Shadow and Bone: All the Grisha powers explained

16 March 2023, 09:13

Shadow and Bone | Official Trailer | Netflix

By Katie Louise Smith

From the Heartrenders and the Squallers to Alina's Sun Summoner and The Darkling's Shadow Summoner abilities, here's all the Grisha powers in Shadow and Bone explained.

Shadow and Bone has finally arrived on Netflix and suddenly, we're all wishing we had Grisha powers like Jessie Mei Li's Alina Starkov, the Sun Summoner.

While fans of Leigh Bardugo's original novel series will already have a deep understanding of the Grisha and their powers, newcomers to the Netflix adaptation have a lot to catch up on.

The Grisha are Ravka's second army, and consist of powerful people who each have different abilities relating to physical matter, the human body and the elements. All of them pop up throughout Shadow and Bone and play into the storyline in various ways.

Here's your explainer on what each of them do and how to identify them in the show based on the colour of their keftas.

READ MORE: Shadow and Bone season 2: Release date, cast, spoilers, trailer and news

What are the main Grisha powers?

There are three different orders that the Grisha fall into; Corporalki, Etherealki and Materialki.

The Corporalki's powers relate to matters of the body. They wear the red keftas on Shadow and Bone, with different colour embroidery based on their abilities.

- Healers: Can heal wounds and fix broken bones.
- Tailors: Can change and enhance people's physical appearances. Genya Safin is a skilled Tailor.
- Heartrenders: Can cause serious harm by damaging someone's internal organ, squeezing the air out of their lungs or even slowing their pulse and their healing process. Nina Zenik along with soldiers Feydor and Ivan are all highly powerful Heartrenders.

The Etherealki's powers relate to the summoning of the elements. They wear blue keftas on Shadow and Bone, with different colour embroidery based on their abilities.

- Squallers: Can manipulate wind. Zoya is a powerful Squaller and is able to move skiffs through the Shadow Fold.
- Inferni: Can manipulate fire. Alina's friend Marie is an Inferni.
- Tidemakers: Can manipulate water. Alina's friend Nadia is a Tidemaker.

Both Alina Starkov and General Kirigan also fall into the Etherealki order as they can summon the sun and shadow, respectively. Baghra is a summoner of the shadows, too. The Darkling and Baghra wear black keftas.

The Materialki's powers relate to the manipulation of physical matters and chemicals. They wear purple keftas, with different colour embroidery based on their abilities.

- Durasts: Can manipulate solid matters like glass, metals, wood and stone. They can also change the state of an object and move objects without touching them. David Kostyk is a skilled Durast.
- Alkemi: Can create poisons and blasting powders.

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Alina Starkov's powers explained: What is a Sun Summoner?

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.

Children in Ravka are tested at a young age for Grisha powers, but Alina managed to lie during her test and suppress her powers throughout her childhood so that she wouldn't be separated from Mal. As a result, she only finds out that she is Grisha until she's much older.

During an almost deadly crossing of the Shadow Fold, Alina discovers that she is able to summon light and is later trained by Baghra to strengthen and harness her powers.

The Darkling's powers explained: What is a Shadow Summoner?

General Kirigan a.k.a The Darkling's powers are the opposite of Alina Starkov's. The Darkling is a powerful Grisha who is able to summon shadow and darkness. He uses his powers as a weapon.

The Darkling is also able to use his powers in an attack called the Cut, which is a deadly ability to turn his shadows into a knife-like weapon that slices through an enemy's body.