Shadow and Bone – Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2023
The Grishverse is back after a two-year hiatus, but now we’re facing another wait for season 3 of shadow and bone which has yet to be confirmed. Willpower shadow and bone get a season 3 renewal or the rumored one six of crows cleave? This is what we know so far.
Based on the Grishaverse books by Leigh Bardugo, shadow and bone is Netflix’s big budget fantasy show directed by Eric Heisserer and starring Jessie Mei Li, Archie Renaux, Freddy Carter and Ben Barnes.
Season 1 arrived on Netflix in April 2021, and Season 2 premiered almost two years later, in March 2023.
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Official renewal status: not yet renewed
Our renewal prediction: Probable cancellation (Last update: April 4, 2023)
As of May 29, 2023, the show remains in limbo along with the long-rumored Six of Crows spin-off that has yet to be greenlit.
a renewal of shadow and bone it will come down to numbers, given that an early renewal has not been earned in advance. As we’ve covered before, Netflix shows must meet several internal metrics used at Netflix, and one of the most important metrics, we’re told, is completion rate.
Another factor that may be influencing at the moment is the WGA strike. The show’s writers would be barred from working on the show again until the strike is resolved, which, as it stands, remains unclear. Adding to the fact that the show would likely be two years away (which we’ve seen hurt a show’s viewership time and time again), it makes the future look particularly bleak.
The last public update we had was via Sophie Holland, the casting director for the series, Deadline end of May 2023 (especially more than two months after the season 2 premiere):
“…as for Shadow And Bone, we really hope for a third season. It seems to have a large fan base. It’s a promising new cast and the story is very true to the books, which is refreshing. I’m guessing it’s about the first month’s run on Netflix, so we’ll soon find out if it’s put back into service. It’s a difficult moment, as you noted, so we’ll see.»
So how well did he do shadow and bone Is season 2 showing on Netflix?
Using various sources, we’ll be tracking the show’s progress on Netflix more externally below:
Netflix’s Top 10 Hourly Numbers
Let’s start with Netflix itself, which releases hourly data on its top 40 shows and movies every Tuesday.
Here’s what its weekly ranking in Netflix’s global top 10 looks like so far after two weeks. Between March 12 and April 2, the show racked up 132.43 million hours in the top 10. Here’s how it breaks down week by week:
| week period | Hours seen (M) | Range | Week in the Top 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 12, 2023 to March 19, 2023 | 50,400,000 | 2 | 1 |
| March 19, 2023 to March 26, 2023 | 55,030,000 (+9%) | 2 | 2 |
| March 26, 2023 to April 2, 2023 | 27,000,000 (-51%) | 3 | 3 |
Sadly, without a massive debut for shadow and bone season 2 and no growth in week 2, we changed our prediction to a possible cancellation. Week 3 almost certainly sealed the deal with a dramatic 51% in viewing hours.
We also don’t have any direct 1-on-1 comparisons to Season 1 to compare, sadly, as it released before we started receiving hourly data. We only learned that 55 million people watched Season 1 in the first 28 days.
On a positive note, Season 1 saw a huge increase in viewership in week 1, meaning people are either being introduced to the show for the first time or rewatching it (after all, a two year wait). is a long time). Season 1 garnered 24.07 million hours in week 1 of S2’s release.
To illustrate the opening week, we have compared the show’s second season purely to other genre shows in its first week; We can see shadow and bone it sits between two groups of shows thus far, which means it’s currently bordering the line in our opinion.
| Qualification | Week 1: Hours in the Top 10 | State |
|---|---|---|
| The Sandman | 69,480,000 | Renovated |
| Vikings: Valhalla T2 | 55,350,000 | Renovated |
| Shadow and bone T2 | 50,400,000 | A stranger |
| Raising Dion T2 | 49,090,000 | Cancelled |
| Fate: The Winx Saga | 48,960,000 | Cancelled |
| Warrior Nun S2 | 26,220,000 | Cancelled |
What does the CVE (full display equivalent – divide number of hours vs. program execution time) look like? Well, the chart below doesn’t paint a powerful picture for week 1:
CVE for Shadow and Bone Season 2 in Week 1
In week 2, our Top 10 report took a look at the series’ evolution and compared it to several other young adult fantasy shows that were also not renewed:
Shadow and Bone S2 vs Fate: The Winx Saga vs Warrior Nun vs Raising Dion S2
FlixPatrol Top 10 Raw Data
A positive sign for the show is its ability to stay in the top 10 for an extended period of time.
