Shadow and Bone season 2 ending explained – how the Netflix series is building an expanded Grisha universe for season 3

SHADOW AND BONE

Mar 16, 2023 @ 8:27pm

“Shadow and Bone” season 2 ends supposedly in favor of Alina and her friends. But appearances are deceptive, because season 3 of the Netflis series is just getting started.

• The second season of “Shadow and Bone” started on March 16, 2023 on Netflix.
• Even if everything looked like a happy ending at first, the journey of Alina and her companions is far from over.
• We explain the most important details of the grand season finale and what we can expect in season 3.

The Grishaverse keepers have big plans for the Netflix series Shadow and Bone. The season 2 finale brought the biggest and most crucial ones to light.

In the new episodes, Alina (Jessie Mei Li) finally managed to close the shadow fold and defeat her creator, General Kirigan (Ben Barnes). But the happy ending is short-lived. The characters have taken different paths in the series and Alina has chosen perhaps the darkest one.

Netflix has yet to confirm whether Shadow and Bone will continue, but Season 2 has already paved the way for a Season 3.

A new shadow summoner

In the final scene of Season 2 “Shadow and Bone,” Nikolai Lantsov (Patrick Gibson) is crowned king. But the ceremony is interrupted by an assassin who has special abilities thanks to a drug. Alina manages to kill the attacker, but in doing so she resorts to powers she shouldn’t have.

Alina invokes the cut, in which bodies and materials are violently severed. However, it is only after this powerful spell that she realizes that she had cast him with shadow instead of light. As a sun summoner, that doesn’t bode well, especially after defeating the dark one.

In the book, after the fight against Kirigan, Alina initially completely loses her strength. Only as she gradually regains her abilities does she learn the power of the dark.

At the end of The Wings of Fire, the final volume 3 by author Leigh Bardugo, Mal and Alina marry. However, the second season of the Netflix series sends the two on a separate journey. Alina grapples with her new shadow summoner abilities, while Mal takes to the open sea as the new Stormhound with Tamar (Anna Leong Brophy), Tolya (Lewis Tan) and Injes (Amita Suman).

A possible Song of the Crows spin-off

In the season 2 finale, we learn about Jurda Parem, a highly addictive drug. This allows the power of a Grisha to be increased a thousandfold. The chemist who made this drug was on the run, but was captured by the Fjerdans.

Many now fear that the fjerda may now weaponize the drug, unaware that they are already doing so. As we had to learn at Nikolai’s coronation. Because of this, the Crows are hired to investigate the situation more closely.

Opposite the US magazine “Entertainment Weekly” explained showrunner Eric Heisserer that they are now planning a spin-off to this story. Already during the work on season 2, a separate writing team was working on the spin-off. However, whether it becomes more depends on how the 2 . Season ‘Shadow and Bone’ Reaches Audiences.

The spin-off is scheduled to run parallel to the end of Season 2. Much of the side story thus takes place during the events of Nicholas’ coronation. Heisserer also mentions that Inej will be returning for the spin-off.

Of course we won’t keep Inej out of it. We bring her back. So you can understand how many weeks it has been since she was at sea and then returned to Ketterdam.

In general, the focus should be more on the crows, whether in a third season of “Shadow and Bone” or the spin-off. For this reason, background stories of individual characters of the crows have already been teased.

The Lives of the Saints

For the plot of the 2nd season, the showrunners resorted to another work by author Leigh Bardugo, which deals with the Grishavers. In “The Lives of the Saints” tells various fables and stories from the world of Grisha. The novel also mentions the swordswoman Sankta Neyar with her weapon Neshyenyer.

In the books, Alina’s power alone is enough to defeat Kirigan. It wasn’t easy on the show, and the showrunners wanted to bring the crows back into the season finale. For this reason, they brought in Sankta Neyar, the patron saint of blacksmiths and a Grisha of the Durast order.

In her legend, she wields a sword that can cut shadows. Just what Alina and her friends needed to fight the Dark One. The crows are tasked with finding Neshyenyer and bringing him to Nikolai. They plan a robbery, unaware that the blade is still in the possession of his blacksmith Sankta Neyar, who now lives a reclusive life under the name of Ohval Saran.

Two easter eggs reveal the plot of season 3

The sun summoners and the crows meet after Alina’s victorious battle against the dark one in the desert that used to be the crease. There they want to recover and burn Kirigan’s body.

A single bee lands on Zoya’s lapel, which the striker immediately scares away. This may have been a minor scene to anyone who hasn’t read the books, but the showrunners are actually teasing the adaptation of the novel King of Scars for a third season.

King of Scars: Throne of Gold and Ash is another duology from the Grisha universe, along with Rule of Wolves: Throne of Night and Silver. Zoya and Nikolai play the main roles in these books.

The cover of “Kings of Scars” features elements that allude to specific saints mentioned in the novel. The bees and rose petals are a homage to Sankta Lizabeta von den Rosen. In the world of Ravka, she is famous for having saved her city from marauders with summoned swarms of bees.

Nikolai’s reflection before his coronation also alludes to the plot of the novel. Pierced by a Nichevo’ya while fighting Kirigan’s forces, the King’s Hide is now infected with shadow. Looking in the mirror before its big moment, it sees itself as one of the Nichevo’ya. In “Kings of Scars” this actually happens.

The expansion of the books

The showrunners of “Shadow and Bone” plan to include more novels from the Grishaverse in their series, but also spin their own stories. Just like they did with the crows. But no decision should be made without the support of author Bardugo.

So everything seems well prepared to be able to expect a third season of “Shadow and Bone” on Netflix. With even more content, many crossovers of the various novels from the Grisha universe and also very own small plots in the possible new episodes.