A normal life now holds a high price after everything Alina had been through and she is already in too deep to stop now but with so much on the line, some of her choices are beyond anything. Does she become the Darkling in Shadow and Bone Season 2?
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Shadow and Bone Season 2. Read at your own risk!
Is Alina Becoming The Darkling in Shadow and Bone Season 2?
From the start of the series, everyone has been rooting for Alina Starkov. Starting as a cartographer, the heroine of Shadow and Bone has come a long way to being the myth that came to life as the Sun Summoner.
Shadow and Bone Season 2 started with Alina having a solid target -- eradicate the Shadow Fold and this comes with the cost of hunting down all of the remaining amplifiers of Morozova, the most costly of them all being Mal who turns out to be the firebird.
Summing it all up, Shadow and Bone Season 2 showed that Alina is successful in taking down the Shadow Fold, killing off the Darkling with the Neshneyer Sword from Sankta Neyar, but it meant that Mal had to die in the process.
READ MORE: Will Mal and Alina Meet Again After Shadow and Bone Season 2?
Despite the warning of Baghra not to use merzost, Alina had to hold on to the blade of a knife as she decides to use it to bring Mal back to life. Baghra knew that the use of merzost has a high cost and while it was not apparent to Alina at first, the end of Shadow and Bone Season 2 revealed it.
During the coronation of Nikolai as the king of Ravka, a woman who is under the influence of the new drug jurda parem attacked the crowd. Possibly a Heartrender, she made everyone cripple and bleed from pain and Alina knew she what she had to do -- attack.
Having mastered the Cut, Alina's Cut this moment is different. It is not made of pure light like what she used before, it is similar to the Cut that the Darkling wielded! Does this mean Alina becomes the Darkling and is now turning into a Shadow Summoner?
Well, theories suggest that the use of merzost is now making Alina pay the price by corrupting her powers to summon light. With this, she is probably turning into a Shadow Summoner. While this is different from the books, it makes sense if the series is heading to Shadow and Bone Season 3!
In the books of Leigh Bardugo, after Alina eliminates the Shadow Fold, she became a sun that exploded and the cost of it is that her powers left her, turning her into an otkazat’sya, a normal human just as she wanted. She and Mal faked their deaths. In the series, however, this didn't happen.
Alina turning to the Darkling could be a potential plot for Shadow and Bone Season 3! Hopefully, the series would be renewed for everyone to explore the effects of jurda parem on the Grisha's and the new paths of Alina, Mal, and the rest of the characters.
Shadow and Bone Seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Netflix.
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