Shadow and Bone boss explains why the show’s ending differs from the book’s
As a book-to-television adaptation, Netflix’s Shadow and Bone is about as faithful as it gets. Yes, the show does combine two of Leigh Bardugo’s bestselling “Grishaverse” series into one story, but it astutely captures everything from the tone to the setting to the characters, and it leaves the door open to accurately adapt the plot of her Six of Crows duology should it be renewed for more seasons.
Of course, there are smaller changes that were made to Alina’s story outside of integrating the Crows, and book fans are sure to pick up on them. Shadow and Bone showrunner Eric Heisserer has addressed one of the big differences between the show’s ending and the book’s. For instance, the Netflix series ends with Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) and her friends taking on General Kirigan (Ben Barnes) in the Fold, and then getting the skiff and everyone on it to safety. This is a far cry from the book, where Alina and Mal fight the Darkling and abandon everyone on the skiff to their fates (and the volcra).
When the Darkling questions this action, wondering if this is Alina’s “idea of mercy,” she internally compares it to the mercy she learned from him. It’s a powerful moment, but it’s one that Shadow and Bone showrunner Eric Heisserer didn’t feel would work in the series.
Why the scene wasn’t included in Netflix’s Shadow and Bone
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter about the scene, Heisserer pointed out while the books have Alina and Mal aboard a skiff with people who have mostly betrayed them, in the Netflix series the skiff includes a number of characters who go out of their way to help Alina, or who are generally innocent in Kirigan’s scheming.
For that reason, Heisserer felt it was out of character for Alina and Mal to leave everyone on the skiff for dead. “We had a number of characters on the skiff with Alina in the finale, including ones not from the original book, and we all felt that their collaboration against the many enemies there is what would save them,” he said. “Their teamwork made it all possible. So the empathy for one another led to them saving each other and escaping as an allied group.”
It makes sense, and it certainly would have been difficult to root for Alina had she left the Crows and a group of innocent people to the volcra. Still, we’ll be waiting to see her use Kirigan’s own cruelty against him. After all, their dynamic is part of what makes Bardugo’s trilogy so compelling.
Next. Shadow and Bone season 2 would introduce key character. dark
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