Dead: Aleksander Morozova (The Darkling) The Darkling could only watch in awe as Alina cleared the darkness. In the end, he is killed by the blade of Neshyenyer by Alina as he reminisced on his one peaceful moment.
Because they are no longer bound by their psychic power link, Alina grabs the same blade she just used to kill Mal and stabs the Darkling. As he dies, he asks that Alina not give him a grave so that no one will desecrate it, and then asks her to say his name one last time. She does; he dies.
In the penultimate episode, we see Alina and The Darkling face off, with the two of them using the cut against each other (with Alina's made of light). Alina fatally injures The Darkling, but The Darkling fatally injures Mal as well.
Nikolai proposes to Alina one last time after she has lost her powers, by which point it would no longer be a political match but a genuine one. In King of Scars, Nikolai admits that he really grew to love Alina, and that her rejection hurt him.
Before Alina left the Little Palace, the Darkling kissed her abruptly by the lake, after he told her about the stag he was hunting. He then kisses and touches her at the winter fete, before they are interrupted.
General Kirigan / The Darkling
The villain of Shadow and Bone seasons one and two is the Darkling, the former commander of the Second Army. He is a Shadow Summoner, and the creator of the Shadow Fold. He was born centuries ago and his mom is Baghra (see below).
Rather than raping or assaulting women, the Darkling tricks Alina into falling in love with him, his goal being to take Alina's power for himself and effectively enslave her.
Mal was oblivious to Alina's love from before book one even began. He slept with Zoya and countless others before he realised who was waiting by his back door.
During the Shadow Fold crossing, volcra attack the sandskiff, but Alina lets out a burst of light killing the volcra in order to save Malyen. Better known as the Sun Summoner, Alina is the protagonist of the series. As one of the most powerful Grisha, she is the only one capable of saving Ravka from the Fold.
He sees her strong desire to belong and to find herself and it reminds him of himself. While his desire for Alina is not a healthy one and is obsessive, he truly does develop feelings for her. She is the one person who can bring balance to his life.
Ulla is a half-sildroher songcaster and the half-sister of The Darkling via their late mother, Baghra. She is also known as Sankta Ursula of the Waves.
Between the novels Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising, on which season 2 is largely based, Alina loses her Sun Summoner powers completely for a time after a fight with Kirigan. She also ends up gaining a piece of the Darkling's power and vice versa.
While she doesn't lose her powers as a punishment, she isn't in the clear either. Instead, her consequences are darker – literally. In the final scene, Alina uses her powers again and finds them changed. To Alina's surprise, she performs the Cut with shadows like the Darkling rather than her former light.
She cuts the bone out of the Darkling's hand, and the stag's antlers sink deep into her skin, becoming a part of her. She's not the only one realizing her true strength, as Mal tackles the Darkling off the skiff and they come to blows. The Darkling laughs him off, saying there's no way Mal could kill him.
While searching for the last amplifier, Mal and Alina find out the truth about Mal's heritage. He is descended from Baghra's sister, making him a great-nephew of the Darkling.
As skilled as Alina is, though, the Darkling has to place higher than her in terms of power rankings once you take a look at everything he was capable of across the Grishaverse books.
Alina Starkov is a Sun Summoner, which is the rarest and most powerful Grisha to ever exist. Sun Summoners are able to summon and bend light, and it's the only power that is able to destroy shadow and fight back against The Shadow Fold. Alina can also summon heat from the sun.
Zoya is well known and considered to be a powerful witch by the drüskelle. Zoya later gained the abilities of all Etherealki and also demonstrated passable skill as a Fabrikator. After bonding with Juris, Zoya can shapeshift into a dragon. Zoya is fluent in Kerch, Shu and Suli in addition to her native Ravkan.
Nina first thought Hanne was a Heartrender, but it appeared to be that Hanne was a Healer. The two become very close, eventually working together at the end of King of Scars to begin to bring down Jarl Brum. Nina is in love with Hanne and they are engaged to be married.
While they manage early on to find and kill the ice dragon Rusalye, aka the sea whip, it takes them until the end of the season to realize that the final amplifier, the firebird, is actually Mal.
Genya remains loyal to the Darkling, but his nichevo'ya mutilate her when she betrays him to help Alina escape in Siege and Storm. She joins Alina and helps in taking the King down. She marries David Kostyk and becomes a member of the Grisha Triumvirate.
'Shadow and Bone' Author Breaks Down the Darkling and His Complicated Feelings Towards Alina.
A picture of him in Baghra's cave reveals the man hasn't physically aged a day in centuries. The Shadow Fold was created roughly 400 years prior to the events of the series and the Darkling was already an adult by then. An estimate would put him at 500 years of age, if not a bit older.
Shadow and Bone
It is revealed that Alina had been subconsciously suppressing her power when she was tested as a child in Keramzin for signs of Grisha ability. It was as though she knew that if she was found to be a Grisha, she would be taken away from her best friend, Mal.