Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Shadow and Bone season two and the Six of Crows duology.
Shadow and Bone has just come back to Netflix with a second season, and its premiere episode was full of surprises for those unfamiliar with Leigh Bardugo’s book series. Season two sees Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) and Mal Oretsev (Archie Renaux) on the run while searching for the Sea Whip, while the beloved Crows welcome new additions to their group. While extremely significant, this highly anticipated meeting is not the only thing that’s new in Crow land.
In episode one, “No Shelter But Me,” Jesper Fahey (Kit Young) and Kaz Brekker (Freddy Carter) get captured and taken for a chat with privateer Sturmhond (Patrick Gibson), who is looking for Alina. After discarding himself from his handcuffs and telling Sturmhond what he wants to know, Kaz throws Jesper a coin when the latter asks for help freeing his own hands, giving him a significant look. It is then that Jesper drops the facade and confirms what Kaz already knew — that the sharpshooter is a Durast.
As it turns out, Nina Zenik (Danielle Galligan) is not the only one among the Crows with the ability to practice Small Science. Much like her, Jesper is a Grisha, a fact he had been hiding from his friends, although badly. But what exactly is a Durast and what does that have to do with Jesper’s powers?
What is a Durast and what are Jesper’s powers?
Durasts are Grisha belonging to the Materialki order, also known as the Order of Fabricators. Like all Grisha, they can manipulate matter at its fundamental level, but for Materialki in particular, this ability is focused on composite matter, like chemicals, glass, textiles, and metal. Grisha from this order are further divided into Alkemi — experts in dealing with powers, poisons, and chemicals overall — and Durasts, like Jesper.
Unlike Alkemi, Durasts specialize in manipulating solid materials like fabric or steel, which seems to explain Jesper’s impressive skills with guns. With there’s no confirmation for this, it’s believed that Jesper subconsciously uses his power to guide the bullets he shoots, making it so that he never misses his mark. In the books, though, he does so consciously at least once, using his power to hit a target around a corner.
Despite being Grisha, Jesper’s powers are unfortunately weak due to a lack of proper training. Nevertheless, he is able to use them to help himself or his friends when the situation calls for it. Hopefully, now that Jesper’s secret is out, viewers will get to see more of his powers in action.
The first two seasons of Shadow and Bone are available for streaming on Netflix.