Shadow and Bone Season 2

Hey everyone, and welcome! Today, we will be talking about season 2 of the show Shadow and Bone. Fun Fact: This show actually combines the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crow duology by Leigh Bardugo. This season came out in 2023, stars Jessie Mei Li, Archie Renaux, and Ben Barnes, and was created by Eric Heisserer. So, without further ado, let’s get right into it.

Season 2 of Shadow and Bone sees Alina and her companions trying to defeat the darkling and take down the fold by getting amplifiers to strengthen her. The Crows, led by Kaz, are in Rotterdam trying to take on Pekka Rollins, who framed them for murder and stole their precious crow club. The two groups eventually come together to help Alina take down the fold and the Darkling.

Shadow and Bone is a magical fantasy. It has similar vibes to The Witcher, Fate: The Winx Saga, or The Wheel of Time.

In season one, Shadow and Bone blended the story of The Crows with the story of Alina so well that I didn’t even know that it was a separate book series. I think in this season there was too much story stuffed into this season with it splitting its time between the two groups since they each really had different missions in the beginning but I do think that the season was still a fun and entertaining watch.

I do want to give a shout-out to the title cards. Each episode had a different one and I was excited to see which one I would see when I started the episode

Alina this season Is really set on taking down the fold and I was excited to see her do that. I think Jessie Mei Li is great in this role and really shows how determined she is to take on the darkling. I do wish that she was more powerful because throughout the season it was as if she wasn’t powerful enough without amplifiers and I was just confused about why the Darkling needed her power if it wasn’t even enough to take down the fold with one amplifier. I am glad that in the end she does take down the fold and takes down Kirigan. I was shocked in the final scene when she created a weapon out of darkness and wondered what that meant for her light power. It seems like her main story is over so I’m interested to see what they do with the character in the future.

Ben Barnes does so well as a villain. He speaks in this very low voice and is just very intimidating and a bit scary. I’m happy he does get taken down and I felt like he was a great foe and really didn’t care who was in his path for world domination, not even his mother.  One thing I thought could have been cool was a longer battle between him and Alina that could really showcase their powers.

Baghara is the real MVP, and I’m so happy she came back to help Alina. She is the best person to teach Alina because she doesn’t sugarcoat stuff, and she understands her son’s motives and powers. I was kind of sad she died because she wasn’t scared of anything, but I’m glad in her final hours, she helped them figure out the missing piece and injured her son.

I mentioned there were a lot of stories and I felt like they really put Matthias’ story in the background this season. I feel like a more natural Segway would’ve been the crows doing a prison break after recapturing Katterdam since Nina was on their team now, and that was the most important thing to her. I think with these storylines, it might have been better to have a Six of Crows spinoff so that there was time to really let both of the stories breathe on their own. Don’t get me wrong the show is still entertaining but There was just so much crammed in that could’ve been expanded on if those plotlines had the time to do so. I also think they need to add more reminders about locations because we have some basic foundation of where we are but between the fact that this is a fairytale and it has been a while since season one I think reminders of not only location names but distances would be helpful to help the viewer grasp how big this world is.

Every new addition to this season was great. We meet the prince of Ravka, we meet siblings who also kick ass, Tolya and Tamar, The Crows get a new demo man by the name of Wylan as well as a few others on the evil side. I think these additions added to the story in a positive way and I loved seeing them added into the fold.

My favorite part of this season was the crows. They are such an eclectic group of people who you wouldn’t think work well together but they do. We have the OG’s in Kaz who you love to hate, Inej, who I must say is the most badass person on this show, and Jesper, who is such a lovable character with some tricks up his sleeve but also gets some new blood with Wylan who becomes their demo man and a new love interest for Jesper and Nina who is a heart render who is trying to save her love. I love the stories with this team, especially seeing them working together and how successful they always are. I’m glad they are exploring that Jesper is a durast a little more this season, and Kaz giving Inej her freedom after so many years of her being indentured. In the end, when Kirigans people were attacking I’m glad that they came to help because I just knew if anyone could take them out it would be the crows. I’m looking forward to more from The Crows because they are such a fun group.

Shadow and Bone season 2 is a pretty solid follow-up to season one with some minor hiccups. It takes you back to this magical world and thrust you in the middle of some disagreements. If you haven’t seen Shadow and Bone, then I suggest you check it out.