Shadow and Bone

Season 2 puts one particular aspect of Grisha culture at the heart of things, as Alina (Jessie Mei Li) and Mal (Archie Renaux) take on the mission of tracking ...

The creature is considered the symbol of Ravka and tied tightly to its history. According to legends, the firebird’s flight path is what drew Ravka’s original borders and the Lantsov family is even said to be descended from the creature. Though Mal gets his life back, he loses his abilities as an amplifier, and with it his tracking abilities and innate sense of his “true north.” Alina also must pay the cost of using merzost. This total slay is what earned Vasilka the title of Saint of Unwed Women. The stag played a prominent role in the first season of Shadow and Bone. But the firebird isn’t the third amplifier; Mal is. Alina gives the order to capture it alive, confident that the sea whip will choose to bestow its power on her the same way the stag did. In the books, we’re given a bit more backstory on the sea whip. However, some residue of the stag remains in Kirigan’s hand, creating a psychic link between him and Alina that persists until Baghra cuts off his hand in her dying moments in season 2. When Mal and Alina find the stag, Alina discovers she doesn’t need to kill it, since the stag chooses to share its power with her. Season 2 puts one particular aspect of Grisha culture at the heart of things, as Alina (Jessie Mei Li) and Mal (Archie Renaux) take on the mission of tracking down amplifiers in order to destroy [the Fold](https://www.polygon.com/22397995/shadow-and-bone-map-ravka-grishaverse). Hundreds of years ago, Morozova set out to create a way of increasing Grisha power to help them better protect themselves from persecution — which is the same line of faux altruism Kirigan hides his own hunt for power behind.

"Shadow and Bone" is based on Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse novels, but Season 2 of the Netflix show does a lot that will come as a surprise to book fans.

Firstly she is inside her father's workshop as it burns down, and then she enters the mental connection shared between the Darkling and Alina to face her son. The first creature she finds in Siege and Storm, but she learns the Firebird is not actually a third amplifier after discovering the creature in Ruin and Rising. Given David's body is not shown in the TV show, though, it is unclear if he is really dead. The Crows' plot to take down Pekka Rollins is part of the narrative in the second book in the Six of Crows duology, named Crooked Kingdom. During the final battle the Darkling's Grisha, and his shadow monsters, known as Nichevoya, fight against our heroes. Neyar became one after forging the blade Neshyenyer, which she used to save Shu Han by defeating an unkillable army of clockwork soldiers. At the end of the season Alina asks Genya and Zoya to work with her to help make Ravka a better country, and Zoya comments that they are a "Triumvirate." One of the Darkling's Nichevoya attacks her when it believes she is going to attack her son, and in her dying moments she severs the connection between him and Alina by cutting off his hand. Baghra's death in the TV show is similar in that she chooses to sacrifice herself to give Alina and Mal the opportunity to escape, but the circumstances are different. Kaz decides to take on Pekka Rollins (Dean Lennox Kelly), with whom he shares a tragic past. Sankta Neyar never appears in Bardugo's books. After Alina loses her powers and Mal is brought back to life at the end of the Shadow and Bone trilogy they leave to capital to live an ordinary life, they get married and re-open the orphanage that they were raised in.

It turns out, Heisserer is already hard at work on a Six of Crows spinoff for the series' misfit band of thieves. Heisserer confirmed the potential spinoff in ...

During Shadow and Bone season 2, Heisserer worked with Deagan Fryklind as a co-showrunner, in part because Heisserer was also working to develop the Six of Crows spinoff, and the two hoped they could share the responsibilities of the two series going forward. For the [Netflix version of Shadow and Bone](https://www.polygon.com/23638754/shadow-bone-season-1-ending-explained), Heisserer decided to bring the Crows in as a major part of the story earlier, essentially combining elements of the Six of Crows books and the first book of the Shadow and Bone main series. [main Shadow and Bone series](https://www.polygon.com/23641219/shadow-bone-amplifiers-firebird-explained).

The Netflix Shadow and Bone series is based on the Grishaverse books by Leigh Bardugo, but how closely does Season 2 stick to the books?

He’s transformed by the Darkling aka Kirigan in the third book of the series, Ruin and Rising, and is used by the Darkling as a weapon against Alina and her allies. This is true for the Crows as well with Inej (Amita Suman) taking off with a pirate crew to hunt slavers similar to what she ends up doing after the Six of Crows duology finishes, only the rest of the Crows are shaping up to take on the job that kicks off their story in the books in the first place. In the books, in the aftermath of the fall of the Darkling and Alina losing her powers, Alina refuses Nikolai’s proposal and she and Mal return to her hometown. With so many departures from the book but the show clearly setting up a Season 3 we can only wait to see Mathias is still in prison and the rest of the Crows are in Ketterdam, but the pieces are just slightly off from where they ought to be if we’re jumping right into the parem heist in Fjerda next season. In the books, Mal doesn’t get Baghra to lead him through the discovery of his Morozova blood. It’s a plot made up entirely for the show, seemingly just to give some characters more to do and to show us more of the world. She’s able to use her shadow powers to distract and destroy the shadows that are following their group, allowing the rest of them to escape. Not only do they change the circumstances under which Mal finds out he’s an amplifier, they change the meaning of his death as well. Everything involving Pekka Rollins and Kaz (Freddy Carter) seeking revenge comes in Crooked Kingdom as the result of him helping to double-cross them at the end of the first book. Still, in either version of the story she believes her son is beyond redemption. While Season 1 certainly made some changes, with Season 2 we pull in even more from the books written by Leigh Bardugo, spanning content from four different titles, and with it comes some major changes to the story.

Netflix's Shadow and Bone is a hit, but showrunner Eric Heisserer has his eyes set on a different story.

[Entertainment Weekly](https://ew.com/tv/shadow-and-bone-spin-off-six-of-crows/), the show is in “early stages” and does not currently have the go-ahead from Netflix. Heisserer said that he stepped back into a co-showrunner role in season two because “I was busy with the writers’ room for Six of Crows. Although if we were being honest with ourselves, the Crows have always been a high point of the series. According to [Variety](https://variety.com/2021/tv/features/shadow-and-bone-how-they-made-it-1234969633/), he stated that having access to [those characters](https://gizmodo.com/netflix-shadow-and-bone-patrick-gibson-nikolai-sturmhon-1850223814) was absolutely essential for him to sign onto the show. [Shadow and Bone](https://gizmodo.com/shadow-and-bone-season-two-review-netflix-six-of-crows-1850229320) series, he had one condition. Netflix had to get the rights to [Six of Crows](https://gizmodo.com/shadow-and-bone-netflix-season-2-interview-six-of-crows-1850228343) for him too.

In the season 1 finale, Alina wielded her newfound powers as a Sun Summoner to defeat General Kirigan, a.k.a. the Darkling, in battle in the depths of the Fold.

The second season of Shadow and Bone will see the Darkling emerge from his near-death experience in the Fold with a terrifying new power, the ability to create and control shadow monsters known as nichevo’ya using merzost, the power of creation. Meanwhile, the Crows were headed back to Ketterdam to deal with the fallout of failing to kidnap Alina and hand her over to Dreesen (Sean Gilder), the wealthy merchant who hired them to do the job. However, the final scene of the season revealed the Darkling was still alive and had managed to make his way out of the Fold accompanied by some menacing new shadow figures. The Darkling had captured Alina after killing Morozova’s stag, an ancient mythical creature whose antlers have the power to amplify Grisha abilities, and cementing a connection between himself and Alina by welding an antler collar around her neck and embedding another piece of antler in his own hand. [according to showrunners Eric Heisserer and Daegan Fryklind](https://ew.com/tv/shadow-and-bone-season-2-adapt-siege-and-storm-ruin-and-rising/). Season 2 will also once again incorporate characters and plot points from [Six of Crows](https://time.com/collection/100-best-fantasy-books/5898504/six-of-crows/), the debut entry in a subsequent duology from Bardugo set in the same world.

Though the series is centered on Alina's story, the Crows are the most engrossing to watch. Kaz (Freddy Carter), Inej (Amita Suman), and Jesper (Kit Young) ...

As for the romance, which is a staple of the books, Alina and Mal’s relationship remains the strongest and most infectious in Shadow and Bone, all due to Li and Renaux’s palpable chemistry. John Wick: Chapter 4 will be available in theaters and IMAX on March 24, 2023 (or March 23rd in Australia/NZ).](/videos/john-wick-chapter-4-official-final-trailer) [The Little Mermaid - Official Trailer“The Little Mermaid” is the beloved story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. “The Little Mermaid” is directed by Oscar® nominee Rob Marshall (“Chicago,” “Mary Poppins Returns”)with a screenplay by two-time Oscar nominee David Magee (“Life of Pi,” “Finding Neverland”). In fact, many of the characters aren’t really given any time for development, which is a shame since so many seem quite interesting at first glance. Though the series is centered on Alina’s story, the Crows are the most engrossing to watch. Several of the stories and characters have been scattered, tweaked, and expanded within the season but, somehow, remain fluid and entertaining in the storytelling.

The news comes just as the second season of the fantasy adaptation became available to stream on Netflix. Kit Young as Jesper Fahey and Jack Wolfe as Wylan ...

[Freddy Carter](https://collider.com/shadow-and-bone-kit-young-freddy-carter-interview-netflix/)), Inej Ghafa ( [Amita Suman](https://collider.com/shadow-and-bone-season-2-character-poster-inej/)) and Jesper Fahey ( [Kit Young](https://collider.com/shadow-and-bone-jesper-kit-young-stunt-training-video/)). [Leigh Bardugo](https://collider.com/leigh-bardugo-ninth-house-grishaverse-hell-bent-interview/) are a wonderful source of romance, action and mystery, and the new installment of the television series won't be an exception. [Six of Crows](https://collider.com/shadow-and-bone-season-2-what-to-expect/). In this new adventure, Alina and Mal ( [Archie Renaux](https://collider.com/shadow-and-bone-archie-renaux-interview/)) will continue their quest to upgrade their powers in order to defeat the evil Darkling ( [Ben Barnes](https://collider.com/tag/ben-barnes/)). [Netflix](https://collider.com/netflix/) has released the second season of [Shadow and Bone](https://collider.com/tag/shadow-and-bone/) has gotten even more exciting for the Grishaverse fans, as apparently the showrunners behind the fantasy adaptation have been secretly working on a Six of Crows spin-off. In the television adaptation, the Crows are represented by Kaz Brekker (

Although few know how many exist, the amplifiers Grisha can make and use are important in Shadow and Bone, and become even more so in season 2.

[amplifiers in Shadow and Bone](https://screenrant.com/shadow-bone-morozova-creatures-amplifiers-powers-explained/), there is some debate about which is most powerful. This is what makes the search for the Sea Whip and the Firebird so critical in Shadow and Bone season 2. Throughout Shadow and Bone season 1, the only human amplifiers in the series were Ben Barnes' General Kirigan and his mother, Baghra, played by Zoë Wanamaker. Shadow and Bone season 2 reveals a critical twist that the third of Morozova’s amplifiers, the Firebird, was not a magical creature at all, but a person. Each of these creatures is said to have been made from one of the powerful Grisha’s bones, and each can bequeath their power to one that they choose upon their death. The first sect of these is Morozova’s creatures: the Morozovan Stag, the Sea Whip Rusalye, and the fabled Firebird.

With its sprawling second season, Netflix series may be growing up, but it's leaning heavily on its YA roots.