According Flix Patrolthe program was still the fourth largest in the world as of April 4, 2023, and showed particular strength in countries such as Australia, the Nordic countries, and Central and Eastern Europe.
At the very least, we’d look for Shadow and Bone to stay in the top 10, at least until a month has passed since Season 2’s debut.
External data demand for Shadow and Bone
televisionstats.com uses multiple metrics from across the web, including Wikipedia traffic, IMDb traffic, Twitter, Reddit, and Torrents, to judge what is showing the most demand at any given time. shadow and bone seems to be doing well there, second only to The last of us since season 2 dropped. As of March 29, it is the 10th biggest show in the world and as of April 4, the 15th biggest show.
Image: TelevisionStats.com
moving to Nielsen Top 10 (also tracked via our top 10 search tool), we can see how the show has evolved from season 1 to season 2. Its data tracks connected device audience, specifically in the United States.
As seen below, the show had good viewership in week one and week two, but notably didn’t grow between those two weeks, and even worse, saw a drop of around 50% in week 3:
Nielsen’s Top 10 Data for Shadow and Bone
Finally, what about the critical consensus?
On that front, things are looking decent. Season 2 on Rotten Tomatoes it scored well with critics (as did Season 1), with an 84% rating compared to Season 1’s 89%.
IMDb scores for individual episodes in Season 2 it ranged from 7.6 to 8.6.
Image: Rotten Tomatoes
There are many stories to tell in shadow and bone season 3, even though much of the main book trilogy has been adapted, with season 2 covering much of the events of siege and storm and fall and rise with the season 2 finale showing us the death of the Darkling, but differing markedly from the books by dividing the pair and introducing a new darkness to Alina’s world.
The show’s creators have teased that any new season would consist of a mix of new original material and at the same time weaving in some of the king of scars duology novels.
netflix life detailed some of the biggest burning questions for Season 3, including:
- Alina is now a shadow summoner?
- What happens to Nikolai at the end of Shadow and Bone season 2?
- What is the “jurda parem” drug that the Ravens are trying to stop?
Shadow and Bone. (From left to right) Jessie Mei Li as Alina Starkov, Archie Renaux as Malyen Oretsev in Shadow and Bone episode 201. chrome David Lukács/Netflix © 2023
Ever since Season 1 debuted, we’ve constantly heard rumors of a six of crows cleave.
Eric Heisserer confirmed these plans for entertainment weekly on March 16, telling the access outlet that the spinoff would be «its own little season of fun that our characters would be a part of,» but added that it heavily depends on the numbers from season 2.
“A lot of work has gone into planning this. The hope is that we can act on that planning,» Heisserer told EW. “But of course it comes down to how well the Season 2 numbers work out. And if so, then Daegan and I will continue to carry the mantle for both shows, which is also helpful because we have a lot of mouths to feed.” in terms of giving screen time to all the actors.”
Numerous websites and production listing outlets have confirmed that six of crows is in “active development”,
We contacted Netflix, who told us that while a six of crows The series has been in development, it’s nowhere near a green light stage, but it is subject to change.
Image: Netflix Games
Finally, in 2022, Netflix announced that it would release a companion mobile game for shadow and bone scheduled for a 2023 release, but clearly wasn’t ready in time for the Season 2 release.
This is what you can expect from the game according to the game developer, chimera entertainment:
“Shadow and Bone: Destinies is a single-player role-playing game for the Netflix mobile gaming service, based on the IP of the same name. Players choose a variety of heroes to travel the world of the Grishaverse on a story-driven quest to fulfill their destinies. Along the way, they will have to manage scarce resources, discover clues to their destiny, and interact in a wide variety of events, including the use of Grisha magic, stealth, negotiation, and combat. The game could also be described as a modern choose-your-own-adventure game, with a healthy dose of RPG and episodic storytelling.
Do you want to see the return of shadow and bone for a season 2 and spin-off? Let us know in the comments below.