The Shadowhunters' Wiki
Register
Advertisement
The Shadowhunters' Wiki
SPOILER WARNING: Plot details follow. Caution is advised!

You want me to say I will atone. It does not matter, I suppose. I will do what I am told, save one thing. I came here to beg you for help because I can no longer bear to do my mothers bidding.

–Grace to James, Chain of Iron

Grace Blackthorn, born Grace Cartwright, is the ward and adoptive daughter of Tatiana Blackthorn.

Biography[]

Early life[]

At the age of seven, her parents were killed while fighting demons. Initially, she was to be sent to her second cousin's but, unbeknownst to her, Tatiana Blackthorn paid them off so that she could have her. Grateful to be given another family, Grace became very loyal and devoted to her new mother. Though she tried to love Tatiana, she realized the woman did not want her love, so instead she focused it on her new brother Jesse. Jesse showered her with attention, played with her, cared for her, and even defended her when Tatiana was abusive. When Grace discovered Jesse training against their mother's wishes, she asked him to train her as well and they spent most of their time sneaking about with him tutoring her.

After his rune ceremony, Grace heard Jesse screaming from her room and came running to him. She was hysterical as blood swelled from his fevered skin and he writhed over the bed. As he weakened and shivered, Grace held her brother in her arms until he took his last breath. Grace felt desolate after his passing as her mother retreated into her own bitterness and secrets. Jesse soon appeared to her as a ghost and revealed that Tatiana had preserved his body so that he could be resurrected when she had all the right ingredients. While she felt sorry for him to be in this state and was apprehensive about necromancy, she was thankful to have his company and the pair spent most of their nights together, continuing her training.

Some time later, Tatiana took Grace into the woods to receive a gift—power over men. She did not initially understand what this ability was or how to use it so her mother took her on a trip to Paris to practice. There she was able to make boys of all ages fall in love with her and give her anything she wanted. This greatly pleased Tatiana, which in turn made Grace happy to finally have earned her mother's approval.

Tatiana's blade[]

My mother made me her blade, to cut every barrier raised against her.

–Grace, Chain of Gold

In 1899, Tatiana hired James Herondale to trim the briars around their property and asked Grace to bring James under her spell. She supplied him with better cutter and offered to keep him company while he cut; beginning a sort of friendship. Soon she realized her power was not working on him as he would not comply to her requests. Enjoying having someone to talk to, she waited till the end of the summer, when James had left, to tell her mother she failed. Tatiana blamed her lack of nerve and Grace vowed to try harder next time.

The following summer when his family returned to Herondale manor, they continued meeting up to chat and exchange stories of their lives. Still, she found she could not make him do as she asked. Realizing it was because of the demon blood he possessed, her mother asked her patron for help, and he offered a bracelet that would allow her power to affect him. Tatiana concocted a story to tell James to make him retrieve the item so that he would want to wear it for her. Picking up on her mother's hints that this plan would somehow help them raise Jesse, Grace did as she was asked.[3]

For the next few years, she made James believe he was in love with her. They constantly exchanged letters throughout the year and then would spend their summers together. They came to have a secret understanding that one day, when they were old enough and she was free of Tatiana, they would get married.[4] However, it wasn't all niceties. She would also test and torment him by saying she wished to end things, which drove him down self-destructive paths.

After one such time in 1903, Magnus Bane was called to Chiswick House to perform a task for Tatiana that would supposedly lead to Jesse's resurrection. After Magnus refused to perform the ritual, Grace followed him out to threaten him should he reveal her mother's plans. He asked her if she needed help or was being held against her will; she answered by holding a blade to his chest and coldly refusing him. Magnus then mentioned James—whom he had rescued earlier in the night after Grace had told him she did not want to talk to him anymore—to which she responded with indifference claiming she did not care for him, nor what she did to him at her mother's orders.[5]

Tightening the chain[]

When the end of that summer came and James and his family had not returned, Tatiana and Grace moved permanently from Idris to London in order to refresh the spell on him. The public believed that this was to integrate Grace back into Shadowhunter society, so they attended the welcome party at the London Institute for the Carstairs family and Tatiana even allowed her to join the younger set at a picnic the following day.

