Breaking down 9 new photos from Shadow and Bone season 2

The next phase in the war between light and dark is about to commence: Netflix has officially set a release date for Shadow and Bone season 2, revealing nine new photos of the cast in the process.

The show will return March 16, 2023, the streamer announced Wednesday, after previously teasing the news with footage of Kirigan walking out of the Fold in the season 1 finale.

Now showrun by Eric Heisserer and season 1 scribe Daegan Fryklind, the next wave of Shadow and Bone will take viewers back to the Grishaverse, based on the book series by Leigh Bardugo. The kingdom of Ravka is stilled marred by the Fold, an expanse of land shrouded in impenetrable darkness, filled with vicious flying creatures known as Volcra.

Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li), the long-awaited Sun Summoner who faked her death, is now on the run across the True Sea with her childhood mate and lover, tracker Mal (Archie Renaux). They hope to build Alina's power in the hopes of banishing the Fold and undoing the damage inflicted by the Darkling, General Kirigan (Ben Barnes), years prior.

courtesy netflix Mal (Archie Renaux) and Alina (Jessie Mei Li) set sail in 'Shadow and Bone' season 2

"The most wonderful thing about season 2 is that we get to advance the story of these characters that we'd left in precarious positions at the end of season 1," Heisserer said in a statement. "There's a lot of potential for them this season. They have to face the consequences for their actions, and then they get to meet new people along the way. The Grishaverse also expands in this season, both in mythology and in characters. In doing so, we expand the world, we go to new locations, we visit Novyi Zem and Shu Han, and those are all integral to the narrative."

"We've also really dug into more of the mythology this season in terms of the amplifiers, but also the creator of the amplifiers, Morozova, who he was, what his backstory is, and how he ties into this world," Fryklind added. "We go out and we go deeper."

Bardugo said she's stepping back from the show in season 2 and putting Shadow and Bone "firmly" in the screenwriters' hands.

"I think when we approached season 1, a lot of people were like, 'It's impossible. It can't be done. Why would you bring Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows together?" she said. "And I think now, we have that trust. And I think it's going to be very, very exciting for them to see the way that trust pays off in season 2."

Bardugo continued: "Every part of the Grishaverse is coming into play. We are going to get to see some incredible new characters. We're going to see characters interacting with each other, questing with each other, fighting and laughing with each other, who we never got to see together in the books. And I think that's a unique thing about this show. Readers are not only going to be surprised by the way that these storylines crash into each other, they're never going to know where the next move is coming from — and that actually was a pleasure for me because I got to be surprised by my own stories."

See the rest of the new photos blow.

The Darkling survives

courtesy netflix Ben Barnes' General Kirigan has seen better days in 'Shadow and Bone' season 2

The last time we saw Kirigan in season 1, he emerged from the Fold still alive. His plan to enslave Alina with one of Morozova's amplifiers and use her power to take over all of Ravka backfired, but he has a new trick: creating shadow creatures in broad daylight, referred to in the books as Nichevo'ya.

Kirigan is still very much scarred from being attacked by Volcra, as seen in the new season 2 images. Someone call a Tailor!

Birds of a feather

courtesy netflix Freddy Carter as Kaz Brekker and Amita Suman as Inej Ghafa in 'Shadow and Bone' season 2

Freddy Carter returns as Kaz Brekker, leader of the Crows gang in Ketterdam, alongside Amita Suman as Inej Ghafa, the dagger-throwing rogue of the Crows. The two went through the wringer in season 1 and became closer for it. Clearly that newly stitched bond is getting stronger.

We ship it

courtesy netflix Patrick Gibson as Nikolai Lantsov in 'Shadow and Bone' season 2

Patrick Gibson, previously seen on Netflix in The OA, portrays Nikolai Lantsov, who's first introduced in Seige and Storm, the second book in Bardugo's mothership Grishaverse trilogy, as a privateer by the name of Sturmhond. It's safe to say there's more to this guy than the persona he slips into for the public.

Alina and Mal will be spending quite a bit of time on his fleet of ships. By the looks of these photos, it won't always be an amicable relationship, as Alina flashes her Sun Summoner abilities in the captain's quarters.

courtesy netflix Archie Renaux as Mal and Jessie Mei Li as Alina in 'Shadow and Bone' season 2

Twinning

courtesy netflix Lewis Tan as Tolya Yul-Bataar and Anna Leong Brophy as Tamar Kir-Bataar in 'Shadow and Bone' season 2

Of the new characters Alina and Mal meet out in the world, Tamar Kir-Bataar and Tolya Yul-Bataar are fan favorites. These twins are members of Nikolai's crew. They are also Heartrenders, the Grisha known for manipulating the human body. Tamar is played by Anna Leong Brophy (Traces, Ragdoll), and Tolya is played by Lewis Tan (Mortal Kombat, Wu Assassins).

Wylan out!

courtesy netflix Jack Wolfe's Wylan — seen here with Kit Young as Jesper Fahey — debuts in 'Shadow and Bone' season 2

While Alina is sailing the seas, the Crows are back on their beat. In Six of Crows, Bardugo's duology set in the Grishaverse, Kaz and the gang are hired to complete a job that requires a demolitions expert. That's where Wylan comes in. Jack Wolfe (The Witcher, The Magic Flute) appears as this master bomb-maker next to the Crows' gunslinger Jesper (Kit Young).

Assembling a crew

courtesy netflix Danielle Galligan's Nina joins the Crows gang in 'Shadow and Bone' season 2

One of the last scenes in Shadow and Bone season 1 sees most of the principal characters on the same boat together, heading toward new horizons. That includes Nina (Danielle Galligan), the rebel Heartrender who fled her own Grisha brethren and accidentally got her love interest, the handsome Fjerdan Matthias (Calahan Skogman), thrown in lockup. (More on that in a moment.)

Nina overhears Kaz telling Jesper and Inej that he has a plan to save themselves when they show up back in Ketterdam empty-handed. The merchant Dreesen is expecting them to have the Sun Summoner, and their cutthroat competitor Pekka Rollins, whom they screwed over to get the Dreesen job, will be waiting for them, as well. "We're gonna need a Heartrender," he says. "For this to work out it has to be someone neither of them know, someone desperate for work with loyalties only to us."

The show seems to be changing things up again from how the story plays out in Six of Crows, but we see Nina becomes that Heartrender they are looking for.

Raising hell

courtesy netflix Calahan Skogman's Matthias fights to survive in 'Shadow and Bone' season 2

Viewers will remember that Nina falsely told a bunch of bounty hunters that Matthias was a slave trader to save him from the Grisha looking to execute him. She figured the case would be thrown out when it goes to court in Ketterdam, but a prisoner informs them that the case won't be heard for a couple years. In the meantime, Matthias will be sent to the infamous Hellgate prison, a ruthless fortress located on a small island just outside Ketterdam.

At least we'll still get some eye candy as Matthias deals with his new surroundings.

Related content:

• Shadow and Bone season 2 teaser summons first look at fan favorites and the return of Kirigan

• Shadow and Bone season 2's new casting hints at which books will get adapted

• Shadow and Bone will lay siege (and storm) with season 2 renewal