Wraiths in the shadows: How Shadow and Bone rewrote the Six of Crows we knew

Six of Crows fans entered Netflix’s Shadow and Bone expecting to jump into a rich world of heists, saints, and plotters — yet, what they got was a huge timeline twist.

By playing around with two separate YA fictional book series by Leigh Bardugo and combining them into one unified show, the creators of the show didn't just adapt the Grishaverse—they essentially rewrote how the Six of Crows fit into the overall story.

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The Six of Crows arrive too early—and too differently

The Six of Crows duology introduces Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, and Jesper Fahey as experienced yet ‘teen’ operators in a deadly heist. But in Netflix’s Shadow and Bone, their appearance comes earlier on in the narrative than in the books.

This change isn’t just cosmetic—it’s based on the structure of the show. The characters’ drives, relationships, and tasks have been completely re-worked on.

In the books, the Crows are hired to take hostage a scientist behind the lethal drug - jurda parem, kicking off a task to Fjerda. In the show, however, they’re tasked with kidnapping Alina Starkov, the ‘Sun Summoner’—a plot that doesn’t find any mention in the Six of Crows literary duology.

This was a thoughtful decision taken by showrunner Eric Heisserer, who, according to author Leigh Bardugo,

“…Didn’t want to adapt these two series in isolation from each other.”

That decision meant ultimately differing from the books and curating a new origin story for the beloved Crows. Bardugo further explained,

“My challenge to Eric was, I think it’s a great idea, but we cannot Frankenstein the plot of Six of Crows with the plot of Shadow and Bone…”

Together, they re-worked Shadow and Bone into a kind of prequel to Six of Crows, laying down the foundation for character arcs that would differ from the point of view of the books, the events in which take place much later.

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The emotional core of the Crows gets rewritten

The show hits a nail on the head when it comes to the personalities of Kaz, Inej, and Jesper as well as the other three crows—but their development arcs? Yeah, they’re a bit restructured.

Take Inej, for instance; in the books i.e., Six of Crows, she’s already an experienced assassin, toughened by her traumatic experiences.

Yet in the Netflix rendition, she’s somewhat reluctant to kill, showing indecision that further only foreshadows her staggering character development. In Episode 2, Inej’s refusal to take a life exposes a different, more vulnerable version of the Wraith from what fans have previously read.

Then there’s Nina Zenik, the Heartrender. In Six of Crows, she’s a Grisha spy with complex loyalties and a catastrophic love story. But in the show, her backstory is once again re-worked—she’s brought in as a smuggler escaping Ravka, affiliating herself with Arken and eventually bumping into Matthias Helvar, another crow.

Episode 6 presents their story nearly exactly from a Six of Crows flashback, preserving a small portion of their story with proper emotional impact amidst the altered timelines created for them to fit into the Netflix adaptation.

Not just the Crows, but even the slightest changes cause ripple. Jesper’s connection with Milo the goat—entirely designed just for the show—adds fun and depth. Ironically, Milo in the Six of Crows books is a traitor as seen in the second book of the duology titled Crooked Kingdom.

Another major shift being Wylan Van Eck not even being involved/mentioned in Season 1 of the show, let alone being part of the No Mourners No Funerals crew. He is later brought into Season 2 to help the Crows in a heist as a demolition expert.

These differences accentuate how the Netflix show crafts new emotional blows without cancelling the core of this beloved crew.

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Ketterdam, reimagined—but not forgotten

In Six of Crows, Ketterdam is a ruthless city where Kaz and the Crows stamp their mark. But the Netflix adaptation offers only a glance of this graphic and harsh city. Instead, the Crows are thrown into Ravka, the main setting of the Shadow and Bone trilogy—a place they never once set foot in within the SoC duology.

This difference uproots them from the very streets that created their identities amongst fans who have come to know and love them through the books.

Tante Heleen, for example, lives on in the books, and the Menagerie stays undamaged —never disciplined by Pekka Rollins. In the show, however, Pekka’s grasp on the Menagerie reworks Kaz’s drive as more vengeance-driven than philanthropic.

That decision taken by the show runners changes the emotional stakes of his manners and actions toward Inej. Even Alina’s destiny varies severely. While SoC venerates her as a martyr, the show keeps her alive, rewriting how Inej, a religious believer, sees her.

These changes aren’t just minor tweaks—they challenge core themes from both of the trilogy as well as the duology book series.

As Bardugo puts it, stuffing both series into one single distinct timeline,

“…Will blow up all of the road in front of us.”

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The Six of Crows we knew and read about has been rewritten, but the essential story has not been erased. By blending in timelines and re-imagining important moments, Shadow and Bone becomes less of an exact adaptation and more of a re-imagination.

While perfectionist fans who prefer word to word precision might miss the original story, there’s no denying that the soul of the Crows still thrives—in each and every blade, treachery, and prayer murmured to a Saint.

Shadow and Bone Seasons 1 & 2 are streaming only on Netflix.

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