shadow & bone season 2 was a bit of a mess...
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Leigh Bardugo put her whole bardussy into writing morally and emotionally complex characters and storylines and netflix just threw it out the window and made a Riverdale adjacent adaptation
âbardussyâ has me DEAD
BARDUSSY
Even all the morally complex stuff mostly went into Six of Crows⊠somehow Netflix managed to mess up EVERYTHING.
it's the fact that mal got 'kidnapped' then reappeared next episode with no explanation and did nothing to further the plot for me
and Alina didnât give a fuck and left the castle without him đđ
That one was so sad because we shouldâve hand the accurate ending of siege and storm and mal was there with tolya, tamar and alinađ
i was screaming when that happened
Lol, I went from like 'where'd he go?' to 'how'd he get away?' in no time and then we're never told what happened, I was like 'oookay, I guess he just got away, lucky.'
I WAS SO DAMN CONFUSEDđ©
I think the biggest problem with this show is that they mixed the 2 series. In season 2 it's very obvious they CANNOT handle all that. There are waaaaay too many characters, ships and plotpoints, and not enough time to develop them all. If i hadn't read the books i probably wouldn't care about half of those characters, to be completely frank.
Agree 100% -idk why they didnât just do six of crows, it could have been the next Stranger things for Netflix
@@Julianna74 netflixâs adaptation of s&b has been pretty pg-13, I doubt theyâd do that. kaz does gouge someoneâs eye out and slash someoneâs eye blind in the book, and you canât show either in a pg-13 way
I haven't read the books and the only new character I remember and loved was Nikolai, the brother and sister in his crew were fine but there was just too much going on and I can't remember their names. So I agree đŻ % even if I wanted to I couldn't care about Alina or Mal because I cared about and loved the Crows too much so I ended up skipping anything not involving them or Nikolai. There was just too much going on and way too many characters.
I think it worked in S1 BC it was only the first shadow and bone book plus some made up crows story but in this season it's... Too much. Which is why the crows deserve their own show
Truly, one of the things that I DESPISED was the fact that they made Kaz confront Pekka in episode 4 or something when that scene is one of THE pivotal moments for Kazâs arc. Like, basically everything this man has been doing is for the opportunity to destroy Pekka. What is Kazâs motivation going to be now??
And not only that. They shoved that scene and basically the entire ending of crooked kingdom into the first 4 episodes in order to make the crows have something to do. Like?? Weâre just gonna put the climax in the kill some time?? Really?
Exactly. I hated that they did that whole plot so early. What are they going to do now??
It is truly THE pivotal moment for Kaz's arc and what everything was building up towards. It's so satisfying in the books because we'd been waiting for it for the entire series and Kaz has been waiting for it for years but in the show, we barely learn about Kaz's backstory and we then get his revenge.. That's so underwhelming.
Also, him choosing to spare Rollins' son is incredibly important and is arguably THE pivotal moment for Kaz's character because that was him actively choosing to not become like the man he hated most. He chose to not completely let his thirst for revenge turn him into a monster. It's weird to have it be in the middle of a random episode.
the poor writers are going to have a hard time in the room if netflix decides to puruse the soc spin-off đ
I KNOW!!!!! I needed this comment, I actually didn't want to watch further after that episode bc of that. I was so MAD about the Pekka situation. The fact it even seemed EASY?? PLUS the scene where he fights the dregs with the speech form Crooked Kingdom made no sense or had no impact compared to the book bc in the show Kaz didn't even belong to the dregs and went there just to like, get some allies?? Whereas in the book it was about much what he had GIVEN the dregs and that they were turning their backs on him bc of PEKKA. That scene in the show was like meaningless.
This was my main problem with this season! To me Kaz confronting Pekka Rollins is not only the endgame of Kaz's arc but like the climax to all the character arcs in Crooked Kingdom! Even if i just focus on Kaz it doesn't make any sense because they rushed hsi backstory and the different story beats we get through the duology like inej being there for him in the prison van (which in the show was with jesper) or kaz and inej slowly coming together through but in spite of the their traumas, all of that is discarded but putting his endgame now! and not only that but it isnt earned and it isn't effective because then pekka goes on to become powerful in prison which i was enraged about
and also about inej!! that chapter when she is CLIMBING UP AN INCINERATOR and we see everything going on in her head and THAT is when she realises she wants to hunt slavers and be a captain... THAT chapter is everything, and the symbolism of her climbing toward the roof and toward her purpose and future... only for her in the show to just randomly decide she wants to go off on a ship was so underwhelming
Yeah for those who didnât read the books it seems random to have Inej just go âHey, I wanna ride a shipâ but I felt like the show barely touched Inejâs trauma.
Jesper and Wylan's relationship was soooo disappointing! They rushed it so much. We didn't get to see them bantering and flirting and falling in love. They just showed up on screen and suddenly were in a relationship. It genuinely felt like reading a (very mediocre) fanfiction :(
seriously!! and then being a one night stand??? absolutely not, wesper is so much fluffier than that
Yeah I mean Jesper spends the entirety of Soc roasting the hell out of Wylan only to tell him that he likes his stupid face in the last chapter
Well for the season only having 8 episodes, Wylan only being in season 2, and them only having about 14 minutes of screen time all together (including the deleted scene) it's a given that their relationship wouldn't be as flushed out as it is in the books.
