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windowriting · 1 year

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Shadow and bone s2 spoilery thoughts. Major spoilers for the changes from book-to-show.

For context I've read through the entire book series about twice.

Unsurprisingly, the actors were great. The sets, costumes, and creature design were awesome.

Choices on moving storylines were...interesting.

Didn't realize until part way into ep 2 that this season covered the last 2 books of the main trilogy, as well as some events in SoC.

Really emphasizes how long Mathias was in Hellgate, but also because he's now only interacted with 1 character from the main cast in 2 seasons, it feels weird and disconnected.

The script was...interesting, to say the least. They took Jesper's unaffected demeanor and made him so goofy, and 4th wall break-y, it wasn't funny (most horrendous line was the 5 of crows line, since it emphasizes both this and the last point). Meanwhile there were parts that could have been filled in with better dialogue that underlines relationships and connections.

It feels like story line choices about what plot threads to place where we're more for "how riled up can we get the fanbase to demand a season 3?" Instead of serving the story.

I wish they would have set up the structure clearer. It's a huge ensemble cast, with a lot of material to cover, but it felt like 90% of the tome we see the crows, they're scrambling to justify why they're still interacting with the Alina side of the story, so they take half the plot from this fan favorite book, and half ass the story beats so it undercuts scenes like Kas's revenge, and fighting all of the Dregs.

Kaz's story should have been told in 1 solid flashback the first time he was triggered, then refrenced when he's reminded of it, the viewers stay in his emotional headspace instead of trying to figure out what happened every time. Telling the story but by bit works in a book, but it was jarring and confusing to speed through.

Nikolai really got the short end of the stick when it came to smashing the 2 books together. We don't get enough Sturmhond, his identity reveal is undercut without the tailoring changes, and he just comes up super fast and there doesn't seem to be that underlying comrodery that Alina has with him in the books. They don't make each other better, they're just two morally good people in bad circumstances, existing in the same room. Now it seems they're going to try and extend Malina's story into s3, it's going to crowd the Kos and RoW stories.

Changing the entire seawhipe story probably is the most upsetting thing. Why don't we get to hear about his lore? Alina kills him with a sunburst during a fight with the seawhip- not in a fight between the darkling and sturmhond's crew. We don't get the weight of the action that every step closer to achieving her goal, Alina is killing magical folk tale creatures. We don't get the sense that as she's more powerful, she's loosing her humanity to that power. I think what they were going for was the idea of "the stag gave Alina power, but she took it from the sea whip so his scales aren't powerful enough" but I could be wrong?

What happened to the collar????

The last ep of s1 is no mourners, s2's last ep is no funerals. But they hold a funeral, with a speech given by the king before the funeral pyre while the main cast reflects on what the darkling, and his fold had done to their lives.

Pushing the Apperate's story/sun summoner cult off made the ending anticlimactic. One of the best things about the original trilogy is that it really could have stopped there, and it had an appropriate amount of catharsis. Alina makes the choice to surrender herself to an unknown power to stop the darkling- and she looses that power to do so. Now we have a defeated BBEG, but without the narrative weight. Again, I can see how they'll tie the missing elements into the end of RoW- but because they've taken the property and made some genuinely bad choices on story/script, I don't know if they'll get the demand for s3.

They wouldn't commit to fully fleshing out the plot of Six of Crows to dangle that over the fans. The more I think about it, the clearer that is to me. Which I feel like is going to rush the miracle plot line, and the plot in Fjerda down the road. They also rushed Jesper and Wylan a little, but I can forgive that because we don't need additional queer based trauma.

What I can't forgive is revealing Jesper's powers so quickly and unimportantly.

For the most part the directing served its purpose, but it was nothing to write home about. I am a little tired of action cam/slow mo so we can see and appreciate every landed punch, especially during the entire moat sequence.

I can see where someone said "let's tone down the love triangle angle." But then they took out Alina's internal conflicts that don't have to do directly with someone romantically inclined towards her. Taking out the pressure from the cult, and the betrayel of finding out the twins were apart of it, toning down her connection and care for Genya leaves her with only trying to brute force shut down the fold, and trying to keep Mal alive.

The entire 3rd act has me so messed up with what plots actually happened where, I'm rereading the series to reassure that it was well written.

