Shadow and Bone Season 2 Overview
Shadow and Bone Season 2 is available now on Netflix. Watch all 8 episodes, and let us know what you think. Season 1 set up Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse quite well, combining bits and pieces of each of her book series. While the main trilogy doesn’t intersect with the two adjoining duologies, the Netflix series blends the worlds and timelines rather seamlessly. Of course this means there are plenty of surprises in store for the book readers out there as well as zero confusion for everyone else.
Season two of Shadow and Bone picks up right where we left off with Season one. I will say the pacing is a lot quicker in this season, so be prepared. Each episode is packed with plenty of action and moves the story along in each episode. We get to meet plenty of new characters as well as learn more about the beloved characters from the first season.
Mal and Alina are on the run from General Kirigan aka The Darkling. The crows are back in Ketterdam, wondering what’s next. Kirigan has broken the Grisha into two, those who want to rise up to rule, and those who want to stop Kirigan and destroy the fold dividing Ravka. I truly enjoyed seeing more of the entire Grishaverse in this season and seeing the characters explore new countries and territories.
Now let’s get into some spoilers for season two, so only read on if you’ve watched the season. I’ll start with some of the new faces for season 2.
Season 2 New Characters
Sturmhond: A privateer with a secret identity. Patrick Gibson played both of this character’s personalities with ease. He quickly turned into one of my favorite additions to the show. I’m also convinced that Kaz Brekker knew Sturmhond’s alter ego from the jump, which is why he put a small amount of trust in him. This is actually a small detail in one of the books that Kaz is the only one of the crows who knows Sturmhond’s true identity, and if I read that scene right, it may have been a nod to this tidbit from the novels.
Tamar & Tolya: Heartrender twins loyal to Sturmond, not the Second Army. Tamar and Tolya are unlike the rest of the Grisha that we’ve met. They don’t wear keftas. They didn’t join the Second Army, but they are confident in their Grisha abilities. They are also great in a fight. Anna Leong Brophy perfectly encapsulated Tamar’s rough, no nonsense personality, and Lewis Tan was a natural choice for quiet, poet enthusiast Tolya. I enjoyed everything about the twins between their easy banter to their stunning fighting styles. Watching Tamar’s axes and Tolya’s sword come to life was truly spectacular.
Wylan: A demolitions “expert” joining the Crows. Wylan seemingly comes out of nowhere through Kaz, but the rest of the crows are a bit weary of him, especially Jesper. That is until Jesper realizes that they’ve met before. Wylan is a great addition to the crows. He’s younger, a bit more innocent, and consistently trying to stay out of trouble. I honestly wasn’t sure how it would be to see Wylan portrayed in the show, but Jack Wolfe did an amazing job. The chemistry with the rest of the crows was immediate, and I constantly wanted to see more from them in each episode.
Shadow and Bone S2: What didn’t work
Now that we’ve gotten some of my favorite things about season 2 out of the way, let’s talk about a few frustrations. My main point of contention for season 2 is the pacing. Season 1 was paced beautifully, and it mostly followed the first novel in the series of the same name. Season 1 also introduced the Crows, which I thought was woven into Alina’s story beautifully. Season 2 introduced even more characters and moved the stories along at lightning speed, that is if you read the books, it felt quite fast.
Along with the pacing, I actually feel like Matthias’ story is moving almost too slow to catch up with everything else. Or maybe, it’s just that I want to see more from him. I feel like it’s almost hard to care about Matthias if you haven’t read the books. Does the little bit of screen time give him enough of an impact yet?
Season two covered most of the original book trilogy. It also started to pull in storylines from the King of Scars duology. This means that we are already going to see a lot more from both Nikolai and Zoya. I do wonder how much of that storyline they’ll be able to use. That duology got even more fantastical than the others, which was a pleasure to read but may be difficult to showcase on the show. However, there was a nod for book readers. Did you catch the bee on Zoya’s shoulder? Maybe we will get to see more of the saints should the show continue.
Final Thoughts
So what did you think? How did you like Shadow and Bone season two? I think season one was paced a bit better for my liking, but I really enjoyed season two. I love Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse, and if it were up to me, they would have about 8 seasons of the show to give adequate time to all storylines. Since those types of shows are rare these days, I’m guessing they’re hoping to move the story along a bit quicker to keep fans and Netflix interested. While a third season is yet to be announced, I’m hopeful they will get another season since Shadow and Bone season two seemed to perform really well.