Given the amount of air time they had I think they worked in their relationship and connection pretty well
By having Inej's vision be about Kaz instead of using it as an opportunity to get into her backstory and trauma the way they did for Kaz, they made it almost look like Kaz is the only one in the rs who has touch related trauma. Which is such an essential thing to know to understand their rs. It also lowkey made Inej telling him that "she'll either have him without his armor, or not at all" seem more cruel than in the book?
Cause Inej saying that is not just because she wants to touch him and kiss him and she's frustrated she can't because Kaz won't try. She says that because while she understands his struggles and relate to them, she wants and tries to heal while he doesn't, and not matter how much she cares about him, she can't heal him if he won't even try to get better.
But he is already trying. For someone traumatized the way he was to open up to someone else is a very big deal. But he has come a long way since season 1. And when he confesses to her he lays his heart out there in the open letting go of any armour. Which he would never have done before. And you can see how hard it is for him to say those words because confessing makes him feel vulnerable but he does it anyway. For her. So to reject him after all this effort because there is still not enough effort is kinda weird. He can't hold her hand for long even in a glove. He starts suffocating. But it doesn't mean he doesn't want to. Maybe together they could've overcome this problem bit by bit if she had granted him a bit of patience. After all, he does so much for her.
@@goodwillambassador9355 Yeah in the book that quotes makes more sense because at this point Kaz hasn't opened up much yet. He's still very guarded and focused on Pekka and getting his revenge (which at this point in the book she still doesnt know abt, if i remember correctly)
THIS, and don't get me started about one of the writers posting a photo of Tolya and Inej with the caption "sometimes you need some skin on skin", gosh they really don't even try to understand the characters
@@maybeimacat3183 Yeah that joke from one of the writers just confirmed what I thought during the show. They dont seem to understand Inej and her relationship with Kaz
EXACTLY
I'm thinking of the irony here especially: the writers wrote in a way that relies on the viewers' knowledge of the books and yet they wrote in a way that would most definitely upset every viewer who's read the books
YES to Alina losing her powers⊠because in the trilogy, IT MAKES SENSE. Itâs essential to the message of the whole trilogy that talks about greed and power đ
hannah complaining about shadow and bone season two for half an hour? i'm so here for this
27:47 exactly this, in that scene they threaten to break her legs and they only stop because she yells "he won't trade if you break me" and after it literally says she was scared by "the truth in her own voice", it is very obvious that she's terrified that it might be true, they really have not explored inej's character much in this series at all which is such a shame
I agree. Iâm so disappointed that the show didnât really attempt to give us more backstory on Inej, since her chapters were some of my favorites in the book.
I feel like, with Mal, they took out everything that people tended not to like from the books, but then forgot to replace it with anything really of substance
Like, I can think of about 2 scenes where his brain isn't just revolving around Alina constantly
Freddy Carter and Amita Sumanâs backs must hurt so much after this season they really did everything đ
What I hated the most was seeing pay offs from crooked kingdom (The plague, Kaz's fight with the dregs, Kaz's final confrontation with Peka trollins, etc.) being used left and right in less nuanced and satisfying way.s It felt so cheap to see these massive plotpoints be used for something that wasnt earned, I was so disappointed.
Iâm just confused on how the Crowâs story will go now because they wasted such good plots in season 2 with how poorly they were delivered.
what rly rubbed me the wrong way with tolya lowkey flirting with inej in the last episode (beside the fact that kanej should NOT become a love triangle) is that tolya is exremely aroace coded in the grisha trilogy and them possibly ripping us of this kind of representation in future seasons is SOOOOOO upseting as an ace person, aroace rep is still so rare in today's media and i was rly looking forward to see it in the shadow & bone series :/
Absolutely this!!
Iâm still enraged by that, itâs so disrespectful for both Inej and Tolyaâs storylines!!
Exactly! I was so confused đđ
there was literally a bit where nikolai asked him why he didnât pursue love đ iâm so sad they scrapped that
freddy as kaz was honestly the best thing in season2 my boy CARRIED!!!!!!!
i just love how opposite the actor is to his character, like Kaz NEVER smiles lol
The struggle of being stuck between wanting to have a separate show for six of crows and start all over with the plotline and also not wanting the cast for the crows to change because they're perfect
Yes the character description was perfect especially kaz and inej they were exactly like the book but I hated how the six of crows was protrayed. I wish they had just made a six of crows series honestly smh
Just finished season two and I totally agree. I kind of wish that they made Inejâs hallucination scene geared more towards her own personal backstory. Her character has so many complexities that arenât necessarily related to Kaz - i.e., being taken from her family, her journey with personal agency after being kidnapped/sold, her revelation about what she wants to do with her life, her learning to trust herself, etc.
There were so many directions they could have taken that scene (especially when the other charactersâ hallucinations were more emotional and complex) rather than it just being about her âintimacyâ with Kaz - when their intimacy was never about them being physical anyway :(
Just some of my thoughts, loved the video!! đ
I agree, because i felt like it made her character revolve more about Kaz, when she was so much more than that in the books. I do like Kanej, but i liked more how their romance wasnât the main thing about their characters, and Inejâs backstory was so unexplored. Such a shame because she was my favâŠ
oh. yes ! exactly!
The way they handled the "I'll have you without armor Kaz Brekker, or I'll not have you at all" was so incredibly disapointing!
In my opinion they made cheap by making it purely about the physical aspect of a relationship (at least that's what it came off as to me), especially because yes, like Hannah said Inej would be the LAST person to ever shame someone on that or pressure them into being okay with anything physical.
The story and the characters deserved to be handled better.
