‘Shadowhunters’ Final Season Premiering in February

After wrapping production in August, Shadowhunters will premiere the second half of its third and final season on Monday, Feb. 25, Freeform has announced.

The final 12 episodes also include a previously announced two-part series finale movie titled The Final Hunt.

The popular series, which originally premiered in 2016, was given the ax by the network in June, with Freeform’s executive vice president of Programming and Development later stating the reasoning for its cancellation being money.

“We are very proud of Shadowhunters, a series that broke new ground in the genre world and became a fan favorite,” Freeform said in a statement when it announced the cancellation. “However, along with our partners at Constantin, we reached the very difficult decision not to renew the show for a fourth season. But, as big supporters and fans ourselves, Freeform insisted on and championed the filming of a special two-part finale that would give devoted fans a proper ending. The twelve episodes will air in spring of 2019. We want to thank our talented creators, producers, cast and crew along with our colleagues at Constantin for their hard work and dedication and to Cassie Clare for her incredible book series. We look forward to the final chapter of this breakthrough drama.”

Fans of the series responded to the news by launching a petition on Change.org in an effort to have the series saved. The petition, which followed in the footsteps of similar efforts from the fans of Sense8 and Timeless, garnered nearly 200,000 signatures, with more than 100,000 of those signatures having come within a week of its launch.

Fans also started the #SaveShadowhunters campaign, an effort that raised more than $20,000 for The Trevor Project, an organization devoted to providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention to LGBTQ youth. Shadowhunters was frequently praised for its LGBTQ representation.

Along with the petition and charity efforts, fans also had a sign flown over Netflix’s Los Angeles headquarters that read “#SaveShadowhunters” and purchased a billboard in New York City’s Time Square. Despite their efforts, however, the series remained on its final breath.

The upcoming final episode run will reportedly be filled with drama, according to showrunner Todd Slavkin, who spoke to TVLine.

“It’s heartbreaking, but it’s also beautiful,” Slavkin said. “[Magnus] learns how to live in the moment, something he never had to do when he had powers. Season 3B is such a rollercoaster ride for Magnus Bane. We loved his arc in 3A, but for Harry Shum, Jr. as an actor, it’s a hell of a journey. It’s beautiful and profound and it’ll break your heart. You’re in for a ride that’s really intense to watch.”

Shadowhunters will return to Freeform on Monday, Feb. 25.