Shadow and Bone and Mourners and Funerals

Netflix’s adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s bestselling fantasy novels was released on 23rd April 2021. It was well-received excited preexisting fans of the series and intrigued newcomers, and ranked #1 for days. This raises the question: is it just a tame teenage version of Game of Thrones, or does it hold its own?

The Kingdom of Ravka is divided by a giant wall of literal darkness known as ‘The Fold’, haunted by volcra (horrifying creatures of the dark), threatens the life of anyone who dares cross it, and the very unity of the nation as it brinks on secession. In this world, ‘Grishas’ are gifted with the ability to perform magic and are turned into soldiers by the country’s government, and alienated and demonized by the majority of the society. Different Grisha specializes in different powers ranging from manipulating the matter of fundamental elements to controlling various aspects of the human body.

The show can be easily divided into three plots: Alina’s main plot, The Crows Side Quest, and Nina’s Side-Side Quest. The primary story follows Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li), an orphaned soldier and map maker, whose mixed-race estranged her in the only home she’s ever known. It is discovered that she is a Grisha, in fact, the legendary Sun Summoner, whose light-based powers will vanquish The Fold. The mysterious General Kirigan, the leader of the Second Army of Grisha, has equally rare shadow-based abilities and promises that they can change the world together. She is whisked away from her best friend Mal (Archie Renaux) and everything she’s ever known, and thrust into a world she doesn’t understand and with powers, she can’t entirely control and turned into a living Saint. Alina’s character is contradictory and flawed. She does not grieve over the death of her fellow mapmakers, but we are supposed to believe she is compassionate. We are told that she is a kind person, yet she is apathetic towards most people at best. She is usually passive, but she punches an officer for calling her a slur. As an audience, we have no idea what her character wants, except to be reunited with Mal. This brings us to Malyen Oretsev is a good friend and spends the whole series look for or fighting for Alina. They are shown to be close, and there are multiple flashbacks to their time in the orphanage where they protect one another, but it isn’t yet revealed what brought them close. They were both robbed of their personal dreams and ambitions, and their codependency hurdled their personal character development. Nevertheless, Jessie makes us love Alina by depicting her as lovable and determined. The new bongs she forms with characters such as General Kirigan, a Tailor named Genya, and her mentor Baghra, are more carefully crafted. The audience roots for her not only because that’s what the narrative wants, but because they are curious about what she could become. The complex relationships between interesting characters is a major highlight of the show In attempts to sound unbiased, I will not lie and hide that I came to the show for Ben Barnes, and I got what I wanted and more. The flair and the charm needed to keep the character ‘morally grey’ instead of an outright megalomaniac is effortlessly exuded by Ben Barnes. While his backstory is a flat cliche, many of his actions are irredeemable, and his motives are questionable at best, Barnes portrays the humanity in General Kirigan, without adding undeserved sympathy to the character’s plight. In the interest of keeping this review as spoiler-free as possible, the character analysis of the Darkling has been spared. “Fine, make me your villain,” he hisses, and we do. The Crows Side Quest is a prequel to its novel counterpart and it would have been understandable if the plot created to introduce them to the audience was half cooked. Instead, it stole the show and exceed all expectations. Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter), Inej Ghafa (Amita Suman), and Jesper Fahey (Kit Young) are street criminals of Ketterdam (Kerch). They are offered a million kruge for an impossible heist: kidnap the Sun Summoner, Alina Satrkov. The characters are well developed and have complete arcs that set them up for further development they will have in the books, without revealing too much about them. Kaz is the perfect morally grey, selfish rogue; Inej is heroic and religious, yet deeply flawed with dubious choices; Jesper is handsome and charming and greedy and smooth. The actors nail the characters' nuances: Freddy flinches when Kaz is touched and Inej’s eyes shine in the presence of Alina. Their shenanigans add more humorous aspects to the show, and their contentious actions leave the audience pondering. Those who have read the Six of Crows duology know that the best is yet to come. Nina Zednik is a Heartrender Grisha who is captured by ‘druskelle’ (witch-hunters) and attempts to escape the ship on which she is being taken for a trail at the Ice Court. This plot initially seems to start as a filler, frankly an annoying intrusion, but Daniella Galligan charms that notion right out of you. Her character is spunky, sarcastic, loud, and bold. Matched with the initially brutish and aggressive, but soon turned blushing and fumbling, Matthais (Calahan Skogman), and with a dash of enemies-to-lovers, the chemistry is certainly enjoyable. While aging up characters make Matthais’ bigotry unpleasant, instead of the result of brainwashing that is apparent in the books, the knowledge of the upcoming character development soothes the irritation. Their plot is true to the text and very appealing. A better job to parallel the flow of separate stories, to allow smoother transitions could have been done. Worldbuilding, establishing three separate plots with their separate characters, and providing the necessary lore for each of them is unquestionably difficult, but the show knew what it was getting into by ambitious combining the plots of two separate novel series. With a majority of popular YA novels based in America or America-adjacent settings, the Russian-adjacent ‘Ravka’ setting is a much-needed fresh change. Despite the America-coloured goggles that turn it into a quasi-caricature of Russia, the layer of fantasy saves us from an oversimplified ethnocentric portrayal of culture. Criticisms aside, the inclusivity and diversity on the sh0w, portrayed by the talented actors, is commendable. The captivating setting takes us from barren battlefields to opulent cities to the plugging darkness of The Fold. From Alina’s flowing keftas to the Darkling’s billowing cloak, the outfits are dazzling. The high budget graphics and action sequences are paired with gorgeous cinematography — the production is top-notch. It took overwhelming effort not to stuff in every opinion I have of the Grishaverse here. Having binge-watched the series in a night, and binge-read Six of Crows duology the following day, I can safely say that the series will have a hold on you. Like its characters, Shadow and Bone is enchanting, endearing, and full of potential.

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