#Shadow and Bone trilogy

[siriuslyobsessedwithfiction]

This post argues that most Darklina shippers ignore Alina’s lack of agency and the abusive dynamics in the series. Alina’s choices were largely controlled by powerful men — especially the Darkling — and the only real choice she made for her own happiness was to be with Mal. The Darkling manipulated, isolated, and abused her, stripping away her autonomy, especially through the amplifiers that symbolically and literally controlled her power. Even Nikolai, though seen as a fan favorite, initially approached Alina with political motives and pressured her into an alliance. Throughout the trilogy, Alina is used as a tool by various men, with Mal being the only one who loved and supported her for who she truly was, without any hidden agenda. The post critiques the romanticization of Darkling and emphasizes how Mal’s love was the only genuinely selfless and honest one in Alina’s life.

Okay, I guess this will be my essay I was going to publish anyway.

Alina Starkov and her inability to form healthy relationships

Let's put the Darkling and Nikolai aside for a moment. Yes, the only decision the famously indecisive Alina made for herself was continuously choosing Mal even though he was continuously shitting on her and not choosing her while for some reason also asking her to choose him. Why should we clap for that?

For many years now fans have been arguing about which love interest is best suited for Alina. The most objective answer to that question is none. In order to explain why first we need to dive deeper into Alina’s character and both her platonic and romantic relationships. The main problem with Alina's relationships seems to be the fact that she is an extremely passive character and rarely takes action, unless she's absolutely forced to do so. That is, if we don't count her suicide attempts. I think she is just written that way and obviously I cannot bash a fictional character for the way she is written by the author. LB's writing style there reminds me of a self-insert fan fiction from Wattpad. So Alina's lack of agency is actually the author's fault.

Of course as a typical y/n, Alina doesn't go out of her way to take action or make friends. They sort of come to her, like Marie and Nadia immediately assuming the roles of "best friend side characters in a new setting to provide exposition and gossip". The only one she seems to desperately hold onto and go to far lengths to to keep him in her life is Mal. Most of the time he doesn't even want to be there and makes that explicitly clear by weaponized incompetence: claiming that Alina doesn't need him while she consistently states that she needs him for support, not just tracking. But Mal constantly whines how he is useless, a one trick pony and the only thing he has to offer to her is tracking, even though the only thing Alina really needed, especially in the second book, is some comfort. Which ironically, Alina's proclaimed enemy - the Darkling provided. He sat with her during long nights and silently kept her company while Mal was out there drinking, gambling and sleeping with other women instead of performing his duty as Alina's captain of the guard.

Which is so bizarre. The "big bad manipulator" Darkling has plenty of alone time with her during multiple nights and never speaks to her, let alone manipulates or torments her. On the other hand, every time she interacts with Mal, they fight, he makes it about himself, asks her to make things go back to the way they were (that being her being sickly and fragile and trailing behind him like a mouse) as if she can turn back time. As if they aren't in the middle of a brewing civil war. As if Alina doesn't have a duty and a purpose for the first time in her life. Alina was overwhelmed by responsibilities she wasn't ready to take on, and her best friend Mal does the opposite of helping. He acts childishly and ignores his job instead of supporting her. Mal's big fight with Alina drives her to the point of running away aimlessly in the city in her pajamas and attempting suicide. Suicide, people. Mal is not her friend, let alone a good love interest.

It's important to remember that he didn't support her or accept her for what she was for two books straight, then made a belated 180 degree switch when the author decided that Malina would be endgame. Even the epilogue in RaR sucks. Once again, Alina is frail and strange, servants (who she now employs) don't respect her, sneer and make fun of her, while her now husband Mal turns a blind eye. Everything is back to the way it was: Mal thrives, Alina is...there, missing an essential part of herself, isolated, friendless unless her old ones visit once a year. The ending is supposed to be bittersweet, a couple who survived a war building a new life together, but I don't see the sweet part.

Alina had grown up into an extremely controlled and shut off environment. Not only did she live in a small village, she also lived in an orphanage which was basically a cult. It's crucial for development of children's minds and psych for them to have some sort of moral and core values explained and ingrained into them. Alina grew up in an orphanage where she did not have friends except Mal. Her only mother figure was an abusive hostile sexist woman. She doesn't really believe in saints and we never see her actually strive to make her country better. Her patriotism is usually out of obligation because she is stuck with her powers or because a charming person like Nikolai told her that they could do a lot of good together. Her only driving force in life is Mal. That is extremely unhealthy. 

