Aline Penhallow

Other version
* Book Aline

**SPOILER WARNING: Plot details follow. *Caution is advised!***

**Aline Penhallow** is a Shadowhunter and the cousin of Sebastian Verlac.

## Biography

### Early life

Aline became friends with the Lightwood children when they were young, and though they did not see each other often, they were fairly close. At times, her mother would drag her and Isabelle to the Accords Hall for Clave assemblies.

### Summer in Alicante

One summer, Aline was secretly seeing a girl, Carolyn. Because others were not aware that she was dating someone, they simply assumed that she "hadn't found the right boy." Her cousin Sebastian, who was visiting for the summer, became aware and promised to not tell anyone.

### Sebastian in New York

In 2016, Aline and the rest of their family became worried when Sebastian disappeared so suddenly. Unbeknownst to them, Sebastian was abducted, and his identity assumed, by Valentine's son, Jonathan. Six months after he first went missing, she was unable to help herself and went to the New York Institute when she heard that Sebastian was there and came unannounced so as not to spook her cousin away. Almost immediately, Aline noticed something different about her cousin. Jonathan had Sebastian, who was kept tied up in his closet, tell him *everything* about her.

Jonathan then told Aline that he wanted to stay in New York, and he was able to trick her into believing his lies, through intimate details and memories only Sebastian would know. Jonathan asked that she look after his Aunt Elodie for a few days, and she agreed, even suggesting to leave for London that evening. Jonathan kept up his facade by inviting her to an Indian restaurant before she left.

Aline returned to the Institute shortly after; she'd hoped to say goodbye to Sebastian but missed him. She then bid Isabelle farewell, and the latter commented that she would be visiting them in Alicante soon. As the pair hugged, the real Sebastian tried to approach them but was stabbed and killed by Jonathan.

Aline soon learned of Sebastian's fate and was deeply angered by what Jonathan did to him, so when she found out weeks later that Jonathan was alive, she returned to New York to join the hunt for him. In preparation, she read reports regarding the hunt for Jonathan. Upon her arrival at the Institute, she was greeted by her friend Jace.

Going straight to business, Aline asked Jace about the most recent encounter with Jonathan, being the one from the night before, and about how he managed to escape. Though Aline was aware of the rune that bound the life of Jonathan to Jace's girlfriend, Clary, she questioned how Clary's life could be worth the lives Jonathan's continued freedom could cost, and Jace pointed out that Clary had saved her mother from Valentine.

Aline found Clary training later that day and offered to spar with her. The fight quickly escalated, their jabs becoming personal, as Aline went from probing Clary about Jonathan's goals to taunting Clary about letting him go and implying that she was more involved with Jonathan than she was letting on. After Aline made a comment about wanting Jonathan to feel the pain she was dealing Clary, Clary lost control and, after pinning her down, beat her up before Jace arrived to pull her off. Aline saw that something was off but Jace was able to talk her out of immediately reporting Clary to the Clave; Aline promised to hold off on saying anything as long as she doesn't see anything weird from her again.

Soon after Jonathan's capture, Isabelle called Aline to help her figure out what was going on with Downworlders who claimed to be tortured by the Clave. She was initially reluctant to cooperate, partly because of Clary, but Isabelle managed to convince her, promising to find the way to separate Clary and Jonathan, and to also avenge Sebastian's death.

After some efforts, Isabelle and Aline discovered that the person responsible for the experiments was Victor Aldertree. While Isabelle made arrangements to meet Aldertree at the Clave dining room, Aline sneaked into his office to look through his plot. After Isabelle confronted and subdued Aldertree, Aline and other Shadowhunters arrested Aldertree. Aline then met Helen Blackthorn, who was also involved and, to Helen's relief, Aline congratulated her for her role in stopping the Heavenly Fire project.

Aline and Helen began seeing each other frequently after their first encounter. Alec Lightwood ran into the pair while at the Gard, implied to have caught them together. When Jonathan used the Morning Star sword to release demons, the three of them rushed into action to prepare everyone for battle. When Isabelle pointed out the luck of them being together at the time, Aline defensively and nervously claimed that they had just been "doing research", though they were unable to hide their chemistry and feelings from the siblings who both smirked knowingly.

Following Jonathan's defeat at the hands of Clary, Aline attended Alec and Magnus Bane's wedding at the New York Institute, with Helen as her date. While dancing after the ceremony, the pair discussed what they would wear for their own wedding—dresses or tuxes for both, and they shared a romantic kiss.

## Trivia

* Notes
* Behind the scenes

* Aline likes Indian food.

* She is portrayed by Eileen Li in Season 2, but she was unable to return for Season 3 due to a scheduling conflict. The role was recast for 3B and Li was replaced by Jacky Lai.
* In 3A, Aline was said to be at the Athens Institute on Clave business, though this wasn't stated onscreen.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 2x15: *A Problem of Memory*
2. ↑ 3x15: *To the Night Children*
3. ↑ 3x17: *Heavenly Fire*
4. ↑ 3x20: *City of Glass*
5. ↑ 3x22: *All Good Things...*
6. ↑ "Due to scheduling @theEileenLi couldn't be in season 3..." Todd Slavkin on Twitter
7. ↑ "She's away at the Athens Institute on Clave business #demonsareingreecetoo #shealwayswantedtoseetheacropolis" Todd Slavkin on Twitter