When the Darkling first meets Alina to test if she’s Grisha, we witness his powers in action for the first time—lights go out, a whole room full of people dissolves in the dark. Then, he scratches her arm and a powerful beam of light shoots up from her skin, rising all the way up to the sky. The Shadow Summoner finds his Sun Summoner.
At this point in the show, there are many pressing matters at hand—what happens to Alina next, will she be separated from Mal, is she in danger now that her secret was out? But all I could do was swoon at how the Darkling’s towering darkness is lit up with Alina’s light.
Alina and Darkling’s romance is promising from the start. They even get together briefly while Alina is training to control her powers at the Darkling’s Little Palace. But the romance doesn’t last long as Alina learns of the Darkling’s lies.
In fact, by the end of Season 1, Alina and the Darkling become arch rivals. Here’s everything that happened.
1. Who Is Darkling in Shadow and Bone? Is General Kirigan the Darkling?
Netflix’s adaptation of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse has finally given a face to one of fantasy fiction’s darkest and secretly beloved villains—the Darkling. And the “extraordinary handsomeness” of actor Ben Barnes only adds to the Darkling’s enigma.
Among the many turns that the show takes away from the books, is one where the Darkling gets the moniker of General Kirigan. As the chief of the Second Army, he is a special kind of Grisha who manipulates darkness.
We are first introduced to Kirigan as the descendant of the Dark Heretic who first lost control of his darkness and created The Fold. However, the show later reveals that General Kirigan is in fact the Dark Heretic, aka the Darkling, himself. By extension, he is also the main villain of the story.
2. Is the Darkling Really in Love with Alina?
In the show, the Darkling gets a much more detailed and sympathetic back story which is missing from the books. We learn that it was after the death of his partner and fellow Grisha, Luda, at the hands of the king’s men, that the Darkling split the country into two by creating The Fold.
In this backdrop, his obsession with Alina could come across as hunger for lost love. However, towards the end of the season, it is revealed that the Darkling’s intentions might just be more malevolent than finding a better half.
The lies to Alina and attempts to enslave her, wanting to control and not destroy The Fold, and perhaps replacing the king as the supreme ruler of Ravka are all revealed as his intentions.
So, the show leaves us with so many conflicting views of the Darkling that it is not possible to tell if he really felt any love for Alina.
3. Do the Darkling and Alina End up Together?
After newly discovering her powers as a Grisha, in fact as the single most powerful Grisha, Alina’s life is turned upside down. The Darkling is by her side throughout the turbulence. He helps her train to improve her power control besides finding her place in the larger scheme of things.
At the same time, the Darkling isolates Alina from her past life. He cuts her off from the only childhood friend she has, Mal, out of obvious jealousy (understandable, since it was to save Mal’s life that Alina’s hidden powers had first surfaced).
Alina’s new teacher, Baghra, also wants her to depend on no one for her powers. “Needing anyone else is weak,” Baghra’s words echo inside her head a minute before Alina decides to move on from Mal and give it a go with General Kirigan.
While discovering her own independence and agency, Alina expresses her attraction for the Darkling (beware, you will swoon and want to watch and rewatch this gif). But the romance ends before it can even begin.
It must be mentioned here that before they turn into arch-rivals after Darkling’s failed attempt to enslave Alina, the show establishes them as equals as ageless Grishas and worthy partners. Alina is definitely with Mal by the end of Season 1, but it seems like there is more to the Darkling-Alina ship. As this fan says it so aptly:
4. What Happens in the Books?
In the books as in the show, Alina does not get together with the Darkling and ends up with Mal. However, in the books, Alina’s path to Mal is much more complex, with a third love interest involved and a complete loss of her Grisha powers.
Also, Mal is revealed to be the Darkling’s distant relative. No wonder the book Mal is a much darker version of the Mal we see on the show—he is obsessive, controlling, and mostly a jerk to Alina.
Leigh Bordugo ends the Shadow and Bone trilogy with Mal and Alina going back to run the orphanage they grew up in as two ordinary people. Fans still debate how much of a happy ending this was. Some say Bordugo got tired of finding ways to prove the Darkling could be lovable and decided to pursue Kaz Brekker in Six of Crows instead.
5. About Shadow and Bone (2021)
Shadow and Bone is an American fantasy TV series developed by Eric Heisserer and 21 Laps Entertainment for Netflix. It is based on the Grisha novel trilogy, the first of which is Shadow and Bone and the Six of Crows novel duology by Leigh Bardugo.
The show follows orphan mapmaker Alina Starkov who discovers she possesses extraordinary powers which could change the world. As she ventures out on a journey to hone her powers, she must find friends among foes as dark forces conspire against her.
Main cast members include Jessie Mei Li, Archie Renaux, Freddy Carter, Amita Suman, Kit Young, Ben Barnes, Zoe Wanamaker, and more. Season 2 is out now.
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