 I do not want to blame Alina for not being an extrovert and going out of her way to make friends but I think we should acknowledge that her insecurities often get in the way of her forming relationships. She doesn't make friends in the first army because she is insecure about how small and fragile she is and maybe some people were cruel to her and if they were, it's understandable why she would be hesitant to put herself out there. But the thing is though, the very first thing we see from her, the very first words she utters are hostile towards the person who just bumped into her. Someone says to her "watch where you're going" and she snaps at him: "why don't you watch your fat feet". Well, fat shaming was certainly not necessary. She could just say "sorry" or "watch where you're going yourself" or just "piss off". She immediately retaliates to point out his "flaw" because only thing she sees in herself are her own flaws. The sentence she says after that in her inner monologue is that the soldier probably didn't expect lip from a scrawny little thing like her.

She shames others and then shames herself and the cycle repeats and it never goes anywhere. She doesn't learn to not judge herself or others and that is one of the reasons why she can't form healthy relationships. Furthermore, when she gets to the little Palace, she's prejudiced against Grisha and doesn't try to make any friends once again. As an introvert I understand why she wouldn't want to in new environment but but the smart thing would be to not be completely alone. The only "friends" she made are the ones who came up to her and literally stuck to her - Marie and Nadia, and she didn't really care about them.

Then, there's Genya. Alina finds out that Genya has been accepted into the second army and that she was a spy for the Darkling and she immediately takes it as a personal offense. In reality, Genya was a servant, a Grisha without color, so she should've seen the spy thing coming. The darkling wasn't in the little Palace most of the time so obviously he would have someone to keep an eye on her. Also she guilt-trips Genya when she doesn't immediately take Alina's side and even when we hear Genya's backstory and what she went through, Alina doesn't feel nearly as sympathetic as she should have for a friend. Why would Genya put her trust in the girl, who is allied with her abusers - the royal family, and for months didn't even care to get to know people around her, since she was only there until she could find a way to reconnect with her one sided childhood crush? Genya was well-versed in political situations and got double dose of suffering as a Grisha and as a servant, while Alina didn't even accept being Grisha. She should've known Alina wouldn't stay and bother to liberate Grisha and she didn't. She left everything up to the family who was responsible to Genya's rape for years. And Nikolai, who Alina praises to heavens and claims is the best future for Ravka, sent his rapist father to a nice luxurious retirement in the Southern colonies, as well as his mother who was equally at fault for what happened to Genya because she was the one who removed her protection from Genya and allowed the king to rape her. Alina doesn't express any concern over that, nor did she express concern when the King was in her presence and spent his days "chasing servant girls". Ew. Just ew. Alina sees what happened to Genya before her very eyes and allows it to happen. Alina is not Genya's friend.

Even in Siege and Storm, for some reason, Alina demands loyalty from Grisha who she hasn't done anything good for. What do they owe her? Alina came to the little Palace, didn't train, was prejudiced against them and they're supposed to choose her over the man who gave them shelter and trained them and kept them safe? Alina claims she does not want to be a saint or a queen or a leader one second and the next she demands unquestioning loyalty from other Grisha, as well as Nikolai's rogue Grisha and her cult. But do we really see her doing anything for them? No. When she went to the little Palace all she said is that the darkling was a psychopath and that he would take over the world, which he wasn't even planning to do. And then she threatened the remaining Grisha in the little Palace that she would have them in chains if they didn't listen to her. Imagine if the Darkling did that. She never really befriends the Grisha that stuck with her. When the inferni Hershaw shares his backstory and tells them how in the Wandering Isle people crack Grishas' heads open because they believe that their blood has magical properties, even brash Zoya is appalled and expresses her condolences. Meanwhile all Alina thinks about is herself, that Hershaw sharing his backstory means that he will place his hope for a better world for Grisha in Alina now and how she doesn't want that kind of responsibility.

The point is that Alina never goes through the steps that are required to make a friend, but when she needs one, she always demands to have them there at her beck and call. Otherwise they are a terrible person, a traitor for not being on her side and the Darkling's puppet.

Even the Darkling, who wasn't in the little Palace most of the time, who always traveled across the whole country to various military points to ensure that the borders were controlled, a person who couldn't allow anyone to get close to him, who had to remain professional with everyone, who couldn't let anyone know that he was an amplifier, still had more friends than Alina who he encouraged to make friends. He had his personal guard - the Oprichniki, and a few heartrenders he was close to, like Ivan for example. Alina only has a few Grisha during the trilogy whose names we even find out and she never even checked up on them. When they come to her with their grievances Alina never takes the opportunity to grow closer with them. No, it's always about Mal, who's doing just fine without her but will complain how she's not paying attention to him.