The whole season felt like a rushed mess to me and honeslty even if they knew they were gonna get canceled, I would still rather have had a season 2 that left the story incomplete but was faithful to the characters/storylines and did them justice!
I'm pretending s2 doesnt exist honeslty.
I was watching it with my sister (who hasnât read the books) and she said that line from Inej seemed cruel! Thatâs not the way itâs supposed to be at all!
Yeah, i felt like when Inej said that, she meant emotional âarmorâ too, because Kaz was always guarded and not open with his emotions. I donât think the clothes Kaz is wearing is Inejâs issue here, but more of how close Kaz and Inej were to being in a relationship, but couldnât because of their trauma.
The fact that all the darkling did for literally eight episodes is have an incel fit and they DARED to cut that amazing scene between Inej and Jesper is my villain origin story istg.
oh ABSOLUTELY
I watched with my parents and I had to explain what happened SO. MANY. TIMES. because the plot was just so confusing. Even tho I have read the book I honestly struggled following sometimes
I haven't read the books but I watched season 1 and expected to understand season 2 and even I was confused so I get it, I can't even imagine trying to explain it to my parents.
It's been a looonnngg time since I read the books but season one wasn't too bad to watch without reading them. I was soooo confused with season 2. And then even more confused when I realized they were actually combining the last two books. It was so weird. Like...yea I kinda skimmed a bit on the last book. The last book felt kinda...not as tight. Just constantly running from the darkling and too much boring Mal and Alina triangle. And a lot of loss. But man did they hammer that feeling home way more in the season than in the books...I expected to get a refresher with this and instead it somehow reminded me more of what characters are important to King of scars...
Iâve read Six of Crows but not Shadow and Bone, and I was a bit shocked on how quickly they progressed with the plot from the second book in only a few episodes, and iâm confused with the time line (like how the shadow and bone plots mesh with the six of crow plots)
Also can we talk about the fact that Sturmhond was literally just Nikolai in a coat? There was no disguise and I was just so disappointed.
My heart broke little by little with every episode. The injustices done with all of these amazing characters is insane
honestly i think you do have to be nitpicky and go deeper when it comes to kanej, so many of their seemingly small moments are actually huge steps because of who they are as people and the show completely stripped them of that. they deserve nuance and they deserve the care the books had when it came to them.
I loved watching the crows getting so much screen time but I agree the plot was just all over the damn place. I really hope that the spin off stays on the book's path because I'm really confused as to what they'll be doing about the whole Pekka situation.
And the fact that Inejâs history at the menagerie was SO BRIEFLY mentioned in the show made me psycho. My fav part of the six of crows duology was Inejâs history, how she lived with the trauma, how it affected her present and future was SO BEAUTIFULLY done in the book, yet the show gave us none of that.
Oh, Hannah, you're going to have a LOT more thoughts after reading the King of Scars duology because then you'll see âmoreâ of what they're trying to do with this adaptation and where it might be going (were it to continue)
ohhh okay! i really need to get to those two books!!
i completely agree with you on the fact that season two felt rushed, especially with the relationships between the crows. having read the books we know that there is so much past that holds the crows together and that their relationships are so much more complex
Mal needing to discover who he really is outside of his fate... only to immediately become Sturmhond (so litterally taking on someone else's identity) is just so baffling to me! How could you "find yourself" if you are too busy acting as someone else?! That sounds like the worst way to go about doing things, it made no sense! đ
I was so disappointed in season 2. I actually quit halfway through because it was so far from the books I love đđđ
sameee i quit on ep 4
Of course you already know because we screamed about it together but I agree with EVERYTHING you said about kanej. My God Iâm still so angry about the armour scene đ they did Inej SO DIRTY.
Iâm soooooo mad about the part where Inej almost blames him for not being able to touch her, we donât need more representation of men (and women) being shamed for not being sexual, especially coming from them where sex is the least of their concerns đ€
The part where the crows show up to the Nikolai fight and Jesper shoots ugly wig girl was the MOST satisfying scene!!!!
Completely agree on the awkward battle scenes!! Have you ever watched one of those low-budget documentaries with battle re-enactments? Thatâs exactly what I kept thinking watching that âbattleâ with the Darklingâs Grisha attacking Nikolai and them. Like it seems the show ran out of budget for special effects? I could not believe it was a Netflix show
You're right. It also reminded me of that really long battle scene between Anakin and Obi-Wan in that lava planet from the Star Wars prequel Ep. 3 Revenge of the Sith even if you haven't watched it everyone was making fun of how long the battle scene was, lol, it was so awkward.
omigosh yes !!! finally someone wo understands how frustrating it was for me with that ending with Inej being with Mal like THEY ROBBED MY GIRL OF SO MUCH!!! SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE CAPTAIN OF HER OWN CREW!!!!!
as somebody who like. ruin & rising is a book which feels as though it's part of my SOUL. i'm still so confused that i saw an adaptation of R&R that missed out absolutely everything that makes R&R the masterpiece that it is. season 2 just felt like the heart of the books was completely forgotten tbh
You're so right about the Darkling! I was looking forward to getting to see Ben Barnes portray my favorite scenes from "Siege and Storm" and then...he had none of those scenes. You can't even say it was a budget issue, because dude, my free video editor can do that much in terms of special effects. They sidelined Alina in her own story in favor of the Crows, and it wasn't to the benefit of either cast. Trying to fit so much into one season...I think it shows that screenwriters think too much in visual terms. We don't just need a plot; we need character arcs. You can have all the battles and awesome special effects and creative worldbuilding you want, but if the characters are static, people are going to feel like "nothing happened".
