Shadow & Bone: How Inej Knows How To Stitch Herself Up

WARNING: Spoilers for Shadow and Bone.

In Shadow and Bone season 1, how does Inej Ghafa know how to stitch herself up after suffering a stomach wound? Portrayed by Amita Suman, the character kills a man to save a fellow Crow and then later squares off against the victim’s sister, Polina, in episode 6, “The Heart Is an Arrow.” During Shadow and Bone’s penultimate episode, Inej surprises her comrade Jesper Fahey (Kit Young) by self-treating a nasty cut.

Inej’s backstory is teased in Shadow and Bone’s first episode, “A Searing Burst of Light,” as she implies that Crows leader Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter) purchased her from The Menagerie, a brothel owned by Tante Heleen (Deirdre Mullins). Inej later discusses being kidnapped from her Suli parents as an adolescent, and how a “token of faith” allowed her to persevere when she was sold off. Once the Crows locate the Sun Summoner Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li), Inej lets her go after deciding that she’s a living saint. Just minutes later in Shadow and Bone season 1, Inej is confronted by Polina and stabbed during their scuffle before Inej kills her. While Inej’s faith making her reluctant to kill was a big arc in the first season, her being accustomed to violence was also hinted at – including violence aimed at her.

Shadow and Bone season 1 doesn’t fully explore Inej’s backstory, but the stitching sequence includes telling information. Suman’s character states that she learned the technique at The Menagerie, which prompts a cryptic response from Jesper, who states “Oh, that’s dark.” Leigh Bardugo’s book series reveals that Heleen physically abused Inej and the rest of her girls, and the Netflix show heavily implies that Inej may also have been the victim of sadistic abuse by the brothel madame’s clientele. Jesper speaks with a somewhat insensitive tone during the Shadow and Bone stitching scene, suggesting he’s not fully informed about Inej’s backstory, which makes sense, considering the Crows’ story in Shadow and Bone is a prequel to their own books.

Inej could have also learned how to stitch from her mother. In Shadow and Bone’s third episode, “The Making at the Heart of the World,” she explains the backstory for the Suli “token of faith” that she wears around her neck. It’s a gift that was personally stitched by her mother and became Inej’s sole possession when she was sold to The Menagerie. Theoretically, Inej could have learned stitching methods from her parents during her formative years, especially when considering that her family traveled around Ravka as caravan performers in the book series. Inej also didn’t wear shoes as a child, and likely would have witnessed her mother tending to cuts while training to be a high wire artist. Her taking these skills learned as a child and applying them to stitching herself up after being beaten is one more way Shadow and Bone subtly reveals how dark and hard the world of the Grishaverse can be.

Shadow and Bone’s stitching sequence highlights Inej’s toughness, but also further reinforces the character dynamics amongst the Crows members. Whereas Kaz listens attentively and with sympathy but is somewhat emotionally closed off, the far more emotionally open Jesper is somewhat flippant and surprisingly distant, seemingly because of his lighthearted personality. Ultimately, Inej’s stitchwork reveals a “fight or flight” dilemma is not something that she grapples with in Shadow and Bone. She’s a survivor who relies on self-determination and life experience.

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Q.V. Hough
(1892 Articles Published)

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Q.V. Hough is a senior writer at Screen Rant. He’s also the founding editor at Vague Visages, and has contributed to RogerEbert.com and Fandor.

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