Shadow & Bone season 2 review

Hello nerdy and non-nerdy friends!

My name is Sofia, I just finished the second season of Shadow & Bone, and I have some things to say. Okay, I have A LOT to say. So... let's start right away!

By the way, if you have no idea what Shadow & Bone is, I suggest you click here.

Beware: MAJOR Spoilers ahead! Including book spoilers.

So, I'll start by saying that I'm a big fan of the books and I know that Leigh Bardugo said this tv show is more like a high budget fanfiction. Keeping that in mind, I'll say what I thought about this season, knowing that just the fact that we have the crows with Alina and her gang is enough to throw the whole timeline off, so of course it won't be faithful to the books. Let's begin with the things I didn't like.

First of all, the beginning felt veeeery rushed. Basically in the first four episodes we had already finished "Siege & Storm" and "Crooked Kingdom". It went by so fast; it didn't have the pathos it deserved.

Then we have David's death and him being replaced by Alina in the triumvirate. In the books the Grisha triumvirate is made up by Zoya to represent the Etherealki, Genya to represent the Corporalki, and David to represent the Materialki or Fabrikators. With Alina in it, not only the Fabrikators don't get the representation they deserve (they've always been overlooked and Alina wanted to change that as leader of the Second Army), but we have too many Etherealki!

Don't get me wrong, I would be a Tidemaker myself, but come on! Where's the balance the Second Army needs?

Also, Malina breaking up?! WHAAAAAT. Malina is the name of the ship between Mal and Alina. In the end of the third book of the trilogy they get married, Alina fakes her martyrdom and they go manage an orphanage. But now? He goes away, she lets him go away, and she gets married (or is about to, I didn't really understand that) to Nikolai?! I'm so confused.

Then we have the erasure of Inej's trauma. She was sold to the Menagerie, she was abused and beaten by the men who came there and by Tante Heleen. Killing her off before Inej can face her and have some closure is a stupid move. ALSO having Nina remove her feather tattoo, when in the books the fact that she goes to a butcher who does it and leaves a nasty scar is of incredible significance is just UGH. I really hope that the spin-off does her backstory justice, because she deserves it (Inej is my favourite character, if you hadn't guessed).

And then... Wesper already met?! Wylan and Jesper apparently had a one night stand some time ago before meeting officially. WHY. It changed their dynamic and even though I still enjoyed watching their chemistry on screen, I found this thing just... unnecessary.

Nikolai and Kaz!!! I loved their interactions and also, in general, how Kaz was able to be his Dirtyhands self (a ruthless person who gets the job done).

Nina with the crows. I loooooved their dynamic.

Jesper accepting his being a Durast thanks to Wylan, the hallucination of his mom and the Shu-Han saint was just amazing to see and made me tear up a little. Okay, a lot.

With the Crows, who are my favourite characters ever, what happened was that all their iconic scenes were taken and done in a slightly different way, OUT OF ORDER, depriving them of the context which was VERY important. The timeline is incredibly messed up, so I'm not sure what to expect from now on, to be honest.

We already know that a Six of Crows spin-off is in the works and the ending of the second season seemed to confirm it. The Ice Court job is happening! My question is: HOW? That job was important for the characters in the group to grow, but many of the things that happen there have already happened in the show! So now what? I'm extremely curious and I can't wait to find out!

What about you? Let us know with an email to [email protected] or on Instagram at radioimmaginaria.

I'll see you next time!

Byeee