Take heart Grishaverse fans! The hit fantasy Netflix series Shadow and Bone returns for Season 2 on March 16. For those who haven’t yet been sucked into this addicting, magical world, Shadow and Bone follows Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li), an ordinary cartographer who discovers she is a Grisha—a witch—and possesses the long-prophesied powers of a Sun Summoner, destined to destroy the Fold—a region of darkness filled with monsters.
The series is adapted from the book trilogy of the same name by Leigh Bardugo, and also includes characters from the spinoff duology, Six of Crows. The second season follows book 2 in the trilogy, Siege and Storm. As we countdown the days to March 16, let’s break down everything we know about Season 2.
Where did we leave off?
When Shadow and Bone Season 1 ends, Alina and Mal (Archie Renaux) are sailing off into the sunset together, fleeing our villain, General Kirigan (Ben Barnes) aka the Darkling, vowing to return one day and destroy the Fold for good. It’s something that’s utterly important seeing as Kirigan just used the Fold to destroy an entire city.
Our Crows—Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter), Inej Ghafa (Amita Suman), and Jesper Fahey (Kit Young)—are on a ship back to Ketterdam, having failed to kidnap Alina and deliver her to the people who hired them. The new path puts them on a collision course with Nina Zenik (Danielle Galligan), who we know is a Crow in the books.
Nina has seemingly betrayed her former captor turned to friend and love interest Matthias Helvar (Calahan Skogman) by having him arrested, but what he doesn’t realize is that she only did it to save his life. To rescue Matthias from prison she’s going to need the Crows’ help.
Have there been any casting announcements?
There sure have, and book fans will recognize them all.
Patrick Gibson (The OA) stars as Nikolai Lantsov, a renegade sea captain and prince of Ravka, who has a vested interest in helping Alina tear down the Fold.
Lewis Tan and Anna Long Brophy star as Tolya Yul-Bataar and Tamar Kir-Bataar, warrior twins who work for Nikolai, are Heartrenders (a type of Grisha) and have particular religious beliefs.
Jack Wolfe stars as Wylan Hendricks, a demolitions expert, and the only Crow we haven’t met yet (the others being Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina, and Matthias). He’s also Jesper’s love interest.
Is there a trailer?
There’s a teaser trailer and a full trailer, and they reveal a lot of what we’ll be seeing in this coming season. There’s also this clip where Alina convinces Nikolai to join her side, and this clip where many of our Crows meet for the first time.
Can you break down this footage for me?
Okay, you got it.
Kirigan tracks down Alina and Mal as they’re on the run, forcing our characters to once again do battle. We see a scene where Alina practices the Cut—a way of using her light powers to slice, a move the Darkling is proficient at.
Speaking of Kirigan, we saw him survive the Fold at the end of last season, and now he has some new monsters to play with—the Nichevo’ya. Or as Kaz puts it in the trailer, “an unkillable army made of shadow.” A couple of shots of these beings that we get in the trailer look excellently terrifying, especially as one looms menacingly over Genya (Daisy Head).
As Alina gets Nikolai to join her side, she explains her plan to go after the rest of the amplifiers. A reminder: an amplifier is something that boosts a Grisha’s powers. They can be creatures or even people. Alina was forced to take the antlers of a stag—one of a trio of mythological amplifiers—last season. Now, she thinks if she can claim the other two—the Sea Whip and the Firebird—she should have the power to destroy the Fold for good.
Baghra (Zoë Wanamaker), Alina’s mentor and Kirigan’s mother, will be returning this season, as she counsels Alina on tracking down the amplifiers. We even get a rather thrilling shot of the Sea Whip—a dragon-like sea monster—in some spooky looking water caves.
Nikolai’s inventions are legendary, and there’s a good look in the trailer at his miniature flying ship, the Hummingbird, which is later shown to be attacked by Volcra as it flies through the Fold. As for Nikolai himself? Gibson plays him as a cocky adventurer. “There’s adventure, danger, money? Now you’re speaking my language!” Nikolai exclaims in the clip.
While we get some great shots of Kaz, Inej, and Jesper showing off their fighting skills, it’s unclear what the Crows will be up to this season since they’ve been ripped out of their own series, Six of Crows, and shoved into Alina’s story. We never know which of their plotlines are going to make it in, and which ones aren’t.
But, Kaz is seen telling Nikolai that “if you die, we don’t get paid,” so clearly they’re going to end up doing some work for our heroes in their fight against Kirigan. Most interesting is a shot of Inej and Zoya (Sujaya Dasgupta), which is an odd pairing if ever I’ve seen one. Wylan is shown doing what Wylan does, making things explode. Meanwhile, Inej appears battling a mysterious woman (I have a theory on who that might be, but I’m going to keep it to myself). Nina is seen through a set of bars, which considering she’s on a mission to free Matthias from prison makes a lot of sense.
Perhaps most exciting is the sheer thought that we’ll probably see all six of our Crows finally unite this season. In the clip, we get to see Kaz, Jesper, and Inej meet up with Nina and Wylan to form an official team for whatever is Kaz’s new scheme, and sparks are already flying between Jesper and Wylan.
And of course, the trailer ends with Kirigan and Alina facing off against each other. I can only imagine what kind of showdown the series has in mind, but I know I will be seated.
Feature image courtesy of Netflix.
Shadow and Bone Season 2 premieres on Netflix on March 16.
