Its official — Netflix’s Shadow and Bone is no more. The series became the latest victim in Netflix’s vendetta against fantasy on Nov. 15, leaving the last hopeful holdouts crushed.
Many of us lost faith when the delay between season 2 and a renewal stretched past six month, so by the eight month mark at which the ax finally came down, we’d come to terms with the loss. With such a long delay, however, some fans were certain season 3 — or at least a Six of Crows spin-off — was assured. Especially as Geeked Week just brought us a trailer for brand-new Grishaverse game, Enter the Fold.
Now the future of both Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows have been cut short on the streamer, to the dismay of fantasy fans. This is becoming a habit, over on Netflix, as Shadow and Bone joins an ever-growing list of canceled fantasy favorites. It’s hugely frustrating to fans, who see the passionate viewership of shows like Warrior Nun, Lockwood & Co., and Shadow and Bone and can’t understand how these shows are tossed aside to make way for yet another season of Big Mouth.
Fans are citing every reason imaginable for their outrage, noting the show’s popularity, rating over on Rotten Tomatoes (both seasons are over 80%), the massive cliffhanger season 2 concluded with, its stellar and diverse cast, and, of course, Netflix’s track record with beloved fantasy properties. They’re doing everything in their power to communicate just how furious the fanbase is, and its working. A petition to save the series is quick approaching 20,000 signatures, just 48 hours after the cancelation came down.
Over on Twitter (or X, or whatever Musk decides to call it next), people are swarming to seize their opportunity at a Netflix dig. A tweet detailing the contact information of Netflix’s top staff gained more than 17,000 views in around 48 hours, along with several dozen comments from enraged viewers. It urges fans to reach out and “Let them know that we’re not happy and they’ll be losing money.”
The site is rife with complaints about what kind of content the streamer elevates, even as it ditches our favorites in favor of far-inferior offerings. And this comes from someone who found season 2 of Shadow and Bone deeply unsatisfactory — but still, the viewer base was there, and desperate for a new season, so why not deliver it?
The answer seems to be “because Netflix,” at this point, and people are sick of it. They’re letting the streamer know, in no uncertain terms, that once it polishes off Stranger Things its got nothing left of quality to offer. The streamer’s subscribers are making plans in advance to ditch Netflix in droves the moment it no longer offers up anything of interest, and that time seems to be approaching fast.