'Shadow and Bone' Cancellation Speculation Begins After Netflix Releases Stats

Allison Schonter

04/06/2023 12:57 pm EDT

The fate of Netflix's young adult fantasy adventure series Shadow and Bone is in limbo. After Season 2 of the series, an adaptation of Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse novels, dropped on the streamer on March 16, some fans are beginning to fear that Shadow and Bone will be canceled and will not return for Season 3 after Netflix revealed the show's streaming statistics.

The Netflix original series is created, written and executive produced by Eric Heisserer and brings together the stories and characters of both Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows. The series tells the story of a young woman discovering her unique powers in a world populated by "Grisha" – elemental mages who are conscripted into their nation's military. The fictional world is daunted by the threat of The Shadow Fold, a magical fall-out zone that main character Alina may have the power to cure. The series stars Jessie Mei Li, Archie Renaux, reddy Carter, Amita Suman, Kit Young, Ben Barnes, Danielle Galligan, and Calahan Skogman.

Weeks after Season 2 dropped, there has been no word on Shadow and Bone's future, and fears have grown that Netflix could be mulling a cancellation. Viewership data released this week showed a stark drop in viewers for the series. While Season 2 enjoyed 50.4 million hours of viewers during its opening "weekend," a number that rose to 55 million during its first full week of streaming, those numbers dropped to just 27 million hours viewed in the show's third week of streaming. Although those numbers are still enough for the show to rank on the streaming charts, they aren't especially great, leading some to ponder the fate of the show.

Headed for cancellation?

"Completion rates can't save it from low viewership and cost," one fan noted. "As Kasey Moore mentioned last week, it's much more expensive than Winx and performing significantly lower."

Insane

"It's insane to me how with those numbers a cancellation is more expected than a renewal like... those numbers aren't bad at all? netflix just rushes their shows and expects them to have the success big hits," wrote another person.

Many not surprised

"This is what happens when you wait two years to do a second season and completely butcher and disrespect the source material," tweeted somebody else.

Not everyone is convinced

"But it's week 3.. why would it be higher?" one person asked. "People watch these shows right away usually, isn't this kind of drop normal?"

There are other factors to consider

"Still, even though it underperformed from the first season, the fact that they do a million promotional things plus the fact that a game is in the works makes me think they might get a season 3 to try and turn it around," noted one fan. "It's rare Netflix does so much for a show."

Some fans had issues with the Season 2 plot and overall direction of the series

"Karma for completely sidelining & ruining alina aka THE main character for a project that was rejected twice by the network," wrote one person.

Some want the series to leave Netflix

"I loved the first season, I just have lost all faith in Netflix," tweeted somebody else. "I'm tired of feeling obligated to watch something on a loop so it won't get canceled. I say that as someone who enjoys watching shows on a loop."

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