscious. The Queen then told Isabelle that the only way to save Simon was to be fed with blood from either a mundane or a shadowhunter. She then watched as Isabelle gave her blood to Simon, saving his life and nursing him back to health.
Morning Star sword bargain[]
The recently resurrected Jonathan arrived at the Seelie Court looking for the Morning Star sword. Meliorn informed the queen of his presence and she greeted Jonathan in a new adult form. Jonathan demanded that she hand him over the sword, but she refused and told Jonathan about Lilith invading her court and killing many of her subjects and that as revenge, she wanted to deliver his head to Lilith on a silver platter. Jonathan stated that Lilith was not his mother and that he left her to rot in Edom after her banishment since he had no loyalty to her. Though recognizing his nobility, the queen attempted to have Jonathan killed, but stopped when he proposed her a deal: He will kill Lilith himself, bring her head to the queen and receive the sword as payment. She accepted the deal smiling with delight.
Sometime later, the Queen, Meliorn and her Seelie knights visited Lilith's apartment, with the Queen saying that she did not expect it to be smaller. Another seelie, Lanaia, arrived and informed her that the New York Institute had already sent out all of its soldiers. The Queen also knows that Jonathan had not told anyone yet that she had the sword in her possession. She then ordered Lanaia to take advantage of the diversion by killing Jonathan. Meliorn warned her that it would also kill Clary, whose life force is connected to Jonathan's, but she doesn't seem to care so much about it and tells Lanaia to protect her no matter what cost.
Kidnapped[]
After Clary fully succumbed to Lilith's rune and turned evil, she and Jonathan plan to go to a night club frequented by Downworlders in order to kidnap the Queen and get her to relinquish the Morning Star sword. Jace joins their quest in order to save Clary and prevent the Clave from killing her. Clary accepts, thinking that Jace's love for her matters more than his loyalty to the Institute, while Jonathan remains dubious and suspicious. The Queen arrives at the night club, allowing Jonathan to hold her hostage. After Clary and Jonathan realized Jace's deception, she threatens to kill him if he tries to separate her from Jonathan again and sends him back to the Institute. Clary and Jonathan then portaled themselves and the Queen to Lilith's apartment.
Once there, Jonathan was suprised to see that she was neither screaming nor begging for help. They began talking, with the Queen telling Jonathan that she thought he was only a child the first time he came to her court, with Jonathan stating that she should not have underestimated him. They were interrupted by Clary, who demanded that she hand over the sword. She asks Clary what she'll do to her if she refuses, prompting Clary to slap her in response, to which the Queen says that she didn't expect this behavior from her, but from a true Morgenstern, with Clary stating that she indeed is.
Later, Clary and Jonathan, along with the Queen held at knifepoint by the latter, went to the Seelie realm and Meliorn gave her the sword in exchange of the Queen's freedom. She was released, and she, Meliorn and the other Seelie knights left.
Plan to rule the Downworld[]
The Seelie Queen approaches Jonathan and offers help to nurse him back to health, only to be rejected. She once again offers to let her help him and Jonathan reluctantly accepts, despite initially telling her to leave him alone. After completing his transformation, the Seelie Queen provides him with kidnapped shadowhunters who are held hostage. She teaches him how to harness his powers and at the request of one of the shadowhunters, Jonathan kills him. The Queen plots to rule the Shadow World with Jonathan at her side.
Betrayed and killed[]
Jonathan and the Seelie Queen share a bed together, but Jonathan grows tired and decides to leave. The Queen then reminds Jonathan that it was her who healed him and taught him how to use his powers. Jonathan accuses her of only doing everything for herself. The Queen confesses that she has feelings for Jonathan and that she wants him to be her king and destroy the mundane realm together. Jonathan rejects the offer, saying that he prefers to rule on his own. The Queen then reverts to her child form and begs Jonathan to have mercy. Jonathan tells her that mercy is only for humans, something he no longer is, before he murders the Queen, who screams in horror.
Relationships[]
Allies[]
- Seelies - Subjects
- Kaelie †
- Meliorn - Loyal knight
- Lanaia †
Enemies[]
- Valentine Morgenstern † - Situational Enemy
- The Clave - Former Allies
- Simon Lewis
- Isabelle Lightwood
- Alec Lightwood
- Clary Fairchild
- Jace Herondale
- Magnus Bane - Former Ally
- Luke Garroway
- Raphael Santiago - Former Ally
- Maia Roberts - Kidnapee
- Lilith † - Attempted Killer
- Jonathan Morgenstern † - Temporary Enemy and Kidnapper turned Ally and Lover turned Enemy and Killer