The cast are all so skilled! It's such a shame they were given so little to work with. The fact that the books HAD SO MUCH to give them to work with just makes it that much more disappointing.
Iâm so glad Iâm not the only one feeling this way about the season 2. I can totally agree with all of Hannahâs points
i was SO gutted when they just sort of threw away the last line of ruin and rising "an ordinary life full of ordinary things. if love can ever be called that" that is literally my favorite line in the whole book and them saying it without the epilogue going along with it was just so sad for me. i also adore the end of ruin and rising and not getting it made me so angry and sad.
I agree with all your points (espacially the rush to put Wylan and Jesper together). As a fan of Zoya character I feel like I need to mention her in here too... The fact that she always follow every desicion made by Alina and says nothing is erasing the beuty and the deepneess of her character. She has a complex story with the Darkling too and none of this have been showed. I feel like for someone who haven't read the books it must be complicated to understand what she is doing what she is doing and why she is sooo brave to do it despite her past with the Darkling ... (I'm also angry about the Zoyalai relationship but I think the purpose may be to develop it in futures seasons)
This was a really great video, Hannah. The way you highlighted the nuances was so impressive!
In the books, Jesper meets Wylan in that dye factory when Kaz tells Jesper to go and pick up Wylan, as far as I can recall. That's how they meet in the books. Not on a one night stand, as they implied in the series. They could have...not done that. While watching the show, I was honestly a bit confused at first as to what they were trying to say about the circumstances under which Jesper and Wylan met and it took me a while to fully understand that they were hinting at a one night stand.
Now, about the decisions Alina and Mal took in the last episode, there was one thing that I did like, though it might be an unpopular opinion. Which was Mal going on a journey of his own in the end instead of standing by Alina while she fixed Ravka and the second army. I like this cuz, I feel like ever since Alina discovered her powers, so much of Mal's life has been commandeered by the turn of events in Alina's life. And it started to feel like Mal's life doesn't have an individuality of its own, that it's being pulled towards whatever direction Alina's choices were taking her. But in the show, Alina lets Mal go and doesn't keep him chained to this life of fixing Ravka, a fate that Alina knows that she herself can't escape. So just because she couldn't escape this fate, she didn't think it right to subject Mal to this fate too when she clearly knows that this life at Little palace isn't the life Mal has ever wanted. So she lets him go so that he can finally do the things and make choices he wants for a change, without those choices constantly revolving around Alina and what she has to do as the Sun Summoner.
I love the casting, every actor was terrific but I agree that some of the choices they made just...why? The Kaz and Inej scene was the most egregious - to add to your points: 1- It takes place when Kaz interrupts Inej who is PRAYING in a place of worship. 2-Inej has trauma around having been at the Menageurie, Kaz isn't the only one with issues being touched. 3- We see Inej being totally understanding of his trauma just a few episodes before when she gives him back his gloves. What changed? 100% agree that everyone wanted more Crows and less of the Darkling's covid coughing. đ€Ł
What can we really expect from the show makers when one of the directors themselves casually joke about Inej and Tolya having "skin on skin" while erasing Tolya being canonically aroace and insulting Kanej's trauma..
The longer I spend away from s2, the angrier I become honestly. I enjoyed s1 and a lot of that came with the fact that I did do my best to separate it from the books, so naturally, I did the same for s2, only to realize with horror that doing so basically reduced Inej to Kaz's love interest?? And I am LIVID, Inej and her backstory are so complex and to get literally nothing of that, even in the hallucination scene, to have her reduced to a shallow caricature of her character in the books makes me so angry. Even more so bc Amita in all her interviews truly understands Inej. And I hated that they did the Pecka Rollins plot bc while Freddy's acting was phenomenal, the full impact just wasn't the same, nothing felt earned. Your comparison to it feeling like mediocre fanfic is spot on.
Also this is nitpicky, but I hated the way they took some Key Kanej scenes and spread them out to the other crows (re: Kaz freaking out with Jesper in the prison wagon and taking off his gloves in front of Nina...IN PUBLIC...book!Kaz would never). I was also really disappointed in the way Jesper and Wylan's story was handled, so much of the meaning in their relationship is through them Slowly learning to trust each other (but the writers don't know what that means lol). Also also, livid about the Inej and Jesper scene getting cut, that singular scene made me feel more than the entire season combined.
Also agree with everything in Alina's plotline, it was enjoyable up until the last episode and while i love a good villain arc, that isn't the point of her story. The writers and even Ben I think, starting in s1, were trying too hard to humanize the Darkling, and in this season he ended up having nothing of substance to work with, a total waste of screentime.
Anyway if anyone is still reading, sorry for the essay lol
I read the essay and agree with all of it. s2 just left me dissatisfied and angry
Me too. I didn't want to read the books in order to avoid comparing the books with the show but even I could tell that there were things missing that unless you'd read the books you probably wouldn't get though after watching so many review videos and reading so many comments I see that my suspicions on Inej's background have been confirmed, though I also think that considering Kaj's confession to Inej on the show about wanting her that she would've decided to stay like that to me seemed to be all she wanted to hear and then to have her leave just like that was definitely as if she wanted way more than just that which seemed out of character to me, does that make sense? I also loved that Inej and Jesper scene that was unfortunately cut, I mean like you "that one scene made me feel more than the whole 2nd season combined", well that and David and Genya not catching a break, Genya's scream just broke my heart, oh and then finding his plans to make her a ring. I think that's it, there was just no other emotion and I was just left overwhelmed with way too much information and just disappointed.