At the picnic, Grace began to notice the effects of the bracelet and her power weren't working. She could tell James felt a wrongness in kissing her and was able to resist it. So she sent a letter to James requesting they meet the next night. There she asked him to run away with her and elope. When James refused, she tried to guilt him into it, claiming he forgot her and she should be the most important thing if he truly loved her. However, when he refused once again, she said she needed time to think and left with her mother who had arrived to fetch her.

The next day, Grace brought her mother to the Institute for treatment after Tatiana was attacked and poisoned by Khora demons. It was there she told James about her engagement to Charles Fairchild, much to James's shock since Charles was already engaged to Ari Bridgestock. With her mother unconscious, she felt she needed to act fast and she needed his power and position within the Clave to get her out of Tatiana's grasp. Though James tried to change her mind, Grace knew she was doing him a kindness and—having decided it was no longer working—she asked James to return her bracelet.

Some days later, while in the garden talking to Jesse's coffin, she was attacked by Namtar. The demon told her he had been sent by Belial to reprimand her for taking the enchantment off of James as it was not her decision to make. When she tried to explain that it was not working, he simply told her he would see to its strengthening and that she was to put it back under the threat of destroying Jesse's chance to be brought back to life. Before she could respond Lucie Herondale fell from above and attacked the demon. When Jesse came to their rescue and slayed the demon, Grace learned that Lucie could also see him. While Grace tried not to say anything incriminating of Tatiana in front of her, Jesse expressed that he trusted Lucie and she should as well.[4]

After this, Grace decided to look through her mother's papers as something Namtar had said to Lucie had been bothering her. While she had always known her mother dealt with demons—and some powerful ones at that—she never expected to find the name of a Prince of Hell, Belial. She realized then the connection James had to Belial but kept it to herself.[3] Over the course of the next few days, she and Jesse began to discuss how they could get their mother the help she needed as they came to understand how dark her plans were and just how mad she had become.

Still, she could not ignore Namtar's warning and paid James a visit to return the bracelet. It had indeed been strengthened and James returned to his complacent smitten state. She then asked James to destroy the clockwork automaton Tatiana had stored inside Blackthorn Manor in Idris, which led to a fire that burned the entire building down.

At the Enclave meeting the following day, Tatiana accused him of burning Blackthorn Manor down and consorting with demons. She called on Grace to give testimony, claiming James had told her all about it. Grace struggled to confirm her mother's story and was cut off by Cordelia Carstairs giving him an alibi, which Grace supported. When Tatiana was confronted for the dark magic items found in the rubble of the manor, she began screaming and crying for help from Grace. To which Grace simply put a hand on her shoulder for comfort.

After her mother's arrest, Grace moved in with the Bridgestock family until such a time as she and Charles were wed and could live together. She made plans to still return to Chiswick House to check on Jesse.

She then attended James and Cordelia's engagement party, where Charles officially announced his engagement to Grace. At one point she tried to convince James that they could be together in a year, after his marriage blanc with Cordelia was over, but he would not discuss it and told her they could not talk. She later had a conversation with Lucie about Jesse and her plans to resurrect him with or without his consent and formed a partnership of sorts.[4]

Saving Jesse[]

Over the next months she worked tirelessly to try to raise Jesse. She and Lucie attempted to do so with science and some magic but to no avail. Eventually she expressed her frustration to Lucie that they would never succeed without trying actual necromancy and suggested they seek out a necromancer for help. Lucie was against the idea as it was evil but Grace insisted it was necessary. They came to the compromise to ask Malcolm Fade as a respectable High Warlock, and someone Grace believed she could persuade.

In December, she attended James and Cordelia's wedding. Since she had not heard from her mother in the last four months, Grace hoped she had moved on and planned to free James from the bracelet again. She was caught off guard by a maid Tatiana had possessed in order to see the wedding and check up on Grace. She reaffirmed that the bracelet was to stay in place and Grace to continue manipulating him, or Jesse would be taken from her.

