Zoya Nazyalensky Deserved Better | How Netflix's Shadow and Bone Butchered Her Character 

But honestly I cant handle how many people insulted and harassed the actress for not being "pretty enough" or not looking like the instagram model they fancast as her

Okay here is what grinds my nerves: Someone had commented (I think it was on Goodreads) that Nikolai rejected Zoya....Ummmm no baby. Alina said something along the lines of "You still have Zoya" Nikolai said "How can I be with someone more beautiful than me." Now THAT is far from rejection. Sounds a bit like denial.... And when King of Scars started they both were in denial.

I feel like she’ll start to shine in the future seasons. In Book 1, she’s not explored much so it makes sense she’s not super deep in Season 1.

Nah girl you didn't make a big deal out of it. She's my favourite character in the Grishaverse too so it's natural that we are critical of how the show runners are mishandling her. Zoya has one of the longest arcs and her character development is, in my opinion, the best out of all the characters. It just really sucks to see the writers dropping the ball with her. I will stan book Zoya till I die but show Zoya was disappointing.

what irked me the most that they changed her motivations. Honestly making her the pretty mean girl who did not get the guy trivializes everything she had to go through as a child bcz her need for being the best comes from the fact that she had issues with her mother and not because she had a crush on darkling

8:16 I believe the actress said that Zoya called Alina a half breed because she knew as a mixed person, that that would hurt the most as she probably heard it thrown at her growing up. I haven't read kos or row though, so maybe I'm out of line here.

As someone who watched the show without reading the books, she seemed like a decent obstacle towards Alina. But now, having read S&B and Siege and Storm, I can understand why people believe her arc was messed up. At this point, it's going to take a lot to make show Zoya the same as book Zoya in King of Scars (if that's something they want to do).

This is all completely legit. But I also understand the showrunners trying to expand Zoya's role in Season 1. I think they want to make her standout from season one since she may be very important down the line if this gets a lot of seasons. Because of time constraints so much of the little palace section where Zoya was included was cut from the story. Though Zoya gets a bit of development in the original trilogy, she doesn't get much and doesnt get much at all in book 1. I like many others found her one dimensional in book one and even book two and I think they didn't want to have a stagnant character when there was no guarantee of future seasons. I think they are accelerating her character development because they want to plant the seeds for her being a hero early. There is also something to be said about actually showing the moment Zoya feels betrayed instead of retroactively explaining through dialogue. At the end of the season they set her up for a hard hitting scene where she actually sees the devastation in Novokribirsk which I think could be very impactful.

OK but can we take a moment to talk about how when zoya attacked Alinla she bend her fingers like Claws my dragon queen

I'm a Zoya Stan all the way and I get all of your points. The tricky thing is that we have to understand they will be built different because books are different than shows - we can't read what the characters are thinking or feeling or just anything like that when we are watching and most they have to rush things because it isn't always the shows are renovated for another season, so the story has to be so compelling people are begging for it and esp. S&B with the CGI, costumes, training, doubles... Mostly, the show was off to a great start and I think it'll be able to grow, get even better! And so we will see Zoya's development.

I hope they start setting up nikolai and zoya together in S2 and show him and alina as a political alliance and not romantic (which is how I always saw them tbh) but still sort of an obstacle to zoyalai and have them slowly growing closer until the kos plotline, if that makes sense lol

I completely agree with you, Zoya is also my favorite character and the way she's presented in the show was disappointing, because we were all waiting for Zoya to be mean to Alina, but for the right things as you said, the jelousy of power and not being special enough for the Darkling. I really, really want to see how Leigh and Eric are gonna present her for the next season because that ending kind of changes what we could expect from her in the next season.

"Saints become martyrs before they get to become heroes" I like her the most in the show, haven't read the series yet but prolly will.

1) I actually loved Zoya's antagonism towards Alina because it just made sense. Having a character who has put so much effort and actually bled for their status and power question how easily the chosen one takes their place is really valid and I completely sympathized with her anger. 2) I didn't mind the scene with the Darkling per se. She was canonically kind of in love with him (at least crushing on him). But Book!Zoya would never mix business with pleasure this way. Moreover I felt that it was a disservice to the Darkling's character. I won't even start with this now because it'll lead me to all the other ways in which they messed up his characterisation and made him a caricature. 3) Zoya embracing her sexual desires without being controlled or put down because of them was a big part of the character and it was ruined. Frankly, the ONLY thing I enjoyed about this mess was the scenes of my two Suli queens. Seeing Inej and Zoya easily falling into step and having each others' backs is the only thing I'm choosing to keep.

