Attention Darklings, Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse just keeps getting bigger and better than ever. Netflix just gave us a first look at the second season for Shadow & Bone and it seems like we are in for a ride. The show was renewed back in June, 2022. Below please find stills from Season 2 courtesy of Netflix.

What is Season 2 about?

The first season centered around Alina Starkov played by Jessie Mei Li, a mapmaker who has the power to summon sunlight and was sent to train with fellow magic-based users, Grishas, to learn how to control her power. The Grishas are led by the mysterious General Kirigan who is played by Ben Barnes, a Grisha with the power to summon the darkness. After spending some time with Kirigan, Alina is hastily enamored by him and his promise of working together to destroy the Fold.

Season 2 will follow Alina Starkov who is on the run. A beacon of hope to some and a suspected traitor to others, she’s determined to bring down the Shadow Fold and save Ravka from ruin. But General Kirigan has returned to finish what he started. Backed by a terrifying new army of seemingly indestructible shadow monsters and fearsome new Grisha recruits, Kirigan is more dangerous than ever. To stand a fighting chance against him, Alina and Mal rally their own powerful new allies and begin a continent-spanning journey to find two mythical creatures that will amplify her powers. Back in Ketterdam, the Crows must forge new alliances as they contend with old rivals and even older grudges that threaten not only their place in the Barrel, but their very lives. When a chance at a deadly heist comes their way, the Crows will once again find themselves on a collision course with the legendary Sun Summoner. Based on Leigh Bardugo’s worldwide bestselling Grishaverse novels, Shadow and Bone returns for a second season of new friendships, new romance, bigger battles, epic adventures and a shocking family secret that could shatter everything.

New characters being introduced

As featured below in the photos Alina and Mal now in hiding, Season 2 seems to follow immediately after the events at the end of the first, which would be based on some elements of the second book, “Siege and Storm”. Fans have been in anticipation waiting for the casting of several of the new characters that will be making an appearance in Season 2. As follows Patrick Gibson as Nikolai Lantsov, Anna Leong Brophy as Tama Kir-Bataar, Lewis Tan as Tolya Yul-Bataar and Jack Wolfe as Wylan.

Cast returning

The old cast returning will be as follows:  Li playing as Alina Starkov. Archie Renaux playing as Malyen Oretsev. Freddy Carter playing as Kaz Brekker. Amita Suman playing as Inej Ghafa. Kit Young playing as Jesper Fahey. Danielle Galligan playing as Nina Zenik. Daisy Head playing as Genya Safin. Calahan Skogman playing as Matthias Helvar and Barnes playing as General Kirigan.

What can we expect?

Eric Heisserer and Daegan Fryklind who are the co-Showrunners / Executive Producers / Writers and Leigh Bardugo who is the Author / Executive Producer all sat down on and spoke about what the fans can expect this season:

HEISSERER: The most wonderful thing about Season Two is that we get to advance the story of these characters that we’d left in precarious positions at the end of Season One. There’s a lot of potential for them this season. They have to face the consequences for their actions, and then they get to meet new people along the way. The Grishaverse also expands in this season, both in mythology and in characters. In doing so, we expand the world, we go to new locations, we visit Novyi Zem and Shu Han, and those are all integral to the narrative.

FRYKLIND: We’ve also really dug into more of the mythology this season in terms of the amplifiers, but also the creator of the amplifiers, Morozova, who he was, what his backstory is, and how he ties into this world. We go out and we go deeper.

BARDUGO: I think the readers now trust our writers the way that I do. This season I was able to step back and put the show more firmly in their hands. I think when we approached Season One, a lot of people were like, “It’s impossible. It can’t be done. Why would you bring SHADOW AND BONE and SIX OF CROWS together?” And I think now, we have that trust. And I think it’s going to be very, very exciting for them to see the way that trust pays off in Season Two. Every part of the Grishaverse is coming into play. We are going to get to see some incredible new characters. We’re going to see characters interacting with each other, questing with each other, fighting and laughing with each other, who we never got to see together in the books. And I think that’s a unique thing about this show. Readers are not only going to be surprised by the way that these storylines crash into each other, they’re never going to know where the next move is coming from—and that actually was a pleasure for me because I got to be surprised by my own stories.

The show’s executive producers are Shawn Levy, Josh Barry, Dan Levine, and Dan Cohen for 21 Laps Entertainment, Pouya Shahbazian from Loom Studios and Shelley Meals. Directors are Bola Ogun  for Episodes 1 & 2. Laura Belsey for Episodes 3 & 4. Karen Gaviola for Episodes 5 & 6 and Mairzee Almas for Episodes 7 & 8.

Here is a sneak peak at Season 2 courtesy of Netlfix:

Shadow and Bone Season 2 premieres globally March 16, 2023 with eight episodes. Darklings we can’t wait to see what is in store for us. Stay tuned here for more teasers and news.