[Warning: This post contains spoilers for Shadowhunters season 3 episode 16, “Stay With Me.”]
After all that teasing, and years of begging, Shadowhunters finally aired a Malec dance scene…but it wasn’t what fans were expecting. The episode opens with ex-warlock Magnus Bane (played by Glee alum and former Beyoncé backup dancer Harry Shum Jr.) and his Shadowhunter beau Alec Lightwood (Matthew Daddario….not a former Beyoncé backup dancer) spinning their way through a romantic breakfast date, which included an extremely smooth dip from our boy Alec. It’s adorable AF, until you realize it’s all a dream—that turns into a nightmare.
Freeform
You see, the magic Magnus took from Lorenzo Rey (Javier Muñoz) backfired, leaving him in some sort of coma—and, of course, dreaming of Alec. By the end of the episode, Magnus has to give up magic once again or else he’d die. So…not exactly the passionate moment fans were thinking of. And that pretty much terrified Matt.
“I’m upset that they teased it,” Matt explained to Cosmo prior to the episode airing, which is why he refused to talk about the scene even after the 3B trailer was released by Freeform. “It’s not a real thing, right? So I’m concerned that people are gonna get pissed, not gonna be happy that it’s not real.”
Freeform
Well it turns out, Matt couldn’t have been more wrong (duh). Sure, fans were heartbroken for Alec and Magnus throughout the entire episode, but they couldn’t stop talking about a.) how in their feelings they were over Malec, and b.) how great Matt was at his moves! Take a look:
But I’ll leave the last word with ultimate Malec stan, Katherine McNamara:
Now it’s time to wait for that proposal!