A video planned on the character of Darkling or Alina? I love these comparisons between the show and the books.

The show hurt me because I kinned Zoya from the first book as she's my skin color and shares many of my traits ( I haven't read the kos duology yet ) I always saw Zoya as a talented , high achiever and that's what made her valuable to the Darkling . The show gave her a promiscuous past with the Darkling and that made it seem as though that were all her claim to her position. Zoya had a very teacher's pet vibe and the pettiness came from the teacher (the Darkling) getting a new pet(Alina) . Zoya worked hard to get her position her whole life and suddenly Alina comes into the picture with her powers of light and easily get everything Zoya worked hard for . Everything that made Zoya a complicated , developing character was thrown away with the way they portrayed her .

I didn't like Zoya in grisha trilogy but after reading Rule of Wolves, she's my favorite character ever.

I haven't read the books but if I speak by the shows perspective I really loved Zoya's character ,I Just wished they had given her more screentime.

omg i thought i was gonna disagree but like you completely changed my mind

I watched S&B as a non-book reader and was already fascinated my Zoya.... whoever currently being in the middle of KoS, I can see why book readers felt the way they felt. however, i have hopes that they will do justice to QUEEN Zoya’s Arc.

Live ur best nitpicky life👑

Incredible video as always!! Completely agree, there is no problem at all with her being a sexual being, but giving her that as the main personality trait is a big no for me. Things like that is how you know the person in charge was a man... As someone new to the fandom (I'm reading the books for the first time after watching the show) but already knowing a lot about the world and the characters (I spoiled myself a LOT before the show came out) even _I_ was surprised with what they did to her. To me, the racist comment to Alina and her seducing the Darkling were the two main 'oh no' points for me. I think Zoya and Genya deserved better.

You do such a good job w these videos. I'm enjoying them so much and I like how they make me think about things differently.

The King of Scars duology completely changed my mind about Zoya. She is such a beautiful, complex character. I have to say Leigh Bardugo made some bold moves with the way these characters develop. I agree that if the writers wanted to address big topics such as racism revealing Zoya's mixed identity would have given the plot a lot more depth. Right now she is just this mean girl style Grisha. Hope they will do better in the second season.

When I finished the show I was so disappointed how the writer wrote Zoya. And everything you said in this video I 100% agree on and I had the exact same thoughts. Why did they have to do Zoya dirty like this 😫You r the first person who I seen addressed the issue with Zoya character so thank you so much!😊.

so mal got better but zoya got worse. equivalent exchange...

I agree with everything except for the part where Zoya insults Alina while hugging her. I understand your point but as an Asian person, I firsthand know how much racism exist among us, even in family members so it was kinda refreshing to see the show acknowledge it.

As someone who hasn't read the books, this was quite interesting to hear about. I wonder if they might be planning something more for the character though, since it sounds like a lot of changes were made in terms of character development not just for Zoya but also for other characters (Mal especially from what I've heard from other fans).

thank you for sharing your thoughts! i have the same feelings about it, but it’s hard for me to share them in english lol.

You have managed to articulate so many of my thoughts and feelings about Zoya’s portrayal in the show. I am really hopeful that they stay closer to the source for future seasons, because I adore Zoya’s character arc in the books. Another brilliant video!

The half breed thing feels like a cut out dialogue from harry potter. This show wanted to press the whole diversity and racism thing so hard that they sacrificed our queen character in its name. Don't even get me started with zoya and Darkling shit. She came to the little palace at the age of 9. That means she literally grew up in front of the Darkling and then the show wants me to believe that they had a sexual relationship. Uuuugggghhhh. That is so freaking toxic.

you put it in into words so wonderfully

The points brought up in this are so intelligent and perceptive. I never fully considered how Zoya was changed so drastically in the show, as I hadn't yet finished King of Scars and Rule of Wolves, but now that I've finished what there is of the Grishaverse series, I'm upset by how they changed Zoya so much. They put her into a stereotype and kept her character very flat. I hope they give her a good character arc like in the series. You made some really good points! Wonderful video :)

i love your take! i haven't read the books, but most of the videos i've seen praise series zoya over book zoya

okay but will you be sharing your thoughts on her arc on season 2? i’m actually very curious!

