As we gear up to return to the Grishaverse with Season 2 of Shadow and Bone, Netflix has released a lot of exciting information about the upcoming episodes in order to make the wait until mid-March a bit easier to handle. Today, the streamer unveiled an interview with series creator Eric Heisserer and fellow writer Daegan Fryklind, in which they talk about the always irresistible-to-watch connection between series leads Alina Starkov (Jesse Mei Li) and The Darkling (Ben Barnes). In the new episodes, the duo will be closer than ever — at least mentally.
When describing Season 2, Heisserer and Fryklind stated that one of its arcs will center around the continuous growth of Alina, who became more and more confident as a Sun Summoner across Season 1. Heisserer stressed that Alina will start to embrace her role as a leader, and Fryklind explained that the amplifiers will be the perfect way to symbolize that:
"The stag is strength, the sea whip is anger and rage, and this is part of Alina dealing with her past trauma. And the firebird is love. Those three things together really create a perfect arc for her. [However] there was a residue from the stag amplifier that remained with Kirigan when it was removed at the end of Season 1. That residue has created a mental tether between the two of them, that he is the first to figure it out. At first it's dreams, and then he figures out this is something more than dreams, and that he can use this tether to get into her mental space and try to influence her thoughts. Very gaslighty."
Ben Barnes Reveals Stronger Connection Between The Darkling and Alina
In addition to the writers’ interview, series star Ben Barnes also spoke out about the Kirigan-Alina connection, and revealed that the mental space that Fryklind refers to is called "the Mind Palace,” and most of their interactions will happen over there:
"Kirigan can see a little bit of his former hopeful self in Alina, but I think he's also trying to school her in cynicism. He's trying to instill in her this idea that as she goes through life, as she loses people that she loves over and over again, and as she tries to keep the peace, eventually she's going to have to rule with a bit more of an iron and fist and do things more his way. In the second season, they're kept physically apart. But then they start thinking about the other, and the other's ideologies, and what the other is doing. They start to meet in what we're calling the “Mind Palace,” and they start to connect in this different way."
This all suggests it will be a heck of a season for Alina, who will have to face multiple challenges, including learning how to use the Mind Palace against The Darkling — who, as the trailer revealed, is coming back with a much darker persona and accompanied of these shadow monsters called nichevo’ya, who are basically more cruel manifestations of Kirigan’s own personality. However, we’ll only be able to witness the harm they can do when March comes along.
Netflix premieres Season 2 of Shadow and Bone on March 16. You can watch the new trailer below: