Shadow and Bone
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In the books, the Darklings immortality was no great enigma.
(All that talk about being better than ordinary people probably doesnt help.)
Its also directly proportional to an individuals power: The stronger a Grisha, the longer theyll live.
In the books, we automatically know the Darkling is old because hes an extremely powerful Grisha.
By contrast, it seems like this relationship might not be codified knowledge in the screen version.
(Weird, given The Making at the Heart of the World is the title of thethird episode.)
Now, does this matter?
Sometimes its just nice to know!
(Buddy.Buddy.You wrote her …every?Day?
Poor Mikhael and Dubrov!)
I just want to keep you safe.
Except, of course, that theydont kiss.
(This one is all on the books.
Damn you and your tension, Bardugo.)
Alsonot kissing: Nina and Matthias, despite having gotten, ahem, a lot closer in this episode.
I wont lie, this ship is just gonna be romance tropes all the way down.
But theres a reason theyre tropes to begin with: They justwork.
This story is no exception.
Then, the best of all: Huddling together naked in the wilderness for body heat!
(Come to think of it, Ivan the Heartrender does this much more convincingly.)
Hes in denial, yes We areveryhappy people!!
he all but screams but a true believer?
The internal conflict is notquitethere, which becomes extremely obvious when Nina falls down that ice chasm later.
So thats mildly disappointing.
Nina has some issues, too.
But its likely that many people watching this show, both fans and newcomers, hate Nina by now.
And, grudgingly, I get it.
Ninas teasing has always verged on cringey, missing almost as often as it hits.
(This is due to and I say this reverently Bardugos extreme theater-kid energy as a writer.)
Both roles require an innate kinship with that sort of humor.
She never quite gets to full deadpan.
Shes funny, but maybe not in the way that Nina is funny.
The power of Gilligan and Skogmans chemistry really cant be overstated.
The way he grabs her arm when shes speeding up his heart?
What they may lack individually, they make up tenfold by nailing the couples overall vibe.
First of all, Kaz is not the Wraith.
Is he the Bastard of the Barrel or not?
The only Crow whoisprospering, perhaps predictably, is our beloved, sharpshooting, degenerate gambler.
Jesper Fahey has always thrived in chaos.
Its a crossover that actuallydoesserve the narrative: the compulsive joker versus the humorless cop.
The Joyful Anarchist versus the Very Serious Institution.
The chaotic underdog tale versus the lawful heros journey.
(And not that its relevant, but theyrebothqueer.)
Lets just say I cant wait till the secrets out.
Interior Monologue
Good-bye, Arken Visser.
Im not saying he deserved to die, but the man made zero friends and didnotread the room.
Speaking of dummies You robbed me of my brother, now Ill rob you of your life?
Who would have guessed thatbothInferni twins were going to bethat terribleat smack talk?
Also, she has a knife in your chest and is offering to let you live!
Why are you antagonizing her?!
After refusing to kill for so long, Inej has now killed two people in 24 hours.
As much as I hate girl-on-girl crime, it explains a lot.
Zoya really deserves a break she doesnt even get to take her frustration out on a Crow!
Oh, Genya, how could you?
Giving Alina a ring that My Chemical DavidTM can use like GPS on Kirigans behalf?
Take your own advice!
Stop trusting powerful men!
At the very least, Im glad the Crows got a nice ride out of this mess.
