The Last Hours Theories:
Theory #1:
James Herondale burnt down Blackthorn manor.
To those of you who haven't read much about TLH, this must seem very far-fetched. He's Will Herondale's son! You say, He wouldn't possibly do something like that!
Yes. Yes he would. And I have proof /inferences from hints Cassie has given us, from snippets of TLH, short stories from The Bane Chronicles, such as The Midnight Heir, and excerpts from The Dark Artifices to prove it.
*contains spoilers from after TID, TMI and Lady Midnight. Read at your own risk*
First, I should bring up why Jamie would want to burn down Blackthorn Manor in the first place. As we all know from reading the chapter Nothing But Shadows from Tales From The Shadowhunter Academy, we all know that he's known Grace Blackthorn from a young age, and that she was one of the first people to be nice to him, and become what he considered a friend. No one knows that he knows her, and he states often that it his secret to keep. It's very obvious that he's sweet on her, and unlike Will and Jace, he has no walls when it comes to love, because, as Magnus states in The Midnight Heir, he's been surrounded by it all his life. So as he's growing up, though we don't know if he meets her again, we can tell that he's fallen in love with Grace. Fast-forward to TMH, suddenly James is heartbroken and suicidal. He gets drunk and does crazy stunts, which include literally shooting at innocent people. Grace has broken his heart after he pined after her for years, and it must have been cruel from the way she acted towards Magnus as if she never cared for him in the first place. He literally tries to drown himself in the Serpentine later in that chapter, even fighting against Magnus when he attempted to pull James out. I have another theory that Grace did more than just break his heart, possibly even blackmailed him over something, since what Jamie did afterwards seems a little dramatic, even for a Herondale. He can't tell anyone about what happened, as he tells Magnus later, and possibly gets stuck in whatever threat she laid upon him. Such as from the following snippet:
Teaser #37
"Be careful what you say to me,"Grace told him, "there is nothing I cannot make you do."
This really sounds at though she's holding something over him.
So in conclusion, is it really that hard to believe that James began to resent this girl (because he liked her so much in the first place. Kind of like the i hate you/ I love you/ I hate that I love you thing)
So, what proof do I have to support this theory?
Not a lot, actually. But the few pieces I do have are pretty interesting. The first thing is a snippet from Lord Of Shadows:
"You're suggesting we burn down Blackthorn Manor?" said Ty, his eyebrows up around his hairline.
"Oddly," Magnus muttered, "you wouldn't be the first people ever to have that idea."
"Ty, don't sound so excited," Livvy said.
"Pyromania interests me," said Ty."
While this conversation in itself was an absolute jem (haha see what I did there), one thing really stuck out to me. They're talking about Blackthorn Manor, obviously, and when Ty mentions burning it down, Magnus makes it sound as though it had been done before. Additionally, in the scene where they actually do go to Blackthorn Manor, it's commented upon how it looked as though it had been burned down and rebuilt, if I recall correctly. So Blackthorn Manor had basically canonically been burned down. It's nearly a fact. Well, now let's think; Who would want to burn down BM? Well, James would, and it's obvious in TMH that during that time, which is during TLH, he doesn't care much about crossing the line. While it does also say that James was friends with several of the Blackthorns in LoS, (by Jace to Kit I'm fairly sure), that could have come later in his life, presumably when Lucie is married to Jesse. Another important aspect to this theory is something that Cassandra has stated herself: he sets fire to something.
Well, while there are certainly a lot of things Jamie can set fire to, Blackthorn Manor seems to be the most likely. Think about it: James is just so heartbroken and frustrated and lost,, and he can't even tell anyone, not even Matthew, his own parabatai. He holds a grudge maybe not even against Grace, but Tatiana Blackthorn, who is seen to want to hurt Will through his children. So, in a fit of rage, he burns down Blackthorn Manor.
Of course, one of the few things that goes against this theory is that the London Institute is also inferred to have burned down, presumably during TLH as well. During LoS, Kit describes diner area of the institute:
"The family had gathered for dinner, which was served at a long table in a massive Victorian dining room. Angels had once painted on the ceiling, but they had long ago been nearly completely covered by dust and the stains of old burns."
So of course, it can be argued that it's actually the institute that Jamie sats on fire, though it doesn't completely burn down. However, I just feel that it's more likely that seventeen year-old heartbroken and suicidal and kind-of-slightly-out-of-his-mind (and possibly blackmailed) James Herondale may just possibly have been tempted to burn down Blackthorn manor.
So, what are your thoughts on this theory? Do you agree, or disagree? Do you have proof that can counter this? Please leave a review sharing your thoughts, and share your own theories that you'd like me to expand on!