“Shadow and Bone” Has Been Renewed for Season 2, So What Happens Next?

There is good news in the Grishaverse! As part of Netflix Geeked Week, it was announced that Shadow and Bone, the Netflix series based on Leigh Bardugo’s best-selling novel of the same name, has been renewed for season 2. Shadow and Bone renewed? That’s the best news I’ve heard all week!

The cast got together to do a cute little video for the announcement, which was made via Twitter. As a big fan of the books and an even bigger fan of the series, I am beyond thrilled at this news. Netflix has a tendency to cancel their shows after one or two seasons, and I would be extremely upset if they canceled this show before at least finishing the original trilogy. But Shadow and Bone renewed for season 2 is a good sign. And with a reported 55 million views in its first month, hopefully, we’ll get to see the entire story adapted!

So, with Shadow and Bone renewed, what can we expect in season 2?

Where We Left Off

When last we saw our intrepid heroes, they were all on the same ship, leaving Ravka behind (Kaz, Jesper, Inej, Nina, and Matthias bound for Ketterdam, Alina and Mal headed to an unknown location) and believing Kirigan to be finished. But we the audience knows that the Darkling emerged from the Fold and brought a whole new horror with him in the form of shadow soldiers called nichevo’ya.

Who’s Left

Aside from everyone mentioned above, we have Zoya, who intends to search the ruins of Novokribirsk for her family. Genya and David worked with the Darkling but weren’t on the skiff when it was attacked and are presumably alive and well back at the Grisha camp in Kribirsk. Fedyor went to Arkesk after Nina. Nadia and Baghra were seemingly left behind at the Little Palace.

Who’s Coming

We haven’t met everyone yet! Some fan-favourite characters will be coming our way in season 2, including Nikolai Lantsov, the second son of the Ravkan king, and the twins – Tamar and Tolya, Shu Heartrenders. We still have a few Grisha from the Little Palace we haven’t met yet, including Nadia’s younger brother Adrik. Depending on where things go with the Crows, we could also meet Wylan van Eck, whose existence was teased a few times during season 1.

Where Do We Go From Here

If you read my review of the first season, you’ll know that some aspects of the story were changed in adapting the books to television, so while I technically know what happens next in the story, there’s no way to know if it’s going to happen the same way. Let’s examine how things could play out for our characters in season 2. I will do my best to avoid major book spoilers.

The Grisha

Even with the departures from the original story (like Marie dying early), I believe that this will keep to the books as much as possible. This means that Alina and Mal take refuge in Novyi Zem for a while before being found by the Darkling. Also, you may have noticed in “The Making at the Heart of the World” that the stag was not the only animal featured in an illustration with Morozova.

Siege and Storm, the second book in the trilogy, also contains a hunt for a creature of myth. This is one of the main reasons that the Darkling is intent on finding Alina and Mal – not just for his connection with Alina, but also for Mal’s tracking ability.

There will be multiple power struggles. The Darkling won’t take too kindly to Alina rebelling, nor Zoya defecting. But it isn’t just Alina versus Kirigan in this next chapter (though that of course is the main conflict of the series). Nikolai has some opinions on how the country should be run, so he will spar with his father and brother over what’s best for Ravka. And naturally, Kirigan will not want to relinquish any power.

There will be more battles, more bloodshed. More lives will be lost. And we’ll get another cliffhanger of an ending.

This is where the changes will come into play. For example, Ivan survives the attack in the Fold in the books, but in the show, his fate is unknown. Also in the books, Ivan goes with the Darkling while Fedyor defects. But in the show, Ivan and Fedyor are a couple, and I’m not so sure that Fedyor would be willing to go against his partner. And if Ivan is dead, Fedyor may hold Alina responsible. That entire arc may go differently because of this.

There is one character who should have been introduced in season 1, but wasn’t. He is sort of important, so he could be introduced in season 2, but the core of his arc is being affected by Marie’s death, and Marie is already dead and we don’t know this guy yet. They may shift his story to another character, or they may just change up his arc. It’s impossible to say.

But for the most part, I believe we’ll hit all of the important beats of the story – the creature hunt, the introduction of important characters, and the ultimate power struggle between Alina and Kirigan.

The Crows

This is the hardest part of the story to predict, simply because it’s all new. As you may know by now, the plot to kidnap Alina was invented for the show, because Kaz, Jesper, Inej, Nina, and Matthias have not been introduced at this point in the books. Their story, in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom, is set two years after the events of the trilogy.

That means that I literally have no idea what is coming in season 2 for these characters. Their conversation on the boat in “No Mourners, No Funerals” shows that there is trouble ahead for them. They took a job that they failed to accomplish, and in Ketterdam that’s asking for trouble. Obviously, in season 2 they will need to get out of trouble. Presumably, they survive, if the show intends to adapt the Ice Court heist from the duology.

Now, here is the thing. Once the aftermath of the failed abduction is resolved, do we go straight into the plot from Six of Crows? I had originally wondered how they were going to do that, because it involves characters that we haven’t met yet, and they need to not be involved with all the chaos going on in Ravka. But then, Nina’s entire backstory is completely different in the show, and I don’t know if she’ll have the same connections that she does in the book.

Or do they even keep the stories combined? The duology has a completely different tone than the trilogy, and there is very little overlap of characters – and then only in the second book. Having two separate storylines will make for jarring transitions and will honestly just seem like two different shows smushed into one. (I already felt that way with Nina and Matthias being off on their own in Fjerda.) It’s possible that they could simply spin off the Crows into their own series, but if they wanted to do that, I don’t know what the purpose of combining them was in the first place.

I was very impressed with the way they were able to weave the Crows in with the Ravkan storyline, so I have high hopes they’ll be able to do it again in Shadow and Bone season 2. Perhaps some of the characters we’ve not yet met will play a role in whatever’s going on in Ketterdam. Maybe we’ll get some elements of Nikolai’s duology (King of Scars, Rule of Wolves) that is set after Crooked Kingdom and further builds the world by spending time in Shu Han.

In Conclusion

I have no idea what’s going to happen! And while ordinarily I might sputter and seethe at changes to the source material, I really enjoyed season 1, so I’m optimistic that season 2 will be just as well done. The truth of the matter is, the minutiae of the plot doesn’t really concern me, as long as they nail the characters. That’s what I’m excited about.

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary