How Netflix fantasy show Shadow and Bone fulfills the years-long void left by Game of Thrones-Entertainment News , Firstpost

Still from Shadow and Bone

Winter has come and long gone. Almost three years after our watch ended, and regardless of how underwhelming the series finale was, Game of Thrones left more than a few of us with a gaping void as large as The Wall. The eager tuning in to every fresh new fantasy series has been mostly disappointing. While there have been some noteworthy contenders, there has not been a show with magic, monsters, and mighty heroes that ticks all the right boxes. Until now, that is.

Netflix’s new series Shadow and Bone is adapted from Leigh Bardugo’s popular Grishaverse books. The kingdom of Ravka is divided into East and West, and in the middle lies the Shadow Fold, a magical darkness full of beasts that feast on humans. An orphan named Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) discovers that she alone possesses the power to save her country and banish the darkness once and for all. With power, though, come malicious forces who either want to take her down or use her as a pawn in their own game. Eric Heisserer’s adaption of the YA series has strong doses of magic, espionage, stylised fight sequences, and romance to satisfy a jaded fantasy fan, and maybe even those whose only tryst with the genre has been Game of Thrones.

The foundation for the mega-success of Game of Thrones came from the rich lore and mythology of George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books. The detailed world-building gave the viewer an immersive sense of the geography, language, and culture of the Seven Kingdoms and beyond. That coupled with the swordfights, the politics, the sex, and intrigue hooked audiences across geographies and cultures alike. And much like Game of Thrones, Bardugo’s Grishaverse has a very distinct setting and magic system. By clubbing together the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the subsequent Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom duology, creators of the Netflix series have given it a broader canvas. If dragons were a part of the lore in Westeros, Shadow and Bone has Grisha – humans with magical abilities to control fire, water, wind and more. The discovery of Alina’s unique ability to channel light is seen as a harbinger of better times.

Building a fictional world on the foundations of a real world is what helps the audience slip into and eventually immerse in these imagined universes.

Westeros was a stand-in for the United Kingdom, Braavos was Venice on steroids, and the Wall was inspired by Hadrian’s Wall. In what is considered a departure from the norm among creators of fantastical worlds, Bardugo drew parallels from Tsarist Russia instead of the usual Medieval Britain. Think Cossack hats, double breasted military jackets, gilded palaces, and guns. The scrappy low-level criminals known as the Crows are from Ketterdam, which is modified Amsterdam, while Drüskelle are Grisha-hunters from Fjerda that represents the Nordic lands. 

When the audience first visits Ravka, the kingdom is at war both outside and within. There is a century-old border dispute between Ravka and its neighbour in the South (Shu Han, inspired by China and Mongolia) and Fjerda in the North. The Shadow Fold that has bifurcated the country down the middle has created its own problems of inadequate supply to the East and the West wanting to secede. The Kingdom relies on its First and Second Armies to keep the country together. As Game of Thrones showed us, large-scale upheaval makes for riveting television. Even as Alina learns to control her power, everyone else is playing their own games, and there are schemes-a-plenty.

For all its similarities to Game of Thrones, Shadow and Bone is quite distinct. Shadow and Bone sits firmly in its wheelhouse of Young Adult, so there is no brutal violence or graphic sex scenes. Also, through the seasons of Game of Thrones, we came to know and loved/hated a handful of principal characters whereas with this one, it is obvious that Alina Starkov is the main driver of the story. The biggest distinction though is how the creators of Shadow and Bone treat the fantastical elements of the story. While Martin’s books were full of magical elements, the Game of Thrones creators chose to focus all their energies and budgets on only the dragons, and not delve deeper into the White Walkers, the direwolves or the Three-Eyed Raven.

Magic is an integral part of Grishaverse, and the show takes time to explain it. Grisha abilities, while inborn, are explained as ‘practicing the small science.’ They pull energy from what is around them or as books explain, ‘like calls to like.’ Within the Grisha, who form the Second Army, there is a hierarchy with Materialki, who draw physical material around them to build, at the bottom of the food chain. Corporalki, who are Healers (heal wounds) or Heartrenders (slow down or speed up heartbeats) are at the top of the chain while Etherealki, in the middle, are those who can control elements like air, fire, and water. Apart from the ‘small science,’ there is also real magic or merzost, that is handled only by the most powerful and goes against the natural order of the world. While there are no dead-people-walking or dragons in the show, and magic is wielded by humans, there are a few magical creatures like a many-antlered stag.

Still from Shadow and Bone

Just one season down, it is still too early to predict the fate of Shadow and Bone. While Netflix is yet to announce whether the show has been renewed for another season, it is believed that will be simply based on how well it has been received. Shadow and Bone spent its first 12 days on Netflix at the Top of the Top 10 charts. Even shows like The Queen’s Gambit or Tiger King took some time to gather momentum before they grabbed everyone’s attention. In the 14 months since Netflix introduced the Top 10 feature, only two other shows – Floor is Lava and Ratched – have the distinction of hitting the ground running.

In recent years, every streaming and television network has been on the Sisyphean quest to create the ‘next Game of Thrones.’ Even as HBO continues to develop spin-offs to the show, we have seen some big ticket contenders like the neo-noir Victorian series Carnival Row, the adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, and The Witcher that has Henry Cavill trade his Superman tights for icy-blonde locks. But none of them helped me chase that Westeros high as much as Shadow and Bone with its cast of newcomers.

Shadow and Bone is streaming on Netflix.