In case it was not obvious in my last post, the GrishaVerse, specifically Six of Crows, is incredibly important to me and helped me through some hard times. Because of this, I have a very strong emotional attachment to a lot of the characters in the series, which made me so excited to see them on screen, but also made me nervous. As much as I wanted to see them, I was worried about them not living up to expectations. However, just like in season one, all the characters, new and returning, lived up to their glory from the books.

The Characters

If there is one thing that is important to the GrishaVerse, it is the characters within it. Even in the beginning of Six of Crows, when she introduces a random character to kill off immediately, he is someone so unique that people still immediately know who he is when you talk about him. This means that it was crucial for the show to not alter characters in any major way, even as they made changes to the plot.

That being said, the one character that they can (and should) change, they did. Mal’s character is improved from the books which is necessary(I could do an entire blog post on his character alone, honestly), but his core principles have not changed. He’s instead had a couple decisions changed, making him the same character, but with less toxicity. 

All in all, the characters in the show are so true to the original characters that I have no complaints about their characterization whatsoever. The things that made me love them all in the first place are still there, even as they are put in situations that I had no idea about. The only issue I have is (spoilers for the show and Siege and Storm) that Alina agrees to marry Nikolai. It really caught me off guard for it to unfold the way it does. (spoilers over) I do like the improvement on the relationship between Mal and Alina however (which I will elaborate on in part 2).

The Plot

This is where the writers really tend to mess with things. And for what it is worth, they do a really good job. For me, as a book lover who tends to be the first one to say the obnoxious “that’s not what it is like in the book,” to only have one major issue with the things they chose to change is impressive. I did have a second issue with something that they changed, but I don’t hate their choices. Even as certain plot changes occurred, the heart of the GrishaVerse was still present

The Changes

(spoilers for the show, Rule of Wolves, and Crooked Kingdom)

The change that made me sad was the change in Jesper and Wylan’s relationship plotline. They got together really quickly, which I am not going to complain about, though I am going to miss the slow burn from the books. I really think the writers took pity on us because we have already been dragged through two full seasons of Kaz and Inej. However, the fact that they slept with one another prior to the show (which was so obvious, I don’t know why it shocked people) means that one of the best lines between the two, which explicitly states Jesper’s bisexuality and solidifies them into potential love-interest territory, will never happen. The “Just girls?””no, not just girls.” line will never happen. On top of that, our chances of hearing “maybe I liked your stupid face” is also slim, especially considering they had something similar said in the show (“I kinda like your face”). All in all, however, I am happy we get to see the two happy.

The one that pissed me off is

the choice they made to kill off David prematurely. Yes, he dies in Rule of Wolves, but he plays enough of a part in that series that it makes no sense to kill him early. Unlike with every other change in the show, this is the one that I cannot find good reason for. The only one I can think of is that they wanted to highlight the relationship between Alina, Genya, and Zoya, as the three girls most directly manipulated by the Darkling, through having them be the Triumvirate by replacing David with Alina. However, he did not need to die for them to do that, because there is not the same emphasis on the separation of Grisha by orders in the show that there is in the books. That is the only change I actually take issue with. I am just holding onto hope because they never showed us a body. 

Yes, there will be a part two because I have so many thoughts about this show that I cannot express in any reasonable word length.