‘Shadow and Bone’: Who Is Morozova, and What Are His Amplifiers?

Although fans don’t get to see Ilya Moroza in Shadow and Bone, they interact with his work because the entire show is practically based on his creations. The amplifiers used by Alina Starkov to maximize her powers are the other mystery surrounding Morozova. The show placed the legend on a pedestal without giving many details on who Illya Morozova is and how the amplifiers work.

Ilya Morozova was Baghra’s father and the Darkling’s (General Kirigan) grandfather, who was one of the very first Grisha that ever lived. He created the stag and the sea whip, which Alina used as amplifiers using material from his own bones. Morozova is also called Sankta Ilya in Chains because he was killed by villagers, who tied him and his second daughter in chains and threw their bodies in a river for using Merzost.

Morozova’s amplifiers carry more importance in the books than they do in the show because the journey of hunting down each Amplifier covers an entire book. Morozova’s research which could have created more amplifiers still holds the key to the future of Grishaverse and could actually carry the cure for Jurda Parem. Let’s examine why Morozova and his amplifiers are vital to the Grishaverse and Shadow and Bone’s future.

Who is Ilya Morozova in Shadow and Bone?

Ilya Morozova, also called Sankta Ilya in Chains, was a Fabrikator and one of the earliest and most powerful Grisha ever lived. He was Baghra’s father and, therefore, Kirigan’s grandfather.

Morozova created the amplifiers using his own bones, which is why he is also called the Bonesmith. He was also obsessed with dangerous experiments with Merzost leading to some people calling him a madman.

Bhagra told Mal that his obsession with the amplifiers confined him to his crypt most of the time and affected his relationship with his two daughters.

She said Morozova stopped after creating the stag and the sea whip when his wife (an otkazat’sya (non-Grisha)) became pregnant. He decided to settle in the village where the church of Sankta Illya still stands.

Morozova believed that all Grisha is one, as is all Small Science, and therefore did healing and other types of small science that Fabrikators do not normally do, which is why he is one of the most powerful Grisha that ever lived.

Villagers killed Morozova after he used Merzost to bring his second daughter back to life after Baghra killed her. Baghra said she accidentally killed her sister in anger using The Cut after the latter decapitated her beloved clay swan.

Mal opened the resurrected sister’s supposed tomb in the Morozova crypt and found it empty, with Baghra’s decapitated swan inside instead of her body.

Ilya was tied in chains alongside his resurrected daughter and thrown over a bridge with their bodies held underwater by chains leading to his name Sankta Ilya in Chains.

His daughter survived, though, and in the books, Alina Starkov suspects that she was a Grisha but hid her powers. Her resurrection caused her and her ancestors to become the third amplifier despite the existence of the Firebird, and Mal is believed to be the last of her descendants.

What are Morozova’s Amplifiers in Shadow and Bone?

Amplifiers are human beings, animals or their body parts that Grisha can use to boost their powers and achieve their full potential. There has to be a connection between the Grisha and the amplifier because it only works if the amplifier chooses the Grisha.

Initially, it was believed that a Grisha that wants parts of an amplifier molded to them has to be the one to kill the amplifier. Still, Alina was able to harness the stag’s power without killing it and was also able to get Mal’s power by simply touching him rather than fusing his bones to her body as earlier thought.

The stag, sea whip, and firebird are the three amplifiers that Morozova created, which could help the Sun Summoner eradicate the fold for good.

Despite being their creator, Morozova spent his life hunting for them but failed, causing the three to drift into myth after his death.

Alina started seeing Morozova’s three amplifiers in her dreams, which means they chose her, but the Darkling found out through her drawings and sought to destroy them before she could use them to magnify her powers.

Mal was also connected to the amplifiers because he was the firebird, and only he could feel the frequency of the amplifiers.

With the Stag, Alina needed to have the antlers forged into a collar around her neck, although Kirigan made it more gruesome by crudely inserting them into her flesh.

The sea whip was the toughest amplifier for Mal and Alina to locate, but they did after finding the nautical maps of Novyi Zem with Stormhund’s help.

Unlike the stag, which she didn’t have to kill, the sea whip, which had dragon-like features, was aggressive and had to be killed for its scales to be used as amplifiers.

Baghra later helped Mal realize that, being a descendant of Morozova, he was the firebird. The books prove that a real firebird exists, but Mal is still Alina’s amplifier in both cases.

Are Alina and Mal descendants of Morozova?

Baghra told Mal to use his blood to close the Morozova crypt, which he did, proving that he was the descendant of the legendary Grisha. However, Alina’s ancestry is unclear, and there are no indicators that she is a Morozova.

Mal grew up in the same orphanage as Alina, but they have different backgrounds. While all of Mal’s parents are from Ravka, at least one of Alina’s is from Shu Han.

The connection between Mal and Kirigan was established naturally because they shared Morozova blood. Baghra confirmed to Mal that he was an ancestor of her sister whom Morozova resurrected.

However, Kirigan lost connection to Alina when his mother cut off the arm with stag fragments, which means they didn’t share any blood connection.

There is, therefore, no confirmation from Grishaverse that Alina is related to Morozova in any way. More details about her ancestry might be revealed in future seasons of spinoffs of Shadow and Bone.

Is Jurda Parem an Amplifier?

Jurda Parem doesn’t fit the traditional Grishaverse definition of an amplifier because it is synthetic and, therefore, not based on human or animal parts like Morozova’s amplifiers.

Jurda Parem also destroys the body of a Grisha rather than blending in and connecting with them the way Morozova’s amplifiers did with Alina.

The second season of Shadow and Bone ended with a cliffhanger after the attendees of Alina and Nikolai’s coronation were nearly wiped out by a Heartrender who had used Jurda Parem.

Kaz told the Crows that the drug could make a Grisha a thousand times more powerful and that it is extremely addictive, meaning a Grisha can’t resist it after using it for the first time.

In the books, Jurda Parem is a drug that was created by a researcher named Bo Yul Bayur from the flower of the Jurda plant found in Novyi Zem. The drug was accidental because the scientist was looking for a way to stop Grisha powers and not increase them as the drug does.