@@ohioboricua Hi, so some light on the whole bit where Kaz asks Inej to stay, but she still leaves. That is in the books as well, and it is when Kaz is not really understanding of why she wants to leave so bad and he just wants her by his side. Only for him to grow through the book and understand that they both need time to heal in order to be better for the other. Along with the fact that Kaz is not controlling of her like that; he sees she has these dreams and he helps in getting her started i.e. buying her her own ship and crew, and finding her parents for her. He encourages her to go out and supports her in that decision knowing it is what is best for both of them and is content in the fact that she found something she is truly passionate about doing, and will wait for her to return or just see her when she ports. It seems out of character in the show because they really didn't go into Inej properly as a character so it's hard to understand what's going on there. (I had to explain all this to my sister who watched the show, but didn't read the books and was thoroughly confused lol). I hope this helps!
@@bazingaln Oh I get it now. See, ur explanation makes sense but in the show it felt rushed and they didn't give Inej her own ship so it was like she just went along for the ride. Plus those of us that haven't read the books or at least to me it was like "nope not enough Kaz, I want more, bye" instead of "I need time to heal" which is why I was confused and with your explanation I get it now while on the show it just felt...lackluster, you know like there was clearly more to it than what we were shown. Ugh, now I'm even more annoyed with the show because it further proves that they clearly left important stuff out and just blurred everything together. I'll hopefully read the Six of Crows books soon and feel better about these clearly amazingly written characters even more so since the show is clearly lacking. If that's their story though then what the heck is the show gonna do with the crows on their own spinoff? Thanks again for clearing all that up for me by the way :)
Alina becoming a villain is the reason why once upon a time plots flopped in later seasons. Such an overused plotline.
I think they casted the characters so well and the last few episodes just confused me with the crows . I really wanted more of them
the title alone... youre so correct queen
tolya checking inej out is just pure bad. especially given the fact that he is canonically aroace in the books!! wow netflix thank u for ruining that đđ
I cosign literally everything in this video.
My other huge problem with it was the way they handled the firebird reveal. That scene in the book was so cinematic - just begging to be adapted - and they replaced it with Baghra flatly spouting exposition. Why? Literally why? It sucked so hard.
i'm still bitter so i get you :(
edit: it's so validating how you voice all the problems i had with the show perfectly! totally agree with everything, especially the darkling! i would never stop complaining about what they did to him in the show
I actually loved it there were definitely problems with it but the crowsss are LOVEEE đđ
Yes! You basically hit all of my own problems with the season! The only reason I think I wasnât all that disappointed watching the show though was that I got to see all of these characters on screen so it was easy to forget about the issues đ The crows definitely carried, and I also loved Tolya but all of the character arcs that were in CK got rushed in this season. Curse Netflix and their tendency to cancel all of their shows. Iâm glad the show can easily be seen as itâs own separate entity and it doesnât ruin the books at all.
i think they did inej so dirty. even if they get another season to expand on her storyline, they've already used this season to give backstories to kaz and jesper while in the same scenarios making inej's story all about kaz. she has no reaction to tante heleen's death, she doesn't get her own ship, dunyasha is written off, they've already made these choices and i don't think there's any fixing that.
I read an interview with Leigh Bardugo in the back of Ruin & Rising that talked about how she choose to have Alina lose her power because it wouldn't have been fair for the Darkling to reach for all this power & have terrible repercussions then have Alina do the same to defeat him but suffer no penalty. They both reached for things beyond what they should have had & there had to a price for both of them.
There was so much that was devastating about this season, it was like they completely missed the point of the S&B series & the conversations it had. I think of a new thing to be upset about basically every day. Glad to see I'm not alone â€
Yessssssss! Im so glad ive found somekne who gets it with Alinas powers. That fold ending was *so* upsetting to me because of the conversation she had with the Darkling and the "boring" life she goes on to lead with Mal afterwards. The whole story before that looses its meaning without Mal dying and Alina losing her powers. She cant get to keep Mal alive and keep her powers. Absolutely not.
this is definitely one of the best reviews of s&b s2. i agree with literally everything. i feel so bad for people who didnt read the books bc there is just SO SO much context you miss out on and nuance to the characters like you said that gets missed out on.
on inej and kaz- their relationship ( only focusing on the show) feels so hollow and missed out on so much of what makes them one of the best duos/couples in a book iâve ever read. it was so disappointing to get the two most iconic lines and scenes between them used out of context especially the ship. that was unforgivable and i can only hope if they get a renewal or spin of that they fix that immediately otherwise ill have to just pretend it doesnât exist đ absolutely LOVE the actors. the crows definitely felt like the crows. best thing to come out of s2 was the cast interviews honestly
from the moment I watched the season I coUld feel that something didn't click as well as season 1 and honestly, I couldn't figure out exactly why. in hindsight, I completely agree that the finale essentially destroyed it for me...
I appreciate that you stated that about the ending of Ruin and Rising and her losing her power. I feel like everyone just misses the point of the trilogy as a whole, and of that scene. Probably because, ironically, most of them aren't appreciating Alina outside of her power themselves so they don't see the message. And also, I love the fact that they lead a quiet life. A lot of people bag the ending because she is not the queen or a commander but 'just' a teacher. But she always wanted a quiet life with a boy that she loved. And she got that. And, this is going to be an unpopular opinion, she was miserable at the little palace. Granted there were other factors, but she hated court life, she hated what it was doing to herself, and what it was doing to her relationships with other people. I like the ending for the reason that she is happy and she gets what she wants. Plus, people who see her as not doing anything important is, again, missing the point. She is providing a home for orphaned children like her and Mal was. She is giving them shelter, food, and love, and that is also an important thing to do. You don't need to be in politics to make a change, because people like this makes real change as well.