Some weeks later, Grace and Lucie met with Malcolm at the Hell Ruelle. She attempted to use her power on him but found him impervious. Instead she managed to convince him to look into the matter by offering to give him word of Annabel Blackthorn—his former love who was believed to be an Iron Sister. She returned some days later and bluntly told Malcolm that Annabel was dead; the story of her Sisterhood invented to cover up her murder and keep Fade cooperative with Nephilim. She provided him with proof she got from her mother when he did not believe her and he became irate, kicking her out and refused to help. After some unkind words from Lucie, she fled the establishment.

Through all this, Grace continued her attempts with Jesse on her own. She began to notice that his body appeared disturbed, even finding blood on his clothes at one point, and later discovered new runes on his body. She was excited at the prospect that her spells might be working and he was close to coming back to life. However, she decided not to tell Lucie of these developments as she felt the other girl becoming reluctant in their cause.

One night, she found Lucie standing over his body with the Blackthorn sword. Grace quickly knocked her unconscious and brought her into the house. When Lucie came to, she began interrogating her, not understanding why she would attempt to destroy Jesse's body and telling her of her belief that he was getting stronger and ready to rise. Lucie then explained that wasn't the case and Jesse's body was in fact being possessed by Belial to kill Shadowhunters and steal their runes. She continued to explain how an anchor had been placed in him as a baby to allow this to happen and Grace realized this meant her mother was to blame for his death, not simply an unfortunate reaction to his first runes. She allowed Lucie to go after Belial to save Jesse while she went to send Malcolm after her.

After Belial was expelled from Jesse's body, he was taken to the Sanctuary at the Institute. Lucie told Grace of her plan to take him to Cornwall with Malcolm to resurrect him that night, and invited her to come. While packing, her mother appeared in her mirror to chastise her for helping their enemies. Grace then confronted her mother about her involvement in Jesse's death and was surprised to hear her mother confess; as well as explain that she had been planning to resurrect Jesse in a way that made him obedient to her. This sickened Grace and when Tatiana asked her to use her power to seduce Jesse back to their side, she sickened further and became enraged. She finally refused her mother and destroyed the glass. She ran to James, hoping to get his help in freeing herself from her mother, only to find the bracelet had broken and he was no longer under her spell. She confessed everything to him and agreed to turn herself on the mercy of the Consul and Silent Brothers to have her gift removed and receive protection.[3]

Silent City[]

Grace was incarcerated in the Silent City where she was questioned and confessed to her wrongdoings. The Silent Brothers decided her power should remain a secret until Tatiana could be questioned with the Mortal Sword. A few days into her incarceration, she was visited by Christopher who gave her notes on a new method of communication to ask for her feedback. She was later visited by her newly-resurrected brother, who told her everything that happened, and she, in turn, confessed to everything she did. Jesse looked at her with horror and disappointment before leaving, and Grace was left utterly devastated.

Christopher paid Grace a visit while the London Enclave held their Christmas party. Grace told Christopher she needed to confess to Cordelia. The following day, Christopher brought Cordelia with him to the Silent City. Grace confessed to everything she had done to James, and how she had used the power and the bracelet Belial had given her to make him believe he was in love with her when it was Cordelia he truly loved.

London under siege[]

Not long after Tatianna Blackthorn was arrested, Grace was forced into a horrific reunion with her mother. She had a Watcher remove Grace's power, as she no longer had any use for her. Grace then ran in fear as she witnessed the Silent City being invaded by demons who possessed the dead Silent Brothers and Iron Sisters. Brother Zachariah helped her escape. She immediately ran to the London Institute to inform the Enclave what was happening. Unfortunately, the authoritative Shadowhunters had departed for Idris for trial. After Christopher lost his life in battle against the Watchers and Tatiana, Grace watched in horror as James and Matthew were transported to Belial's realm: Edom. The remaining Shadowhunters were forced to leave London behind for self-preservation. Grace was among those who remained to fight. Grace and Jesse worked together to finish Christopher's invention in hopes of finding a way to contact the outside world. She was not having much success and was close to giving up when Christopher's ghost came to her aid, telling her she already knew what to do. The encouragement made Grace realize the steles needed to be given communication runes in order to make it work. After sending hundreds of messages to Idris and receiving reinforcement at last, Grace joined the fight, using Christopher's explosives in battle as she lacks the required training for Shadowhunters. Eventually, they came out victorious and the enemies were all defeated.

