According to legend, the Black Heretic created the Fold hundreds of years ago, and the bifurcation of Ravka led to years of war on multiple fronts: a military conflict with Fjerda, the nation to the north that is inspired by Scandinavia, and a trade war with Shu Han, the nation to the south that is inspired by East Asia. The nation is divided by the menacing Shadow Fold, a miles-wide, towering wall of horrific darkness filled with volcra - winged monsters that feast on human flesh. Season 1 immediately thrusts viewers into the middle of the war-ridden land of Ravka. This flock looks out for one another and partakes in a wee bit of crime on the side. “Bastard of the Barrel” Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter) runs the Crow Club in Kerch and is the leader of his crew of devoted Crows, including knife-wielding Inej Ghafa (Amita Suman), who is so stealthy that she’s also known as the Wraith, and Jesper Fahey (Kit Young), an extremely skilled gunslinger who knows how to have a rollicking good time. And then there are the resilient Crows of Ketterdam, who might be on the fringes of Alina's story, but still seem to always find themselves in the thick of the action. Grisha Nina Zenik (Danielle Galligan) honed her Heartrender capabilities there, but that was all before she was captured by Matthias Helvar (Calahan Skogman) and his team of Fjerdan hunters called Drüskelle. He lives in Ravka’s capital at the Little Palace, where Grisha are trained by the fearsome Baghra (Zoë Wanamaker).

Also known colloquially as the Darkling and by his nearest and dearest as Aleksander, Kirigan is one of the rarest of Grisha - a Shadow Summoner - and uses his powers to the fullest as the leader of the elite Second Army of Grisha. On the front lines (and at base camp), they encounter an imposing man of many names, General Kirigan (Ben Barnes). They both serve in the First Army on behalf of their war-torn country, Ravka. She’s an orphaned, half-Shu mapmaker who grew up with tracker and fellow orphan Malyen “Mal” Oretsev (Archie Renaux). Let’s start with the heroine of our story, Alina Starkov (Li). Attila Szvacsek/Netflix Who are all the characters inhabiting the Shadow and Bone universe?

The bone seasons