Edit: I am typing this as I watch the video. The reason why they made that change in the ending is because they want to keep Alina and Mal in the show because apart from a cameo, they are not in the King of Scars duology. Which I can understand but it still bothers me. I find it hard to imagine that she won't lose her powers in the end.
I'm sad you didn't like itđą I personally LOVED it! But it was a 100% rushed and it was weird that we got to see scenes from crooked kingdom and the last book from s&b. But still loved it!
I feel like it was highlighted more this season but literally these were all problems i had with season 1. Like i hate the fact that i need to rely on my previous knowledge to read this. My biggest example when people try to defend it is game of thrones. What some people may call the greatest show of all time, is based on a book series but i think at least œ of it's viewers never read the books. Like shadow and bone had the potential to be that great and it was literally so good in a lot aspects; the costumes, sets, CGI, casting and subsequently acting were soooo good but the one place it failed, in my eyes, was the writing. They meshed it and wrote it sooooo bad.
Your thoughts are literally my thoughts. I feel vindicated. I cried two times reading both series (I don't cry at books a lot, even if they do get me emotional)
1. Despite being so-so about the OG series, Bardugo GOT ME at the very very end with the "you will always be one of us" which MATTERS bc of Alina losing her powers
2. When Kaz gives Inej the damn boat. That's such a pivotal moment for Kaz's character and their relationship. He's selfish and greedy but he loves her SO MUCH that he sheds the Dirtyhands persona...for her in that moment.
So the fact they took those moments away just baffled me.
Ugh. Things felt so rushed. I also felt like we didn't earn Wesper's relationship (missed the opportunity to have Jesper underestimate Wylan then have him prove him wrong) or Nina and Matthias's relationship.
Also hello?? I thought the entire crow's plotline would be them breaking Matthias out of Hellgate? Sort of a little taste of a mini prison break before The Ice Court.
It just felt like the showrunners did not understand the material. They know we love these certain ships, so they'll give it to us but WITHOUT the development...what we really want. It felt like they changed things for just no reason. I will defend adaptations all day long, I'm not a 'the book is always better' person...but fuck the changes should serve the story, not actively go aganist Leigh's intentions.
I DO want a Crows spin off. I really do. I guess they already have a whole Crows season written. That cast is fantastic, and they understand those characters. But with all these needless changes, I'm worried :/ but I'm also worried it'll get cancelled. But yeah!!! I feel you girl.
(One more tiny thing that irked me, but doesn't really matter story wise. I missed Alina's white hair. That's such an iconic part of her appearance. And Jessie would've looked great.)
You literally listed every single reason that made me so angry at this season!! I actually REALLY enjoyed season 1 and watched it numerous times, but when I watched season 2, I was flabbergasted. They changed so many aspects of these books that made them chefâs kissđ€đŒ đ . Kaz and Inej broke me in the books⊠their relationship and their growth through their emotional wounds was so heart-breaking and raw. It was such a treasure to watch them grow toward each other and accept love. Ughh so angry at what this show tried to change⊠kind of nervous if they DO make a season 3!! But of course Iâll still watch it đ đ.
Glad to know Iâm not the only who felt wronged and extremely disappointed!! Lol.
Did you see that a writer posted a photo of Tolya and Inej with the caption "sometimes you need some skin on skin"? I was infuriated, not only were they erasing how Tolya is heavily hinted to be aroace, but they were also completely ignoring Inej's trauma and be ableist about Kaz's.
Ps.: I've seen people say that Tolya never explicitly says that he's aroace, but neither did Nina and Jesper when they hinted about being bi. Tolya said he has no interest in being in a relationship, romantic and sexually, when he said: "I have my faith, my books, I've never wanted more." What more do people want?
oh my god twitter was on FIRE that day, that was so infuriating and worst of all it confirms that the scene with tolya and inej WAS supposed to hint at something... also i agree tolya is extremely aroace coded so that made the scene even weirder
thank you so so much for making this video you don't know how comforting this is. I've been so angry and hurt and low key felt betrayed by this season and every content creator i follow has been raving about how much they love this season and it has been kind of isolating. i agree 100% with everything in this video like you took so many of my thoughts and the conversations I've been having with people and worded it all so eloquently and i appreciate it so much
The scene is where Van Eck threatens to smash her legs so she wonât be able to spy for Kaz. She thought Kaz would abandon her.
Season 2 felt like the writers were certain they won't get renewed and thus tried to cram in as many of the iconic scenes from ALL of the books as possible. But now if they get renevewed, Kaz already had his revenge, Inej doesn't have a reason return and risk her life like that when she's found her purpose, Jesper has accepted his powers, and Jesper and Wylan are already together. I don't understand why you wouldn't just try and do your best to make an amazing season 2 so you'll have more chances to get renewed and can include the iconic moments when it actually makes sense.
The worst part is, there was so much backstory in Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom that season 1 and 2 could've covered, why not use it? They only did that with Matthias and Nina, but they could've shown Kaz's rise from an ordinary gang member to Per Haskell's second in command instead of him already leading his own gang. They could've explored Inej's trauma properly and her coming to terms with her first kill and eventually accepting that this is something she'll do again to survive even though she knows it's against her religion instead of shrugging it off so easily. They could've shown that Jesper once studied at uni but his gambling addiction led him to Kaz. They could've shown Wylan terrified, hiding away for a reason still unknown to the viewer, and how he first met Jesper with Jesper only starting to respect him in season 2 but not any romantic development yet.
