Shadow and Bone

Well, I just finished the second season, and I very much enjoyed it! ^_^

I will say that it took a few episodes to really hook me—but then, I find that such is not all that uncommon for me. Starts to things can be difficult, sometimes.

As to the Crows, I liked them well enough—but I actually rather more liked Alina and her plotline. I found her to be an interested character, and was invested in the whole "seek out the MacGuffins, exploring long-lost magics—and find a twist to those things along the way" storyline.

Indeed, I wasn't all that interested in the Crow plot prior to their joining the main storyline—it was okay, it entertained me, and it gave me more drama between Inej and Kaz, but I don't think that I found it much more than "okay".

Although I will say that I liked the addition of Nina to their crew; I feel like she's a solid addition: I like her character, and I feel that she fits nicely into the crew.

Regarding Alina's powers at the end, I interpreted that to be the price of merzost. After all, Nina indicated that it wasn't she who raised Mal at the end, and we know, if I recall correctly, that bringing back the dead is merzost and that merzost always exacts a price—and one that the user may not see coming...

On which note, I looked up the word merzost. It is apparently a real word.

It means "abomination". (Or "vileness".) (If Google Translate is to be believed.)

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Mar 27th 2023 at 9:39:14 PM

My Games & Writing

Huh, I guess you and I have opposite opinions on which plot is better.

I wasn't super into the Inej and Kaz drama. I thought I would be into it more, but I think I was turned off by how much of Inej's role is just to be the person Kaz emotes around. I got invested in the Jesper/Wylan drama because they both get development and character focus.

Nina is cool, but the stretching of Matthias' plotline (Plot relevancy? What's that?) felt like it was also stretching her motivation.

I did like Tolya and Tamar (and Sturmhond, for the episodes where he's a thing) a lot more than I was expecting, but I still wasn't invested in Alina's plot. I feel like Baghra didn't have the dramatic weight she should have had.

So, let's hang an anchor from the sun... also my Tumblr

Inej not getting that much to do bothered me a bit too, but I think part of the issue is that, if they wanna go more into her...shit I got no idea how to phrase it uh "half of the drama" I guess?

They'd probably have to go into more detail about her backstory and trauma and shit. Which they seem very reluctant to do.

Everybody's all "Jerry's old and feeble" till they see him run down a skyscraper and hijack a helicopter mid-flight.

Yup! And that's fair—different people like different things, and different people have different perceptions! ^_^

I don't know... I think that for me there was also her protectiveness of Kaz—and that (at least one) moment in which she chose another priority over him—and the way that their difficulty in being open with each other stemmed from their respective traumas.

I also kinda liked the resolution to their plotline, with her recognising that Kaz isn't ready for what she wants from a relationship...

Even if I did want to strangle the both of them once or twice! XP

I'll admit that Matthias' side of things I was less interested in; I was more interested, I think, in Nina herself and her collaboration with the Crows than with her motivation of rescuing him.

Oh yes! I did like Tolya and Tamar! (Even if I am a little sad that poor Tolya never managed to get a full poem out! XD; )

As to Sturmhond... Funnily enough, I think that I liked him more as the prince than as the privateer.

My Games & Writing

I kind of find Mathias to be a monster and the idea of him being imprisoned for life as justice.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.

I think he's supposed to be a product of his environment. If you get told shit's a certain way you're entire life, it's hard to know any different.

Everybody's all "Jerry's old and feeble" till they see him run down a skyscraper and hijack a helicopter mid-flight.

Does anyone think reorganizing Characters.Shadow And Bone to have a "main characters" section is a good idea? Chime in here!

According to Deadline, the series has been cancelled, among other Netflix originals. Article writer Nellie Andreeva claims that production delays from the recently concluded Actors' Strike might have played a role:

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On a side note, Netflix announced a new mobile game set between Seasons 1 and 2 a few days ago.

Edited by XMenMutant22 on Nov 15th 2023 at 6:34:26 AM

Yeah, it's a sad reality that the strikes, while not as bad as some in the past due to when in the year they happened, definitely led to a few shows getting axed.

I really wanted to see Darkling Alina return.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.

Had a feeling that would happen, with or without the strike. Shame, because I was looking forward to a third season.

/crawls back under rock

All that CGI and those great costumes can't have been cheap.

I also wanted a third season, the Alina cycle has not ended completely and I was looking forward for new adventures of the Crows (the MV Ps on this series).

It seems that everyone would like to have more of the sexiest fantasy villain ever... :P