Shadow and Bone Season 2 Episode 2 recap and review: Rusalye

Episode 2 of the second season of Netflix’s Shadow and Bone, titled “Rusalye”, begins with Strumhond admitting that he was not going to hand Alina over to the Fjerdans, despite the reward on her head. However, he was still handing her over to others, given the price of the Sun Summoner.

Shadow and Bone Season 2 Episode 2: The Hunt for the Sea Whip

Alina bargains and succeeds in convincing him to help them instead, to go on a hunt for Morozova’s Sea Whip. She promises that she will be tearing down the fold.

Eager at the prospect of the danger and money such an idea would hold, Strumhond agrees with her and leads him to the ship’s hold for bunks. Alina and Mal are at sea.

They meet the crew and get to know them, including the twins Tolya and Tamar. However, Mal spends most of the time guiding the navigator to where the Sea Whip is waiting for them.

While the group is armed, Alina once again is determined to not hurt the Sea Whip and says that she will try to tame it without killing it. Unfortunately, she does not get much of a choice.

When they finally find the Sea Whip, the creature attacks and comes after them with all its power. Alina is forced to use her magic to kill the majestic but horrific beast.

Alina has unlocked her new power having killed the Sea Whip, but the power almost consumes her, till Mal steps in to embrace her which helps to stabilize her.

She suggests they head towards East Ravka. Unfortunately for her, Kirigan can sense her power grow even though he is far away and smiles to himself.

Shadow and Bone Season 2 Episode 2: Kirigan’s return to power

Kirigan dreams of Alina and the two face off in their dreams. She denies him, time and again, and he comes to, still struggling to shake off the results off his time in the fold.

Genya comes to him to help heal the nasty scar across his face. But when she does, the shadow monster bursts from her back.

Kirigan drives it away, but it leaves Genya extremely shaken. He visits Vladim for a remedy to his situation.

Vladim points out that he is suffering because of the shadow monsters he created. Kirigan says that he is not looking to stave off the effects but wants to embrace it.

Vladim is scared at this but agrees to help him. He is also not content to wait and goes to the cave where he has kept his mother imprisoned, grabbing an ancient journal.

Shadow and Bone Season 2 Episode 2: The plan goes awry for The Crows

We see flashbacks to Kaz and his history with Pekka Rollins. Kaz works for a living on the streets with his brother, who went to deal with Pekka Rollins.

We see a younger Pekka Rollins meeting Kaz, although we don’t see why Kaz hates him so much, yet. Kaz and The Crows meet up at a diner.

Their situation is made worse by the constable, whose death Rollins has framed Kaz for. He says that it’s not enough to kill him, but he wants everything pinned on Rollins instead and to break him.

For that, they need Rollins’ accountant Henrik Van Poel. They know the building he works in but not his office and they can’t get a hold of where he works.

While Kaz tries to forge an elaborate plan, Nina asks the waitress who tells them the office he works in. We see Matthias in Hellgate, where he gets his food in his cell, who warns him not to eat the lobster as the meat is turned.

He also warns Matthias to speak in the guards’ language and shows a scar he has and the experience he learned it from. Matthias despairs in prison, not able to take his circumstances.

Pekka gets restless when he learns the damages from The Crow Club exploding is around 250000. He wants to bring Kaz into custody and decides to go after Inej first.

Kaz’s plan does not work either, with Pekka finding and confronting him. He lays out his plan and says that his crew will be captured that night.

He mentions bringing in a taxidermist assassin called Mogens, to capture Inej. They fight on the rooftops where Inej is outmatched and hurt.

She is able to escape before it gets too bad. Pekka and Wylan have walked into a trap too, with the two of them in a shootout, before they escape with their lives as well.

Nina comes in to save Kaz, using her powers and bombs to help them get away. Unfortunately, Nina is wounded in the escape, forcing them to go into hiding with Pekka more determined than ever that they should pay.

Shadow and Bone Season 2 Episode 2 Recap: Review

The second episode does a brilliant job of setting up what the rest of the season is going to be like. With the focus on The Crows and Kaz, the challenges are set up for them, as Pekka Rollins has brought in the big guns.

Meanwhile, the Darkling is slowly but surely recovering his full power. Even with the shadow monsters feeding off him, he seems to be getting more powerful than ever.

Now, with Alina having killed the Sea Whip and gotten the amplifier, she is also more powerful than ever before – but is the power too much for her to control? Everything is heating up now, and things can only get worse before they get better.

What do you think of Shadow and Bone season 2 so far? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. 

You can watch Shadow and Bone season 2 on Netflix.