Shadow and Bone is a 2021 American fantasy television series created by Eric Heisserer for Netflix. The show stars Jessie Mei Li, Ben Barnes, and Archie Renaux, with Freddy Carter, Amita Suman, and Kit Young in supporting roles. Based on the books by Leigh Bardugo, the series is set in the Grishaverse fantasy world. It follows Alina Starkov (played by Mei Li), an orphan and mapmaker who discovers she is a Grisha, a person with magical powers, and learns she holds the key to saving her war-torn world.

The first season, which adapts Bardugo’s novel Shadow and Bone (2012), began on April 23, 2021. It also includes an original story involving the Crows, a criminal group from Bardugo’s Six of Crows duology.

The show received mostly positive reviews for its creative world-building and strong cast, though some critics noted that the pacing was slow. After the success of the first season, Netflix ordered a second season, which started on March 16, 2023. This season adapted Siege and Storm (2013), Ruin and Rising (2014), and parts of Crooked Kingdom (2016). Despite growing popularity, Shadow and Bone was canceled after two seasons in November 2023.

Premise and world

The series takes place in the Grishaverse, which includes the countries of Ravka, Fjerda, Shu Han, Kerch, Novyi Zem, and the Wandering Isle. Each country is inspired by real-world nations and shows aspects of language, culture, and traditions from different times in history. In the Grishaverse, there is a group of people called "magic-users." These individuals, known as Grisha, use a skill called "The Small Science," which allows them to change the way things are built at a very small level.

Ravka is where most Grisha live. They are often found as children by traveling Grisha testers and taken to train in Ravka's Second Army. Ravka is one of the few places where Grisha can live safely. During their training, Grisha are divided into three groups based on their abilities in The Small Science:

• Etherealki: People who control natural elements like wind, water, and fire;
• Materialki: People who shape materials such as metal and glass;
• Corporalki: People who heal or harm the human body.

The country of Ravka is split into two parts by the Shadow Fold, also called "The Fold," a large area of darkness filled with dangerous creatures. The Fold was created centuries ago by a Grisha known as the Black Heretic. Ravka is at war with the northern country of Fjerda, while the western part of Ravka wants to be independent. General Kirigan, also called The Darkling, leads Ravka's Second Army and is searching for the Sun Summoner, the only person who can destroy the Fold and possibly reunite Ravka.

In the first episode of the series, Alina Starkov, a mapmaker in Ravka's First Army, is discovered to be the Sun Summoner, a person long predicted in stories. This discovery starts a series of events that affect the entire Grishaverse. As Alina learns about her new role, she becomes a target for different groups. Kaz Brekker, the leader of a criminal group called the Crows in Ketterdam, is paid to capture her. Fjerdan witch hunters, who try to kill Grisha, also want her dead. Alina must deal with changing alliances and hidden dangers while learning to control her powers and save Ravka.