LITERALLY!! You're 100% correct

Agreed, I also really feel like Zoya at the end of the show should've at least apologised to alina for the half breed comment as well since her entire arc was so lackluster. We'll see if they improve on writing of her character motivations next season or figure out how to portray racism better as a whole

Would you ever do a curl/hair routine? I swear your hair is always on fleek👑

Hey gorgeous! Are u gonna react to élite season 4?

I think part of the show was trying to express these characters partially from Alina’s perspective because that’s where the books are told from. She is the focal point of the show (most of the relevant information revolves around her) and so it makes sense that her understandings of others would dominate. In the first book she does see Zoya as a sort of callous and spiteful sexual predator, so to me it makes sense that they would express it that way. Also, the books explain that part of Zoya’s sexual appetite is that she draws power from the men she sleeps with, since she can supposedly “make a man’s balls wither simply by raising a brow”. I think (even though I wasn’t the biggest fan of their sexual relationship) it makes sense if you consider that she wants his favor and his power, and if she can make him want her, then she will receive it, regardless of whether she has true romantic feelings for him. She understands that seduction is one of her greatest tools, and that she is able to only give men a taste of what they want so they’ll come back for more. This is what she was trying to do with the Darkling, in my opinion. I think (if we’re considering this within the show’s context and what we know about Zoya from the books) she called Alina a half-breed because she so wanted to be in the first army as a child, fighting against those who would terrorize her country, aka the Shu and the Fjerdans. Though she experienced racism, it’s her own biases getting the better of her (seeing Alina as the enemy even more) as well as that she is trying to hit Alina where it hurts, and she personally knows that that’s where it hurts. My guess would be that (at least this better be or it is just cheap for her character) they want to build Zoya and Alina’s alliance (as well as Zoya’s alliance with the Crows who she aids on the skiff) early and to do this, the audience needed something more of her character, something more personal probably so that it wouldn’t seem so out of the blue (it doesn’t build the suspense as much as for the revelation, but I can see for dynamics with other characters especially since she already empathizes with Inej for being Suli). You’re right, we did see her mainly as a sexual predator, and though this may have been done awkwardly and very didactically with the conversation on the skiff, it gives us more than one dimension than they can build off of for the second season. Something for which she cares that isn’t her own ambition that she can sympathize with Alina for. In terms of logistics (since I don’t really remember how Mal and Alina got out of the Shadow Fold by themselves at the end of the first book anyway) they probably wanted her to be able to steer them out of the Fold. It might seem awkward and out of the blue, but again, that’s how it seemed to Alina in the second book when she learned that Zoya defected to her side. Alina is the focal point (the sun around which this show revolves) so it makes sense that the writers would want us to see the characters as she does, at least at first. Sujaya Dasgupta is so good as Zoya. Even if she doesn’t have the best stuff written for her at times. I hope they go beyond the trilogy and explore the plots of the other duologies too. I want to meet the Dragon Queen. Yeah it would be frustrating if they rushed Zoyalai especially when Nikolai proposing to Alina is a big part of the development of their relationship since she kind of identifies his feelings for Zoya unintentionally. I also think they wanted to give Zoya a bigger part in the climax to express that she’ll have a bigger part in the next season. I hope that they develop her complex relationship with Nina well.

Show!Mal is very different from book!mal which I actually liked. In the show since he’s so dedicated to Alina already I don’t think he slept with zoya like he does in the book. Therefore if they introduce Nikolai in the second season it’s definitely going to change those romance points since in the books alina kinda shifts from mal to the darkling to Nikolai. Point being I absolutely stan zoai so if I wouldn’t be mad if we got more scenes between them.