I think the implication that the Darkling is somewhat redeemable or somewhat could have been a good person etc comes out both in how they write him (subdued in his evil compared to the books) and Alina using dark magic. The whole point was that Alina wasnât like the Darkling even though she could have been because sheâs as powerful as he is, but she chose different. Theyâve done such a good job at making them ~equal that some people are convinced sheâll go dark and spoilers spoilers I wonât say anymore đ
No wtf say moređ
I am mad about Genya and David as well. If there is another season, I was thinking that maybe they did no kill David but maybe intend to make him the maker of jurda parem to be rescued at the ice courtâŠ
Thank you, Hannah, for making this honest video. Every word you spoke resonated with me because it reflected exactly what I felt while watching the show. I can never forgive what they did to Kaz and Inej's relationship. The essence of their relationship was to overcome their fears and shadows, so they could become their best selves and be better for each other. It's not just about physical touch or having a cliche romance. Similarly, they did injustice to Nina and Matthias' relationship as well. Your remarks about the Darkling are absolutely true. It was a waste of talent to have Ben Barnes in the show, and only uses him to cough in the background. And what about David? It's bizarre and poor writing to kill him off so early. Your rant has made me feel less alone in my disappointment and anger towards the ending.
This is so true. It was all mashed together. It felt so weird. Like why kill the Darkling within the first 5 minutes of the last episode and have the entire hour after it just goodbyes and different storylines??????????
Even people who read the books were so confused. Why give the Darkling so many redemption arcs if they didn't go for the Darklina thing? Why humanize a villain? Don't we have Kaz for it? An anti hero? Wtf????
I haven't watched Season 2 yet, but I saw a clip of the Kanej scene where they used the "I will have you without armour or I will not have you at all" bit from the book, and they completely changed the context of it all in the show by adding to it and it made me so uncomfortable (especially because I first saw it on Tiktok with no dialogue, and I remember thinking that 'oh my god this going to be their best scene, the chemistry is potent, it's gonna be so good' - I was WRONG).
You're so kind to put yourself through this to make a review video for us lol. I saw only 3 episodes of the first season and I was like "NOPE. I can't do it." đ
I havenât watched the series yet (biggest fan of the books, still one of my all-time comfort reads) and i am BAFFLED by these choices omg
YESS, THE TOLYA LITTLE SMIRK FOR INEJ, he is literally knOwn as our ace king wtf was that???
You made your point so well. so many hoices left me feeling either angry or frustrated. especially the kanej final scene, they've made one of best well written couples in the grishaverse so shallow. and also I felt they were pushing the nikolai and alina agenda in order to get renew. Honestly this seasin just made me wonder if was another stream that adapt the series how different were it be.
I felt really confused throughout it too even though I've read the books. I wish they didnt mix all the stories and do all the jumping between plot lines.
My main thing that i canât get over is how they shouldâve changed Inejâs hallucination scene to mirror Jespers and have that moment where her dad tells her âyour heart is an arrow it demands aim to land trueâ because to me the thing they missed with Inej wasnât necessarily the triumph of leaving the menagerie or even the interactions with kaz(though she shouldnât have Been treated as a simple love interest) to me itâs how her family wasnât regarded at all. They changed her tell to not being about performing. They have her be so skilled but itâs never cause sheâs a Ghafa! The hardest part of adapting a book into film is not being able to articulate the inside of their heads and the most important pivotal crow scenes include flashbacks and emotional turmoil that isnât visible. They supplemented Tolyaâs fear of losing his sister. They gave us 101 perfect flashbacks for Kaz. They gave us a heartfelt oscar deserving scene with Jesper and the mother he lost(displaying why he fears losing his powers) but INEJS SCENE???? It does nothing other than show how much she wants kazâs love. Which is soooo not what goes on in her mind the most because every time she thinks about Kaz itâs coupled with how much she misses her family and all the lessons her parents taught her. I just know we all deserved that because THAT is why they had to cut out the jesper and inej scene. It didnât fit because they never mention her parents or brother for more than 5 seconds at a time. Her parents in S1 before they travel through the fold and her brother both when she almost kills arken and the very last church scene with kaz in S2 so throughout season 2 and most of season 1 nobody knows what drives Inej because they keep saying itâs freedom that she wants but the impact is gone because the very people she would love to freely jump into the arms of are never pictured. In other words, her family isnât pictured at all. I swear that if we got the heart is an arrow line the ending wouldnât have felt so jarring and maybe they couldâve kept the jesper and inej scene because then it wouldâve BEEN SO GOOD *cries* in this essay i willâŠ
your earrings are so cute!!
I totally agree with everything you said, thank you for this, I already feel like a burden is off my chest now that you've put everything that all of us believe is wrong with this season out into the world
Iâm so happy you were able to explain the point of the ending because it always bugs when people complain about it
hannah's videos are such a safe space for me đ„čđ«¶
What I love about this show is the cast
same!!
Agreed totally about Alina losing her powers. They kind of girlbossed her so that corruption annoyed me even more. And about the Darkling being literally useless and not scary - I think they leaned too much into the Darklina shipping (I hate it, personally) and didn't feel like making him too terrifying so that the shippers keep shipping and clearly his character suffered as a result.