Shadow and Bone may be growing up, but it’s not in a go-to-college-do-your-taxes way. In a post-YA franchise world, this sophomore season may be the closest thing we have to a successor, and it couldn’t be better equipped for 2023 audiences. It’s also clear there’s still room to turn things up to 11 — the series ends with a terrifying cliffhanger that changes everything. That’s not even mentioning the strange psychic bond between Alina and the Darkling that screams Rey and Kylo. It established the world of Ravka, torn in two by a mystical dark cloud full of terrifying creatures. Season 1 of the series did all the hard work.

After two long years, season 2 of Shadow and Bone debuted on Netflix and we finally learned where Alina Starkov, Mal Oretsev, the Crows, and the others ran ...

Shadow and Bone season 1 premiered on April 21, 2021, and was renewed in June 2021. Season 2 premiered on March 16, 2023, and although its future is unknown, it’s possible that a renewal announcement could come within the next month or two. No word on this just yet, as Netflix still needs to confirm that season 3 is happening. The show is based on not one, but *two* series by author Leigh Bardugo: the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology. All eight episodes of Shadow and Bone season 2 are now available to stream, but ofc, fans are already wondering when season 3 might drop — or if it’s even happening. I want to spend more time in their world.” Fingers crossed.

"Shadow and Bone" showrunner Eric Heisserer spoke to Newsweek about Season 2 of the Netflix show and how Alina's choices will impact her moving forward.

He jokingly added that Bardugo "made it clear from Season 1, and reminded us all in Season 2, that we are really doing very expensive fan fiction, and I'm alright with that. "It was never with any disrespect on either side, and then there was a lot of giddy excitement when we got [to surprise] her. Heisserer said it was "very" important that Alina be given such a position of power: "First, because she's earned it [through] all the things that she's done. So, when we had that, the shape of the second half of this season came into clarity for the rest of us." "And so, this choice for Mal is to do that, hoping with all his heart that he can come back with a surer sense of self. "I would just text her, call her at all hours like 'Leigh, what about this?' and certainly, like in Season 1, we had differences in opinion or approach. "And we were here for it because some of our favorite moments of Season 1 was crossing the streams. "We weren't about to retire Alina here at the end of this season. And how can I prove it to her?' And how can I prove it to myself? Instead, Mal chooses to take on the title of Sturmhond from Nikolai in order to find his purpose again. So, it was about having a lot of mouths to feed really."

The Netflix show makes a sharp departure when it comes to Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) and Mal (Archie Renaux) and how the season ends.

In a season that is quite literally bookended by this all-encompassing romantic love, it feels like a lost opportunity for the show to say something about the friction between power and the intimacy of a simple life. Petrana: I guess the one thing that can be said of this ending is that it at least keeps Alina and Mal in play for a hypothetical third season. But a quick stab to the chest and he realized that Alina never meant anything to him to begin with. That would have felt substantial, were that section of the story extended so that his loss was felt, or if the season emphasized the tenuousness of the insurgency and how it put Alina at a major disadvantage, but it didn’t! Everything just happened so fast, which I guess is what happens when you’re stuffing in two books’ worth of plot and trying to set up the fan-favorite book in the next season. I understand that impulse to keep the main characters in play, and I do think they made some interesting changes, at least in the abstract. In the books, I was more into the idea of the love triangle, and the notion that maybe one of Alina’s other suitors could be a better fit for her. But by the time we met them in season 1 there was so much flirting that I was genuinely confused about them for a while. But it’s a funny contrast against the plot points that the season does choose to replicate on screen, and how it metabolizes them into the Malina relationship. It’s always been a very romance-forward plot, but I think there’s something beautiful to the idea that you’d chase your best friend — your chosen family — to the ends of the Earth too. But the first season of the show completely eliminates that jealousy and weird petty tension. [Alina](https://www.polygon.com/tv/22371843/shadow-and-bone-casting-diversity-alina-leigh-bardugo) that we got in season 1 — and how much better it was than the books.

Shadow and Bone follows Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) as she discovers powers she didn't know existed and learns that she might be the key to reuniting the ...

Alina and Mal set off together, with Alina hoping to learn how to control her powers with the amplifier so that she can take down the Fold on her own. Alina offers the Crows some of the jewels she was forced to wear, hoping to buy their silence and loyalty, and they agree to keep her plans secret. Mal successfully finds the Stag, and offers the information to Kirigan in exchange for letting him talk to Alina. Once Kirigan and Alina reach East Ravka’s army base at the edge of the Fold, he recruits Durast David Kostyk (Luke Pasqualino) to fabricate the stag’s antlers into amplifiers for him and Alina. Baghra knows that her son doesn’t really want to help Alina destroy the Fold, and that he wants to instead use her abilities to make himself and the Fold more powerful. General Kirigan arrives just in time to save her, and personally escorts her for the remainder of the journey. In the years since, it’s been foretold that a Grisha with the ability to summon the power of the sun would appear to take down The Fold and bring peace to the land. Things go wrong, however, when Arken betrays them and tries to kill Alina for the ruler of West Ravka. While Mal recovers from his wounds, Alina is whisked to the tent of Second Army leader General Kirigan (Ben Barnes), a Grisha who is thought to be a descendant of the Darkling, to test her power. Once Inej is freed, the three meet The Conductor, Arken (Howard Charles), and prepare to cross the Fold in his unique coal-powered vehicle. As Mal is about to be carried off in the winged creature’s talons, Alina begins to glow, unleashing a force of light only told of in legends. [Shadow and Bone](https://www.denofgeek.com/shadow-and-bone/) is set in a world where a shadowy vale full of monsters known as The Fold divides the land.

Leigh Bardugo's Shadow & Bone is one of the biggest and most beloved fantasy book series out there, and when a screen adaptation was finally announced to be ...