New life[]

In the months that followed, Grace confessed her crimes and was pardoned as a reward for her tremendous assistance in the battle. She moved in with the Fairchilds, where she started practicing the ways of science under the tutelage of Henry Fairchild. James came to forgive her and tolerate her presence better, as did the rest of his friends and family.

In June, as everyone prepares for new adventures, Grace and the rest of the Merry Thieves gather at Chiswick House to bury objects that represented their pasts: Grace buried the bracelet she used to control James, to leave behind the person Tatiana forced her to be.

Personality[]

Grace is seemingly a cold and unfeeling person. While she is able to appear charming and seductive when she has to and can display an air of innocence, she betrays no true emotions. Due to her upbringing and the outlook of the woman who raised her, any conscience Grace may hold seems restrained. Nonetheless, she is extremely loyal to her adoptive family.[5]

Physical description[]

Grace is said to possess extraordinary beauty. She is slender with pale, blond hair, rosy white skin, thick and dark eyelashes, and gray eyes.[5] She received a scar on her cheek during an explosive experiment.

Skills and abilities[]

  • Nephilim physiology: Being Nephilim, Grace possesses a variety of enhanced physical and mental abilities granted to her by the blood of Raziel in her veins and also by the angelic Marks of the Gray Book. She also has the power to perform tasks unique to their species, such as the ability to use and call on the power of angels for their seraph blades. This includes enhanced strength, agility, stamina, and coordination, which only improves over time and practice.
    • Runic magic: Due to the angel blood in their veins, all Shadowhunters are able to apply runes on their skin without any real danger. These Marks, in turn, give varied effects that serve to benefit the wearer.
Former
  • Siren-like magic: Grace was given the ability to enchant men by Belial at her mother's request.[3] This ability allowed her to cloud men's minds and make them do or feel as she wished while simultaneously blocking any thoughts that Grace was doing anything.[6]
    • The power seemingly cannot work on those with demon blood, as evident by warlocks and James Herondale. She was able to circumvent James's resistance by having him wear an enchanted bracelet—also made by Belial—that helped hone her ability.[7]

Relationships[]

My mother made me her blade, to cut every barrier raised against her.

–Grace to James, Chain of Gold

Tatiana is Grace's adoptive mother. Grace is very grateful to Tatiana for giving her a home and a family and as such, she does whatever she wishes. However, Grace is still anxious to free herself from her mother's control and physical abuse.

The final straw came when her mother asked her to seduce Jesse, afraid that Lucie would corrupt him against her side. Grace was revolted at the request since he is her brother, but Tatiana insisted that they shared no blood, so it did not matter, and told her she had no choice. She refused and ran to James for help in finally getting away from her.

Tarot Runes Queen
I always wished to show you my best face, Jesse. You were the only one who ever spoke up for me against Mama.

– Grace to Jesse, Chain of Gold

Jesse is Grace's adoptive brother and perhaps the only person Grace truly cares for.

When she was adopted into the family, she realized her mother did not care for her or particular want her love. Jesse, on the other hand, was kind to her and seemed to genuinely care about her; so Grace decided to focus all her love on him. The pair bonded greatly, spending most of their time together with Jesse reading to her, playing with her, and taking care of her wellbeing. Eventually, she discovered Jesse training as a Shadowhunter would and he agreed to teach her everything he knew.

Three years later, Jesse has his first rune ceremony. When he began screaming some hours afterwards, Grace ran to his room and held him in her arms until he took his last breath. A few days later he appeared as a ghost to her; she originally believed she was hallucinating but he convinced her he was truly there. They spent nearly every night together and Jesse continued her training.

Though the two talked often, Grace began keeping things from him—especially her power as she did not want him to think she was a monster. She also never really talked to him of James and tried to shield him from knowing all the dark dealings Tatiana had taken in an effort to resurrect him.