Cast and characters

• Jessie Mei Li as Alina Starkov, an orphan and former assistant cartographer in the Royal Corps of Surveyors in the First Army. She discovers she is the Sun Summoner, a Grisha with the rare ability to summon light. In the series, Alina is shown to have one parent from Shu-Han. Kaylan Teague plays Young Alina (recurring in season 1).
• Archie Renaux as Malyen "Mal" Oretsev, an orphan tracker in the First Army and Alina's childhood best friend and love interest. Cody Molko plays Young Mal (recurring in season 1).
• Freddy Carter as Kaz Brekker, leader of the Crows, known as Dirtyhands and the Bastard of the Barrel. Fflyn Edwards plays Young Kaz (recurring in season 2).
• Amita Suman as Inej Ghafa, a Suli former indentured prostitute. She is a member of the Crows and is known as the Wraith.
• Kit Young as Jesper Fahey, a member of the Crows who is a skilled Zemeni sharpshooter.
• Ben Barnes as General Aleksander Kirigan, the Shadow Summoner and The Black Heretic.
• Zoë Wanamaker as Baghra, Alina's Grisha teacher and Aleksander's mother.
• Patrick Gibson as Sturmhond / Nikolai Lantsov (season 2), a privateer who is later revealed to be the second Prince of Ravka.
• Daisy Head as Genya Safin (season 2; recurring in season 1), a Grisha Healer and Tailor who befriends Alina. She falls in love with David Kostyk.
• Danielle Galligan as Nina Zenik (season 2; recurring in season 1), a Heartrender and Grisha Tailor who is taken captive by Fjerdans. She later falls in love with her captor, Matthias Helvar, and becomes a member of the Crows.
• Calahan Skogman as Matthias Helvar (season 2; recurring in season 1), a Fjerdan Drüskelle (witch-hunter) who takes part in Nina's capture but later falls in love with her.
• Lewis Tan as Tolya Yul-Bataar (season 2), a Shu Heartrender loyal to Nikolai and Alina. Tamar's brother.
• Jack Wolfe as Wylan Hendricks (season 2), an alchemist who reluctantly becomes the Crows' demolitions expert. Jesper's love interest.
• Anna Leong Brophy as Tamar Kir-Bataar (season 2), a Shu Heartrender loyal to Nikolai and Alina. Tolya's sister.

• Andy Burse as Dubrov (season 1), a tracker in the First Army and Mal's friend.
• Tom Weston-Jones as General Zlatan (season 1), a general of the First Army.
• Sujaya Dasgupta as Zoya, a Squaller (wind Summoner) who serves under General Kirigan as his favorite and is jealous of Alina but later becomes a valued ally.
• Elizabeth Rider as Ana Kuya (season 1).
• Hugo Speer as Lieutenant Bohdan (season 1; guest in season 2).
• Angus Castle-Doughty as Mikhael (season 1), a tracker in the First Army and Mal's friend.
• Simon Sears as Ivan (season 1), a Heartrender who serves under General Kirigan. Feydor's lover.
• Howard Charles as Arken (season 1), the Conductor who smuggles people across the Fold.
• Julian Kostov as Fedyor (season 1), a Heartrender who serves under General Kirigan. Ivan's lover.
• Jasmine Blackborow as Marie (season 1), an Inferni (fire Summoner) who befriends Alina.
• Gabrielle Brooks (season 1) and Joanna McGibbon (season 2) as Nadia, a Squaller who also befriends Alina. Tamar's love interest.
• Luke Pasqualino as David Kostyk, a Durast who crafts weapons and other gadgets for the Grisha. Genya's love interest.
• Gareth Turkington as Feliks (season 1).
• Dean Lennox Kelly as Pekka Rollins (season 2; guest in season 1), the ruthless leader of the Dime Lions gang in Ketterdam and Kaz's foe.
• Tommy Rodger as Jordie (season 2), Kaz's older brother.
• Iliasz Shweirif as Doughty (season 2).
• Shobhit Piasa as Vladim (season 2).
• Thue Ersted Rasmussen as Ahlgren (season 2).
• Rachel Redford as Fruszi (season 2).
• Keir Charles as Colonel Raevsky (season 2).
• Alistair Nwachukwu as Adrik (season 2), Nadia's brother.

• David Wurawa as Edyck.
• Kevin Eldon as The Apparat, the spiritual advisor to the King of Ravka.
• David Verrey as King Pyotr.
• Georgia Reece as Queen Tatiana.
• James Jaysen Bryhan as The Archivist, a magical character who is part of the archives.

Production

In January 2019, Netflix announced a plan to make an eight-episode first season of Shadow and Bone. Eric Heisserer was named as the showrunner, creator, head writer, and executive producer. The series was made through Netflix's partnership with 21 Laps Entertainment, with Shawn Levy as an executive producer. Other executive producers included Leigh Bardugo, Pouya Shahbazian, Dan Levine, Dan Cohen, and Josh Barry. On October 2, 2019, it was confirmed that Lee Toland Krieger would direct the first episode of the series.

