Shadow and Bone season 2 recap guide: All 8 episodes explained

Shadow and Bone season 2 episode 2 recap: “Rusalye”

In the second episode of Shadow and Bone season 2, Alina and Mal reveal their plan to Sturmhond that they plan to hunt the Sea Whip, make it an amplifier, and use it to destroy the Fold. He agrees to the plan.

Back in Ravka, Genya and the Darkling share a conversation about what’s next. Genya and the Darkling are looking for David and other Grisha to join the cause after they were betrayed by the First Army. Genya tries to fix the Darkling’s facial wounds, but can’t. There’s something wrong with him. He’s sick, perhaps, and the nichevo’ya are always with him in the darkness.

As Genya tries to help the Darkling, the nichevo’ya nearly attacks her. It’s the first time that we see that the Darkling is not in total control of his power anymore. There is something bad happening to him after surviving the Shadow Fold.

Fruszi, another Grisha loyal to the Darkling, helps him use merzost, a kind of magic with a price, to make the Darkling better and more powerful. They find Baghra in a cave where the Darkling has been hiding her. How could he do that to his own mother?

Alina and Mal have used Mal’s senses (we’ll call them that) to find the Sea Whip. They journey into an island cave to find the Sea Whip with the intention of not killing it. That does not go according to the plan. Alina is forced to kill it when it attacks their group. Later, they do the necessary procedure for Alina to use the Sea Whip as an amplifier, but she doesn’t know how to control it.

The Crows continue their attack on Pekka Rollins, but it’s a trap. Pekka has people set up for Kaz, Inej, Jesper, and Wylan, but they don’t have an answer for Nina. She helps them escape, but it’s one of Wylan’s bombs that saves them. Nina is wounded, and so is Inej. They meet in a crypt in a cemetery as they hide out from Rollins.

The episode ends with the Darkling feeling Alina growing stronger. That’s not good for the Sun Summoner, y’all.

Other important happenings in this episode: 

• Matthias is stuck in Hellgate and struggling with his fate. His cellmate is also Fjerdan and tries to convince him to trust in Djel, their God. Poor Matthias just followed his heart and it led to him eating old, crusty bread dipped in toilet water.