Shadow And Bone Was Netflix’s Best Idea, Gone Too Soon
The Grishaverse, we hardly knew ye.
Ever since Game of Thrones took television by storm, every TV network and streaming service has been trying to find their next big fantasy hit. But few have been able to replicate the cultural success of HBO’s — and indeed all of TV’s — last great watercooler show.
But five years ago, Netflix launched a show that seemed like it could come close: a historically-inspired fantasy series that incorporated vast mythical worldbuilding with a strong, incredibly likable cast of characters. So why isn’t this Netflix’s newest big thing now? Unfortunately, it all came down to timing.
Lowly cartographer Alina Starkov finds herself a Chosen One in Netflix’s Shadow and Bone.
In April 2021, Netflix released Shadow and Bone, a polished fantasy series based on the “Grishaverse” novels by Leigh Bardugo. The books followed Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li), a young orphan who discovers that she’s a Grisha, a specific kind of person gifted with a kind of inherent magic. But more than being a typical Grisha who are limited to a specific ability — whether it be controlling fire, water, or emotions — she’s actually the Sun Summoner, the long-awaited controller of light.
She discovers this power on a trip through the Shadow Fold, a dark, stormy area full of monsters that divides her homeland. When she emerges through the other side, she instantly finds her life changed, bringing her face to face with General Kirigan (Ben Barnes), aka the Shadow Summoner, her counterpart and love interest.
In its first episode alone, showrunner and writer Eric Heisserer paints a gorgeous portrait of the land of Ravka, infused with Victorian elements and cultural aesthetics. But the series’ greatest strength is its subplot, following the ragtag group known as the Six of Crows as they set out on their own mission. Their adventures weren’t included in the first Grishaverse novel at all, but incorporating their story made this epic tale perfect for television.
Despite a planned Six of Crows spinoff, the world of Shadow and Bone was cut off prematurely.
Shadow and Bone Season 1 instantly attained a massive fanbase, and was followed by an ambitious — if a tad overstuffed — Season 2. It seemed like this could become Netflix’s next Stranger Things, and fans got only more excited in March 2023 when Heisserer announced he’d been quietly working on a Six of Crows spinoff.
Then, the strikes came. The dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes shut down Hollywood for months, and once things settled, certain shows were delayed or outright canceled. For Netflix, that meant a slew of shows that were in development, as well as Shadow and Bone. “The series spent five weeks in the weekly Top 10 for English-language series without getting to No.1,” Deadline speculated at the time. “That, coupled with the potential delay of Season 3, likely factored into the decision not to move forward.”
But maybe this is how it was meant to be — Shadow and Bone now exists as a snapshot of a fantastical world instead of a bloated franchise full of spinoffs. It may be stunted, but what exists is wondrous. And if Alina Starkov had the choice to sacrifice her adaptation for fair treatment in Hollywood, she would in a second.
