| “ | THE INFERNAL DEVICES ARE WITHOUT PITY. THE INFERNAL DEVICES ARE WITHOUT REGRET. THE INFERNAL DEVICES ARE WITHOUT NUMBER. THE INFERNAL DEVICES WILL NEVER STOP COMING. | ” |
–The warning from Benedict Lightwood, Clockwork Princess | ||
The Clockwork War was a great battle against Axel Mortmain and his army of automatons. The war reached its height during the battles fought in late 1878, ending in Cadair Idris.
Preparation[]
After losing his adoptive parents to Shadowhunters, Axel Mortmain plotted to exterminate them all: he, with help from faeries, snuck into the York Institute to steal a newborn child and trade it with a mundane one. Knowing the Shadowhunter child would bear no runes, Mortmain waited for her to grow up, marry, then sent a demon in her husband's form to impregnate her. This, and with protection from the angel sealed inside the clockwork pendant, resulted in the birth of half-demon, half-Shadowhunter, Tessa Gray. Mortmain slowed his aging through magical methods, built his empire and clockwork army over the years, earning the title of "the Magister". He intended to impregnate Tessa when she came of age. Because Tessa was the unusual offspring between a Shadowhunter and a Prince of Hell, fertility was possible for her.
Mortmain also secretly formed alliances with Benedict Lightwood, using his knowledge about demonic sickness to blackmail him.[1]
Culmination[]
Somewhere around the late 1870's, Tessa's "brother" Nate Gray discovered Mortmain's friendship with his "parents" as well as his involvement in supernatural affairs. Nate threatened to expose his schemes unless he paid him to shut him up. To his surprise, Mortmain offered him a job in exchange for his help in luring Tessa to London. Mortmain sent the Dark Sisters to retrieve her upon arrival and lock her up in a secret location to train her to Change. Three weeks later, their location was discovered by the local Shadowhunters, and they took Tessa to the London Institute where she stayed. This turn of event angered Mortmain to the point that he turned Nate over to Alexei de Quincey, the leader of the local vampire clan. Tessa and her new friends found him during the execution and saved him.
Desperate to re-earn his place as Mortmain's henchman, Nate feigned victim while secretly contacting Mortmain to help him in infiltrating the London Institute. Mortmain sent two of his automatons to attack Jem Carstairs and Tessa, then collected a sample of Jem's blood, which they used to open the doors of the Institute later. Mortmain introduced himself as the Magister, then ordered the automatons to kill Agatha Grant and Thomas Tanner while holding Sophie Collins and Jessamine Lovelace hostage in order to force Tessa to surrender herself. Tessa turned away and temporarily Changed into a girl who died of a gunshot while pretending to plunge a knife into her chest to fool Mortmain into believing she was dead. In shock and seeing that she no longer had the clockwork angel pendant that protected her, the man retreated from the Institute.[2]
After having lost Mortmain, Charlotte and Henry Branwell were set the task of finding him in two weeks. With the help of the other members of the London Institute, they were able to uncover a great deal about Mortmain's past, which only angered him. He made sure their trail led them to Ravenscar Manor where they discovered Will Herondale's family was living, sending the message that they would be harmed should they continue to dig up his history.
All the while, Mortmain had recruited a number of werewolves to help assemble his clockwork creatures. He also had Nate working Jessamine to spy on the Institute for him and help with his plans to recapture Tessa. Eventually Jessamine's betrayal came to light. Using Tessa's ability to Change into Jessie, the Institute's Shadowhunters were able to learn of Benedict's involvement and confront Nate, hoping to it would lead to Mortmain's location. Both leads proved fruitless.[1]
Ultimatum[]
Over the next two months, Mortmain bought up all of the yin fen in London and blocked further shipments. As Jem's supply depleted, Mortmain sent a note offering the supply in exchange for Tessa. Though Tessa's was willing to conceed, Jem refused to consider it and burned the note so they could not agree.
When Jessamine was released from the Silent City—where she had been sent for her traitorous crimes—Mortmain made his next attack. Sending the resurrected Mrs. Black and a number of automatons in a matching carriage to follow the Silent Brothers' carriage into the courtyard, he was able to kill Jessamine and kidnap Tessa.
Once in his custody, Mortmain managed to convince Tessa to change into his deceased father. Mortmain was able to get the final piece he needed from him in order to animate the automatons with demon energies. He immediately set to work on the spell and by the next day his army was complete. He sent a fraction of the clockwork creatures against a town near to his hideaway in Cadair Idris to test and demonstrate their abilities.
Final battle[]
Meanwhile, Charlotte and the others had tracked down Mortmain and Tessa's location and were trying to send a force against him. Consul Wayland refused to listen to Charlotte's claims and instead gathered the Clave for an emergency meeting to replace Charlotte as Institute head. Mortmain took advantage of this gathering of all the Nephilim and sent his army to attack them, killing many.
Charlotte, the lot from the Institute, a few Silent Brothers, and Magnus Bane used Henry's latest invention, the Portal, in order to get to Cadair Idris. While searching the cave for Tessa and Will—who had arrived the previous night in a failed rescue attempt—Cecily Herondale and the others came across a large amphitheater filled with automatons. As they inspected the rows of them, some suddenly boomed to life and began attacking. Battle soon broke out all across the room with Tessa and Will joining in once they found the others.
Tessa Changing into Ithuriel
As the battle continued, the leader of the automatons captured Tessa once again. Mortmain soon came to view the melee from the above gallery and ended up calling for it to stop. He asked for Tessa to be brought forth and offered her a deal: he would stay his hand against her friends and instead keep them alive as prisoners provided she be an obedient wife and never try to escape. She voiced her agreement but then Changed into the Angel Ithuriel—whom was trapped in her necklace. With his Heavenly fire burning through her, she grabbed Mortmain, incinerating him. Following his death, the clockwork creatures all collapsed, no longer animated as their life force was tied to his.[3]
Deaths[]
- Several Shadowhunters — killed in the battle
Aftermath[]
Their triumph was somewhat of a Pyrrhic victory for the Shadowhunters. While they did succeed in not being destroyed, they lost many members of the Council, including their Consul, and many others were gravely injured, such as Henry who was crippled. Because of her brave fight against Mortmain despite her call to battle going unanswered, Charlotte was made their new Consul. She set to work immediately on repairing the Council and their ranks.[3] They also made advancements to ensure something like this would never happen again; starting with the abolition of Pyxides.
In addition, the Change into Ithuriel affected Tessa's abilities. For many years after, shape-shifting caused her great pain and she opted not to do it.[4]