Similarly to you, I was okay with most of the season but that last episode infuriated me so much that I will never call this season okay. And I went on to read some opinions and all of them said they were happy with the changes??? How? The execution of those changes was terrible in every way. So thank you for not making me feel insane â€
Iâm only halfway through season 2 of shadow and bone and I already know even halfway through that itâs gonna be a hot messđ Iâm a huge Grishaverse fan and season 2 does seem disappointing to me as well also I donât like Jesper and Wylan get a rushed happy ending in the end through a deleted scene noooooooođđđ theyâre a fantastic couple
The way I was so mad that I was crying, pacing, pulling my hair out and on the floor with that last episode. This season felt like a real slap in the face to the readers. I really had to explain the whole plot of the Shadow and Bone series to my boyfriend to fully understand my unhinged, involuntary, reaction to this season
Omg as a person who didnt read the books, when i watched inej say that to kaz "i will have you without yoour armour" i was shocked. I deadass thought our inej was asking kaz to be physically able to touch her and it felt out of character to me because she had been so understanding of his backstory and why the way he is the way he is.
I soo agree about the last episode, it was shocking aee Alina go datk it was so unnecessary! And Mal going off! So weird. Now they have to make a season 3 to wrap it up. Loved the crows in Shu Han, and everything with Wylan loved the twins I was squealing when yhey where introduced! And our Prince â€â€
Shadow & Bone and Fullmetal Alchemist do the 'The hero sacrifices their power to save everyone' And the 'The hero was special all along all the way' -trope in the best way.
YES!!
33 mins of thoughts? Omg YES â€
Not alone at all. Honestly this season was a bit of a mess.
I think the show is wayyyy more enjoyable when you look at it as completely separate from the books. All my friends that watched it and havenât read the books ended up enjoying it a lot.
The darkling was giving belial trying to crown himself king in chain of thorns
no thatâs the PERFECT comparison!!
omg thank you for putting thoughts into words that I didn't even know I had!! it also reeeaaally pissed me off how they presented Tolya as a potential love interest with this "him offering his hand when Kaz refused to touch her". like Kaz has literal PTSD and Netflix is like "this man is hotter than your boy because he isn't mentally ill". Sure Kaz has to manage the trauma and Inej calls him out with the "without armour" line but the way it's presented is really icky to me wtf
YES! PLZ MAKE A SOC RE-READATHON, I WANT TO REREAD THEM AS WELL AND I'LL JUST DIE đđâŁïž
One of the aforementioned ânever read the books but watched the showâ girlies here đ I will say this season felt like something was always off, and hearing you speak about what actually happens clears so much up. I think maybe they prioritised surprising readers, or being one step ahead of readers, that they compromised the whole story. For me the whiplash you were describing especially in the first half of the season was so so confusing - I remember seeing the darkling chasing after Genya and David and it had just come out of nowhere and flitted away to something else so quickly that I really thought it was just a dream sequence or something !? and then they had so much to tie up by the end that the whole last episode felt like it was always almost about to end, but for the entire ep đ OH AND Kaz and Inej, I love them in the show but that scene đą I just felt so icky about it, esp cos inej had been my favourite character of the show, that she would do that to him when we knew his back story (it definitely read as a superficial desire rather than to do with his want for revenge). It actually felt like maybe we as an audience knew more about him than she did, or than she was willing to find out, and that felt careless when she had only just taken a moment in that chase to give him his gloves.
While I understand your anger for Inej being a crew member on Sturmhond (Malâs Version) ship instead of getting her own based on the logic you used, itâs actually one of the few things I disagree with you on! While itâs reasonable to assume that she wants to stop slavers somehow from the moment we meet her in the books, a small part of the whole point of the trips to and from the ice court heist is that it gets her back on a ship for the first time since she was kidnapped. Pre-ice court Inej has little desire to get back on a ship unless the payoff is HUGE as her last memories on a ship are almost as traumatizing as the menagerie. At the end of SOC, she has had her revelation in the incinerator and decided her purpose BUT admits on the way home that while she is certain she wants to have her own ship and hunt slavers, she is very far from achieving that goal because she has literally 0 practical knowledge of how to run a ship, let alone the financial means to do so. She only just begins learning the ropes from the crew on board. While they used a lot of the CK plot line (which I disagree with too), itâs important to remember that she is not yet to that point of her character development (just like the without armor scene wasnt in the right point for either of their developments) Her getting her own ship or somehow being the one Nikolai chose to replace âSturmhondâ would also make no sense and the small silver lining of her being put there is that it does actually mean she will have experience pre-SOC/CK and be completely ready for her own ship if/when we get to the point where Kaz gifts it to her.
I'm TOTALLY with everything you said, hannah!!
i totally agree with all of this!! i also thought that renewal uncertainty did quite a number on the season, along with covid problems + leigh being less involved (no fault of her own, she said smth about having health problems during shooting and only being able to visit set once??). really hoping we get a crows spinoff to adapt their books + a s3 of s&b to finish out malinaâs storyline and start adapting king of scars
I couldnât agree more with this video. Thanks for posting it
I agree with Alina's power not being taken from her being a bad idea. In our media where power hungry girl boss emotionless badass heroines are so common, Alina choosing to opt for the simple life with the person she loves was such a breath of fresh air to me. But I guess we are not allowed to have a heroine who is not a bossBđ
I'm so glad I'm not alone đ I watched this show with my friend and we were losing our minds during Inej's hallucination. And when they were implying some Inej-Tolya flirtiness?? JAIL