In June 2021, the series was renewed for a second season with eight episodes. Production for the second season began in January 2022. By December 2022, it was reported that the second season would include content from both Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising, completing the main trilogy from Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse.

After the second season was released, Eric Heisserer said that scripts for a possible spin-off series about the Crows had already been written. However, he noted that the future of Shadow and Bone and any spin-offs would depend on how many people watched the second season. On November 15, 2023, Netflix canceled Shadow and Bone after two seasons. Plans for the Crows spin-off were also stopped.

During a panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Leigh Bardugo said that David J. Peterson, who created fictional languages for Game of Thrones, would design the languages for the Grishaverse in Shadow and Bone. Christian Thalmann also helped with creating these languages.

Casting for Shadow and Bone started in April 2019, with auditions for the lead role of Alina Starkov. On October 2, 2019, it was announced that Jessie Mei Li would play Alina, with Ben Barnes, Freddy Carter, Archie Renaux, Amita Suman, and Kit Young as main supporting actors. Other cast members included Sujaya Dasgupta, Danielle Galligan, Daisy Head, and Simon Sears.

A second round of casting was announced on December 18, 2019, adding Calahan Skogman, Zoë Wanamaker, Kevin Eldon, Julian Kostov, Luke Pasqualino, Jasmine Blackborow, and Gabrielle Brooks to the recurring cast. Leigh Bardugo, the author of the book series, was also set to appear as a Materialki Durast in the third episode of the season.

Characters Nikolai Lantsov and Wylan Van Eck were not in the first season but appeared in the second. On January 13, 2022, Lewis Tan, Patrick Gibson, Anna Leong Brophy, and Jack Wolfe joined the cast for the second season. Daisy Head, Danielle Galligan, and Calahan Skogman were promoted to series regulars. Additional cast members added in November 2022 included Tommy Rodger, Rhoda Ofori-Attah, Alistair Nwachukwu, Tumi Fani-Kayode, and Seamus O'Hara.

Principal photography for the first season began in October 2019 in Budapest and Keszthely, Hungary, and ended in February 2020. Additional filming took place in Vancouver in September 2020.

The set for Ketterdam was built at Origo Studios. Key scenes were filmed in Budapest, including the Ethnographic Museum (used as the Grand Palace throne room), Buda Castle (for the Royal Archives exterior and Grisha training grounds), the old Stock Exchange (for the Royal Archives interior), and the main square (as Novokribirsk).

Other locations included Festetics Palace (for the Little Palace and winter fete), the Amadé–Bajzáth–Pappenheim Mansion (as the Keramzin orphanage), the town of Szentendre (as Ryevost and Chernast), and the Royal Palace of Gödöllő (for the stable and chapel). The flashback scene showing the Black Heretic creating the Shadow Fold was filmed at the ruined Széchényi–Wenckheim mansion in Békéscsaba.

Filming for the second season began in early January 2022 and ended on June 6, 2022.

Post-production for Shadow and Bone started after filming ended in February 2020. In June 2020, Leigh Bardugo said that the post-production process had slowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making the release date uncertain. Ted Rae was the VFX supervisor for the series.

Joseph Trapanese composed the score for Shadow and Bone. Eric Heisserer and Leigh Bardugo shared parts of the score during a panel at New York Comic Con in October 2020. By December 16, 2020, executive producer Josh Barry confirmed that the final sound mix was completed.

Trapanese worked on the score for 11 months. In an interview, he explained how he created the score during lockdown, using Zoom to conduct an orchestra remotely and adding solo recordings. The score was influenced by Russian and Slavic music, including works by Sergei Prokofiev and traditional folk songs. Trapanese also included elements from other musical traditions, such as gamelan, to add variety to the soundtrack.

