No Shelter but Me is the first episode of season 2 of Netflix's Shadow and Bone and the ninth episode of the series overall.
Synopsis[]
On the run and plagued by nightmares, Alina finds a moment of peace with Mal. Trouble awaits Kaz, Inej, and Jesper upon their return to Ketterdam.
Plot summary[]
The episode picks up after the devastation of the season 1 finale. Alina has a horrible nightmare where she imagines that the Darkling is back and the Shadow Fold is growing. He says her name over and over again. She wakes up, terrified, but Mal comforts her, assuring her it’s just another bad dream and that the Darkling is dead. They arrive at a harbor after a two-week journey on a ship and wait in line with fake papers to pass through the border. Their plan is to find the Sea Whip to get a new amplifier.
Someone calls out for Ravkan refugees to line up. Alina rushes over, curious why they’re being called refugees. A woman tells her the Fold moved overnight and swallowed her village. Alina’s worst fear that the Fold is growing is true. They cross the border, claiming to be from Ketterdam.
In Ketterdam, Kaz, Inej, and Jesper find out the Crow Club was renamed the Kaelish Prince after it was taken over by Pekka Rollins. They realize it’s no longer safe and they don’t have a home anymore. The Stadwatch suddenly surround them and inform them they’re all wanted for murder. Inej manages to get away but Kaz and Jesper get put in a carriage en route to Hellgate. Kaz starts to have a freak out and Jesper demands they stop the carriage. They get taken out because Dreesen paid a lot of money to get some time alone with them. He asks them what happened with Alina Starkov, especially after he paid them a lot of money to find her. Kaz confronts him and accuses him of just being an intermediary—that it wasn’t his money after all. A young man tells Dreesen to leave. The man, a privateer who goes by the name Sturmhond, asks them what gave it away and Kaz explains that his clothes are too nice for a bodyguard.
Alina and Mal settle in to their room for the night. They lie on the bed, holding hands, and discuss their plans to start tracking the Sea Whip. They start kissing passionately. Mal sets out to do some tracking work and they agree to meet back at sundown.
Back with Sturmhond, Jesper and Kaz claim to have no idea where Alina is. Sturmhond pulls out a piece of jewelry that Alina was last seen wearing, which was in the possession of Kaz and Jesper, and asks how they got it. Jesper says they aren’t grave robbers, implying it was a payoff. Sturmhond gets more information out of them- Kaz says she went on a ship to Novyi Zem. Kaz tells Jesper he knows he’s a Durast, which gives him the ability to manipulate solid objects without tools. Jesper brushes him off, insisting they both leave it at that. They both escape before the Stadwatch come back.
Alina confronts the Darkling in her dream. “Like calls to like, Ms. Starkov” he says. He asks her if she’s willing to sacrifice that which is most previous to her. She wakes up from the nightmare in a library, searching for old nautical maps. She uses her powers to find the Sea Whip on a map. She hears refugees from Ravka claiming they believe Alina is also behind the expansion of the Fold. She sees a newspaper with a drawing of her and the Darkling on it. She leaves the library but bumps into a woman who recognizes her. She shouts “it’s the Sun Summoner” and Alina runs out.
At the docks, Mal runs into Lieutenant Bohdan, an old commander who recognizes him as a deserter. He informs him he has to go back to Ravka, where a court martial is waiting for him. Mal punches him and runs away. He gets cornered and puts his hands up, but it’s only a distraction because he then fights off a group of men. As he struggles, Alina finds him and intervenes. She uses her powers to fight the men off. The soldiers recognize Alina and start to move in, but a group of bystanders from Novyi Zem block the men to protect Alina and Mal. A woman gives Alina a disguise and they run.
Inej finds out why they’re wanted for murder. She tells Kaz and Jesper that Pekka Rollins framed them for the murder of Tante Heleen, as he wanted the deed of the Crow Club. Inej also tells them Pekka owns the Menagerie too. Kaz asks Inej to go find and protect Alina but she doesn’t want to go. Kaz sets out to find a Heartrender.
Later, Inej gets surrounded by Pekka’s men. They fall to the ground and Nina walks out and explains that she took out the men. She heard they were in need of a Heartrender.
With everyone after them, Mal and Alina manage to escape by buying passage on a ship. However, the lieutenant finds them as they're about to board and demands they give the duo back to the First Army. Tamar Kir-Bataar and Tolya Yul-Bataar, the shipworkers, refuse and threaten them with a fight.
Members of the First Army locked up Grisha in cells near the Fold, blaming them for the Fold expansion. Genya Safin tells them she is a Healer and begs for them to let her go, but he warns her they're all doomed. A shadowy figure leaves the Fold and attacks the men. The Darkling walks out, covered in scratches and scars. He reveals he has returned and that he's made some new friends, referring to the shadow figures. He then frees the Grisha and they follow him into town.
Jesper asks Wylan why he's with the group and he informs them he's their demolition specialist, despite Jesper's doubts about his nimble fingers. Nina and Inej find Kaz, Jesper, and Wylan. Nina offers Kaz an exchange—her Heartrender abilities if Kaz saves someone from Hellgate for her. Kaz tells her he can’t free someone from Hellgate but can get her in to visit him. She agrees.
Kaz leads the group to a rooftop, where they watch the Kaelish Prince blow up. Everyone runs out of the building screaming. Inej warns Kaz he's now declared war against Pekka.
Alina and Mal get taken to meet the captain of the ship, who turns out to be Sturmhond.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Jessie Mei Li as Alina Starkov
- Archie Renaux as Malyen Oretsev
- Freddy Carter as Kaz Brekker
- Amita Suman as Inej Ghafa
- Kit Young as Jesper Fahey
- Patrick Gibson as Nikolai Lantsov
- Daisy Head as Genya Safin
- Danielle Galligan as Nina Zenik
- Calahan Skogman as Matthias Helvar
- Lewis Tan as Tolya Yul-Bataar
- Jack Wolfe as Wylan Hendriks
- Anna Leong Brophy as Tamar Kir-Bataar
- Ben Barnes as General Kirigan
Guest starring[]
Co-starring[]
- Tichiti Ahmed as Fisherman
- Virág Bárány as Eshana
- Marc Benga as Customs Officer
- Peta Cornish as Ravkan Woman
- Fflyn Edwards as Young Kaz
- László Hajdu as Maxim / Male Refugee
- Máté Haumann as Florian
- Joe T. Horn as Dime Lion Muscle #1
- Sorel Kembe as Pottery Vendor
- Janet Kumah as Keme
- Katalin Laban as Needlepoint Woman
- Telma Lincoln as Zemeni Vendor Woman
- Seamus O'Hara as Sergeant Halsov
- Tommy Rodger as Jordie
- Iliász Shweirif as Doughty
- Jonathan Slinger as Constable Sem
- Hugo Speer as Lieutenant Bohdan
- Zsuzanna Száger as Female Refugee
- David Wurawa as Edyck
Gallery[]
- See more here
Trivia[]
- The episode takes its title from a line said by the Darkling to Alina Starkov in chapter 22 of the third book in the Shadow and Bone Trilogy, Ruin and Rising.[1] Said line reads "I will strip away all that you know, all that you love, until you have no shelter but me."
- Showrunner Eric Heisserer shared why they chose the episode title: "‘No Shelter but Me’ felt like a good descriptor for the fact that both Alina and Mal and our Crows find themselves without any allies and in some pretty deep trouble."[1]