What do you think about Matthias? Tell me you love Helnik. Tell you ship Helnik. Gosh, i can't stop fan girling over them. And yes, i am still mourning over Matthias

100% agree! Overall, I loved the show, but I think they were kind of off with their characterizations. It wasn’t super drastic in my opinion, but it’ll definitely make character development wonky later on if they try to stick to the way the characters changed in the books. I noticed it most with the crows because I had just read Six of Crows, and with them, I have no idea how they’ll ever have the character development they had in the books because of the foundation that’s been laid so far in the show

Zoya is my favourite character too! But honestly in book one she is the stereotypical mean girl so it’s only fair to make her the same in the show. But she’ll get better in season 2 and 3, especially season 3. I STRONGLY hope that Zoya and Nikolai don’t like each other when Nikolai is introduced because their chemistry starts in King of Scars and even then it’s slow burn. If we ever get a season 6, I want their romance to be just like the book. I do agree that some of her quotes were too explicit, and I hate that they unnecessarily added that in the show.

Frrr I think they didn’t have to make Zoya in the show like that :< I know she’s mean in the first book especially, but some things in the show about her character are just..... hmm :(

I feel so happy to see that you and other people have the same love for zoya as me

I've totally got you point, bet a lot of people who only watched the show might hate her right now. I actually never really paid attention to that because I thought they are going to give her much more depth in the second season, so that's why I still enjoyed show!zoya. But the last point immensely pisses me off

okay... i’m not gonna say that you are wrong but if wee must think entirely this show had important characters like Kaz,Inej, Nina, Jesper, Matthias, Darkling, Mal, Alina... these characters are so important for the fans,grishaverse for the show.. in 1st book of s&b I remember that -idk if i’m wrong- zoya had a little scenes. like i remember that we didn’t see her so much in the first book... so writers must probably added this scenes just for fans... I don’t know but sometimes I feel like show trying to fan service to bookfans. Which is a beautiful thing but i think they didn’t right job for the Zoya fans like you. I mean she is not my favorite character but her character development was so exiting to see in books. And yeah they kinda flop it :/ well if we must talk about Nikolai we probably gonna see him season 2 even tho I am so hyped for my baby boy already ; i have a feeling that they gonna flop his character tho :( i mean show has already so many things crows, mal, alina, darkling and now baby wylan, tolya & tamaar ... so many! probably we not gonna see his character correctly so I am kinda worried.

Row won goodreads. We need a celebration video. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

I agree with every single thing you said and I as a Zoya stan couldn’t have said it better myself.

A lot of people said that Zoya hated Alina for no reason, but I think it's because of the fact that Alina has all the respect. Zoya fought against misogyny and racism to get where she was and to see people respect Alina instantly, who is half-Shu, is degrading all the work she did to get where she was. Something that her mother said broke my heart when I first read it: "You're pale enough. You could pass as one of them." It's so heartbreaking and even after RoW, some people don't get why she's like that. I certainly liked that they revealed it later, that her beauty was a mask like Genya's, and to see the show cut that so short? I'm throwing hands

Not going to lie I'm waiting for your darkling video

When are you gonna post video of Elite season 4 trailer reaction? Do you not like the show anymore?

I agree with pretty everything except for the racist comment. I’m white so I can’t relate but a lot of my friends who are POC said that even in their own family there is racism and colorism. So it makes sens but I agree that it could have been done better like she could have insult her just on her Shu side, like shu-racism ? Idk but the word half-breed was a little bit too much since she is herself but in the same time it’s acknowledge the fact that even POC can be racist with POC.

I just finished Shadow and Bone yesterday and Zoya was the bestcharacter int he book, hands down, but...even though it is exciting to hear there's more about her, I dunno if I want to keep going through this trilogy. I do know however that I won't be picking this up again. It wasn't a bad book but yuck I do not want to go through the Darklking and Alina's romantic scenes a second time... I kind of liked Genya until the Darklin's plan was revealed, then all she had done took on a sister purpose, and true, the others were belittling her so she had good motive but nothing kind-seemignshe does int his book can actually beseen as kind anymore. MarieandNadia were cool but itis possible, based on this book alone, that they aren't very nice either. Though right now they just seem like partygirls. Which is fine, atleast SOMEONE in this fantasy book si having a good time.

