A cartographer figures out that she has power to wield the light and is thrust into a position of immense power as other forces try to claim her for their own.
When a fantasy fiction show like Shadow and Bone gets renewed for a second season on Netflix, it is only fair that we discussed all the things that happened in the first season. So, our story follows the young cartographer Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) who has to journey through the Fold to map it. The fold is a patch of land large enough to divide an entire nation into East Ravka and West Ravka. The General of the army of the kingdom General Kirigan (Ben Barnes) has been been working hard at stopping the Fold from spreading and closing it for good.
As Alina’s power to wield light gets discovered, she is ushered to the Kirigan also known as the Darkling. His power to summon shadows and hers to summon light make for a dramatic beginning for the series. While Alina tries her best to fit in with the others at the Grisha school, her powers and her race (she is half-Shu) make it difficult. She is already struggling with making light appear on her own, it would be tiring for her to handle all of this over that. Additionally, people are now on the hunt for the Sun Summoner since she will become the savior for anyone that comes in contact with her which is when the Crows are introduced, we see Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter), Inej Ghafa (Amita Suman) and Jesper Fahey (Kit Young) try to kidnap the Sun Summoner who has now become somewhat of a saint among people.
The Darkling aware of all of this is hoping to use Alina for his own benefit as it is later revealed (by his own mother, Baghra) that he is the one who created the Fold in the first place and will do anything for the rest of the world to fall in line and accept Ravka as a sovereign nation with all the power concentrated. This prompts Alina to run away from Ravka and the Darkling, this is when Malyen Oretsev (Archie Renaux) and Alina start getting back together as friends. Initially, they were both separated after the incident in the Fold but since his regiment is looking for the Stag that would amplify Alina’s powers, he found her. They both get together to find the Stag.
They eventually come across and Alina makes a split-second hesitation to not kill it, which is when General Kirigan comes in and slays it. The antlers then adorn Alina’s collarbone as cuffs only on her neck. They are then taken to the center of the Fold, where they can now journey as Alina can stave off the darkness. In the bustle, things go wrong and the Volcras start attacking either way. At the end of this season, we see Alina escape with the Crows, the Darkling stuck in the Fold and things somewhat calming down. Ravka, however, has turned into a warzone, the people they believed in most have turned against the nation and towards the fold. The Darkling is seen walking out of the Fold covered in scars asking a being to “Follow.”
What makes this show interesting is that it combines multiple genres and still manages to be a coherent narrative. With the Crows, the Summoners and the duo Nina (Danielle Galligan) and Matthias (Calahan Skogman) escaping a shipwreck (they will join the Crows), everything felt streamlined. Kaz Brekker escaped one of the most powerful people in the world with a bum leg, an inspiration to all. In the next season with new characters like Nikolai Lantsov (Patrick Gibson), Tolya Yul-Bataar (Lewis Tan), Tamar Kir-Bataar (Anna Leong Brophy), and Wylan Hendriks (Jack Wolfe) will make an appearance setting up the squad from the books. While the second season has wrapped filming, it would be quite some time before the show makes an appearance on the Netflix screens.
Season 1 of Shadow and Bone is streaming on Netflix.
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