shadow and bone is finally back for its second season, and the screen adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s novels has continued to expand.
In the new season, Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) and Mal Oretsev (Archie Renaux) are thrown back into the fight against General Kirigan, also known as The Darkling (Ben Barnes), after being on the run after the events of the first season were.
In order to defeat the Darkling and destroy the Shadowfold forever, Alina sets out to find the last two boosters to increase her power – the Seawhip and the Firebird. Alina will need all the help she can get, including the support of a certain Nikolai Lantsov (Patrick Gibson).
As she does so, the Crows – Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter), Inej Ghafa (Amita Suman) and Jesper Fahey (Kit Young) – with the help of Nina Zenik, plot revenge against Ketterdam crime boss Pekka Rollins (Dean Lennox Kelly). (Danielle Galligan) and Wylan Hendricks (Jack Wolfe).
Two of the new characters in Season 2 have already been mentioned, but there are also a number of others who are new to the franchise.
Some of the characters are also Grisha, the ones with the ability to manipulate matter, and they are part of a specific order within Ravka’s Second Army. These can be categorized into corporalki (those who have power over the body), etherealki (those who can manipulate the elements), and materialki (those who can manipulate metals and chemicals).
Nikolai Lantsov is the second son of the Ravkan king Alexander III. And Queen Tatiana, although the legitimacy of his birth was questioned throughout his life.
The Ravkan Prince is known by many names, such as Too-Clever Fox and Sobachka (which means puppy in Ravkan). He also has his own secret alter ego.
Not a Grisha, Nikolai is nonetheless an integral part of the fight against the Darkling and a loyal ally for Alina.
Wylan is a demolitions expert who joins the Crows in the events of Season 2, and he helps the crew in their fight against Pekka Rollins. Wylan is not a Grisha.
The character has a different last name on the show than the books, which the writing team hoped to keep secret so as not to spoil non-book fans, showrunner Eric Heisserer said news week.
“We had tried to preserve that a little bit by addressing the possibility of one Six crows [standalone series]”, he said. “So viewers who weren’t exactly book fans weren’t inadvertently spoiled for the card revealed about Wylan and the character who hires our crows for this heist.
“That was our approach [but] I think the cats on their backs at this point.”
Tolya Yul-Bataar (Lewis Tan) and Tamar Kir-Bataar are twin siblings who work alongside Nikolai and are Grisha who hail from Shu Han.
Tolya has a penchant for poetry and sweet treats, but he’s impressive with a blade and also a powerful Heartrender, a faction of the Corpralki Grisha.
That means he is able to control the human body with his abilities from the inside out.
Like her sister, Tamar Kir-Bataar (Anna Leong Brophy) is a powerful corporalki and also a heartrender.
But that’s not the only weapon Tamar can wield, as she’s also proficient with two axes.
Adrik (Alistair Nwachukwu) is the younger brother of Alina’s friend Nadia (played as Joanna McGibbon in Season 2) and will be introduced in the new episodes.
He is also a Grisha and a member of the Etherealki order. He is specifically a Squaler, meaning he has the ability to manipulate the air to control wind, create storms, and other such abilities.
Vladim (Shobhit Piasa) is part of the Darkling’s Grisha Forcers and he is part of the Fabricator Order. Specifically, he is an Alkemi, meaning he has the ability to manipulate chemicals and poisons.
Fruszi (Rachel Redford) is a member of Darkling’s Grisha army, and she is part of the Etherealki order and a tidemaker.
She has the ability to manipulate water and can also control the temperature of the water she summons to craft weapons.
