The most shocking book-to-show changes in Shadow and Bone season 2

Mal is the new Sturmhond

In season 2 of Shadow and Bone, we learned that Mal was a mythical amplifier born to help Alina achieve the unachievable. He does this during Alina’s fight against the Darkling, and dies in the process.

But he’s revived! And now he needs to find a new purpose in life. We watch him say goodbye to Alina and join the crew of the Volkvolny as the new Sturmhond, trying out the life of a privateer fighting for justice and helping Ravka from afar.

This diverges greatly from the books. At the end of Ruin and Rising (the third and final book in the Shadow and Bone trilogy, which revolves around Alina’s adventures), Mal and Alina choose to live a tranquil life. They let the world believe they’re dead and live together in anonymity, with only a handful of friends knowing their real identities. Mal and Alina rebuild Keramzin’s, the orphanage where they grew up, and find peace and happiness there.

Matthias is *still* in Hellgate (and Pekka Rollins is there early)

We hoped Matthias would be out of Hellgate sooner rather than later. I think we were all disappointed that his entire arc this season was limited to the prison. He developed a bit as a character (“I just want to feel something different.”), but he could have very well not appeared in this season at all and nothing really would have been different.

Speaking of Hellgate, Pekka Rollins is imprisoned there about halfway through the season. In the Six of Crows duology, the Crows break Matthias out of jail roughly six months after his capture. It’s only in the following book that they convince Rollins to leave Ketterdam. It’s Pekka’s idea that Matthias fight the wolves (which are sacred to the Fjerdan god Djel and especially dear to druskelle) in the Hellshow.

The most infuriating thing about this change is that Nina’s efforts have been for nothing. She really only joined Kaz’s gang for a chance to speak to Matthias. Her quest to save her home country and make peace with her decision to leave Ravka  to be free with Matthias is downplayed. After everything, fans expected a payoff, but Nina risked her life all season to obtain a pardon for Matthias from the King of Ravka, and we watched that parchment literally be stepped on in the last few minutes of the final episode, an apt representation of our hearts.

Nina is back to square one, not one inch closer to her goal than she was eight episodes ago. So is Matthias.