The Darkling is definitely the true name and identity of the character in books — in fact, he is not known by any other in Ravka. In the show, though, it is almost as if he is disguised to come off as more likable and approachable in the earliest episodes. While book Mal (Archie Renaux) is far from a fan favorite, many people seemed to really like him in the show. [played by Ben Barnes](http://collider.com/ben-barnes-movies-tv-shows-before-shadow-and-bones-season-2-rotten-tomatoes/)) in the show, but this is not exactly what happens in the books; instead, he catches her off-guard and kisses her first. Meanwhile, in the books, the manipulative character chooses to do so out of ambition and desire for power. The reasoning behind Alina's scar on her hand may not be the biggest difference in the show, but it is nonetheless worth mentioning. It conveys the message of this, what is a very brutal and dominating act." Seemingly, these changes were made in order to give Alina more control over the narrative and send out an important message to younger folks in the audience. In the books, the character isn't described as half Shu — an ancient nation in the south of Ravka influenced by China and Mongolia, which Ravka sees as the enemy for their inhumane treatment of Grisha. Shadow & Bone is followed by Seige & Storm and Ruin & Rising, in which neither of the characters appears. Instead, these beloved personalities are only introduced to readers in the first book of the Six of Crows duology. While the fan-favorite gang of criminals is only introduced later in the book series, they step on-screen very early during the series in what feels like a prequel that tackles the Six of Crow's origins.

Ben Barnes spoke to Newsweek about acting opposite Jessie Mei Li in "Shadow and Bone" Season 2, and how communication was key for some of their scenes.

"Then when everyone else is shooting separately from you, pretty much, it does feel like you can access the abyss more easily, so I felt quite a quick connection to that empty feeling that he's playing [with] near the beginning. "But for me, honestly, coming out of COVID we still had a lot of that structure when we were shooting the second season, so there was an awful lot of alone time," he went on. "And I think those things were all heightened by the fact that Eric [Heisserer, the showrunner] and I, together, worked on this concept of shifting what's happening to him in terms of his mortality because if these inner shadow demons [Nichevo'ya] are poisoning him then essentially you're dealing with a man who is becoming more aware of his mortality, having been alive for hundreds of years. So, it was more comfortable for me in some ways to play a guy who's just gonna put his hand on your throat, shove you up against the wall, and tell you how he sees it, you know?" The scene escalates to the point where the Darkling pushes Alina against a wall and holds his hand against her throat. "It's sort of trust falling, and she has to feel comfortable enough to say [things]."

The group is led in spirit, if not always in action, by the enigmatic, gloved Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter), a stoic ringleader with connections all throughout ...

Balancing the small and the universal, the light-hearted and the doomed, is a problem that’s saturated the biggest forms of entertainment right now. Even the Ketterdam fight sequences feel more grounded than the “fighting against a tennis ball” feel of some of the other big “Shadow and Bone” Season 2 setpieces. What is repetitive and plodding in the story threads that dominate the rest of the show becomes much freer and agile when attention shifts to the “crew on a mission” side of things. The tinier parts of everyday life — the small prayers whispered over dead enemies, the mottos spoken before embarking on a job, the simple flick of a knife in and out of its sheath — then make the big, steampunk-adjacent design choices stand out even more. They’re the kind of group that can be compelling even when they’re looking at a far-off explosion from a rooftop. For a show that has a character who can summon infinite power of blinding, brilliant light, it’s the other half of “Shadow and Bone” that often feels more like a magic trick. The show [debuted in early 2021](https://www.indiewire.com/2021/04/shadow-and-bone-review-season-1-netflix-show-1234632249/) in the midst of a TV world still dotted by question marks and pointed to a possible future for effects-driven literary adaptations. Season 2 of “Shadow and Bone” is worth it for The Crows. Kaz, Jesper, and Inej give the show a better chance to appreciate those details, freed from having to worry about massive mythical beasts or complicated conversations about the logistics of power-strengthening ceremonies. The job is sneaking into a heavily-guarded building, snatching up that artifact, and getting out alive. Now in its Season 2, the [Netflix](https://www.indiewire.com/t/netflix/) series is the kind of handsomely made fantasy epic that networks could once build a whole lineup around. [Shadow and Bone](https://www.indiewire.com/t/shadow-and-bone/)” and it’s still, at its heart, a tale of Chosen One vs.

The Shadow and Bone plot follows Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li), a Grisha (a.k.a. person who can do magic) who can summon light, also known as a "Sun Summoner." ...

[Emily Burack](https://www.emilyburack.com/) (she/her) is the news writer for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at [Hey Alma](https://www.heyalma.com/), a Jewish culture site. Thanks to Alina's powers, the ship reaches safety outside of the Fold, and Alina, Mal, Kaz, Inej, and Jasper convene in a field, where Inej swears her loyalty to Alina and Kaz promises not to reveal her identity. Nina is taken captive by Düskelle, or witch-hunters, from Fjerda, but when their ship sinks, she is abandoned with one of the Drüskelle, Matthias (Calahan Skogman). The Crows are hired to kidnap Alina, which does not happen in the books—it's a new plot that allows the Crows characters to overlap with Alina and her story. At first, she works with General Aleksander Kirigan (Ben Barnes), the general of the Second Army, which consists entirely of Grishas.

Based on the best-selling books by Leigh Bardugo, it follows the young Alina Starkov, who after years of toiling away as a soldier, finds out that she's not ...