Marketing and release

In December 2020, Netflix shared a short preview of Season One. In January 2021, promotional images and posters of the main characters were released through Entertainment Weekly. In February 2021, Leigh Bardugo, Eric Heisserer, and the six main actors joined a panel at the IGN Fan Fest. During this event, a teaser trailer and more images were shown. The day before the panel, Netflix posted a poster featuring the Shadow Fold. On March 30, 2021, Netflix officially released the full trailer for Season One, after a version was shared earlier by others.

In November 2019, Bardugo told SensaCine that the series would likely air in late 2020. However, Shadow and Bone premiered on April 23, 2021, on Netflix. The next day, Netflix released a special program called Shadow and Bone – The Afterparty. Season Two of the series was released on March 16, 2023. The official trailer for Season Two was shared on February 17, 2023.

Reception

Netflix said that 55 million households watched the first season of Shadow and Bone within 28 days of its release. For season two, Netflix reported that viewers watched 192.9 million hours of the show between January and June 2023. This made it the 26th most-watched show on Netflix during that time, out of 18,000 titles. A report by Eshap found that both seasons combined were watched for 292.4 million hours in the first half of 2023, placing the series at number 15 on the list of most-watched shows during that period.

Season two stayed in Netflix's Global Top 10 for five weeks and was in the top 10 of 86 countries for up to six weeks after it was released. Shadow and Bone was ranked number two on the Nielsen charts in the week of its release, with over 1.14 billion minutes watched by subscribers, including episodes from season one. It remained among the top 10 original series for four weeks after its premiere, compared to five weeks during season one. The total viewing time was similar between the two seasons. According to TheWrap, based on data from Whip Media, Shadow and Bone was number 24 on the list of most-watched series across all streaming platforms in 2023.

Media Play News reported, using data from PlumResearch, that season two of Shadow and Bone reached 3.1 million unique viewers on Netflix during the week ending April 2, 2023. The average time spent watching was 169 minutes.

As of January 2024, the show has a rating of 7.5 out of 10 on IMDb, based on 112,000 ratings. It was number 10 on the list of most-searched shows worldwide on Google in 2023. In January 2024, Shadow and Bone was voted Fan Favorite Series of 2023 on Rotten Tomatoes. It received 54% of the votes, while the other four shows in the top five received only 4% each.

Shadow and Bone has received mostly positive reviews from critics. For the first season, Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 89% based on 81 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The website’s critics said, “From beautiful costumes to impressive—but sometimes confusing—world-building, Shadow and Bone is an exciting adventure for fans and newcomers alike.” Metacritic gave the first season a score of 68 out of 100, based on 22 reviews, which means “generally favorable reviews.”

Ben Travis of Empire gave the first season 3 out of 5 stars, praising the world-building and the engaging lead characters but noting similarities to Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and Game of Thrones. He said some parts of the series were “overly confusing” but concluded that “Shadow and Bone will draw you into the Fold with its absorbing world-building and engaging lead duo.” Nicole Clark of IGN said the season “captures much of the darker magic…while being unafraid to make smart changes to certain characters’ origin stories and even the sequence of events—even if the storylines from the two series of books don’t always easily mesh.” Molly Freeman of Screen Rant called it a “thrillingly exciting fantasy drama.”

Roxana Hadadi of RogerEbert.com acknowledged the series’ use of young adult fiction clichés but praised the cast and the fight scenes. She wrote, “Eric Heisserer’s adaptation transcends this familiarity thanks to the commitment of a pitch-perfect cast, well-stylized fight sequences, and intentional character development.” She concluded, “Shadow and Bone maintains a sense of interior place for the characters… and the well-balanced nature of this first season makes for a promising introduction into this franchise’s fantastical universe.”

