Brotherhood/ Sisterhood

In Chain of Gold, Cassandra Clare explores a number of forms of loyalty in order to demonstrate that it is the key motivator for every ‘good’ Shadowhunter and for the Shadowhunter community as a whole. Though she focuses heavily on ‘brotherhood’ or ‘sisterhood’ as an especially intense form of loyalty, it is far from being the only one she discusses in the context of James Herondale’s infamous friend group, the Merry Thieves.

The most evident form of brotherhood/sisterhood is the parabatai relationship which most Shadowhunters enjoy throughout their lives, beginning with early adolescence when the tie is formalized in a ceremony and exchange of runes. James and Matthew, being older than Lucie and Cordelia, thus have a head start on their brotherhood bond, having gone through the formal parabatai ceremony and explicitly sworn loyalty to each other as warriors and friends. Throughout the...