Mal going after Alina in Shadow and Bone mirrors a memorable Aragorn moment in Lord of the Rings. In everything from Harry Potter to Game of Thrones, the influence of Lord of the Rings is found throughout the fantasy genre. Though Shadow and Bone is a unique story, one scene in particular shows there may be some influence there as well.
At the heart of Netflix’s Shadow and Bone, based on the Grisha trilogy by author Leigh Bardugo, are Malyen Oretsev (Archie Renaux) and Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li). Though the pair’s lives take different paths when it’s found that Alina is a legendary Grisha Sun Summoner, meaning she can manipulate light, Mal remains a devoted friend. The pair continue to try to keep in contact during their time apart by writing letters to one another. Their letters never reach each other, though, causing Mal to become desperate to keep Alina in his life.
In Shadow and Bone season 1, episode 4, “Otkazat’sya,” Mal takes on a dangerous tracking mission to find Morozova’s Stag. The mythical creature is thought to be a fantasy, but Mal volunteers to find the animal, hoping it will help him reunite with Alina. However, when he packs his things and gets ready to head out on the mission, he’s confronted by friends Dubrov (Andy Burse) and Mikhael (Angus Castle-Doughty). In a moment reminiscent of an Aragorn scene from Lord of the Rings, they won’t let him go without them.
Like Mal’s urgency to leave in Shadow and Bone to find the Stag, Aragorn feels the need to quickly depart before a battle in Lord of the Rings to find the Dead Men of Dunharrow. Being Isildur’s heir, Aragorn heads on the mission to make the cursed men fulfill their oath and fight for the living. Before heading out, he’s also confronted by his friends, in this case, Gimli and Legolas. The pair are already ready to go. Of course, Aragorn’s and Mal’s friends have very different fates. Gimli and Legolas make it out of the mission to the Dead Men of Dunharrow just fine; Mikhael and Dubrov aren’t so lucky. But the fact that Mal inspires such a strong love and devotion from his friends, much like Aragorn, hints at similarities between the characters.
Perhaps there’s more to Mal than meets the eye, as there is to Aragorn in Lord of the Rings. Aragorn, originally introduced as a Ranger and exceptional tracker, turns out to be the true king of Gondor. Like Aragorn, Mal is also an exceptional tracker. Interestingly, he’s holding Alina’s hand when her powers first manifested during a volcra attack. This possibly makes him an amplifier for Grisha powers and hints there’s more in store for Mal.
Though there are certainly similarities between Mal and Aragorn, it doesn’t mean these are specifically intentional. Yes, shades of Lord of the Rings can be gleaned from Shadow and Bone, but the latter is still truly imaginative. While many fantasy stories take on Norse mythology like Lord of the Rings, Shadow and Bone draws upon Russian mythology instead. Still, whether intentional or not, there are worse things than being compared to a secret king.
