Shadow and Bone: 10 Crows Plots The Show Should Include In Season 2

Season 1 of Netflix’s Shadow and Bone, based on Leigh Bardugo’s popular “Grishaverse” novels, featured a welcome twist with the addition of the Crows cast. Six of Crows is the second Grishaverse series, set after the events of the first series’ conclusion, so many fans were surprised to see them participate in the show.

The first season has given viewers a prequel of what the Crows were doing while the Sun Summoner was fighting to save Ravka from the Shadow Fold, but the second season has the opportunity to dig deeper into the Crows’ stories and include plots from their own book series.

10 Explore Matthias In Hellgate

Nina and Matthias were onboard a ship headed for Ketterdam at the end of season 1, with Matthias accused of being a slaver and sentenced to wait for his trial in Kerch’s infamous Hellgate prison. The beginning of Six of Crows sees Nina, Kaz, Inej, and Jesper breaking Matthias out of Hellgate. But before they do, they catch a glimpse of what his life was like during the year he spent there when he takes part in a deadly cage fight.

Matthias heading to prison at the start of season 2 gives the show a chance to further explore his story arc there, as well as Nina’s efforts to see him released. This will give more screentime for both characters and a chance to further explore Matthias and Nina’s romance, which is one of the best in Shadow and Bone.

9 Reveal The Crows’ Backstories

All of the Crows have intricate histories that brought them to Ketterdam and Kaz Brekker’s crew. Nina’s and Matthias’ shared story has already begun to be explored, but very little was shown of Kaz, Inej, or Jesper’s backstories.

While the show will probably not be able to delve into their full backgrounds as it focuses on Alina and Ravka, including at least a portion of their individual histories is essential to understanding their characters. Their backstories address some of Shadow and Bone‘s questions that were raised in season 1, particularly why Kaz is afraid of physical contact, Inej’s family and how she became indentured at the Menagerie, and where Jesper gets his sharpshooting abilities. All of them deserve flashback sequences to show their younger selves and further develop their characters.

8 Showcase Inej’s Knives

In both the books and the show, Inej Ghafa is an incredibly devout religious person, paying homage to Suli proverbs, the saints, and the worship of Sankta Alina. One detail from the books that has yet to be included, however, is that Inej named each of her knives after one of her favorite saints. The tradition started when Kaz gave her her first knife after she joined his gang. She often recites the names to herself when she is nervous.

Inej never got the chance to meet the Sun Saint in the books, but considering Alina Starkov herself gave Inej a knife at the end of season 1, a great way to introduce her habit would be for Inej to name the new knife after Alina.

7 Explore Nina and Kaz’s Complex Dynamic

Nina Zenik has not yet been formally introduced to the Crows, but she and Matthias will soon become embroiled in the criminal enterprises of Ketterdam’s most notorious crew. She finds herself joining Kaz’s gang for protection, as one does in Ketterdam, and becomes one of his informants while using her special abilities, which makes Nina one of the most powerful characters in Shadow and Bone. 

Kaz is essentially Nina’s boss. She works for him while she uses her Grisha abilities to soothe at one of Ketterdam’s brothels, but their relationship is far from amicable. In fact, Nina often despises Kaz’s methods and his obsession with greed, but she has to begrudgingly admit that his brilliant mind is often what keeps her and the other Crows alive. Seeing this relationship in season 2 would add a layer of complexity to both characters as Nina struggles to assert her independence while Kaz asserts his belief that he is right.

6 Look At Kaz’s Time With The Dregs

Though the Crows didn’t spend a long time in Ketterdam during season 1, much of the first Six of Crows book and almost the entirety of their second takes place within the Kerch city. The Crows are not the only tricks Kaz Brekker has up his sleeve when he is on his own turf.

Kaz runs an entire gang of criminals and thugs known as “the Dregs.” While Per Haskell, as yet an unintroduced character in the show, is officially the gang’s leader, it is really Kaz who calls all the shots. It would be nice to see Kaz have the Dregs at his disposal once he is back home in Ketterdam in season 2.

5 Reveal Why Kaz Hates Pekka Rollins

Season 1 introduced the conflict between Kaz Brekker and Pekka Rollins, but until Kaz’s backstory is revealed, it will be difficult for fans to understand just how much he hates Pekka. Season 2 can dig deeper into the rivalry between these two gang leaders.

Kaz blames Pekka Rollins for ruining his life and would like nothing more than to tear the latter’s criminal enterprise down “brick by brick” and build on its rubble in an elaborate revenge plot. On the other hand, Pekka doesn’t even remember meeting a younger Kaz. It makes for an interesting struggle between the two that has only just begun to be revealed.

4 Showcase Inej and Nina’s Relationship

Inej Ghafa and Nina Zenik are best friends in the Six of Crows duology. The two officially met when Kaz Brekker sent Inej to recruit Nina to the Dregs. They initially bonded over the fact that they were both from Ravka. They became incredibly close with each other, often sharing personal feelings with one another that they didn’t feel comfortable telling the others.

Having someone to be vulnerable with was a great help to both of them during the gang’s difficult jobs. Nina eventually saved Inej’s life with her Grisha powers after Inej had been stabbed and Inej told her that she owed Nina a life debt.

3 Establish The Jurda Parem

While the Sun Summoner deals with the Darkling and the Fold in Ravka, the Crows can begin to face the threat of the deadly Grisha enhancing drug jurda parem in Ketterdam. It is finding, and exploiting, the source of this drug that drives much of the plot of the first Crows book as they break into the Ice Court – an impenetrable Fjerdan stronghold and prison – to find the drug’s creator.

Parem raises the stakes of Ravka’s wars as their enemies seek to exploit the Grisha infected with it. Grisha who take parem immediately becomes addicted and quickly wastes away by overextending their power under the drug’s influence. This plot could be introduced in the second season but may be reserved for later in the show’s story.

2 Show How The Crows Met

By the first season of Shadow and Bone, Kaz, Jesper, and Inej had already been working together for roughly a year. They have an established rapport and a semblance of trust for each other, which helps unite them against any problem they may encounter.

It would be intriguing, however, if season 2 explored how these three people came to know each other. The books discuss how Kaz met and recruited Inej to be his secret-gathering spider and how Jesper funded his gambling habit with criminal endeavors, but flashbacks to their first encounters could add layers to the characters’ established relationships.

1 Introduce Wylan, The Munitions Expert

While planning to abduct the Sun Summoner, Kaz mentions that Jesper always asks for a demo man. In Six of Crows, the crew’s munitions expert is Wylan van Eck, rogue son of a wealthy Ketterdam merchant. Season 2 would be the perfect time to introduce Wylan. Based on the timeline, the Crows haven’t met him yet. Kaz can send Jesper to recruit Wylan to their gang in the current timeline in the show, as opposed to it being shown as a flashback as it was in the book.

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