In Shadow and Bone Season 2, we can see Alina Starkov is determined to bring down the Shadow Fold and stop General Kirigan. In Season 1, based on Leigh Bardugo’s book series of the same name, she discovered her ability as the Sun Summoner.
At the end of the first season, Alina obtained an amplifier in the form of stag antlers, which increased her power. And now, she requires more of them to boost her power sufficiently to take on Kirigan and his new army of shadow monsters. In the series, Alina seeks three specific amplifiers known as Morozova’s amplifiers, which take the form of mythical creatures.
If you’re wondering what amplifiers do and why they’re so important to Alina, we’ve got the answers. So read ahead to find out.
Comprehending the history of amplifiers is very crucial to understand Shadow and Bone’s story
Shadow and Bone has a complex lore that combines story lines and mythology from all seven books in Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse series. However, Season 2 focuses on a specific aspect of Grisha culture, with Alina and Mal tasked with tracking down amplifiers in order to destroy the Fold. Their journey reveals startling truths that have life-changing consequences, laying the groundwork for a potential third season that would venture into new Grishaverse territory.
Understanding the history of amplifiers and how they work is critical to comprehending this season of Shadow and Bone, especially the ending. So, with that final twist in mind, let’s go over everything you need to know about amplifiers.
What is an amplifier?
Amplifiers can be traced back to one of the first known Grisha, Ilya Morozova. He set out hundreds of years ago to create a method of increasing Grisha power to help them better protect themselves from danger.
Morozova used merzost and his finger bones to create powerful animals that increased their power when killed and fused into the body of a Grisha. The act of creating something out of nothing was forbidden. These amplifiers mostly exist in animal forms, however, sometimes several exist in human forms, like Baghra and Kirigan, whose bones can also be used to create amplifiers.
Morozova basically created three living amplifiers in the shape of mythical creatures – the stag, the sea whip, and the firebird. Many people in Ravka believe Morozova’s work is a myth. When Alina and Mal discovered the stag, they discovered proof of his amplifiers. Because of their unnatural origin, they are powerful but also volatile, especially if a Grisha attempts to use all three of the amplifiers at the same time.
The Stag
The stag played an important role in Shadow and Bone’s first season. Throughout the run, Alina dreamed of the creature, but it was Kirigan who led the hunt for it — not to destroy the Fold, as he claimed, but to expand it and consolidate his control over Ravka.
At the end of Season 1, Alina and Mal discovered the stag. For centuries, the few Ravkans who believed in the legend sought the stag and its herd. Anyone who killed it or any of the living amplifiers in Shadow and Bone gained the amplifier’s power.
Alina decided not to kill it because she realized she could claim the stag’s power without killing it. General Kirigan, on the other hand, killed it and had one of his Grisha turn the antlers into a permanent collar for Alina. Kirigan was linked to her via the collar, and he attempted to use her Sun Summoner powers against her.
The Sea Whip
The sea whip is Morozova’s second beast. In Season 2, Mal and Alina track down the ice dragon in the caves of a remote island with the help of Nikolai and his crew. Alina issues the command to capture it alive, confident that the sea whip will bestow its power on her in the same way that the stag did.
When the sea whip attacks Mal, Alina kills it, once again choosing the death of an amplifier to save Mal’s life. Two of the sea whip’s scales are fused into Alina’s body, but unlike the antlers, they are visible on her wrist like an embedded bracelet.
The Firebird
The mythical firebird appears prominently in Ravkan folklore. Legends awed the creature, who had flame wings, diamond tears, and healing feathers. The avian, like all of Morozova’s amplifiers, is white.
However, this is where things get complicated and a bit weird. The firebird is Morozova’s final beast. But Mal is the third amplifier that is important for the story, not the firebird.
Other humans, in addition to animal parts, can serve as amplifiers, though this is extremely rare. Only General Kirigan with his Darkling abilities, and Baghra, are known to be living amplifiers in the series, though it is unknown whether their abilities are linked to their Shadow Summoner nature.
Later Mal was also said to be an amplifier. Similarly, living amplifiers can detect the power of a Grisha, but they must be in contact with the person in order to do so.