Skipping Alina's frustration of being underground for months, being indebted to the apparate, and Nikolai's disappearance lowered the stakes of the final battle. It underplays Zoya stepping up to join the main cast. The desperation and feeling like the world may indeed run out of Grisha isn't there.

There should be been a more concerted effort to show the fact the twins are Alina's guards, specifically. They felt really useless. Especially when the Darkling attacks and Tamar looses Alina. That doesn't read Saint protector to me.

I get not every production company wants to attack the topic of child soldiers but that was supposed to be a defining line between the darkling and Alina. Again, messed up because the took another of the pressure book!Alina has and just never addressed it.

I liked the addition of the Zemeni helping Mal and Alina escape- but I feel there were ways to show it where Malina still got found by selling her hair pins.

The entire library scene kicks the story off in a poor way. They have the Zemani librarian use her powers to open a drawer that's 5 inches away and it feels unnatural. This library magicly has the exact right map Alina needs with invisible ink she found, that was apperently waiting for a sun summoner? Why wasn't holding it up to the sun working???

Overall I'm bummed. I wish netflix just initially green lit the original trilogy and shot the plot for what it was, and once they saw s1 work out, approve the SoC/CK spin off, or maybe approve s1 for shadow and bone and s1 for SoC, and schedule those to premiere 6 months apart. So then the 2 year wait for s2 of the main trilogy doesn't feel so long. They even could have teased it the way they dropped 2 extra eps on the sandman or stranger things last season. 1 month after the premiere, drop a SoC episode that is the backdoor pilot for the crows.

There's stuff I've listed that I'm sure probably happened that way in the book and I'm misremembering or totally misread it. I just feel the way I perceived s&b was more compelling than the s2 that we ended up with. Like I said before, I'm rereading now to figure it out.

#shadow and bone #spoilers

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votestaynight2 · 10 months

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6th Day - beautiful (I) (Scene 3)(Attempt 2) / 7th Day dialogue lost loop (Scene 1) (Attempt 2)

Now we are choosing to go out shopping rather than watch TV.

"――――Oh yeah――――" I forgot about it because of all the things that happened this morning, but I did make a promise with Ilya. …Well, it wasn't really a promise, but I'd be really dishonest if I don't go, as I'm the one who asked her if we could see each other again.

"Saber and Sakura are…" They're doing the dishes together. If I tell them I'm going out, they'll either stop me or insist on coming along.

If I'm going to go see Ilya, I should do it alone. I feel bad, but I'll just leave a note and sneak out――――

"――――Phew." I managed to sneak out. I left them a note saying, "Going to buy stuff for dinner. Be back in an hour," so they shouldn't be too worried.

"Hm… So she's not here, as I thought." There's no one in the park. Even with the apartments looming overhead, this place is so cold that it feels like it'll start snowing at any moment.

"…Well, I don't know what I'd talk about even if she were here." I sit on the bench. Setting the grocery bag down, I look up at the dark sky. …It seems the gift I bought at the shopping district went to waste.

"――――――――" I stare at the sky absent-mindedly. It must be because this place is surrounded by buildings. Only a tiny square of sky is visible, and it seems farther away than usual.

"―――――――It's cold." I can see my breath. The cold, dry air is freezing, and I wouldn't be surprised even if it started snowing.

"――――Well, I should go home." I grab the grocery bag and get up. It's past two o'clock. I have to leave now if I'm going to be home in time.

"Huh――――?" My legs freeze. They won't move. They don't even budge, no matter how hard I try――――

"――――" My vision blurs. No, that's an understatement. My vision is broken. My eyes have bulged into my skull, and I have no sense of distance.

"――――Ah――――――――" I realize that I'm in the worst situation possible. It feels like my body has been turned into stone. My nerves are disconnected, leaving me detached from the world. It's like I'm watching the world through a camera, controlling myself in a video game.

"Sa… ber――――" I'll be killed. It was a mistake to go outside alone.

I can't even see my attacker's face, let alone move, and―――― "Did I surprise you? You were completely defenseless, so I had to tease you." ―――Um, I'm being teased by this mischievous girl?

"Oh, you're back to normal. I guess contacting you through vision isn't that strong." "Il――――"

She appears from behind me. She's smiling, probably because she was already here and was watching me from behind.

"But you're no good if you can't dispel magic using your own powers. Your future looks gloomy if outside factors are the only things that can dispel you." She lectures me. But her words aren't coming into my brain.

"Ilya――――! What are you doing!? Surprise attacks are unfair, even if we're both Masters!"