Alina and Mal approach him to help her take down the Fold in her fight against the Darkling. [Amita Suman](https://collider.com/shadow-and-bone-netflix-kaz-inej-relationship-freddy-carter-amita-suman-kit-young-interview/) can also be seen in The Outpost and Netflix's The Sandman. Tamar is the other half of the mercenary twins and a Heartrender like her brother, but she's far more inclined to use her abilities than her combat-oriented brother. She poisons the King of Ravka in order to not only further the Grisha cause but exact her revenge after enduring years of abuse at the hands of the King and Queen. He's instrumental in smuggling Alina Starkov from the Little Palace and the fight for her freedom against the revenge-consumed Darkling. At the end of the first season, he decides to help Alina Starkov in her fight against the Darkling. In the first season, he crosses the Fold with his band of thieves to capture the Sun Summoner for a big payout. Barnes can be seen on HBO's Westworld, Netflix's The Punisher and is widely known for his breakout role as the titular Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. And of course, the series is adding more characters to the large ensemble and adapting more events from the Grishaverse novels. A gang of thieves from across the fold called The Crows aim to capture her for a handsome price, and her connection to The Darkling might not be what it seems. Separating her from her best friend Mal, the army commander General Kirigan, the most powerful of all Grisha, takes Alina to the Little Palace to train her and present her to the nation. [Shadow and Bone](https://collider.com/tag/shadow-and-bone/) returns to the small screen on March 16, 2023, two years after the smash hit success of the first season.

Will there be a season 3 of Shadow and Bone? Netflix's Grishaverse series season 2 is out, and while it hasn't been renewed yet, we do know a few things ...

The Crows themselves are already fan-favorite characters, and now it seems at least some of them will be embarking with Mal on some Here’s everything we know about Shadow and Bone season 3 so far. If we’re judging by the first and second seasons, then we’re probably looking at a two-year gap between seasons. While season 2 is already packed with action and [bursting at the seams](https://www.polygon.com/e/22170223) with plot, that doesn’t mean there [isn’t room for a third season](https://www.polygon.com/e/23405828) — as long as Netflix gives it the green light, that is. [Shadow and Bone](https://www.polygon.com/22394023/shadow-and-bone-review-netflix), but that’s not particularly surprising. They’re amazing human beings, like Jessie just brings a brightness to the set every time she shows up.”

With secrets revealed, Alina is forced to make an impossible sacrifice. Mal tangles with his new identity. The final battle begins.

[Shadow and Bone is](https://gamerant.com/netflix-shadow-and-bone-similar-fantasy-shows-recommendations/) right on track for another excellent finale. [If Shadow and Bone had](https://gamerant.com/shadow-and-bone-netflix-season-2-renewed/) dropped weekly, it'd be a great candidate for social media word-of-mouth growth. Fans of the novels are divided on this season of Shadow and Bone. [tainted by The Darkling](https://gamerant.com/shadow-bone-darkling-redeemed/). There is still a lot to take in as Shadow and Bone nears its finale. The most controversial choice in adaptation is the decision to combine two [novels of the Grishaverse](https://gamerant.com/shadow-and-bone-season-2-possibilities/) series into one season of TV. If it isn't moving the narrative, it's an action scene. Unfortunately, Kirigan knows [Mal's secret as well](https://gamerant.com/shadow-bone-mal-better-show-book/). It's always been juggling that weight and the only new challenge is figuring out the chemistry each well-established character might have. Her work began with Smallville and has since included much of the best genre entertainment on TV. The drama is at its peak and the stakes have never been higher as this conclusion proves too big for just one episode.

Whilst there are multiple storylines in the show, the major one follows Alina Starkov's (Jessie Mei Li) journey to defeat the Darkling (Ben Barnes) through ...

[Season 2 follows her journey to obtain the next two amplifiers](https://collider.com/shadow-and-bone-season-2-review/), as she finds herself on Sturmhond's (Patrick Gibson) ship on the way to the sea whip. The three Morozova amplifiers were connected to each other and yearned to be whole. Perhaps, that is why Alina was able to obtain more than one amplifier, as Morozova's amplifiers seemed to be incomplete when they were separated and have now found their rightful place together. However, the Darkling manages to kill it first and uses its antlers to form a collar around Alina's neck which painfully embeds into her skin. Baghra recalls a clay swan he had gifted her and that he had loved her sister as much as she had loved that clay swan. It was rumored that he had created three powerful amplifiers - the stag, the sea whip, and the firebird - but as we find out in Season 1 of the show, the myth was proven true. Morozova's amplifiers are key contributors to eradicating the Fold and uniting Ravka. However, it is his family tree is mainly dealt with in Season 2, and it plays an integral role in the show's most iconic plot twist. That being said, "living amplifiers" also exist and are humans (usually Grisha) that can amplify other Grisha's powers through touch and identify other Grisha the same way. Amplifiers are the bones, scales, or claws of particular animals that can increase a Grisha's power, and they are incredibly hard and rare to find. [Shadow and Bone](https://collider.com/tag/shadow-and-bone/) is officially out, delving further into the intricate Grishaverse and its complicated history. Whilst there are multiple storylines in the show, the major one follows Alina Starkov's (Jessie Mei Li) journey to defeat the Darkling ( [Ben Barnes](https://collider.com/tag/ben-barnes/)) through searching for the powerful Morozova amplifiers.

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers from Season 2 of Shadow and Bone and also from the Nikolai Lanstov Duology by Leigh Bardugo.Shadow and Bone ...

We saw that when the group was fighting the shadow monsters in the chapel at the end of the season, Nikolai was attacked by one of them and his shoulder was pierced through. It seems like the show is leaving an open possibility there with The Darkling, and we will just have to wait and see if this is a hint at the future or merely an Easter egg! She is the patron saint of gardeners and was trapped in the Shadow Fold along with two other saints, Sankta Grigori and Sankta Juris. In King of Scars, Elizaveta steals the remains of The Darkling's body and preserves it in order to try and resurrect him. What was not surprising was the death of The Darkling (Ben Barnes), which occurred at the end of Ruin and Rising, the third and final book in the Shadow and Bone trilogy. The second season of Shadow and Bone ended with our heroes attending the funeral of General Kirigan aka The Darkling.

