In honor of the release of Queen of Air and Darkness we obviously needed a Shadowhunter tag today. And we found the TMI vs TID vs TDA tag a while ago which is perfect! For this tag we compare The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices and The Dark Artifices. The original tag was created by Samantha’s Books and was only for TMI and TDI, but Emmabooks added TDA to it! We didn’t completely agree with some of the questions so we took some liberties haha. There are some spoilers if you haven’t read all the books up to Lord of Shadows so proceed at your own risk!

1. Favourite main character: Clary or Tessa or Emma?

Candyce

For me it’s between Tessa and Emma. I can’t imagine what Tessa went through not really knowing who she was or where she came from! I love how she developed during that trilogy. I think I have to go for Emma though! After all she went through she was still standing. Julian and his siblings became her family and she won’t stop fighting. I love seeing how she goes about things and fights for what she thinks is right!

Isabelle

This one is quite easy for me! Tessa annoyed me pretty much the whole series so she’s out. Clary is a pretty okay character, but she’s also a pretty generic YA heroine so I simply have to go with Emma. Emma is a well rounded, bad ass character and I really enjoy reading about her.

2. Favourite Herondale: Jace, Will or Kit?

Candyce

How am I supposed to choose just one?!? Okay, I think Jace already gets kicked off the list for me. I like him and his story, but he seems to much of a typical YA character at times. Will was one of my favorites! He seemed so arrogant and selfish, but there was so much there than meets the eye! I have to choose Kit though. He has had quite the interesting life before his father dies, but I love how he develops in Lord of Shadows. I love his humor and how he starts growing into the idea of being a Shadowhunter. Not only that I am curious about the connection with TY and what their story will be like!

Isabelle

Now this one is a lot harder! Honestly, all three Herondales are wonderful in their own right. I’ve always been team Jem, so therefor Will is out for this question. Jace is a very interesting character, but as with Clary, he’s very typical for the genre, which makes sense as they are the original characters. But this means I have to go with Kit! There are some parallels with Clary, as they’re both newly found Shadowhunters, but Kit is dealing with it quite differently. I love his connection with Ty and to be honest that’s probably why he won this round 😉

3. Favourite love triangle: Simon/Clary/Jace or Will/Tessa/Jem or Cristina/Mark/Kieran?

Candyce

I’ve never really seen Simon/Clary/Jace as a love triangle, because Clary always really only saw Simon as a friend. I think more out of loyalty than anything, it was something more for a short time. Will/Tessa/Jem will always be my favorite, but if you’ve read all the books everyone eventually gets their happily ever after! So that leaves Cristina/Mark/Kieran. I think I love this one the most, because everyone has feelings for the other two in this triangle. This one has more possibilities and I’m so curious about how the author is going to solve this one!

Isabelle

I never shipped Simon with Clary so that triangle is out! Will/Tessa/Jem is an epic love triangle and it is resolved in such an unique way. I’m quite passionate about Cristina/Mark/Kieran so this is a pretty close call! Because we don’t know how that one’s going to end, I’m choosing Will/Tessa/Jem.

4. Better Villain: Sebastian, the Magister or the Unseelie King?

Candyce

The Magister is definitely a villain, but compared to Sebastian and what the Unseelie King can do, I don’t think he makes the cut. There were moments I wanted to feel bad for Sebastian, but in the end he was just pure evil. I do not like him at all. That’s why I think he wins this round. The Unseelie King will probably rise on my list after reading QoAaD, but at the moment I haven’t seen enough of him yet!

Isabelle

Annabel Blackthorn was mentioned as the original villain for TDA, but we both feel like the Unseelie King is the actual villain of the story so we changed that. The Magister is pretty decent villain, but he has nothing on Sebastian Morgenstern! I think the Unseelie King might throw is head in the ring in QoAaD, but for now I’m picking Sebastian.

5. Better threat: The Dark Army, The Clockwork Army or the Parabatai Curse?

Candyce

The Clockwork Army was just really creepy and interesting and the Parabatai Curse isn’t something I see playing out in this world. I’m not sure the author would do that to this Shadowhunter World. I mean, in this case only two shadowhunters would go crazy. And I don’t see her breaking all of the bonds! The Dark Army was just cruel though! It traumatized the characters. Seeing your loved ones turned evil and having to fight back. Another pure evil aspect of this world!

