The Cancelation Of This Fantasy TV Show With 86% On Rotten Tomatoes Is So Much Worse Thanks To 1 Detail

The cancelation of Shadow and Bone, which holds an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes and is still beloved by audiences, is made so much worse due to one key detail the show never got to explore. Netflix's adaptation of the most popular collection of Leigh Bardugo's books was largely acclaimed by audiences who both did and did not read the series. Even so,the show was abruptly canceled after its sophomore season despite its popularity, causing audiences to petition for a revival that has yet to be green-lit.

Shadow and Bone'scancelation was painful for audiences as the series also added the characters from the Six Of Crows duology, giving them a new plotline during the original trilogy's narrative. While that drove some of the disappointment, most audiences lamented that Alina's (Jessie Mei Li) story was cut off prematurely and that her dynamic with the Darkling (Ben Barnes) never got the conclusion it deserved.That abrupt conclusion, though, is especially awful when it means one aspect of Alina's story may never be expanded upon, robbing audiences of a great plot twist.

Shadow And Bone's Cancelation Is So Much Worse Thanks To Season 2's Alina Cliffhanger

Alina's New Shadow Powers Broke The Series' Conclusive Ending

Shadow and Bone's cancelation is made much worse by the fact that the cliffhanger surrounding Alina's newfound powers is a loose end, impacting the season 2 finale. The finale of the series' second season sees Alina use the shadow-powered version of the Cut against an attacker during Nikolai's (Patrick Gibson) coronation, which comes as a shock as the Darkling had seemingly died by Alina's hand before that point, severing their connection. However, nothing was ever confirmed, making Alina's shadow powers in season 2 the only major plot hole in the otherwise serviceable ending.

Teasing these powers could have been the beginning of an intriguing route for Shadow and Bone to explore, especially as Alina seems to start slipping down a darker path as a direct result of wielding shadows over light.The cancelation of the series robs audiences of that potential, leaving many wondering how she gained these powers and how it would impact the show's overall story. Bardugo's books also offer little explanation, as the series deviated from the source material regarding Alina's story, leaving audiences no way of knowing what the show had planned.

Shadow And Bone Needed Season 3 To Explain Its Big Deviation From The Books

Alina Is Able To Wield Shadows, Just Not To That Extent

The three original covers of the Shadow & Bone trilogy.

Season 3 of Shadow and Bone could have explained why the show took this direction with Alina as it augmented a detail from the third book in a way that guaranteed a different ending. Even though the Shadow and Bone book trilogy allows her to use the Darkling's power, Alina's shadow-wielding is only a minor trick that comes at the cost of her Sun Summoner abilities. Alina loses them after fighting the Darkling in the second book, with the third following her journey to find the final legendary Amplifier to destroy him and restore her own powers.

As a result, Shadow and Bone could gradually lose the goodwill it garnered in its audiences as that cliffhanger sits there, adding to the unfortunate loss of the adaptation's potential.

Considering how differently the show treated Alina's shadowy gifts, it appears as if season 3 would have explored the corruption the Darkling warned her would come, complicating the narrative and shifting the book's original ending. With the cancelation, that can never be executed, leaving audiences to theorize or ignore the series' changes in favor of the completed trilogy. As a result, Shadow and Bone could gradually lose the goodwill it garnered in its audiences as that cliffhanger sits there, adding to the unfortunate loss of the adaptation's potential.