Allowing fans to see both the world-saving mission of Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) in the Grisha trilogy as well as the scrappy adventures of the thieving ...

Having them show up for the finale is cool, and It's exciting to see everyone all together, but you can’t help but notice how out of place the Crows feel among the ranks of Alina and Nikolai’s people. At the end of the day, this has been Alina’s story and the Crows are just circling around it and being handed boons to keep them relevant, so they can continue to delight audiences. With the Crows' fight in Ketterdam finished halfway through the season, they needed a way to keep the characters relevant and get them involved with the main plot. This is fitting going up against the Darkling, but this diversion keeps them busy all the way until the finale where finally Inej can come in with the blade and save Alina’s life a few times. Matthias’ (Calahan Skogman) imprisonment takes place before Six Of Crows even begins, and the Crows are hoping to break him out not just because they made a deal with This extends to other couples as well with the choice to keep Matthias in Hellgate most of the season showcasing the lowest part of his relationship with Nina, something we only hear discussed afterward in the books. This isn’t to say the characters don’t feel like themselves or that the scenes we do get aren’t fun and interesting. What we see from them is a mix of events pulled from both books in their duology and [things created wholesale for this new version](https://collider.com/shadow-and-bone-season-2-book-changes/) of the story. We finally have all six crows (well, the sixth is in a cage) but what they’re allowed to do is still very much dictated by the plot of Shadow and Bone rather than their own narrative forces. It’s not glamorous, it’s not grand, and it leaves the Crows in Shadow and Bone feeling somewhat out of place. It’s [Alina on all the posters](https://collider.com/shadow-and-bone-season-2-images-jessie-mei-li/) at the end of the day.

The second season of Netflix's Shadow and Bone packs in a ton of twists and dramatic moments. We try to break down what it all means.

Could a spin-off be in the works that might allow more space for the stories of Kaz and his crew? Nina Zenik’s sole mission in Shadow and Bone Season 2 is to figure out a way to get her lover Matthias Helvar out of the Kerch prison known as Hellgate. And while the Season 2 finale did introduce the drug jurda parem that plays such a key role in the Six of Crows books, it does so in a way that feels as though it may be a problem that Alina and Nikolai are meant to solve. As Season 2 concludes, Alina not only prepares to stand next to Nikolai at his coronation—the two are still fake engaged—but to stay in Os Alta to help him rebuild a divided Ravka. Nina makes deals with everyone from Kaz to Nikolai in the hopes of helping the man she loves, but when she finally secures a royal pardon, it turns out to be too late. He removes his shirt to reveal shadows spreading across his back from the site of the injury, and when he looks in the mirror, he sees a nichevo’ya as his reflection. As Nikolai prepares for his coronation, it’s clear that not everything is as rosy as it appears in the newly reunited Kingdom of Ravka. Alina finally manages to perform a light-based version of the Darkling’s favorite magical attack—known as the Cut—and deal a damaging blow to her former mentor/potential love interest when he tries to kill Mal and claim his Firebird power for himself. It’s Nikolai, for clearly self-interested reasons since he is also clearly crushing on Alina himself, who offers Mal a solution—take on his former fake identity of the famous privateer Sturmhond, which will allow him to serve Ravka, see the world, and maybe get some perspective on what he wants out of his second chance at life along the way. (In Bardugo’s novels, the two retire to a quiet life of anonymity and open an orphanage together.) (Morozova resurrected the girl in the same way he did the Stag and the Sea Whip, after Baghra lost control of her powers and killed her as a child.) That bloodline, she says, has passed to Mal—it’s the reason he’s always been able to track animals so well and to always find his way back to Alina. Though the Sun Summoner tracks down and slays the Sea Whip within Season 2’s first two episodes, her search for the third creature takes much longer—or, at least it does until the Darkling’s mother Baghra informs her that the Firebird isn’t an animal so much as a bloodline, passed down through the offspring of Morozova’s children.

These liberties will come as no surprise to fans of Season 1, which combined the plots of Bardugo's Shadow and Bone trilogy and her Six of Crows duology with ...

This is a show-only development for Mal, but there is precedent for a non-Nikolai Sturmhond in the books. In the show, Alina tells Zoya and Genya that the three of them can be their own Triumvirate, meaning she'll take over from David's spot in the books. Shadow and Bone once again reunites the Crows with Alina and friends, giving us a whole new plotline to enjoy. Key parts of the battle remain the same: Alina sacrifices Mal and destroys the Fold, then kills a bereaved Darkling. For the first half of Season 2, the Crows are fighting to regain their place in Ketterdam, since Pekka Rollins has taken over the old Crow Club and framed them for murder. There's a lot less actual touching and romance between the two in the show than the books, except for one show-only scene that sees Alina attempt to trick him with seduction — again, giving her more agency and power in the relationship. This way, Baghra is able to reveal that Mal is the third amplifier, a moment that hits harder in the show than in the books as it allows Mal to reckon with his ancestry and gives him the hard task of telling Alina the truth. In the show, he understands that it's important the two of them present a united front, and he ends up much friendlier with Nikolai. The books also see her reject his marriage proposal, while she accepts it in the show in an attempt to consolidate power and present a better path forward for Grisha in Ravka. The show pairs Mal and Alina with Baghra (Zoë Wanamaker) as they search for the Firebird instead of Zoya (Sujaya Dasgupta), Genya (Daisy Head), and David (Luke Pasqualino). She creates nichevo'ya creatures of her own and nearly kills herself and the Darkling in the process, but her allies help her escape before she can finish the job. In the show, Alina gains more agency by choosing to seek out the Sea Whip instead of getting kidnapped and being forced to do so on the Darkling's behalf.

Netflix phenomenon Shadow and Bone is back for season 2, and fans are already asking what's next for season 3 of this fantasy series.

