Shadow and Bone season 2 messes up all of its iconic ships

Shadow and Bone season 2 starts with a bang — or to be more accurate, with a kiss. Mal and Alina finally kiss, ending the sexual tension built after Mal’s season of simping for his best friends and following him around. Even though it took them a bit of sex to finally get together, I kept watching the scene over and over. FinallyThe two of them figured it all out.

I had been waiting for this moment: Season 1 established Mal and Alina’s deep friendship and loyalty to one another. And their romance, in season 2, acts as a grounding and familiar force contrasted against the magical — and often violent — storytelling that dominates the TV adaptation of the Grishaverse. I’m also just a sap for young adult and new adult romances, where emotions are heightened and characters are learning about themselves through the process of falling for someone else. Set these romances against the backdrop of intense action — young people who are fighting for their lives and their countries — and it’s a pressure cooker for entertaining drama.

However Shadow and BoneThe thread of romance in season 2 is quickly lost. Season 2 has so many romantic stories that it doesn’t even get to show the best of any of them. This is largely because it is adapting so many source texts — Storm and Siege, Ruin and RisingPlus some novella material for the Six of Crows team. You will find many couples in the package: Jesper and Wylan; Nina and Matthias; Genya and David; Mal and Alina (and maybe briefly Alina and Nikolai), as well as Kaz and Inej. Their relationship is not quite so straightforward. It makes some bizarre choices about how it condenses its romance plots into one television season.

[Ed. note: This story discusses romantic pairings throughout Shadow and Bone season 2, including a spoiler regarding Mal and Alina in the finale.]

Image courtesy of Netflix

Problem number one is simply how much information each season contains. This many couples would be a generous number, even for a show that isn’t also speeding through so many books’ worth of action-packed material. However, the season moves quickly and hits plot beats after plot beat in an arduous juggling act which makes it feel frantic. Every romantic storyline is compressed in order to fit within a shorter timeline, making them all feel very rushed. Jesper and Wylan are introduced for a couple of episodes. Before they become romantically involved, Wylan concocts a backstory to help make their relationship more real.

When played like this, each pairing is all flame but no sizzle, as if we’re meant to believe a fire can roar without any kindling. Romance narratives tend to follow a familiar pattern: Couples meet, fall in love — whether through weathering challenges together or through simple flirtation — encounter an obstacle, then find a way to be together again. A romance’s most climactic beats are its most memorable, like the Pride and PrejudiceScene in which a rain-soaked Mr. Darcy declares his love, or where the Mahjong scene is in Crazy Rich AsiansRachel makes her point. But it’s ultimately the interstitial moments where stories create tension and anticipation through intimacy and flirtation that give these pivotal scenes their payoff. It’s Mr. Darcy clearly doting on his younger sister and sharing witty flirtation with Lizzie Bennet despite their “hatred” of one another. It’s Rachel and Nick sharing drinks at a bar, flying together, and making loving eye contact at their friends’ over-the-top wedding.

I’m not suggesting that Shadow and BoneSeason 2 stands up against some of the best romance movies in recent memory. But it’s worth pointing out how this season of the show dedicates minimal time to building rapport between romantic pairings — after all, there’s so much material to fit in — and instead pares down those romantic arcs to their most climactic moments, even though it had a whole season of TV to work with. As a result, it feels like the show’s couples are constantly going through some version of the Big Fight or the Grand Gesture. But without other scenes in between, where characters create tension and anticipation, those big moments don’t have the same payoff — making these couples’ romantic moments feel flat and perfunctory.

Image courtesy of Netflix

Genya is the victim, as well as David. Season 1 begins slowly, with Genya looking at an indifferent David. It’s entirely believable that they’ve grown close over the years at the Little Palace. But there’s an enormous gulf between this season 1 moment to season 2 Genya sacrificing herself to the terrifying nichevo’ya to buy time for David’s escape in episode 3. The show implies the two bonded over being trapped within General Kirigan’s command, but doesn’t actually give much screen time to the moments they work together.

When the two reunite as part of Alina’s underground insurgency, David is suddenly much more forward and outspoken about chasing Genya down and voicing his feelings. Somewhere between finding his freedom and reuniting, he’s realized he has romantic feelings for her — and that her act of sacrifice clarified these feelings. Without more context and without being able to Please see their relationship blossom (and given his horrifying actions toward Alina in the first season), it’s hard to buy in. The couple’s brief, fleeting romance makes an entertaining episode. However it feels more implausible than convincing or believable.

In this season, even Mal and Alina’s tenuous romance unravels. As ever, Mal sticks by Alina’s side, helping her locate the amplifiers so that she becomes powerful enough to destroy the Fold. The two of them share tender moments, before they jump into dangerous situations or learn important information. Shadow and BoneThe same footage continues to be viewed of Mal and Alina, as they lay in a field together. Despite a few convoluted subplots — including Mal’s brief kidnapping — the two ultimately progress as a couple, growing apart as the friction intensifies between Alina’s power and Mal’s desire for a normal life.

Image courtesy of Netflix

But the couple’s separation at the end of the season is completely out of the blue — especially as a grand gesture, without any lead-up or smaller, contemplative plot beats in between. Evidently Mal’s magical bloodline fated him to meet Alina, and he wants to know if he still likes her now that his tracking impulses are gone. She is his only love after two years of relentlessly following him down. It’s hard to reconcile the gulf between this Mal and the Mal that was willing to die for Alina just an episode before — especially in a show that treated this relationship as its focal point. Again, it seems that the show believes big moments can be used as emotional inflections points.

Should the show be renewed for a third season, there’s still space for some of these other couples to grow. Inej and Kaz, who are the core of Crows’ crew, have also been through traumas, making intimacy a major hurdle for them. The sexual tension between the pair has built up over the course of two seasons, culminating in one of Inej’s most famous lines: “I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all.” It sets up a challenge for the third season to fulfill — hopefully the show can take the time to undress their romances the same way.