Yaameen Al-Muttaqi of The Daily Star praised the darker themes explored in the series due to the older ages of the characters compared to the books, highlighting themes like “abuse, corruption, propaganda, manipulation, and human trafficking.” However, he criticized the lack of world-building, saying “a fair number of things are also left unexplained or unexplored in the series, which may leave viewers who have not read the books, confused.” Allison Nichols of Tell-Tale TV similarly noted that viewers unfamiliar with the source material may feel isolated when the series “throw[s] them in storylines that seemingly have nothing to do with the main storyline of the show—Alina’s journey.”

For the second season of Shadow and Bone, Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 83% based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 6.0/10. The website’s critics said, “Shadow and Bone’s sophomore season packs in too much story sinew to properly breathe, but this adventure remains great fun for fantasy fans.” On Metacritic, the second season received a score of 73, based on reviews from 8 critics, indicating “generally favorable reviews.”

Lacy Baugher Milas of Paste Magazine gave a critical review, describing the second season as “not only poorly paced but narratively overstuffed, crammed with new characters, superfluous side quests, and rapid-fire plot revelations that are rarely given enough time to breathe, let alone develop fully.” She noted that the expanded plotlines resulted in minimal exploration of the emotional fallout experienced by the characters. However, she praised the performances of Jessie Mei Li, Archie Renaux, Danielle Galligan, Kit Young, Jack Wolfe, Ben Barnes, and Zoë Wanamaker.

Abby Cavenaugh of Collider gave the second season a B− rating, calling it “more of a lackluster and uneven follow-up” but still an “entertaining ride from start to finish.” She attributed the crammed plotlines to the adaptation of material from six of Leigh Bardugo’s novels: Siege and Storm, Ruin and Rising, Six of Crows, Crooked Kingdom, King of Scars, and The Lives of Saints. She praised Ben Barnes’ portrayal of the Darkling, likening it to Michael B. Jordan’s performance of Erik Killmonger in Black Panther, while also commending newcomers Patrick Gibson, Lewis Tan, and Anna Leong Brophy. However, she criticized their “overacting” and felt that Calahan Skogman’s character, Matthias, was underdeveloped.

Samantha H. Chung of The Harvard Crimson gave a mixed review, praising the performances of Freddy Carter, Amita Suman, Patrick Gibson, and Daisy Head while criticizing the second season’s pacing and cramming of multiple storylines. She felt that the breakneck pace impacted the development of character relationships but praised the expansive world-building, visually stunning settings, exploration of Alina’s biracial identity, and the chemistry between Kit Young and Jack Wolfe’s characters.

Cancellation

Netflix officially stopped Shadow and Bone on November 15, 2023, even though the show was very popular earlier in the year. The series was the 15th most-watched show on Netflix during the first half of 2023, the 10th most searched show worldwide in 2023, and stayed in the top 10 in 86 countries for up to six weeks after it was released. The decision to cancel the show came after the end of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike and the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, which Netflix said were the reasons for ending the series.

Eric Heisserer, the person in charge of Shadow and Bone, was part of the Negotiating Committee during the strike. Many important cast and crew members, including Leigh Bardugo, Ben Barnes, Daeghan Fryklind, Shelley Meals, Christina Strain, Erin Conley, Stacy Milbourn, and Lilly Slaydon, also took part in the labor action. After the show was canceled, many news organizations criticized Netflix’s choice, saying it was a mistake because the series had high viewership numbers.

After Shadow and Bone was canceled, Netflix said it would not continue making the Six of Crows spin-off. The script for the spin-off had already been written and finished before the second season of Shadow and Bone was released. Eric Heisserer shared a short preview of the planned spin-off in a comment on Reddit, showing fans what the spin-off might have looked like.

In response to the cancellation, a petition titled “SAVE Shadow and Bone!!!” was started on Change.org on November 16, 2023. The petition got more than 120,000 signatures in four days and became the most signed renewal petition on Change.org in 2023.

A Kickstarter campaign was also started on November 18, 2023, to fund a billboard campaign in Los Angeles and London. The campaign ended on December 23, 2023, and raised $13,882 from 457 supporters. The two billboards were displayed on January 23, 2024.