Shadow And Bone S2: [SPOILER]'s Death Might Not Be So Final After All
Contains spoilers for Season 2 of Netflix's "Shadow and Bone"
The Season 2 finale of Netflix's "Shadow and Bone" sees General Kirigan (Ben Barnes) die at the hands of Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li). The Sun Summoner ran the Darkling through with Neshyenyer, a sword created by Sankta Neyar (Tuyen Do) that's so powerful it can cut shadow. Well, Aleksander might not technically be made of shadow, but it worked on him just fine.
The Black Heretic (he bares a number of names, that's just how media based on fantasy novels work) made one final request to Alina: That she wholly destroy his body. That there be nothing left of him when it is done. Despite everything, she agreed.
Alina burned the Darkling on a pyre in the desert with a handful of her closest companions. Genya Safin (Daisy Head) and Zoya Nazyalensky (Sujaya Dasgupta) laid the first torches. Aside from Alina, they were most affected by his schemes. Kirigan had filled Zoya's mind with promises of power and Genya ... poor Genya had been the Darkling's present to a carnally twisted king. There was no question. Alexander deserved to die.
It's only a shame that he didn't.
Dark magic never really dies
At least, there's a pretty good chance that he didn't.
In the Season 2 finale of Netflix's "Shadow and Bone," Nikolai Lantsov (Patrick Gibson) is wounded by the Nichevo'ya, the sentient shadow beings that pour out of the Darkling's frame like bad breath with a worse attitude. Nikolai survives but he's left with a pulsing, black hole in his chest. What's more, when he looks in the mirror, he sees the billowing monster, as if it were there beside him.
"Shadow and Bone" adapts at least four of Leigh Bardugo's novels for Season 2 and finishes the season with a brand new ending. That said, if Netflix gets to make a Season 3, the stage is set for the Darkling's return. Not through Nikolai, although the shadowy presence lingering in his mind proves that Kirigan isn't as gone as they would hope, and it's a direct tie-in to the "Rule of Wolves" duology, which sees the dashing prince become a scarred king to a fragile nation.
In Bardugo's work, the Black Heretic never burned. Not when he was supposed to, at any rate. His body and soul are saved by Sankta Lizabeta of the Roses, a near-god-tier Grisha who believes him to be the true king of Ravka. The Darkling's journey to resurrection is winding and tedious ... but he gets there.