Hi friends!
It's Monica and let's keep on watching Shadow and Bone season one episode five.
Okay so now we're on episode five. And I remember this episode being
a little bit spicy, and we're seeing all
the little different story lines that we've had like the Crows
following Mal and Alina. They're all intersecting now in this episode.
And before we get into this episode, if you have not watched my earlier videos
of episodes one through four, they will be linked
down in this description below. Anyways, let's just get right into episode 5.
So here we see the Crows getting their entrance to the Little Palace
and successfully being with the traveling circus. And things are going to go down.
Genya: Still nothing from Mal?
Alina: You don't have to update me anymore. I'm sure you've got enough on your plate.
Genya notes how Alina cares for Mal and mentions: "oh yes so I haven't heard anything from Mal"
And I think someone's intercepting their letters to each other.
But then now, Alina is like "oh nope you don't need to tell me anymore about him".
Genya noticed that.
Genya: I want you to be careful.
Alina: Of what? Genya: Powerful men.
So I really like how Genya says this: "Alina be careful around the General,"
and him being a powerful man.
And I think Alina kind of made her mind up in the last episode.
By choosing to heal the scar on her hand that reminds her of Mal
and choosing to be more invested into this new life that she has.
David: The General had me make these for your demonstration this evening.
Genya: They're lovely.
And I just really like that switch of Genya being really confident giving Alina the advice,
and then, once David comes into the room she's like all nervous and shy.
I really like that switch!
Inej: You should have one of us with you. Kaz: I'll manage.
I can't wait to see Kaz's backstory and how his leg got injured; and I know it's intense.
Jesper: Oh I do vaguely remember you being airborne. Was that recently?
Inej: And you're supposed to be scouting our way out.
Jesper: What do you think I'm doing?
Jesper is also really good at seeking things out, I would say.
Finding out information that is vital to their heist or their plan.
And I do like this little scene, where Inej and Jesper are poking fun
at each other, and how Inej expresses her worries now.
Inej: Do you think that's what it is? Just a trick?
Jesper: Kaz thinks it's a trick. He's not usually wrong.
And I think the thing that matters most to Inej in this little scene here is her faith.
We do see little hints of that throughout the beginning of the season.
She's like asking Jesper "what do you think?" and I think that's a really nice touch there.
There's a touch of awkwardness here.
Alina: We can offer Grisha and Ravkans hope for the future.
The Darkling: You mean a lot... to everyone.
Damn girl go for it! Go for it! LOL
I don't know if you caught it, but when the Darkling was saying:
"you mean a lot to me to everyone," Alina was looking down at her palm,
where the scar is now gone. So of course she's still thinking about Mal.
Jesper: The more I learned that where you are doesn't matter nearly as much as who you're with.
Jesper is really smooth with his talking.
And again, I really like how they highlight different parts of people's personalities.
Because she's wearing his colors now.
The Darkling: You were supposed to enter accompanied by palace guards.
You're not doing what you're supposed to do.
The Darkling: You know who you are? Alina: I do.
Another demonstration.
The Darkling: Her name is Alina Starkov. And she will bring liberation to us all.
I do like that introduction though. Again, he's emphasizing
that she's Alina Starkov. It is another light show so...
But I think this time it's showing how Alina's in her own power
and how she's conjuring her magic herself instead of with the help with the Darkling.
And the way that they look at each other.
And here we see Inej showing her faith as well. Inej: Sankta Alina.
Guard: Morozova's stag is a myth.
Mal: There's a saint in your palace right now and you scoff at me.
And now, we have Mal converging into the Little Palace as well.
So we have all of our players in the same place now.
The Six of Crows crew, Alina and the Darkling, and then we have Mal,
who was obviously separated from Alina, but now he has found his way into the palace.
The Apparat: People are erecting altars to Sankta Alina.
The Apparat is warning Alina about the dangers of her becoming like a figurehead in Ravka.
As well as people having faith
and how faith can be really strong motivator for people;
and that can really change the shift of kingdoms and wars and all of that.
