What happens to Alina at the end of Shadow and Bone Season 2? We look at Alina’s fate and her character’s transformation in the second season. Spoilers ahead.
The main character in the Netflix’s original series Shadow and Bone is Alina. In the second season, we find that the Sun Summoner, Alina Starkov, has quite a lot on her plate. The whole fate of the world rests on this poor girl’s shoulders. She is tasked with destroying the Fold, a dark and foreboding shadow world created by Kirigan, and defeating the Darkling, General Aleksander Kirigan. It’s a dangerous mission, but no one else is quite up to the task. So, what happens to Alina at the end of Shadow and Bone Season 2?
Does Alina destroy the Fold forever in Shadow and Bone Season 2?
In the season two finale, “No Funerals,” Alina destroys the Fold. She had attempted to fuse her powers with Mal and destroy the Fold without sacrificing her lover in the previous installment, but that had failed. Alina is now forced to stab Mal to death, which unleashes the Firebird amplifier powers within his body. Alina screams in agony, heartbroken by Mal’s passing, and lets forth an almighty blast of energy. This combined strength rips apart the Fold, destroying every part of it and all the Volcra creatures within it, leaving a desert wasteland behind.
Does Alina defeat the Darkling?
After destroying the entirety of the Fold, Kirigan and his shadow monsters are still there, waiting to attack. Zoya and Inej fight the shadow monsters while Nina tries to resurrect Mal’s lifeless body. Alina takes on Kirigan, who has regained some of his strength. Kirigan tries to persuade Alina into joining him, stepping ever closer to the Sun Summoner as he speaks. Kirigan’s shadow monster is then unleashed, grabbing Alina. Kirigan cannot control it, though. Inej hurls the Neshyenyer sword at the beast, saving Alina’s life.
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While Kirigan, the Darkling, is distracted, thinking of kissing Alina, she stabs him to death with the Neshyenyer sword. Alina defeats the Darkling once and for all with this fatal jab. Kirigan asks to be destroyed entirely so that nothing is left of him. He is burned on a funeral pyre. After killing her nemesis, Alina brings Mal back to life, using the dark magic merzost to resurrect his body.
What happens to Alina at the end of Shadow and Bone Season 2?
Even though Alina has brought her partner back to life, they still part ways, choosing to walk their separate paths. Alina is seen next at the processional, where she is to be crowned queen. She tells Zoya and Genya that she plans to return the Neshyenyer blade to Shu Han, where she hopes to rebuild old alliances. It appears her King, Nikolai, has been plagued by Kirigan’s shadow monsters, which cling to his body, living dormant within.
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At the processional, the guests are attacked by a Fjerdan spy. The spy has taken a new drug called jurda parem, which enhances Grisha powers. She unleashes this power, causing all the guests to cough up blood and collapse. Even Nikolai and Alina succumb to this assault, falling to the ground.
Is Alina the Darkling now?
To tackle the Fjerdan spy, Alina uses the Cut, the power to bisect an object telekinetically, or in this case, a person. Alina uses the power to slice the spy in half brutally. At first, Alina is shocked by her ability to do such a horrid act, but then she smiles, feeling empowered by the slaying. Interestingly, the Cut comes out as a black, dark power, not the bright light Alina is used to. This suggests that Alina is harnessing the dark magic merzost, and it looks like Alina may have turned evil too.
Alina used this dark magic before to resurrect Mal, and it now seems to have taken a hold of her, much like it did with Kirigan, the Darkling. It is an ironic ending, Alina using dark powers instead of her light powers, slowly transforming into her enemy. Her sinister smirk in that final scene looks pretty similar to the one Kirigan would use, mirroring her nemesis once again. Alina may not be quite on par with Kirigan yet, but she is heading in the same direction, slowly transforming into the Darkling herself. Although it remains to be seen if she will fully submit to this darkness.