Eventually Grace teamed up with Lucie to try to raise him; Grace determined to do whatever it took to succeed despite Lucie and Jesse's apprehensions.

I know you will not believe me, James, but I always thought of you as a friend. My only friend. As the years went past, I hated using the bracelet on you. You were the only person other than Jesse who was ever kind to me, and I was hurting you.

–Grace to James, Chain of Iron

Grace and James first met in Idris in 1899, when Tatiana asked him to cut the briars of their home and for Grace to use her powers on him. Grace supplied him with better cutters than the knife he was given and the two began a sort of friendship—talking daily when he came to cut or meeting in the forest. She noticed her power was not working on him but enjoyed his company nonetheless and waited to tell her mother. The next summer, under Tatiana's orders, Grace asked James to use his shadow magic to steal a bracelet for her. When he did, she asked him to wear it and he agreed. Unbeknownst to him, the bracelet was enchanted to allow her ability to work on him so she could make him believe he was in love with her.

Over the years, they exchanged hundreds of letters and spent their summers together in the forest. Eventually, they came to have an understanding with one another. While James believed Tatiana was none the wiser to their relationship, she was orchestrating the whole thing, and forced Grace to occasionally test him and break things off to torment him. Despite doing as she was told, Grace began to regret doing these things as she still considered him her only friend.

In 1903, the Herondales did not go to Idris for the summer. Since the bracelet's powers faded with distance and summer was the time they usually renewed the enchantment on James, Tatiana decided to move the family to London before it could fade completely. There, Grace realized the bracelet's effects were already weakening with Cordelia's presence. As a test, she asked James to run away with her and elope, to which he refused. When Tatiana fell ill, she decided to remove the bracelet altogether, freeing James. However, her act of kindness was short-lived; Namtar soon attacked her as a messenger for Belial and demanded she replace the bracelet while he would see to its strengthening.

Not long after it was put back on, James entered a marriage blanc with Cordelia. When Grace tried to convince James that they could be together afterward, he told her they should no longer talk. She saw the pain it caused him to resist the now strengthened bracelet and left him alone.

Grace kept her distance from James for the next several months. On his wedding day, she resolved to taking off the bracelet once again since she had not heard from her mother all that time and hoped she had moved on. Before she could, her mother contacted her through a maid and made it clear she was not to remove the enchantment. Some weeks later, she reached out to her mother who demanded she visit James. Grace did as asked and tried to make him feel guilty for not keeping in touch with her. While kissing him she realized that though the spell compelled him to do as she asked, his mind was elsewhere, signaling it was failing.

Not long after, her mother called on her again but this time Grace decided she would not do what her mother requested. She went to James, expecting to force him to help her, only to find the bracelet was no longer on his wrist. He confronted her and she confessed to him all she had done. While she did not apologize, she agreed to tell the Consul and Silent Brothers everything in order to gain his assistance in getting away from her mother once and for all; though he was firm that this did not make them friends.

Grace was originally wary of Lucie being able to see Jesse. However when it became clear Lucie cared for Jesse and she expressed her determination to help him, Grace took her up on the opportunity to have someone assist her in raising him. They spent four months attempting to resurrect him with science and some spells from Tatiana's less hidden spellbooks. Eventually, Grace managed to convince Lucie that they give necromancy a try and the pair reached out to Malcolm Fade for his guidance.

Though Grace seemingly wasn't interested in becoming Lucie's friend, she was visibly upset when the other girl insulted her. She even felt betrayed when she saw Lucie trying to destroy Jesse's body. And though it bothered her that Lucie made plans of taking his body to Cornwall without consulting her, she agreed to them.

Ariadne wishes to befriend me and exchange confidences, but how can I?

–Grace to James, Chain of Iron

After her mother was arrested, Ari invited Grace to live with her family. Ari intended to befriend Grace, believing that their shared experience of being adopted would be a bonding point. However, Grace was not interested in her attempts. While she was polite, she avoided Ari and mostly kept to herself.

Appearances[]

Gallery[]

See more here

Trivia[]

Upcoming:

  • There is a reason why Grace doesn't remember her birth parents.[9]

References[]

Advertisement