Netflix’s Shadow and Bone is the latest gem on the massive streaming service. The fantasy series has a fearless heroine at the center of the narrative and presents a world where magic and darkness collide.
While Netflix has all kinds of shows on their platform, Shadow and Bone is certainly one of its most elaborate when it comes to special effects, costuming, setting, and intrigue.
Fans will be thrilled to know that the new series also has a major Game of Thrones connection.
Inside Netflix’s ‘Shadow and Bone’
Shadow and Bone is based on Leigh Bardugo’s beloved Grishaverse novels. “Shadow and Bone finds us in a war-torn world where lowly soldier and orphan Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) has just unleashed an extraordinary power that could be the key to setting her country free,” the official Netflix synopsis reads. The statement continues,
With the monstrous threat of the Shadow Fold looming, Alina is torn from everything she knows to train as part of an elite army of magical soldiers known as Grisha. But as she struggles to hone her power, she finds that allies and enemies can be one and the same and that nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. There are dangerous forces at play, including a crew of charismatic criminals, and it will take more than magic to survive.
In addition to relative newcomer Mei, the series also stars The Punisher’s Ben Barnes, Amita Suman, Freddy Carter, Archie Renaux, and Kit Young.
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The ‘Shadow and Bone’ cast did a lot of their own dangerous stunts
Shadow and Bone was filmed in scenic Budapest and in the Hungarian countryside. Therefore, which such picturesque views, the crew did not have to rely on as much green screen as one might expect. “To be able to film in these extraordinary buildings, you don’t feel like you’re playing at something you feel like you’re recreating something,” Barnes, who portrays General Kirigan told Cosmopolitan U.K.
Since they were leaning into authenticity, the cast also did most of their own dangerous stunts. “I actually do have a scar; it’s my first Inej scar. This one was from a belt, actually,” Suman shared. “In one of the episodes, there’s a fight scene, and we had this double there on the day, and she was so incredible, but I was surprised to see that in the cut, it was actually all me.”
‘Shadow and Bone’ has a ‘Game of Thrones’ connection
Many fans will certainly see some of the same fantasy elements in Shadow and Bone that they saw in HBO’s long-running Game of Thrones. It shouldn’t be surprising then that the TV shows share a connection.
Shadow and Bone’s fictional languages were created by the same person who created Dothraki in Game of Thrones. David J. Peterson created Dothraki and Valyrian in GoT and the language in Thor: The Dark World. Now, he’s responsible for the languages you hear in Shadow and Bone.
“He created two languages that you’ll essentially be able to learn at some point,” Lei said. And these languages were incorporated into even the tiniest details on set, from bottle labels to playing cards.”
