Summary

• Shadow and Bone's cancellation leaves several storylines unresolved, including the fate of Alina and Mal and their possible future together.
• Wylan's mysterious past and his relationship with Jesper will never be fully explored, adding to the unresolved plot points.
• Kaz and Inej's complicated relationship, Kaz's personal trauma, and Inej's quest to find her family are left unfinished, leaving fans wanting more.

Netflix's decision to cancel Shadow and Bone after two seasons leaves several storylines unresolved. The TV adaptation of Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse series follows the adventures of Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) when she discovers she possesses a unique power, earning her the title of the Sun Summoner. Alina and her allies fight for the security of the Grisha, a group of people with various supernatural abilities, and the future of their country, Ravka. Shadow and Bone changed the timeline of Bardugo's first trilogy for the purpose of expanding the universe quickly. This allowed the showrunners to include characters like Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter) and his gang from Six of Crows.

However, because the show did not strictly follow the events of the books, Shadow and Bone's cancelation means that even those who read the book do not know how certain storylines would have ended. Considering how popular the first season of the show was, the show's creators had plans that went far beyond where Shadow and Bone season 2's ending leaves the story. More seasons and spinoffs were meant to be part of the franchise's future, meaning there were plenty of storylines set up to be more important down the road. Unfortunately, the show's unexpected ending leaves several plot points and character journeys that will never be resolved.

8 Mal's Time As Sturmhond

We will never see his and Alina's reunion.

Supernatural forces may have conspired to bring together Alina and Mal Oretsev (Archie Renaux), Alina's childhood friend turned lover, but what will become of them is unknown. At the end of season 2, Mal decides that he needs to live his own life for a time instead of just serving her. He adopts the title of Captain Sturmhond, created by Prince Nikolai Lantsov (Patrick Gibson), and sets sail with some of Nikolai's crew. While the finale includes a glimpse of what Mal and the others are up to, there is no time to delve into their adventures that supposedly would've been covered in Shadow and Bone season 3.

7 Wylan's Past

A new character who is still a mystery.

In season 2, Kaz makes Wylan Hendriks (Jack Wolfe) an official member of his crew as their demolitions expert. Wylan is seen living in squalor, selling explosives to make a living. In the books, Wylan is the son of a rich merchant who disowns him because of Wylan's undefined learning disability, preventing him from learning to read. The show hints at Wylan's past in season 2, episode 5, when he almost its that he had a tutor, changing his answer mid-sentence to learning about chemical reactions from his own experimentation. Wylan's partner Jesper Fahey's (Kit Young) reaction to Wylan's secret will also never be seen.

6 Kaz & Inej's Relationship

Many things are unfinished for the leaders of the Crows.

Kaz and his right-hand woman Inej Ghafa (Amita Suman) doubtlessly have deep feelings for each other, yet their potential relationship is complicated by Kaz being emotionally closed off and his haphephobia. While Inej knows that Kaz has a traumatic past, she will not settle for a partial relationship. When Kaz asks her to stay, Inej tells him, "I will have you without your armor [...] or I will not have you at all." Many parts of Kaz and Inej's story are unfinished, including their romance, Kaz reckoning with his personal trauma, and Inej's quest to find her family after ing Sturmhond's crew.

5 Jurda Parem & The Crows' Next Heist

The show ends just before the Crows' biggest adventure begins.

The finale introduces jurda parem, a highly addictive drug that heightens a Grisha's power, making them much more dangerous than usual. A rogue Grisha takes the drug and uses her increased power to attempt to assassinate everyone at Nikolai's coronation, saved at the last possible second by Alina. Jurda parem would have upended the world of the Grisha if the show had continued.

Kaz and the Crows are also affected by jurda parem. Back in Ketterdam, Kaz tells the remaining of his crew that they have been offered their biggest job yet. Book fans know that they are preparing to infiltrate the Ice Court in Fjerda to retrieve the scientist who created jurda parem. This mission is the original Six of Crows heist and the showrunners were probably planning for Inej to return and Matthias Helvar (Calahan Skogman) to be recruited, so the official "six" would all be a part of this arc. The Ice Court heist would have been a thrilling sequence to watch, but it is never to be.

4 Nina's Attempt to Free Matthias

A betrayal of trust that was never cleared up.

Nina Zenik (Danielle Galligan) and Matthias had an up-and-down relationship throughout the course of the show. After surviving together in an icy wilderness in season 1, they debate leaving Ravka together. However, their storyline ultimately leads to Matthias being held at Hellgate prison believing that Nina betrayed him. Nina spends season 2 trying to find a way to free Matthias, make amends, and rekindle their romance, but she has not yet succeeded when the show ends. While the answer to what happens to Matthias after Shadow and Bone season 2 can be answered through the books, the show could have made changes.

3 Nikolai's Curse

Nikolai never becomes the "King of Scars."

In the final battle, Prince Nikolai is attacked by the nichevo'ya, or shadow monsters, and is stabbed through the shoulder. He appears to be fine, but while preparing for his coronation, he realizes that a black infection is spreading from the site of the wound. When he looks in the mirror, he sees a nichevo'ya. This storyline probably would have remained true to the books, where the infection causes Nikolai to occasionally transform into a monster with wings and fangs. This ability/curse complicates things for him as a new king.

2 Alina's New Powers

Paying the price for using merzost.

In the final moments of Shadow and Bone season 2, Alina releases a blast of dark power to prevent the jurda parem-empowered Grisha from killing everyone in court. The audience has only ever seen the evil Darkling (Ben Barnes) use this power. Alina's mentor Baghra (Zoë Wanamaker) warned her that there is always a price for using merzost, a forbidden magic that Alina desperately used to resurrect Mal.

The apparent consequence of her actions is that she is imbued with dark power. After she violently kills the assassin, she smiles slightly. This suggests that her season 3 storyline would have been her learning to control or trying to rid herself of this magic while struggling with the temptation to use it.

1 The Triumvirate's Plans

The leading ladies of the future.

In the Shadow and Bone finale, Alina discusses with Genya Safin (Daisy Head) and Zoya Nazyalensky (Sujaya Dasgupta) the future of the Grisha. Alina asks Genya to open the palace to refugees and Zoya to train Grisha soldiers, while she acts as a diplomat. Zoya refers to the three of them as a "triumvirate," borrowing a term from ancient Rome. In the books, the Triumvirate who leads the Grisha are actually Genya, Zoya, and Genya's partner David. While it was devastating when David's was moved up in the timeline, it would have been interesting to see the trio of strong women working together to secure Ravka's future.