Isabelle

I’m not super interested in the Parabatai Curse, as long as the solution isn’t going to be to break ALL parabatai bonds, because I will go insane. The Clockwork Army was okay, but the Dark Army was such a twisted threat. Having to fight your loved ones while they’re not themselves anymore must be so incredibly hard and heartbreaking. This is simply the best threat.

6. Better First Book: City of Bones, Clockwork Angel or Lady Midnight?

Candyce

While all three of these are really strong books and openings to a series, I have to choose Clockwork Angel! This was my introduction to this series and I feel in love with that trilogy! Without that one, I don’t know if I would be as invested in this series as I am!

Isabelle

This is a hard one! City of Bones introduced us to the whole Shadowhunter world and is therefore so important. I thought I immediately enjoyed Clockwork Angel when I read it, but a quick Goodreads check shows me I only rated it 3 stars haha. In the end I have to go with Lady Midnight, even though it took me a while to become invested, so much happens in this opening book. The characters are so well developed and this is just what I feel haha.

7. Better Female Supporting Lead: Isabelle Lightwood, Cecily Herondale or Cristina Rosales?

Candyce

To be honest, I don’t remember much about Cecily (and I haven’t read all the novellas yet). I love how confident Isabelle is and I love her with Simon, haha. Cristina is the winner for me though! I love her humor, attitude and how fast she comes to love the Blackthorns! She becomes protective of them and I can’t wait to see what part she plays in QoAaD!

Isabelle

Cecily Herondale is a great character but I didn’t feel like she brought as much to the story as the other two. So this is a very close call between Isabelle and Cristina. Aaaah this is hard! I have always loved Isabelle but Cristina is a little bit fresher in my mind because I’ve just read about her. Also Isabelle has the best name obviously! This is so hard that I’m going call it even, a half point to both!

8. Better Setting: The New York Institute, The London Institute or The Los Angeles Institute?

Candyce

I know The New York Institute will have some appeal as well as Los Angeles being near the beach, but I have to go for London. Especially after reading about the library in Lord of Shadows. It also sound amazing while reading The Infernal Devices!

Isabelle

The London Institute obviously! I love London so so much, it’s my favorite city in the world so how could I possibly pick anything other than the London Institute. It was also amazing to read the story set in that time period <3

9. Better Last Book: City of Heavenly Fire or Clockwork Princess?

Candyce

After reading Lord of Shadows, I have a feeling Queen of Air and Darkness would’ve taken this question if I already had read this before reading this. I have to go for Clockwork Princess though. That was the first trilogy I read and I loved how the world was built around the characters in this book and how everything from all three books came to a perfect ending.

Isabelle

Since I read City of Heavenly Fire before I read the Infernal Devices trilogy and therefore knew the big plottwist, Clockwork Princess was just a little bit less impressive to me. I loved  City of Heavenly Fire so that’s my pick for now. But I have a feeling, Queen of Air and Darkness might take that throne!

10. Better Final Epilogue: City of Heavenly Fire or Clockwork Princess?

Candyce

Both of these had really strong endings, but I have to choose City of Heavenly Fire. Everything that came together seemed a bit more complicated than in Clockwork Princess. While Clockwork Princess has a real ending and a very satisfying one, City of Heavenly Fire left me wanting more. Which was a good thing, because we were getting more! Haha.

Isabelle

To be completely honest, I had to look up the epilogues because I wasn’t a 100% sure what happened in them. Clockwork Princess had a mostly sweet epilogue that was a real ending while City of Heavenly Fire had an epilogue that also set up Tales of the Shadowhunter Academy. I really appreciate the continuity in these series so I have to pick City of Heavenly Fire!

End Result Isabelle:
TMI: 4,5
TID: 2
TDA: 3,5

End Result Candyce:

TMI: 3
TID: 3
TDA: 4

This was such a fun tag to do! Feel free to tag yourself, but definitely let us knowif you do! We love seeing other answers to these questions! What is your favorite series in the Shadowhunter World?