Note: This review is spoiler-free for the second season of the series Shadow and bone, but it contains some spoilers for the first season. The second season is currently showing on Netflix. If you haven’t seen the first season, what are you waiting for? You can check out the full spoiler-free review of the first season here.
The second season of the series is proceeding Shadow and bone Following the same approach followed by the first season, it succeeds brilliantly in weaving several stories together to present a complete and homogeneous season without any moment of boredom or a feeling of fatigue despite the large number of characters, to which this season is added another new group of characters who are able in turn to find a foothold among the rest.
And the second season is not content with combining stories from the trilogy Shadow and bone and bi Six of Crows Not only by author Lee Bardugo, but also from her accompanying series of novels The Lives of Saints. And he manages to do it so seamlessly that it feels like a cohesive, coherent story, even though it almost splits in two, as it was last season.
The first section is, of course, the main story about Elena Starkov (Jessie May Lee) and Mal Urtsev (Archie Rennox) and their journey in trying to eradicate the dark folds of the black atheist and his new monsters. As for the second section, it is about our friends, the “crow” gang, Kaz (Freddy Karta), Jesper (Kit Young), and Enig (Amita Soman), who, although they make up the sub-story, are no less wonderful than the original story, and I must admit that I was eagerly waiting to know what was going on With our thieves friends and their fantastic adventures full of missions, intrigue and fantastic atmosphere.
The events of the second season begin two weeks after the end of the first, as everyone emerged from the folds of darkness after a confrontation with Kerrigan before he was kidnapped by the Volkra creatures and everyone believed him dead. But of course, it won’t be long before Elena discovers his survival and the fantastic confrontations between light and dark begin. And at the center of it all shines Elena and Mal’s love story, especially with the clear chemistry and fantastic performances from both Lee and Renox, making us sympathize with them and hope to see their relationship blossom.
The second season expands on the first in every way, be it the world itself, the characters, even the combat styles, the stakes, or the monsters in it, and manages to do so seamlessly without feeling pressured, although I assure you you won’t have time to take a breath. Over the course of the eight episodes because of the many and fast paced events in it, but I enjoyed every second of it.
As I mentioned a while ago, the world is expanding Shadow and bone In this season, it presents us with new countries, starting from Novi Zim, which is inspired by Africa and is characterized by its colorful people and distinctive costumes, all the way to Shu Han, which is inspired by China and Mongolia, with its traditional Asian houses and costumes, and its people from which the Shu descend. I wish the show had gone deeper due to the animosity between the Shu and the Ravkanians, but it was fun to see the diversity of civilizations shown throughout the season.
Many new characters join this season, which play a pivotal role in the story, the most prominent of which is the hired pirate Stormhound, who is played by actor Patrick Gibson with great brilliance that makes him one of the most prominent characters of this season, as he is able to smoothly change his personality from an arrogant person to a beloved and favorite character this season. Among the notable new characters are also the twins: Tamar (Anna Leung Brophy) and Tulia (Louis Tan), who are a mix between the Shu and the Rafkans, and work within the Stormhound crew and also play an important role this season. On the other hand, Wylen joins the “Crow” gang as a bomb-making chemist who may not be as big or have combat skills as the rest of the gang, but his chemical skills play an important role as the story progresses.
On the other hand, some minor characters from last season get a chance to grow this season, most notably Kaz, who we discover more about his background story and the reason for his gloomy and angry personality all the time, and even the reason for his distance from others and wearing gloves, and we also discover a certain secret about Jesper that gives his personality the excitement in the original. of excitement. On the other hand, I was curious last season how this season would deal with the characters Nina Zinnik (Daniel Galligan) and Mathias Helfer (Callahan Skogman) navigating their own sub-story in Season 2, and I’ve been pleased to see how Nina gets the chance to grow this season and show more of her character. talents, but unfortunately Matthias did not get the same opportunity. Another character who gets more opportunity this season is David Kostic (Luke Pasqualino), who breaks from his inertia from last season and takes on a more passionate role this season.
And we come to the design of the battles this season, which presents us with wonderful battles, whether from the Utkatzsia (who do not have the powers of Grisha) with wonderful battles of gunfire, swords, fistfights and parkour movements, or Grisha with their various and different powers, or even with different monsters, whether inside the folds or monsters shadows. There is a scene in particular that reminds me of a movie style Matrix With flying and jumping gracefully in the face of knives, bullets, etc., and another wonderfully directed scene that reminded me of a movie kingsman The first that combines moments of slow motion with fast-paced action. Most of these distinctive scenes were from the side of the story of the “Crow” gang, which made watching them full of fun and adrenaline all the time. All this is accompanied by an exciting soundtrack that varies from battle to battle and raises the level of excitement non-stop.
The stakes rise this season with the introduction of new monsters. One of my criticisms in my review of the first season was that I wanted to see more of the world of Darkness and its monsters, and this season does that nicely. Not only does it reveal more clearly the frightening Volkra creatures inside the folds, but it also presents us with the scary shadow monsters that can emerge from the folds and attack under the light of day. These monsters are created from the shadows and have no weak point, and they have a terrible design that reminded me of the monsters of the series hellbound Scary Korean, all of which add a touch of horror to the series.
But the series balances all its elements wonderfully, whether the terrifying side in it, or the sense of humor with many characters, most notably of course Jesper. Add to it now the aforementioned Tulia character, who presents a special comic touch whenever he wants to deliver a poem to the ears of anyone around him. In addition to balancing its general atmosphere, it mixes wonderful visual effects, whether for monsters, light and dark, or the imaginary world, and the distinctive new inventions that it presents, such as the flying ship that uses the powers of the Grisha in a creative way, or some unique weapons that I will not burn you here.
In the end, although the second season is divided between two stories for the most part, the paths of all the characters meet in the last two episodes for the final grand confrontation, which will take your breath away over the course of two episodes until the last half hour, with its stakes reaching its climax and confrontations characterized by superior skills And characters we feel afraid of because anyone may be exposed to death, and the series does not hesitate to make sacrifices, which increases the level of tension and suspense, and the last episode ends after ending many pending stories, and at the same time opens the way for new adventures, and concludes with a moment full of surprise that will leave us eagerly waiting to know Where will the series take us in its upcoming seasons? I said in the review of the first season that it will become one of the huge series with a large fan base in the future, and what the second season presented to us confirms that it is moving steadily on this path.
The second season of Shadow and Bone succeeds in weaving a group of different stories together into one coherent and consistent story, which although it brings together many different characters, we will not feel bored even for a moment. It expands on the first season in all aspects, whether the world itself, the characters, or even the methods of combat, dangers, or monsters in it, and it manages to do so very smoothly that makes it one of the most prominent fantasy series today that should not be missed.