Uploaded April 2021 | Updated September 2026, 16 hours ago
Spoilers for the Grisha Trilogy in the video and in the description!
Hello! As I said in the previous video, I came across a song that reminded me a lot of a relationship in Shadow & Bone (which has a Netflix adaptation coming out tomorrow!!), and instead of waiting for show footage to come out so I can make some sort of AMV, I decided to animate my own scenes. Let me pretend to be a student for a sec and give yall an artist statement.
SO HUMAN OF YOU by Shireen: youtube.com/watch?v=dNeTflipN6w
One of the recurring line in this song is "You think it's alright to be cruel / That's so human of you," and that reminded me of the Darkling. By all means he's not human; he's Grisha, a shadow summoner, the most powerful person in the world. He may have initially had good motives--he wanted to protect the Grisha from the cruelty of mankind--but through the years he has used said power to manipulate and hurt and twist people to his command. Having the power to do all that--and get away with it, for the most part--inevitably gives him a god-complex. He thinks he can do anything he wants, hurt people, be cruel, because he can. Because he's not human. Because he's better than human.
But the cruelty he exhibits is precisely what makes him human. In his attempts to rise above, he has only become what he has sworn to hate. Cruel beyond imagination, willing to hurt anyone who gets in his way. And that juxtaposition is what I connected between the song and the Darkling.
When I searched up the rest of the lyrics, I found that the song encapsulates the complicated relationship between the Darkling and Alina, specifically from Alina's point of view. There have been many interpretations of their relationship, but I see it as one of manipulation.
"They say it's only words but they hurt so much / You say your hands are warm but they are cold to the touch."
The Darkling did not truly love Alina for who she is, only what she can do, and he is willing to lie, cheat, hurt, anything to keep her by his side.
"You f*cking hate and manipulate, tell me I am the one / You think it's alright to be cruel, that's so human of you."
Alina isn't the only person he has tried to manipulate; there is also Zoya and Genya, and he roped them all in using the same words: "You and I are going to change the world."
"It was a cold cold day when things fell apart / It was a sad sad thing, this ice on my heart / You think a person needs to be broken so that's what you do / You think it's alright to be cruel, that's so human of you."
The final nail on the coffin in their so-called relationship was when the Darkling welded the antlers around her neck, in the cold snowy forest. If people won't listen to him, he will do his best to break their spirits down, and if that doesn't work, he casts them aside. He tries to break Alina and Zoya but killing everyone at the Little Palace and Keramzin. He tries to break Genya by scarring and blinding one of her eyes.
"So you smile, I see you smile when I cry / You drag me under, drag me down when I try to surface, not to let you take my smile. But I am strong, I can be stronger than lie."
The Darkling doesn't care if what he does hurts Alina, as long as it helps his own cause. He continually makes her life worse, hunting her down and bringing pain to her and everyone around her.
"Drag me down underwater / I can't breathe, no one saves me / drag me down into sorrow / take my hand I'll drown you with me."
But Alina keeps fighting because she knows no one else can save her and defeat the Darkling; only she herself can. And she is willing to sacrifice anything, even her life, if it means it'll take him down too.
-
THINGS I USED
animation: toon boom harmony
tablet: cintiq 22
editing: premiere
SUPPORT ME!
ko-fi.com/M4M7UDCS
FOLLOW ME!
instagram: instagram.com/emieclat
tumblr: emieclat.tumblr.com
vimeo (old videos!): vimeo.com/emieclat
Hello! My name is Emily. I’m a 23-year-old artist and 2D animator, and I’m afraid of worms. Here I post whatever I want, as long as it somehow relates to animation.
Spoilers for the Grisha Trilogy in the video and in the description!
Hello! As I said in the previous video, I came across a song that reminded me a lot of a relationship in Shadow & Bone (which has a Netflix adaptation coming out tomorrow!!), and instead of waiting for show footage to come out so I can make some sort of AMV, I decided to animate my own scenes. Let me pretend to be a student for a sec and give yall an artist statement.
SO HUMAN OF YOU by Shireen: youtube.com/watch?v=dNeTflipN6w
One of the recurring line in this song is "You think it's alright to be cruel / That's so human of you," and that reminded me of the Darkling. By all means he's not human; he's Grisha, a shadow summoner, the most powerful person in the world. He may have initially had good motives--he wanted to protect the Grisha from the cruelty of mankind--but through the years he has used said power to manipulate and hurt and twist people to his command. Having the power to do all that--and get away with it, for the most part--inevitably gives him a god-complex. He thinks he can do anything he wants, hurt people, be cruel, because he can. Because he's not human. Because he's better than human.
But the cruelty he exhibits is precisely what makes him human. In his attempts to rise above, he has only become what he has sworn to hate. Cruel beyond imagination, willing to hurt anyone who gets in his way. And that juxtaposition is what I connected between the song and the Darkling.
When I searched up the rest of the lyrics, I found that the song encapsulates the complicated relationship between the Darkling and Alina, specifically from Alina's point of view. There have been many interpretations of their relationship, but I see it as one of manipulation.
"They say it's only words but they hurt so much / You say your hands are warm but they are cold to the touch."
The Darkling did not truly love Alina for who she is, only what she can do, and he is willing to lie, cheat, hurt, anything to keep her by his side.
"You f*cking hate and manipulate, tell me I am the one / You think it's alright to be cruel, that's so human of you."
Alina isn't the only person he has tried to manipulate; there is also Zoya and Genya, and he roped them all in using the same words: "You and I are going to change the world."
"It was a cold cold day when things fell apart / It was a sad sad thing, this ice on my heart / You think a person needs to be broken so that's what you do / You think it's alright to be cruel, that's so human of you."
The final nail on the coffin in their so-called relationship was when the Darkling welded the antlers around her neck, in the cold snowy forest. If people won't listen to him, he will do his best to break their spirits down, and if that doesn't work, he casts them aside. He tries to break Alina and Zoya but killing everyone at the Little Palace and Keramzin. He tries to break Genya by scarring and blinding one of her eyes.
"So you smile, I see you smile when I cry / You drag me under, drag me down when I try to surface, not to let you take my smile. But I am strong, I can be stronger than lie."
The Darkling doesn't care if what he does hurts Alina, as long as it helps his own cause. He continually makes her life worse, hunting her down and bringing pain to her and everyone around her.
"Drag me down underwater / I can't breathe, no one saves me / drag me down into sorrow / take my hand I'll drown you with me."
But Alina keeps fighting because she knows no one else can save her and defeat the Darkling; only she herself can. And she is willing to sacrifice anything, even her life, if it means it'll take him down too.
-
THINGS I USED
animation: toon boom harmony
tablet: cintiq 22
editing: premiere
SUPPORT ME!
ko-fi.com/M4M7UDCS
FOLLOW ME!
instagram: instagram.com/emieclat
tumblr: emieclat.tumblr.com
vimeo (old videos!): vimeo.com/emieclat
Hello! My name is Emily. I’m a 23-year-old artist and 2D animator, and I’m afraid of worms. Here I post whatever I want, as long as it somehow relates to animation.