 Now, as for the Darkling, her interactions with him are very open in Shadow and Bone. It's just good communication between them when he was in the little Palace. They talked, Alina wallowed in her insecurities and he actually found her sour humor funny, which was very cute. And he did his best to answer her questions and ease her worries. He literally told her he was over 120 years old, that had been waiting for her for a long time, that he finally felt a connection with someone. And here's the thing: Alina never outwardly rejected his advances. She told him he was no longer alone, that he had her, the damned kiss was consensual. And then Alina runs away with Mal and goes back to every prejudice she initially had about him. What is he supposed to feel? He tries to get her back. And he bargains and shows he's willing to negotiate even after she screwed up his carefully planned coup. He even says that he doesn't mind her thing with Mal because he will die eventually or she will find out that it won't work out with him. The Darkling's primary goal wasn't "manipulating" or "possessing'' Alina, it was saving Ravka from collapsing. But over the next two books, she refuses to look at the big picture and properly address the problems which darkling is trying to fix. If only Alina actually talked to him instead of throwing baseless accusations every five seconds. She could literally call him anytime through the tether, he visited her all the time and she just refused to communicate. If she no longer wanted a relationship with him, she could at least speak to him about serious matters, like avoiding the civil war the country clearly couldn't take.

Her relationship with Nikolai was not genuine. Did it have potential to actually become genuine if they acknowledged each other’s flaws? Yes. But Alina justified Nikolai’s selfish ambitions as him trying to do what’s best for Ravka while never granting the Darkling the same leniency. She is appalled at Darkling’s willingness to kill the Grisha who turned on him after he asked him to not make him to do it and not to start an actual civil war but is okay with Nikolai sacrificing the Grisha loyal to Alina to get himself on the throne. What’s the difference between Nikolai’s and the Darkling’s relationship to Alina? Nikolai presents himself better in order to stay in her good graces. The Darkling is a general, Nikolai is a politician. The Dakling told her how it was, what he had to do, and Alina couldn’t handle the ugly truth. In both Shadow and Bone and Siege and Storm, we see the Darkling call her out numerous times, asking her the real questions: 

Why would she run without giving him a chance to explain himself? (She was still prejudiced against him and didn’t view him as an actual human being even after how much kindness he had shown her)

What was her long-term plan? (She didn’t have one)

Did she really want Mal or Nikolai? (She wasn’t sure)

Nikolai never bothered her with such difficult questions. He was all too glad to prance her around, use her as a political tool, be charming to her and show her a glimpse of a wounded boy with a dream. Funny how fans call the Darkling the manipulator when all he had was a strategy to help Grisha, and yes, for that he needed Alina’s power. He actually risked his plan at the winter fete with his flustered flirting. You’d think he’d be better at it, and perhaps he could be, but he was actually too honest and hopeful too soon.

Meanwhile, Nikolai needed Alina for his image, to strengthen his claim to the throne even though legally he had no right to it. Who is truly the selfish one here? Nikolai kissed her in public without consent and then shoved her into a carriage, practically trapped her in an engagement…Do we really believe he wouldn’t expect her to be involved in politics, uphold their image as King as Queen and for her to birth an heir? The Darkling put a collar on her because she ran away, ignored her duty and responsibilities to her people and her country, and screwed up his carefully planned coup. And because she needed the amplifiers because she didn't train and couldn't to anything without them. I will not hear the degrading “she was just a girl” as an excuse. It’s an explanation, sure, but not an excuse. She was an adult, she was a soldier, and her running away and refusing to cooperate was the equivalent of someone stealing the nuclear codes and the only cure to the land of Chernobyl infested with zombies. She was considered a saint as soon as she was discovered for that very reason, because she was crucial to any sort of plan for Ravka. Nikolai and Darkling have lots of similarities in that regard. They claim everything they do, they do it for Ravka. 

[barrel-crow-n]

I think the saddest thing about Alina is that she was villianised when she was just trying to be whole. She didn't want the power of the stag and it was forced upon her (although she did also gain it anyway for granting mercy). Then, again, she took the whip's life because it was going to die anyway due to the Darkling. This caused her to feel unbalanced because she didn't have the last piece of the matching set. And this is treated as greed! as a horrible thing and a sign that she's going power hungry when in reality she just feels unbalanced. It makes sense that she wants a matching set! It's like an impulse she can't ignore, to make herself whole.

