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

Alina keeps on Sainting / Darkalina? / Alina is a Shadow Summoner now

After seeing Alina kill General Kirigan onscreen, book fans were curious about what would happen to her powers. Yet Alina gave no sign of being different, unlike Mal who realized right away that he had lost his tracking abilities.

Alina looks perfectly normal; whether she’s noticed a change or not is unclear. The plot twist comes in the show’s final scene, when Alina summons a black Cut to save everyone from the parem-addicted Heartrender at Nikolai’s coronation. No longer white and glowing, Alina’s powers now resembles the Darkling’s. What’s more, a sinister smile graces her face, implying that she enjoyed the violence more than she should.

In case anyone is still wondering, let me clear this up once and for all: Alina is now a Shadow Summoner in the show; Netflix said as much in their press pack. Her new powers must be the consequence of the merzost she practiced to bring Mal back to life. The writers may have built a corruption arc for Alina, and I can’t say I’m pleased.

In the books, things are very different. Before she faces the Darkling, Mal convinces Alina to kill him so that she can claim the third amplifier; when she reluctantly agrees, the universe demands balance and retribution. Alina loses her powers but the light doesn’t dissolve; it passes on to several people close by. Alina is no longer Grisha, but dozens of new Sun Summoners have been created. Alina kills the Darkling with nothing more than the same dagger she used to stab Mal. The new Sun Summoners destroy the Fold. Tamar and Tolya bring Mal back.

The show has made Alina want to be a symbol, to stay in the center of things, to marry King Nikolai and rebuild Ravka’s political, social and military infrastructure by healing the country and leading the Grisha. This is commendable and we’ll see where next season takes her and Nikolai, if the darkness doesn’t swallow them both. You know what they say about the road to hell…

In the book, Alina is bone-tired. She has had enough of being a saint and wants to be forgotten and left alone. Alina fakes her death and chooses a life of peace with Mal. She gives back to Ravka by operating an orphanage, providing a safe haven for the children of the war she fought in and nurturing future generations.

At the end of Ruin and Rising, Alina loses immortality and her Grisha powers but gains agency over her own life, living in anonymity in the countryside with Mal. Alina wants to be allowed to grieve those lost in the war and find a sense of peace. As the last sentence of the book goes, “An ordinary life, full of ordinary things.” The show has gone in a completely different direction.

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