Mal: Tracker with the 36th, sir. The Darkling: Mal.
I really like this interaction between the Darkling and Mal
because it's their first face-to-face meeting. And we could see the realization of the Darkling
understanding that it's Mal - the beloved friend of Alina.
And it's kind of like a weird dominance thing that the Darkling's going on here.
Mal: Not until I see Alina.
The Darkling: I beg your pardon? Mal: I know her.
How the Darkling is like "I beg your pardon that you're here to see Alina!"
The Darkling: What's her favorite flower, or what- Mal: Iris.
And the Darkling obviously takes this information
for use of his own purpose. So the Darkling is really
good at extracting information that will be used for his own gain.
So this is where there was an attempted assassination on Alina.
And I think Genya here just kind of sees how it's really the harsh reality of her life right now.
I love the CGI here as well you could see
the faces going in and out because she was being disguised as Alina.
But then we see Alina having such a grand time at her little party here.
The Darkling: Thank you. I'll take it from here.
And there we see her favorite flowers. And the Crow's plan kind of falling out of place.
Mal does show a really great amount of his fighting skill.
And again, I think this does play into Alina finding her own confidence,
and you can see her- I didn't notice this before like the shadow to the right of them is them
leaning towards each other. [Squeal of delight :P]
This is playing into my Darklina ship so much!
Alina: What are you- Baghra: Stupid girl.
And then Baghra comes out of nowhere. And this is where Alina finds out
the real truth about the Darkling. About him being the Black Heretic,
the one to create the Fold, as well as figuring out
that Baghra is the Darkling's mother and [will be] using her - Alina - as a slave.
Alina: Whatever's wrong. I can go back and find Alek- General Kirigan. I'm sure he can help.
And you can see the little slip up of Alina being really close to the Darkling.
Of like Alek- Aleksander. Trying to say his name.
We could see how Alina is surprised at this and confused because she's like:
"I finally made that choice to
be part of this thing" Of her being the sun summoner.
And now she's finding out things might not be actually what they seem to be.
Alina also finds out that the volcra are actually all the people who have died in the Fold.
Baghra: He isn't a boy at all. He is eternal. And you never stood a chance.
It's so like daunting for her; daunting for Alina. I just feel like Alina at this point,
in this episode and within the season, is just confused at who's telling the truth;
who's not telling the truth. But I think she does
see and hear in Baghra's tone and voice; in the way that she's delivering
all of these revelations in a couple of minutes
that Baghra is telling the truth here.
I really like that because it's one of the scenes
that Inej and Kaz kind of see how they care for one another.
And, also, that Kaz has someone that cares for him as well;
and Inej isn't one to easily take lives. And I think that does play into her faith,
but she did take a life and I think she did swear off
on taking lives because of what she has done for the menagerie.
Baghra: Along with your hopes of locating the stag.
The Darkling: I always have hope, Mother, even you can't kill that.
I believe Baghra here thinks she has the upper hand on the Darkling;
with taking away the tracker (Mal) and also taking away the sun summoner (Alina).
The Darkling is just really arrogant himself and saying that whatever Baghra tries to do;
he will do something much worse, and continue with his plans.
But little does Baghra know that Mal is alive.
And I love this little scene where of Jesper is watching Alina get into the trunk.
And I think Alina thinks she's being really sneaky,
but Jesper she's like "she just walks right into our pathway and it's really convenient."
And that's the end of episode 5 of Shadow and Bone.
This episode we do get a lot of Alina coming to her
more of her own person and we see her be more comfortable with herself
and with the position of being the sun summoner.
And we see that in those scenes where she's taking the lead
and not following what she's supposed to do, but instead of what she wants to do.
But then, there's the revelations of her finding out the truth about the Darkling,
and she then, decides to believe of what Baghra is saying to her.
So let's go see what else happens in episode six. Thank you so much for watching!
Don't forget to give me a big thumbs up, hit that subscribe button down below,
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I'll see you all soon!
[Outro Music]