[maladaptivedaydreamerlala]

Day 1316 of imaging The Darkling on Jurda Parem

[aesthetic--mood]

Shadow and bone Aesthetic

[ruins-and-rewritez]

Southern Palace huh?

Six Crooked Spires huh?

Sounds familiar, like something else I know in the South....(literally Ketterdam and them Crows)

Leigh Bardugo out here acting like the events of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom ain't written in the damn stars....literally

[darklinaforever]

These people think they're smart, don't they ?

Who cares that Mal is 17 ? Is this a fantasy where teenagers have adult responsibilities ? Not teenagers of our time ? So no, we don't care that Mal is 17, it doesn't excuse her, especially when other characters the same age don't behave in such a stupid and insufferable way in this story. And in fact, Mal treated Alina like shit before she was taken to the Little Palace. He generally ignored her and let her friends call her Stick. He's also more interested in the idea of ​​having one last fuck than spending his last potential evening with his best friend ? And he continues to treat her like shit overall throughout the trilogy.

Yes, the Darkling intercepted the letters ? Not cool, but that's literally what allowed Alina to unlock her powers. Oh and actually, Genya was the one who chose what to do with the letters. She had the right to give them to Alina.

And I have a hard time understanding how the fact that Alina has a crush on the Darkling who is a hot dark wizard is a problem and even less a justification for Mal's behavior who slutshames Alina for it because he would have preferred her to be in danger at the little palace ? Literally, Mal has had sex with tons of girls. Why is Alina finally having a crush on someone else becoming a problem ? An argument in favor of Mal to understand it ?! Wtf ?!

And why is the Darkling's age argument even acceptable in 2025 ? It's a fantasy ! With a Russian historical context ! She is an adult in 17 in the world ! Not only is Alina probably more 18 than 17, so she's an adult, but even if she was 17, the girl again is in a fantastic historical context. If she's old enough to go to war and have the responsibility of the world on her shoulders, she can get laid by a powerful, hot, immortal dark wizard who physically looks 17 !

Fuck you with these arguments that aren't even arguments ?!

Growing up is realizing that Mal is toxic waste. And that the Grishaverse is just poorly written.

[shadowcats4]

I headcannon Nikolai as bi.

Note: I haven't seen any fanart or fanfiction or anything

[therealkaidertrash21]

"What is infinite? The universe and the greed of men" stuck with me so much, i keep saying it in my head, it's so well written.

[siriuslyobsessedwithfiction]

I hope one day YA fantasy and dystopia authors will realize just because the target audience are teenagers, it's not necessary to dumb down the concept and every aspect of war and its consequences. Yes, war is an unimaginable horror and you cannot write the gruesome and psychologically scarring details in YA, but it still should be treated as a horror and not something glorious or easily fixed. The characters cannot fight in a war in one book and be just fine in the next. You can make light of the situation without making it out to be a light situation. It's actually harmful and sends the wrong message.

If they're worried about the readers not liking it, may I remind you The Hunger Games trilogy didn't shy away from showing what war is and it's still considered one of the best YA books to this day. Harry Potter, which is considered a children's book, portrayed a corrupt government, silent overtaking of power, disappearings and mass panic fairly well.

Teenagers and young adults might not be ready for adult books, but if authors choose to write a heavy topic such as war in YA books, they should deliver it well, even if it's vague, rather than prettify the image and distort the facts.

It's insulting, even. We know what war is. We see it on the news. We see it on the internet even if we don't want to see it. Some of our loved ones have experienced it. Sometimes it's like the authors forget their books are read by people from all around the world.

"It's supposed to be an escape from the real world"- well then, give the book a happy ending. Or abandon writing war altogether and embrace the whimsy.

[ordinarythingsiflovecaneverbe]

Na razrusha’ya,

I am not ruined,

E’ya razruhost.

I am ruination.

[lilu787788]

It's unforgivable and utterly terrible the way Baghra treated Aleksander. Her cruelty and rejection were not just harsh, they were devastating and entirely unjustifiable. It’s hard not to feel anger when I think about how, at his lowest, she couldn’t even extend a hand to him. Instead of helping him through his struggles, she pushed him further into darkness. Her inability to believe in him, to see past the power he wielded, pushed him down a path from which he could never truly return.