"Hey, that wasn't a surprise attack. I was sitting next to you for a while. But you didn't notice me, and then you made it worse by getting ready to leave. That was your own fault, Shirou." "…!? Y-You were sitting next to me this whole time?"

"Yeah, I was hiding a bit. But you're too careless. You didn't notice my presence, and you were captivated by a spell that merely uses direct magical energy contact. You're a Master, so you should keep a better watch on your surroundings." Ilya warns me, utterly amazed.

"Oh――――yeah. You're right." She seems so much like a teacher that I find myself nodding.

"It's good if you understand. ―――So, what's going on today? You're empty inside right now, but you don't have Saber with you. If you're trying to rest, wouldn't it be safer to do it at home?"

"Huh? Well, I didn't come here to rest. Well, you're right that not bringing Saber was careless of me."

"Right? I couldn't leave you alone because you seemed so odd. I wasn't supposed to talk to you after yesterday, but I'll make an exception for today." "…?" Ilya's saying something strange. After all, I came to this park because…

"So, why were you just sitting here? You would've been dead if I came here as a Master." "Well, I just came here to see you. You told me yesterday that we could meet again."

"――――――――What?" Oh, she's surprised. …Well, it's not like it was an official promise.

"Why…? You came to see me, even though I told you I'll be trying to kill you?" "That's your choice. It's not mine. I just want to talk to you, not fight. And in any case――――"

Ilya said she'd kill me, but she just let a chance go by. She could've really done it if she'd kept her spell on me. As she didn't do so, I don't want to fight her.

"――――Masters don't fight during daytime, right? Then let's forget about it for now. I just came here to see you. Do you want to kill me more than you want to talk with me?"

"Eh――――? T-That's an unfair question. I have to do both. It's fun to talk with you, but I can't forgive you. So I can't choose just one."

Ilya hangs her head and mumbles. She looks serious, like she's actually suffering rather than just being troubled.

"…I see. Then I don't care. I won't ask you to choose one." "Oh… B-But I…" "I know. But since we're both here, let's talk. I brought a gift for you today, so we'll fight some other time."

I take out a bag of taiyaki. They cooled off while I was waiting for Ilya, but they're still a bit warm.

"Here's the offering. I'll give you these, so please let me go this time." I hold out the taiyaki. "Oh――――" Ilya hesitates, but then takes them and nods.

I'm not too sure what we talked about after that. We talked about meaningless things: What she likes to eat, what she doesn't like to eat, how she likes birds and hates cats, how she likes snow and hates the cold, how she wants to play but can't, and how she doesn't like her maids but wants to like them.

Ilya looks happy just to be talking. She is sitting on the bench, eating the taiyaki, and swinging her legs. …She looks like a child waiting for her father's return.

"―――I see. So you didn't come to this town by yourself?" "No, I came with Sella and Leysritt. I don't need people to keep an eye on me, but I do need people to take care of my place, right?"

…So Ilya came to Japan with two maids. Are they staying at a hotel or something?

"What? Are you curious? Do you want to know where I live?" "Eh… yeah, I'm curious. You keep popping up at unexpected times, but what would I do if an emergency happens and I don't know where you live?"

Even if she gets injured and asks me for help, I won't be able to if I don't know that. I'll rest a little easier if I know where she lives――――

"――――All right. You're special. If you want to know that badly, I'll tell you." Then. Ilya stands up and places her hand on my forehead.

"Whoa――――hey, Ilya…" "Just be quiet. You'll enter some other place if you resist me too hard. It's troublesome to return things to normal if that happens." She glares at me. "Oh――――okay." Under that kind of pressure, I can only nod obediently.

"That's a good boy. Then close your eyes. And don't look around too much, okay? Even though I'm transferring you, you'll get motion sickness because the view is someone else's."

"――――!" Ilya places her forehead onto mine. I'm surprised, but I close my eyes. ――――At that moment…

My vision accelerates and expands. No, was it my consciousness that expanded? The next thing I know, I'm looking down at an unfamiliar scene.

"Can you see it? I transferred your vision to my forest."

Ilya's voice echoes in my head. I can't reply, nor nod back. This "vision" is the only thing allowed for me. I'm one of the trees in the forest. It's natural that my body doesn't move. My body has been turned into a tree in an instant.

"Did you memorize the route? Then I'll transfer you to the castle wall now."

