Shadowhunters star Katherine McNamara talks Clary and Jace's future

Heading into the Shadowhunters season 2 finale, Clary is focused on one thing: stopping Valentine from killing all Downworlders. But considering she just lost Jonathan — or at least she thinks she lost him — will she be able to destroy yet another family member despite Valentine’s evil ways?

“Clary’s had a really hard time with finding and losing her family,” Katherine McNamara tells EW. “She desperately wanted to give Jonathan a chance because it was her final opportunity to have a part of her biological family in her life. And that would’ve meant the world to her, but at this point, she’s a bit lost in that sense. Yes, she has this whole family of the Shadowhunters and the other Downworlders that are there for her, but it will always be a scar on her heart, the fact that her biological family is basically gone.”

However, Clary has never thought of Valentine as a father. As McNamara puts it, “I think Luke will always be who Clary thinks of as a father. What she feels for Valentine is a tragic loss and a resentment and almost a responsibility to clean up his mess because so many people have died and have been hurt because of his actions and because of his actions toward her. She’s done with that. Clary is done with people dying. Clary is done with losing people she loves and hurting people she loves because of this evil maniac, so Clary is ready to fight to the death to stop that from happening.”

And right by her side will be Jace, the man she loved before a lie tore them apart. Fans have watched all season as they’ve slowly found their way back to each other, and if they both make it out of this alive, now could be the moment they’ve been waiting for.

“The exciting thing about Clary and Jace right now is that for the first time in the series, they’re both in a place where they’re open to the possibility of a relationship and they’re open to exploring what this connection between them really is,” McNamara says. “Up until this point, one of them has either been suppressing feelings or running from them — one thing or another has been in their way and now they have this opportunity. Despite the impending doom and the other prevalent issues that need to be dealt with, they’re finding that their connection is extremely powerful and you saw that in that scene in the courtyard when they were tracking Jonathan. There is a power in their connection, there is a power in their emotions for each other that goes beyond any attraction, it goes beyond any flirtation. It’s truly a spiritual thing and there’s a power in that that we will see play into their attempts to defeat Valentine and the Seelie Queen.”

Shadowhunters airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on Freeform.