Shadow and Bone below. No fantasy series is complete without some physical manifestation of Bad™. For Lord of the Rings, it was the One Ring (or perhaps the Eye of Sauron, depending on which LOTR enthusiast you’re asking). For Game of Thrones, it was the White Walkers. For Shadow and Bone, is no different: For this particular romp, evil finds itself in the form of a literal curtain of darkness. In Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse novels—and the show that grew from its source material—this pitch-black banner is known as the Shadow Fold, or sometimes the Unsea. Home to monstrous winged creatures known as volcra, the Fold cuts the country of Ravka in two, severing ties between West Ravka and East Ravka, not to mention ravaging trade routes and sending military strategists into a tizzy. West Ravka is bordered by enemy nations—Fjerda to the north, and Shu Han to the south—which makes traveling through the Fold the only “safe” way to gather resources. Paralyzed by this banner of shadow, Ravka is quickly losing ground in global conflict. So when Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li), a Grisha—a.k.a. a superhero-like human who can wield enormous power—appears with the ability to summon sunlight, the idea that she could destroy the Fold is heralded as gospel.