Shadow and Bone has only been back for just under one week, but fans are already feverishly speculating about what the future of Netflix’s Grishaverse looks like. Going into Season 2, it was confirmed that both events from Leigh Bardugo’s Siege and Storm as well as Ruin and Rising would be adapted for the latest eight episodes, effectively concluding the novelized Shadow and Bone trilogy on screen. That said, Bardugo’s Grishaverse source material goes much deeper that just that core trio, as two subsequent duologies follow. Elements of the fan-favorite Six of Crows books have already trickled into the Shadow and Bone show, but the King of Scars double feature has yet to make its way to the screen.
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Warning – The rest of this article contains spoilers from Shadow and Bone Season 2.
Considering the live-action series is bringing already-established chapters to life, viewers have the hypothetical blueprints of what’s to come already available at local bookstores. That said, Shadow and Bone‘s manipulation of time and chronology is enough to keep even the most diehard of fans on their toes.
“We play with time,” Shadow and Bone showrunner Eric Heisserer told ComicBook.com. “The time in the Season 2 finale [especially], there are moments that are weeks apart that will feel like they are moments apart during those final scenes. The shot on the Volkvolny with Mal and Inej is actually weeks before the voiceover of Kaz that you hear in the final scene because as we state, the coronation that’s happening in Ravka is on the same night as the Ice Court heist. Therefore, in the event of a Six of Crows storyline, that season will play out at the same time as a good chunk of the scene that you see at the end of the Season 2 finale.”
That Six of Crows storyline is something Heisserer envisions taking place in its own show rather than a potential Shadow and Bone Season 3. The Grishaverse’s writers’ room is buzzing at that prospect, as Heisserer revealed scripts for a Six of Crows series have already been penned.
“The Crows absolutely require their own show for that heist, and I know that because we’ve written all eight scripts for that. It’s the best writing my team has done,” Heisserer said. “In part, it’s because it’s the best writing that Leigh has built for us.”
Excitement surrounding the future of the Crows aside, Heisserer has big plans for the next installment in Shadow and Bone. As teased in the Season 2 finale, the Grisha-enhancing jurda parem drug is set to ravage through Ravka. Fans of the books will recognize jurda parem as a crucial piece of the Six of Crows storyline.
“A Season 3 of Shadow and Bone would essentially exist in a simultaneous space and that gives each set of characters a lot more elbow room,” Heisserer continued. “Which we need because so many of them deserve more time and more breathing room in order to fully plumb the depths of those character stories, and also to mark new territory.”
That new territory is mainly for the show’s two leads, Jessie Mei Li’s Alina Starkov and Archie Renaux’s Malyen Oretsev. Both are crucial players in most of the books, but Heisserer wants to ensure that they captain Netflix’s Shadow and Bone ship for years to come.
“Part of this adaptation that we did accept in the success of Season 2 is the fact that we’re not going to let Jesse and Archie go, we’re going to hang on to them for dear life,” Heisserer added. “And that means altering their story from the core book mythology and making them integral parts of future stories.”
Shadow and Bone Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
