Shadow and Bone's second season arrived on Netflix yesterday, sucking viewers back into the complex world of the Grishaverse. Based on author Lee Bardugo's novels (open in new tab), the epic fantasy series made some major moves in Season 2, ending with another massive cliffhanger that took its own path away from the original story. Thankfully, fans are still waiting for a renewal, but the series' creative team already has big plans for the future of the Grishaverse. Read on to find out everything we know about a possible Season 3 of Shadow and Bone.

Not yet, but this isn't the first time Netflix has taken its time deciding "Shadow & Bone's" fate. Even though Season 1 was #1 in 79 countries when it was released, the renewal for Season 2 was not announced until June 2021, two months after the series premiered; Netflix (and Hollywood in general) is going through a tough time right now, so the first 28 on the platform for Season 2 They will wait until the first 28 days of ratings are available.

Season 3 will definitely take longer to arrive due to the international scale of the series and its fantasy VFX requirements. There was a two-year gap between Season 1 and Season 2, but production on Season 2 began in January 2022, probably due to COVID-related delays. If Season 3 is renewed and production begins on an earlier schedule, Season 3 could appear by late 2024 or early 2025.

"Shadow and Bone" Season 2 spoilers ahead; the second season of the Netflix series will condense the second and third books of the Grishaverse ("Siege and Storm" and "Ruin and Rising") into one season, with Alina Starkov over the fate of Ravka and Kirigan's war over the fate of Ravka came to an end. After stabbing Mal (the firebird) to amplify her power, Alina destroyed the Fold, killing the darkling and later burning his body. She then used merzosto bring Mal back to life, but Bagra warned her that forbidden magic comes at an unknown cost. It ends with Fierdan's spies massacring the crowd at Nikolai Lantsov's coronation after taking Jurdapalem, a highly addictive drug that increases Grisha's power (opens in new tab). To defeat the spy, the arena uses cuts to summon shadows instead of the sun.

The bloody final scene sets up the plot of the next chronological Grishaverse book: the Six of Crows duology. The book follows the Crows' mission to help the Shu scientist Beau Yul-Bayeur escape from the impregnable Fierdan Castle, known as the Ice Court. In the process, they free Nina Zenik's lover Matthias from Hellgate prison and unite the six Crows. In Season 3, Inej Garfa must be reunited with her crew. This is because she is currently on a voyage with Mal (who calls himself the privateer Sturmhond) to find her long-lost family.

As for Alina, her adoption of the power to summon shadows is a major departure from her storyline in the books, where her use of all three amps in the final battle with the darkling leaves her out of her ordinary life with Mal and out of power In the Netflix series will build an entirely new storyline in which Alina (who has shown hints of a dark and endless ambition for power) stands by Nicolai's side after the start of the impending war between Levcan and Fedoran. There is also the surprising revelation that Nikolai had also ingested the power of Nishevoya, the vicious and invincible shadow monster of Kirigan, just before his coronation. And if this is not enough drama, the Darkling is not the type of spectacular villain who stays dead for long. (Read the book for more details. )

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly (opens in new tab), showrunner Eric Heisserer admitted that the show's deviation from the book stems in part from the smart decision to have stars Jessie Mae Lee and Archie Renault deeply involved in the action He acknowledged that some of the deviation stems from the smart decision to keep stars Jesse May Lee and Archie Renault deeply involved in the series instead of leading normal lives away from the action as in the books.

"This is the difference between running a show and writing a novel. You have to pay attention to who your stars are and whether they're under contract or not. Of course, I didn't want to lose Jesse or Archie. Of course, I didn't want to lose Jesse or Archie.

With this change, Heisserer also confirmed that the show's goal going forward is to present an entirely new storyline in the Grishaverse, just as season one created an original storyline for the Crows that intertwined their adventures with the Arena storyline. The show is also executive produced by Grishaverse author Lee Bardugo.

"Thankfully, we have actors we know, love, and trust working on brand new material that will carry water for us," said the showrunner. And we're interweaving their stories with the 'King of Wounds' duology that we already love. So it's a matter of stitching them in, just as we've stitched in other characters in these first two seasons.

As for what lies ahead for Arena now that she may have become the Shadow Summoner, Heisserer gave Newsweek (open in new tab) a little preview of the focus of season three." Using Melzost to bring Mal back came at a price, and it landed on what we saw in the last scene as a way for her to confront everything that Killigan might have warned her about."

"We'll definitely touch on that in the next season."

"What we try our best to do at the end of each season is to give a preview of what the major internal conflicts of the next season will be, and these closing episodes are the "screw you" chapters and the top seems to be the "find" chapter"

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Ever since it was learned that the thieves would be incorporated into the "Shadow and Bone" film adaptation, the possibility of a Crowes-centric spin-off has been discussed. Viewers know that Season 3 will follow the characters into the Jurda Palem heist of the "Six of Crows" novels, but Heisserer admitted to Entertainment Weekly (opens in new tab) that there are still plans for another "Crows" show. In fact, the showrunner is quietly developing a spin-off of "Six of Crows," and the plan will depend on how successful "Shadow and Bone" Season 2 is on Netflix.

Heisserer and Daegan Freikrind, who were co-showrunners on "Shadow and Bone" Season 2, revealed to EW that the bulk of the spinoff will run concurrently during the events of Nikolai's coronation, and Heisserer said of the spinoff, "It's our own little It will be a season of fun," he said. He also confirmed that Inège will be in the spinoff, adding, "She will be in the spinoff. You can understand how many weeks it took from the time she went out on the high seas to the time she came back to Ketterdam."

As for the timing of filming, the ideal plan is for Heisserer and Freikrind to work on the "Six of Crows" spin-off and the upcoming season of "Shadow and Bone" simultaneously.

"There is a lot of work that goes into this plan. The hope is that we'll be able to act on that plan," Heisserer told the outlet. 'But, of course, it's what the numbers are going to be for Season 2. If they do, then Daegan and I will continue to hold the mantle of both shows. Giving them their own place gives them more room and allows them to delve deeper into their characters."