I personally read KoS by accident first, not knowing what the Grishaverse was, so I already knew who Nikolai and Zoya were coming into the show, and I realised that KoS was part of the Grishaverse so I read the rest of it. But I did have more empathy and knew exactly why Zoya was being like that, whereas if I had come into the Grishaverse completely blind, I would see Zoya as a mean character with no redemption and I think that's a waste of an amazing character.

I am right there with you... but then I realized she is going to start small and rise.

I'm a huge fan of Zoya as well and I was so sad to see her story being treated as if it didn't matter. It seems like the creators didn't care about Zoya's construction and storyline, and personally I don't think she had a good cast.

Can u do some thing similar for Kaz and kanej. How Kaz is changed from an arrogant mastermind to a grumpy wet cat . And how the beauty of Kanej is butchered by all those corny dialogues BTW I am so happy to see someone speaking about zoya. She is my spirit animal so her character being brought down this way is eww.🤢🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮 Zoya explicitly says in kos that she never desired any man before Nikolai And then they made her so clingy

As someone who is half Indian and white-passing, I hated the fact that they made Zoya racist to Alina in the show. Internalised racism is most definitely a thing, but I wanted them to handle what is a fantastically written, half-Suli character with care, in a way that wouldn’t demonise her for struggling with her racial identity. Just from experience, I think biracial people are often treated with a certain degree of distrust anyway, and in a show as big as this, I was disappointed that an attempt to handle such a delicate issue was done so clumsily. Imo Zoya being racist provides this implicit suggestion that mixed race people struggling with their own racial identity will be racist to others.

Am not even excited for second season. Like I am not saying show is really bad but like they changed alot of things and I just don't like it

She's like the Grishaverse's Draco Malfoy ♥

I can understand dat but even in d books Zoya was bit rude and arrogant. Later her character development was good. I never liked Zoya too much in d books but I kinda liked her more in d show. People are going crazy over changes but on true I liked d show better than books bcz they were not at all good except the first one n Crow's version. I wanted Netflix to make some interesting changes bcz books were not at all outstanding for me. In my view show should only be d exact copy of it's book when they r excellent otherwise it's better to change some things like even if u see so many characters from TVd ,To r made better in shows rather than books.

the show doesnt have an internal monologe so demonstraiting Zoya's racial selfhatred through activly not assosiating herself with anythign suli so racicst remarks are probably the eisiest way of showing that selfhatred even if it is a bit lazy from the perspective of those of us who have read the books and are on the look out for things like Zoya's selfhatred

Zoya's romance with The Darkling was gross, she was a literal child when they first met, what were the writers thinking. Also how she just randomly started talking about her aunt, in the last minute before this information became important... it was a little bit on the nose... But didn't Mal and Zoya sleep together in Shadow and Bone, not in Siege and Storm?

Was kind of in edge about this video cuz I did not hate tv show Zoya but that scene with the Darkling was awful and unnecessary!!!

9:40 Ok, I have to differ in this part because I in fact enjoyed more her redemption in the final chapter of the show, rather that in the books. Maybe it is because we were able to properly see her reaction and shock to The Darkling's actions and how whe rapidly takes desisions in order to stop (or helping stop) him. And about the casual comment about her aunt, I think it helps us see how many people's normality was altered by the turn of events. Her aunt was there for one moment (like every time she crossed with the skiffs) and then she wasn't. I think it was "natural" (for saying it in a way) ... But I agree with everything else you said. I hate they made her seem like just the pretty, mean girl who is the "romantic rival" of the protagonist. And the hyperfixation about her sex interest, just no, no. I hope we see a better development of her in next seasons

she’ll get her attention I think, the Bee could have been a hint bc bees are famous for recognising Royalty 👸🏻

Honestly the scene where she is supposed to have had sex with the darkling was a bit... meh. I did not enjoy it at all. I mean she is a sexual creature and I love it but it is just as you said: it was all a question of idolizing the darkling not actually having that relationship. Just loved this video for us Zoya stans! But I mean the writers are just droping revelations here and there for NO REASON when I say I hate it!

Am I the only one who doesn’t ship Zoya and Nikolai and Alina and Nikolai instead? She was a mfing fool to have not picked him.

Thomas Brodie-Sangster would be the perfekt Nikolai

i hated how they just zoya reveal something so personal about zoya, and to a random guy too. also the actress is kinda racist or at least acted like one back during the blm protests