[Entertainment Weekly ](https://ew.com/tv/shadow-and-bone-season-2-ending-expanded-grishaverse/)that while working on season two, he opened a separate writers’ room to develop a Six of Crows spinoff series. In the books, this is discovered towards the end of the final novel Ruin and Rising, alongside the death of the Darkling, Alina once again refuses Nikolai’s proposal and eventually returns to her hometown with Mal, where they rebuild the orphanage and school. However, when Shadow and Bone writer Christina Strain was asked about the Six of Crows’ spinoff, she, [tweeted](https://twitter.com/christinastrain/status/1571564669294477313?s=20&t=6SRloIHSWIeL2ZlJAKTMMw) “I seriously can not stress enough just how important it’ll be for people to watch Season 2 of Shadow and Bone.” Strain’s comments make sense after watching season two and seeing the arrival of Prince Nikolai (Patrick Gibson) also known as the sea captain Sturhmond, and Grisha fighters Tamar (Anna Leong Brophy) and Tolya (Lewis Tan). Each amplifier gets its own book in the series by Bardugo, as the first book focuses on the Stag, while books two and three center around the hunt for the Sea Whip and Firebird, respectively. However, it wasn’t plain sailing for the series from there, as showrunner Heisserer almost left the series when Netflix revealed they didn’t have the rights to Bardugo’s second series, Six of Crows. Heisserer got the gig as showrunner because his friend gave him a copy of Bardugo’s books and he loved them so much that he tweeted the author to tell her how much he enjoyed them. That tweet led to Netflix calling him: “it was a year later that I got a call out of the blue from Netflix and they said, ‘Hey, we know you tweeted the author a year ago.’ You know, so I got past like the Big Brother paranoia and Leigh just remembered that. The two series are part of a universe known as “the Grishaverse.” [Netflix](https://www.denofgeek.com/netflix/) show nowadays, they want to know whether the show will have another season or whether they’ll be stuck with another cliffhanger ending that will never be continued. Mapmaker and orphan Alina discovers she is one of the most powerful Grisha, a Sun Summoner, whose power has the potential to destroy the Fold and free her country. [have forgotten the premise since season one](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/shadow-and-bone-recap/), Shadow and Bone is Alina Starkov’s (Jessie Mei Li) story based on a book series of the same name by Leigh Bardugo.

"Shadow and Bone" Season 2 has some surprising blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments, and Ben Barnes told Newsweek of a key deleted scene featuring The Darkling.

"I like to think that that's highlighted, the hopeful boy in him that is capable of loving and forgiving and understanding. "Then there's this sort of wonderful irony in the fact that he wasn't wrong at all about her and where she might go," Barnes went on. "We bounced around a little bit on that stuff because Eric [Heisserer, the showrunner] and I were eager to find a way in which we could get Kaz's cane which is slightly closer to the fan artwork," Carter said. "But that was something that was shared between them very early on in the first season. This blink-and-you'll miss it moment in the TV show is a reference to that. Maybe I was wrong.'" Kaz's cane is an important piece of the character's arsenal. This is no ordinary bumblebee, though, it is actually an Easter Egg that will shape the show's potential third season. "There's this irony that they've taken a piece of each other, that little piece of each other in the first season when they had the amplifier ceremony, that little piece that they've kept of each other. The actor also explained that the new cane was the one thing he asked to be included in Season 2, adding: "I really loved the cane from the first season, but I've been trying to find a way in which we could —within the story and in a way that made sense— come to something closer to the fan art and books, so that was my main thing I've been trying to sneak in there." The cane that Kaz uses in Season 1 and the start of Season 2 has the body of a crow engraved onto it, but Carter told Newsweek he was keen to get a version of the cane that was more accurate to how it was described in Bardugo's books. They ally with

"Shadow and Bone" season two is now on Netflix. The season finale teases several storylines for future seasons and a potential spinoff show.

"We did that a little bit with the prequel story for the Crows in season one," he said. Meanwhile, the "King of Scars" focuses on Nikolai and his allies after the war. In season two, Nina is working to get Matthias pardoned and out of the Ketterdam prison. Matthias refuses and instead tries to fight the guards that come in and is locked up again. [The "King of Scars" book is likely to be the main story adapted in season three](https://www.insider.com/tv-series-that-are-similar-to-shadow-and-bone). In season two, they return home and have to fight for their lives against a powerful crime boss, before going to Shu Han to retrieve a mythical sword from a powerful Grisha saint. In the season two finale, Nikolai prepares for his coronation after the war. In the book series, during the final fight with Kirigan, Alina actually gives her abilities to every normal person around her, creating a new crew of sun summoners. However, this time, Kirigan is dead and Alina seems stuck with the shadow abilities. Together, they seem to be taking down slave ships at the end of season two, Alina and Mal also discover that the third and final amplifier that Alina needs is actually her childhood friend. [his undefeatable shadow monsters, and his army of Grisha](https://www.insider.com/shadow-and-bone-season-two-leigh-bardugo-monster-child-cry-2022-10) against Alina and her underprepared and mostly human allies.

While in Season 1, the then-leader of Ravka's Grisha army was a respected and charismatic Shadow Summoner, Kirigan has done away with the facade for Season 2.