The scene changes. My vision is the only sense I have. ―――I still exist, but I can't feel myself.

I'm a wall now. I can sense my limbs, but there are no limbs for me to move. I have a body that can move at will, yet I can't move it.

"Leysritt. I cannot find Ilyasviel-sama. Do you know where she may be?" "……No. Ilya should be somewhere." "Leysritt. Please do not refer to our lady so crudely. Ilyasviel-sama is not like us. Have you forgotten our mission?"

"Sella is Ilya's teacher. I'm to dress Ilya with Heavens Feel, the third dress." "Correct. It seems even your poor memory can retain that."

"……I didn't forget. …But Ilya hates wearing that. So I don't like it."

"…I understand that as well. But we need her to wear it when the time comes. We were made for that purpose. She must be prepared as well."

"……Sella." "What is it, Leysritt?" "……Don't you get tired?" "Not at all!"

…I hear two identical maids talking. When I realize those two are the maids Ilya was talking about…

…I finally return to my body.

"How was it? That was some great transformation magic, right?" "Uh――――Uh…"

…I hold my mouth and bear my nausea. I feel sick, suddenly feeling the realism of my body.

"Ilya… What was that?" "It's transfer of consciousness. I moved your vision into some other object."

"There's a nerve going from your eyes to your brain, right? I connected that nerve to something other than your eyes. You were getting information from the trees in my forest instead of your eyes."

"……Hm. So it's not that I became the tree, but I received their vision and mistakenly thought I was one?"

"Oh, I thought you were dense, but you're actually pretty bright. Yes, that's right. That was magic to change the input while leaving the equipment called human alone. It's a big deal to change someone into a tree, but it's still in the realms of magic to connect one's consciousness to a tree. Far-sight and possession are an application of this magic."

"……I see. But that's pretty impressive stuff. I couldn't do anything when you transferred me to the tree. Couldn't you also use it to nullify your opponent?"

"Yes. Our specialty is in flow and transfer of power. For example, Tohsaka magi can transfer their magical energy into jewels without diluting its purity. Using that same technique, they can also transfer someone's consciousness. If there's an enemy they want to seal, they can nullify him by transferring his consciousness into a jewel or an immobile doll."

"But the success rate of transferring someone's consciousness is so low that even we, the ones specialized in transfer, won't use it as an attack."

"The one I did to you was an exception. You didn't resist, and that forest is mine. It's normally much harder to connect things."

"And your consciousness will be forced to return if the original body is stimulated in any way. The body will call its consciousness back when it senses danger, even if the consciousness is unaware."

"That's what happened to you just now. You couldn't do anything when your mind was in the tree, but your body called you back when I shook it."

"…Hm. So this is something like a dream?" You can never wake up from a dream, no matter how hard you try. Dreams usually end when morning comes―――when the body wakes up out of habit.

"Hmm, it's a bit different. You can wake up from a dream using your will. But that's why transferral is not fit for offense. It's more for self-protection."

"If you transfer your consciousness to your familiar or a doll that can move, you can safely pursue magic."

"……So your consciousness just returns to your original body even if an enemy destroys your familiar?"

"Yes. Magi who transfer their minds usually hide their original bodies in a safe place. In cases like this, you need to watch out when you transfer into a familiar with its own soul."

"When you transfer your consciousness into something with a proper chain of command, the initiative is completely held by them."

"So even if you transfer into humans or animals, you can only occupy a corner of their brain and observe what they see. They will serve as a camera, not a remote-controlled robot."

"Moving your consciousness into a living thing with its own will is more like reincarnation than transfer. That alone is a great magic, so no ordinary magus would be able to do it."

…Reincarnation. Magic to create an offspring with your soul in it after you die. Some magi have achieved that goal, but I hear that reproducing a soul is difficult.

Even if you start over from the moment of birth, if you cannot inherit all the power of your previous self, you are a copy, not a reincarnation. A copy is degraded by its very nature. Therefore, a copied magus is inferior to his previous self.

"If you want to transfer yourself into a living thing, you can make a familiar without a soul. But the soulless familiars used today are weak. It's just like controlling a doll filled with cotton. They're only useful as messengers."

"And even if you transfer your consciousness into a familiar or doll, you will disappear if your original body grows old and dies. It's not immortality."

