Spoilers ahead! We hope you’re as excited for the release of Chain of Thorns, coming January 2023, as we are! If you’re anything like us, you’ve been revisiting Chain of Gold and Chain of Iron and rereading some of those romantic, dramatic, and nail-biting moments that have us wondering what Cassandra Clare has in store for us in Chain of Thorns. Here are the top moments from Chain of Iron that delighted (and sometimes stressed) us!
Top 11 Chain of Iron Moments
11. Thomas is Questioned with the Mortal Sword
“Is Gideon aware that he still owes me twenty pounds?” (Will)
“Yes,” said Thomas, without being able to stop himself, “but he is pretending not to remember.”
10. Will and Tessa are Adorable
“Did you know, you grow more beautiful every day?” (Will)
“Well, that’s odd, because as a warlock I do not age, and so I should look the same day to day…” (Tessa)
“And yet, you continue to accrue radiance.”
9. Anna and Ariadne in the Whispering Room
This was what [Ariadne] was living for, every long, dark winter day as she waited to see if the invitation from Anna would come in the evening. The folded piece of paper slipped through her window, the message scrawled in Anna’s strong, elegant hand.
Meet me in the Whispering Room.
8. James’ Bracelet (Finally!!) Breaks
He turned the bracelet over in his hand and said, “Daisy, I think—”
His head snapped back. She saw his eyes—fully black, the whites gone utterly—as he spasmed once and crumpled, motionless, to the floor.
7. Matthew Admits His Love for Cordelia
“Love is not always a lightning bolt, is it? Sometimes it is a creeping vine. It grows slowly until suddenly it is all that there is in the world.”
6. Alastair and Thomas in the Sanctuary
Alastair’s lips touched his—gently, at first, but with growing confidence, he explored Thomas’s mouth, and it was like flying, like nothing Thomas had ever imagined.
5. Lucie Commands Jesse to Live
His lips parted, his eyes widening. “Lucie.”
She sank to her knees. Oh, you’re alive, you’re alive, she wanted to say, but there was not enough strength in her to form the words. The world had begun to blur at the edges. Darkness was creeping in around her.
4. Cordelia Discovers She’s Lilith’s Paladin
“Foolish child,” said Lilith. “You are mine. And while Belial, in his new form, might have been able to defeat a bearer of Cortana, he cannot defeat one who is my paladin.”
3. James Confronts Grace
“So that is why you came to London?” he spat. “To tighten my leash? Grace, why? I know your mother is mad, twisted by grief and spite. But why would she go to these elaborate lengths to make me think I loved you?”
2. James Sees Cordelia and Matthew Leave for Paris
“You will forgive me if I say that you don’t look like someone whose wife just left for a pleasant trip to Paris,” said Magnus. “You look like someone who just had his heart kicked out on a train station platform.”
1. James (Finally!!) Realizes He Loves Cordelia
“I was fourteen—” (James)
“All you would talk about was Cordelia. How she talked, how she walked, how she read to you when you were ill. The color of her eyes, her hair.” (Grace)
James could hear his heartbeat, thudding in his ears.
He had already loved her then.