I think what I like about this show and this character is that there is a little bit of mystery left and a little bit of confusion in him. I think that we try as best we can to kind of sow that in still, but she has less conflict about him in the show. He’s forced into this position of just confronting her and literally putting his hand over her mouth and shoving her up against the wall and silencing her and saying,’It will be this way.’ I think because we built up through the first season, this lovely friendship that we have, and we played these other elements of the characters, it was nice to explore the ones that we hadn’t. But yeah, we kind of fit our roles a bit better in the first season where I’m coming at this with 20 years of experience and Jessie’s fresher to this kind of experience. I think in the first season talking about it, I felt the compulsion to be like, ‘Well, there’s a world in which this works.’ Because that’s what he believes. So we don’t really get into a lot of that in this season, because it’s thick, and we’ve got stuff to get on with. But then the results of how that conflict play out and the more he sees what she’s capable of, and what she really is when she’s in the fold and how powerful she really is — that actually maybe there’s a way that she could do this. I think there’s one thing he has going for him, which is consistency, because in the first season he talks to her about how he’s lived all these lifetimes and he’s tried it other ways. So we have a little taste of it when the monsters attack his mother, and it sort of takes him by surprise. But in this season, it’s unleashed a little bit and he doesn’t have an army to rely on. But at the same time, he has to take ownership of this sort of villainy and his toxicity at this point. How was it to be able to tap into the much darker side of Kirigan for this season?

Patrick Gibson spoke to Newsweek about playing Nikolai Lantsov in "Shadow and Bone" Season 2 and his concerns over giving a "hollow impression" of the ...

"Especially with the new conflicts that are introduced for Nikolai at the end of the season, I think it'll be a really interesting relationship," Gibson said. "And, to be honest, I don't actually know anything, we're so much in the dark about everything coming up! I just hope it's exciting to see a Nikolai in 3D [and] kind of coming to life and interacting with all these characters that we already know and love." "That was a big [relationship] in the books for me as well so I'm really curious," he said. "Because I think if you don't bring yourself into a character oftentimes it doesn't quite ring true, it feels like a hollow impression of something. Nikolai is one of the characters who helps her on this quest.

Season two of the fantasy series is littered with them: Secret identities, secret relatives, latent powers, plot twists, surprising emotional character turns, ...

And it’s awful and tragic, and the weight of that sacrifice allows Alina to harness enough power to finally Tear! She takes Mal and Alina to his workshop to look for info on the Firebird’s location and reveals that when she was younger, she used the Cut to kill her non-Grisha sister in a fit of rage and jealousy. While that’s troubling, what’s worse is the look on her face after she does it — she gives us a tiny little smile pointing to her enjoying how that level of power feels. (He’s got a real problem with destiny over choice.) Nikolai gives him the Sturmhond coat, the Sturmhond boat, and the Sturmhond name to go off and have adventures. They realize she’s a ridiculously powerful Durast Grisha, and she is literally using the metal in their blood to try and kill them. Okay, so, technically Mal is already dying, and technically he tells her to do it, and technically he also holds the knife she plunges into his chest, but she still kills him! Alina, Mal, and Nikolai task the Crows with tracking down the Neshyenyer, an ancient sword created by a Grisha Durast named Sankta Neyar to kill an “unkillable army,” believing this sword to be the only thing that can stop the Nichevo’ya. Good thing he’s actually kind of nice and up for a little amplifier hunting to bring down the Fold instead of just, you know, turning them over to the highest bidder. This information comes in handy once Alina fails to destroy the Fold with two amplifiers and the boat/plane crashes on Ravkan soil. Also, it allows him to say a supercool line in a supercool way: “The Barrel doesn’t belong to kings, it belongs to bastards.” Indeed! It’s for a good reason: The fact that Alina isn’t just having nightmares about Kirigan expanding the Fold in Ravka, but that he’s actually doing it (1) adds some urgency to Alina figuring out how to stop him and (2) sets up the fact that Alina and Kirigan are connected somehow, which is a huge theme throughout the season. Any Crow worth their weight knows the power of a well-deployed surprise, a flashy reveal, and a I-did-not-see-that-coming twist, and Shadow and Bone knows it too.

In the new season, Kaz is determined to get revenge against Pekka Rollins (Dean Lennox Kelly), the Ketterdam crime lord who conned him and his brother Jordie ...

"He just wanted to go as deep as possible with it, he didn't want to shirk anything," Carter said. The drug gives them hallucinations, and in Inej's dream she imagines she and Kaz are alone, that he reveals his feelings for her, and almost kisses her. I'm obviously desperate for him to go through this big change whereby he can suddenly tell Inej exactly how he feels, and he can be open and honest with everyone. He has this thing that he's been hunting for forever and then he suddenly realizes that there's more to life," the actor said. "He's [finally] got this thing he's been hunting for and he still feels quite empty. The spy has always been there to help him in his darkest hours, and this is certainly true of

Alina's, Mal's, and the Darkling's stories in the Grishaverse books ended much differently than in Netflix's Shadow and Bone. Here is how it went down in ...

In the books, a lot of the tension between Mal and Alina came from romantic jealousy. It’s a far cry from what happens in the books, which tie up Alina and Mal’s story in the trilogy and emphasize the happiness of a quiet, subdued life. She never asked to be a saint and if she is still alive, she will be turned into a figurehead, put on a pedestal, and scrutinized for whatever she does. When Alina faces off against the Darkling, the dangerous move she uses fatally wounds Mal as well. As he dies, he asks that Alina not give him a grave so that no one will desecrate it, and then asks her to say his name one last time. Alina never explicitly says why she chooses this, but it’s pretty evident that she just wants this part of her life to be over. After tying up their loose ends (including burning a dead body that Genya fixed up to look like Alina), Mal and Alina return to the orphanage where they were raised, and go on to lead a quiet, ordinary, but full-of-love life together. With thousands of people now shooting light like disco balls, the Fold crumbles and the Darkling is really upset. Suddenly, everyone around her bursts into light, and Alina realizes that the final amplifier multiplies the Sun Summoner’s power by thousands — literally, it multiplies itself into thousands of people all around her. That means he is the only Grisha in the world with such immense powers. And she does, but unlike in the show, he’s not already dying when she does so. In order to cover all that ground, some plot points have been dropped, others skimmed over, and some reconfigured for screen.