"The only eternal things in this physical world are souls. But nobody can keep souls by themselves. A soul cannot stay in this world without a body, and it will be destined with 'eventual death' once it obtains a body. Well, it just means that's the limit of magic by Einzbern and Tohsaka."

―――Then. A bell rings the time. The clock in the park points at three. I guess it's already been an hour.

"Oh… I have to get going. Are you going home too?" "Hm? Yeah, I should be heading home."

Ilya nods and walks to the middle of the park.

"…Okay. I shouldn't say this, but…" The white girl asks me…

"Will you come see me again tomorrow, Shirou?" …As if she knows I'm going to refuse.

"――――――――" You idiot. I don't even need to answer.

"―――Of course I'll come tomorrow. You showed me your house, so it's my turn next." "Okay! Then I'll be sure to call out to you first tomorrow!"

Ilya runs off. Under the cloudy sky… The white-haired girl looks like a fairy.

"I'm home." "Where were you, Shirou!?" "Where did you go, Senpai!?" "W-Whoa――――!?" I jump back, bumping against the front door.

"No, not 'whoa'! I have told you many times not to go outside by yourself! Worse still, you snuck out while you were sick…!"

"Saber-san's right! You wrote that you'd be back at two! Do you know what time it is!? Where were you for the extra two hours!?"

"Uh――――no, hold on. I understand. I understand why you two are mad, so…" If you guys will just calm down, I should be able to come up with an excuse…

"No, you do not understand…! I agreed with your decision to go to school yesterday, but I cannot forgive you this time. It seems you are healthy enough. I shall train you until dinner!" Saber pushes Sakura aside and steps closer.

"Yes, the dojo is cleaned, so please have some matches with Saber-san! I heard how good she is from Fujimura-Sensei, so I'm sure you'll enjoy it!" Sakura pushes Saber aside and roars at me.

"Uh――――ugh." …I can't do this. I'll only add fuel to the fire if I say the wrong thing. Saber might even go as far as breaking our contract. "Where is your reply, Shirou!?" "Where's your reply, Senpai!?" "――――――Uh… I'm sorry." Rattle, rattle. I hate my front door for blocking my retreat.

"Then let us go at once. Please prepare the first-aid kit, Sakura." "Please do. Punish him all you want." The two retreat together in unison.

"………Man. I wonder if I'll be able to eat dinner tonight." But I don't know what they'll do if I don't go with them. …I guess I have to atone for my actions in the dojo…

The rest of the day passes as normal, Shinji shows up and is fucking disgusting, then Sakura passes out. Then we choose to keep an eye on her, and things continue to play out the same way until after the chat with Kotomine. Then this scene is indicated as being new:

"……" It's almost four o'clock when I get out of the restaurant. I have no business in the shopping district, so all that's left is to go home.

"――――, ――――"

…But Kotomine's story is not something I can ignore. Caster is still alive. People are still falling into unexplained comas. And――――

"…! ――――, ――――!"

I'm still surprised by how calm I was when I found out Kotomine was a Master. …Come to think of it, I never got along with him. I must have known instinctively that we would be in opposition.

"…Hey――――!"

…In any case, Kotomine lost his Servant. There are three Masters remaining now. Assassin's Master, who seems to be at the Ryudou Temple, and Archer's Master, Tohsaka. And…

"HEEEEEEEEEEY! WHY ARE YOU SPACED OUT, SHIROU!!!!!?"

"Whoaaaa!?" Berserker's Master, the girl in front of me right now――――!

"I-Ilya…!? W-Why did you suddenly jump on me!? You surprised me…!" "Hey, it wasn't sudden! You're the one who didn't notice me when I was calling out to you!"

"What…?" …Oh. I thought I heard something, but could it be…?

"…Oh man. Have you been following me ever since the shopping district?" "Yup. You were walking with a difficult expression. I called to you from behind so that I wouldn't bother you, but you just ignored me and kept on walking."

"Oh. Well, I was thinking, so it's not like I was ignoring you…" "And you didn't come to the park either. I was waiting all this time."

Oh… she's right. We have a tacit understanding to meet there in the afternoon. How could I have forgotten just because I was talking with Kotomine――――!?

"…Sorry, I forgot about it. I apologize, Ilya." "Humph. I won't forgive you that easily. I'm really mad."

Ilya glares at me. …Hmm, what should I do? I can't blame her for getting mad, since I did forget our promise and make her wait.

I have to show her my sincerity, so――――

#votestaynight

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