What Is Jasper in ‘Shadow and Bone’? Is He Just a Sharpshooter or Grisha?

“If any of you survive, make sure I have an open casket. The world deserves a few more moments with this face,” Jasper Fahey (Kit Young) told the rest of the crows. Most fans would agree with him because his jokes and swanky suits make him a real spectacle to watch in Shadow and Bone, not to mention his ability to swing his revolvers and shoot without missing. Jasper’s mysterious talents in the first season left many fans wondering whether he was just a very skilled shooter or Grisha.
Apart from being a very skilled shooter, Jasper Fahey is also Durast, a type of Grisha with the ability to control solid elements like metal and glass. Jasper uses his Grisha talents unconsciously to control the bullets, which is why he can make his bullets bend and bounce to hit their targets. However, he wasn’t trained to use his powers and was advised not to use them by his father, so he hid them from his friends, including Kaz (Freddy Taylor).
His talents came in handy as the Crows joined Nikolai against Kirigan’s dark army. Jasper being able to launch knives rather than just bullets made him the most formidable fighter among the crows, but his mission is not nearly done. So, just how powerful can a Durast become, and what is Jasper’s future on the show? Let’s delve into the details.
What is Jasper Fahey in Shadow and Bone?
Jasper Fahey was revealed to be a Durast in the second season of Shadow and Bone. Durasts are a type of Grisha that can manipulate and move solid objects such as metal, rocks, and glass, which is why Jasper can repair metal objects with no tools.
Durasts fall under Materialki/Fabrikators, the Grushas that use small science on solid objects, unlike the summoners who can manipulate light and darkness.
Jasper grew up with his mother, who was Grisha, and while his mother taught him how to shoot, she didn’t train him to use his powers.
Jasper’s training helped him become one of the best gunslingers in the world of Shadow and Bone, but he unconsciously used his powers to control his bullets. His ability to make impeccable shots, such as shooting through a coin, causing a bullet to bounce off one person and hit another target in a bend, and repairing Kas Bekker’s cane without using any tools, are proof of his ability.
The show is yet to display Jasper’s full power because Sankt Neyer, who was also a Durast, could manipulate many more objects and fight more people simultaneously than Jasper. Sank Neyer used her Durast powers to forge the powerful sword of Neshyenyer, which can kill shadow soldiers. Neyer also fought armies for three days without rest, which proves just how powerful Jasper could become.
With training and maybe the use of an amplifier, Jasper’s powers may grow bigger and make him one of the most powerful Grisha in the show, just like Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li).
Why did Jasper hide his Grisha powers?
Jasper’s mother died while using small science to save a poisoned little girl’s life, so his father discouraged him from using his own Grisha powers.
The exact context of his mother’s death hasn’t been shown in Shadow and Bone yet, but it clearly led to familial dysfunction that ruined Jasper’s childhood leading to him ending up as a thief and in Kaz Brekker’s service.
Suppressing his Grisha powers might be one of the reasons why he can’t control his gambling addiction. It is believed that when Grisha don’t use their powers, they hurt them internally, leading to illness or impairment.
In Jasper’s case, his Durast powers come alive unconsciously, so he doesn’t realize he is controlling his bullets. Before realizing that he was using his powers, he only felt calm and controlled after shooting his guns because that was the only time he was using his powers.
His inability to control his power causes him to be nervous and out of control, which explains the goat he had to embrace on Arken’s train while the crows crossed the Fold to kidnap Alina.
Jasper only used his powers on rare occasions, repairing Kaz’s cane being the first time it was fully expressed on screen. Even when using the powers to save himself and the others is an option, like when the team was fighting against Sankt Neyer, Jasper still held back on using them.
There is little information on the source of Jasper’s powers, but it is possible that they came from his mother, who was just as good at shooting as Jasper. It is not clear whether he also has healing abilities like his mother.
What happened to Jasper in Shadow and bone?
Jasper Fahey is a member of the Crows, a gang led by Kaz Bekker in Ketterdam who took up a job from a baron called Dreesen to kidnap Alina Starkov (The Sun Summoner) for a million Kruge.
The mission required Jasper and the rest of the gang to cross the dreaded Shadow Fold, which they planned to cross with the help of a smuggler known as The Conductor. Jasper was given the job of getting 20 pounds of Alabaster Coal for the ship, but he gambled away the money and ended up stealing only 16 pounds of the coal, which put the mission in danger.
Jasper killed multiple Volcra during the trip, enabling the team to cross the fold into Ravka. When they reached the Small Palace where Alina was, Jasper and the crows managed to kidnap her, but they lost her a short while later when she escaped and warned them not to go after her. The crows managed to sneak onto the Skif on which Kirigan had kidnapped Alina and, while on the trip through the fold, helped Alina and Mal defeat Kirigan and the Second Army loyal to him.
The Crows then accepted payment from Alina to leave her alone and returned to Ketterdam, where they found themselves framed for murder by Pekka Rollins. They also got arrested and taken to Dreesen, where they met Stormhund, the real man behind the million Kruger contract, Who later turned out to be prince Nikolai of Ravka.
Jasper helped Kaz defeat Pekka and get him arrested before the Crows got a contract from the king of Ravka to steal the sword that could kill Kirigan’s shadow army from The Disciple.
Jasper nearly died with the rest of the Crows when they got trapped in Sankt Neyer’s poisoned room, and after being saved by Wylan, he failed to use his powers to defeat Sankt Neyer after discovering that she was also a Durast.
Sankt Neyer finally gave the sword to Jasper, who gave it to Inej during the battle against Kirigan and his army. Jasper, Kaz, and Wylan joined Nikolai to fight Kirigan’s Second Army, led by Zoya and used his powers to defeat Zoya.
The second season ends with Jasper deeply in love with Wylan and back in Ketterdam, working with Kaz to find the manufacturers of a dangerous drug that makes Grisha over a thousand times more powerful.
What is next for Jasper Fayer in Shadow and Bone?
Jasper Fayer and Kaz are the key figures in the Crows gang, which is now in charge of the Ketterdam underground. Jasper also advances the comedy side of Shadow and Bone, with the character’s frequent jokes creating the show’s funniest moments.
Jasper represents diversity in the show, being black and gay, which is another aspect of Shadow and Bone that makes it more relatable to real-life events.
Despite being a gang member and a thief, Jasper uses his skills for good. He doesn’t enjoy unnecessary violence and bloodshed. He is also compassionate and romantic when he is needed to be.
Jasper and Kaz are, therefore, the invisible hands that save Ravka without getting public credit, as Alina does. His relationship with Wylan will affect his character in the future and probably make him more careful.