Shadow and Bone ending explained: What Alina’s powers really mean now

Shadow and Bone, the Netflix series, aired its last and final season in 2023. However, the season finale left viewers with many questions. The curiosity comes from the several twists pertaining to Alina’s powers and a different version of Alina the Sun Summoner, presented in the second season.

Alina acted as a beacon of hope with the power to bring down the Fold, but she undergoes a different kind of transformation in this season. Fans' expectations were challenged, and new avenues for theories and guesswork opened.

Here’s a deep dive into what Alina’s abilities meant at the end of Season 2.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Shadow and Bone. Reader discretion advised.

Shadow and Bone ending explained and what Alina’s powers mean now

Alina reclaims her power in Season 1 — but she’s not at full strength yet

At the end of Season 1, Alina is finally able to put an end to Kirigan’s hold on her powers. Morozova’s stag is killed, and the antlers are split between Kirigan and Alina.

Alina realizes that the decision was on her to give the creature another chance at life. With this decision, Alina can override Kirigan’s control and fully embrace her role as the Sun Summoner.

At this stage, Alina has learnt to control her magic, but she still has a long way to go. She has even found the strength to repel the Fold, but only temporarily.

Destroying it completely is a matter of more sharpened skills.

In Season 2, Alina’s powers grow stronger, but come with a cost

Season 2 launches Alina into a dynamic journey where she gets hold of all three legendary amplifiers: the stag, the sea whip, and the firebird. But this achievement comes with a twist: Firebird isn’t a creature at all; it is revealed to be Mal.

To end the dominance of Fold once and for all, she’s met with a devastating dilemma: she has to take Mal’s life to reach her objective.

When she does so, Alina can take the final amplifier and thus exerts a sunlight powerful enough to destroy the Fold and Kirigan with it. This summoning has severe consequences. She later uses forbidden Grisha magic called merzost to bring Mal back— and this decision changes everything.

Using merzost warps her magic, and unlocking new powers

Merzost, often referred to as creation magic, is complicated and corrupting when used without caution. Kirigan once used this magic to form his shadow monsters, and it has its consequences.

Alina uses this to bring Mal back to life, Alina begins to exhibit abilities like the Darkling’s. The most telling example of this comes during Nikolai’s coronation event, when Alina suddenly performs the Cut with not the light that she is known for, but with shadow.

This is minor on the surface, but it has deeper implications. It also hints at the corrupting powers of merzost that have altered her connection to Small Science.

Alina’s arc now departs from the books in major ways

Fans of Leigh Bardugo’s original trilogy will spot this change. While in the novels, Alina loses all her powers after defeating Fold, and she lives in anonymity while others temporarily carry her light forward.

But Netflix’s version still keeps her in the center, making her magic the center of the plot development. She has shadow abilities and, through this series, sets up new internal conflicts.

Alina is no longer just a pure Sun Summoner but has merged light and dark within herself. This incident opens up the door for newer Grisha politics, morality, and commentary on power.

Her new abilities symbolize more than just magical evolution

Alina’s transformation is not only about a change of powers but also a deep arc that reflects her journey. She started as a reluctant hero, forced into taking part in events she didn't fully understand.

But by the finale of Season 2, she is not only more powerful but also more morally complex and hence more relatable. Using merzost broke the one rule she once feared to break, but now that the rules are broken, she stands in a grey area.

This duality, holding both sunlight and shadow, positions Alina in a more humane light, a character whose powers have real consequences.