When I compare her actions to what Luke Skywalker did for his father, Darth Vader, it becomes even more obvious just how damaging Baghra’s behavior was. Luke, despite the galaxy’s condemnation of his father, still believed that there was good in him. He saw past the years of darkness, the destruction, and the horrors Vader had caused. Luke chose not to abandon him, not to believe that his father was beyond redemption. Instead, he reached out. Luke believed in the humanity of the man who had fallen so far, and ultimately, it was his belief that led to Vader’s redemption. The tragedy of Aleksander’s story is that, unlike Vader, he had no one to reach out to him. There was no one who saw him for more than the darkness he was mired in. He was never given the opportunity to be more than the weapon Baghra saw him as. In the end, I think it’s not just Aleksander’s fall that hurts, but the realization that there was no one willing to offer him the love or support that could have saved him. His mother, the one person who should have been his source of strength, became the architect of his suffering. That is not just cruel, it is unforgivable. A mother who should have protected her child, who should have been his light when the world was unkind, instead condemned him before he had the chance to be anything else. And it doesn’t end there. Baghra’s manipulation didn’t stop at Aleksander. She also targeted Alina, the one person who might have been able to reach him, to pull him back from the edge. She planted seeds of doubt, twisted the truth, and pushed Alina away from him, not because she wanted to protect Alina, but because she was determined to ensure that Aleksander remained alone. She didn’t just give up on her son, she went out of her way to make sure no one else would save him either. That is not just a failure. That is a deliberate, calculated cruelty. The tragedy here is not just that Aleksander was alone, but that he was forced into that isolation by the very person who should have fought for him the most. Baghra did not just abandon him, she made sure there was no one left to offer him the love that could have saved him. And that is something I cannot excuse.

[cowboylikejesper]

watching people DNF six of crows because they “couldn’t understand” the world building (they probably needed to read the shadow and bone trilogy for more context) is a different kind of pain

[m4rs-ex3]

i "did a thing" if you will

kefta's oh me oh my!!

*canonically ignorant keftas

(individuals n in-depth analysis aka rambling under cut)

darkling

i mean. what do you want. B L A C K.

the pattern (which you must zoom in to see) is a swirly deal, different from the sun summoner swirls; more like wood grain

sun summoner

sun rays! swirly swirls! yellow! idk just look at!!

squallers

more swirls! these were kinda hell but idk i like em

inferni

first big divergence: orange as opposed to red. i made sure not to have any repeat embroidery colors.....even though i changed alkemi so there is no red anymore.............anyway. i'm iffy on this one bc i suck at drawing fire but i think it turned out (it's mostly just the upper side panels cuz they look a lil too fur-ish)

tidemakers

they were teal in the show right?? idk but. this one might me my favorite, but i do fear it's a lil complicated, but then again: i can do whatever the fuck i want. and no i cannot draw water without copying the great wave. whatever it's sick

heartrenders

coporalnik were harrdddddd. heartrenders are--naturally-usually symbolized by the heart but i hate drawing real hearts so cartoon hearts it is!! kinda feel like that kinda heart wouldn't exist in this universe..... but hey look it pointy

healers

heart but upside down!! (seriously what r u supposed to do.) plus bandage imagery, as a treat. these two were really just Vibes.

durasts

also pretty hard, also mostly just Vibes. btw it is a distinctly different shade of gray (1 of 50, i've heard) from the squaller silver. u will not catch me lacking nice try bud

alkemi

the most notable sticker-outer--yea she's green. i mean cmon we have enough red and no green and everybody knows science is green. anyway this is another one of my favs. vapor clouds and bubbles what's not to love

i do love the embroidery in the show, especially how, yk, much there is of it, and how identifiable it makes it, but on the other hand the books only ever mention the cuffs and hems so i like to think i struck a nice balance

[letters2fiction]

“SAINTS.. have you heard of clothes Nikolai or do you just creep around like that?”

My palace, my rules, lapushka. And deep down you love seeing me like this 😏🥰

— Nikolai

[vampireprose]

I don't understand people who defend the darkling! I mean around 100 pages in (in my copy atleast) he says that he literally sold Genya to the queen because of her powers! A literal child!!!

And this didn't even happen after the reveal of him being the villain!

I don't get Darkling stans, he is literally the worst!!!

[darklinaforever]

The difference between Darklina and Malina stans is that at least we Darklina stans recognize that there are toxic aspects to our ship, whereas Malina stans generally completely deny that their ship is toxic, always placing their ship as superior in terms of morality while objectively... Malina is worse than Darklina.