Here’s everything you need to know about the future of Shadow and Bone on Netflix.
- Shadow and Bone premiered first on Netflix on April 23, 2021.
- The second season premiered on Netflix on March 16, 2023.
Shadow and Bone is an American fantasy series developed by Eric Heisserer for Netflix. It is based on two series of books in the Grishaverse by Leigh Bardugo, the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology.
Upon its release, the series has climbed to the top of Netflix’s most-watched chart, overtaking the hit psychological thriller drama You.
Despite its popularity and the fact there is still plenty of source material to adapt in future seasons, the show is yet to be renewed for a third season and no statements have been made so far.
Shadow and Bone Season 2 received positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 83% based on 24 reviews, with an audience score of 79%.
The website’s critics’ consensus reads, “Shadow and Bone’s sophomore season packs in too much story sinew to properly breathe, but this adventure remains great fun for fantasy fans.”
Shadow and Bone season 2 ended on a cliffhanger. The fans were taken aback by the magic, heartbreak and drama galore and the ending especially blew their minds everyone is desperate to know what happens next. Here is all we know about the Season 3 of Shadow and Bone.
Has ‘Shadow and Bone’ been renewed for season 3?
The second season of the epic drama premiered on March 16, 2023. So, it’s been only two weeks. Even though season 1 hit no. 1 in 79 countries, the season 2 renewal wasn’t announced until June 2021, two months after the series premiered.
So, we can expect Netflix to take its due time. The streamer will likely wait until the ratings for season 2’s first 28 days on the platform are in.
When will Shadow and Bone Season 3 be on Netflix?
Thus far, no release date has been announced and no updates for the third season are available. However, showrunner Heisserer previously spoke about his hopes for three seasons of the show, telling Collider in 2021: “It was a three-year plan that I laid out or three-season plan.”
Given the time frame between the two seasons
- Shadow and Bone season 1 – April 2021
- Shadow and Bone season 2 – March 2023
There was a two-year gap between seasons 1 and 2, but season 2’s production didn’t begin until January 2022, possibly due to COVID-related delays. So, if season 3 gets a quick renewal and begins production in the next two months, season 3 could arrive by late 2024.
Shadow and Bone Season 3 Plot
The series closely follows the plot of Bardugo’s books. Season 2 was based mainly on the second novel in the Shadow and Bone trilogy, Siege and Storm, and has plotlines from the third, Ruin and Rising. References from Bardugo’s Six of Crows duology are also made.
The second season ended on a huge cliffhanger taking the show on an original path away from the source material. Thus we can speculate that a third season will continue to adapt the books, focusing more on Ruin and Rising and Crooked Kingdom, the crows last entry to the Grishaverse.
A possible season three could follow Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows series, but showrunner Eric Heisserer said there are actually plans in the works for a separate Six of Crows spin-off, and the scripts have already been written. “The eight-episode scripts are phenomenal and I’m really proud of my team for those,” he told EW. The spin-off “would be its own little season of fun that our characters would get to be a part of.”
Bardugo is yet to write a third book in the Six of Crows series, but she hinted it could be a future project. The author told Collider: “A third Six of Crows is a big ‘someday’. I have an idea for the plot of it, and I’ve had it for a long time.
“But for me, the Grishaverse has gotten a little crowded at this point and a little noisy. And there are other projects that I want to work on. And for me, I don’t want to write that book with those characters until I really want to do it.”