This is the episode where everything happens. And I don’t just mean Alina walking in the Darkling’s room in her bathrobe.

EPISODE 5 RECAP

(*If you are looking for details, you will find these recaps neither very helpful nor profound, I strive to be as brief as possible and only comment on the most critical occurrences.)

Alina is especially happy lately because she has let go of her constant wondering about Mal and starts to appreciate herself and her skills more. We see her laughing with Genoa and in general, beginning to embrace her new life.

Her confidence takes her further than that, all the way to the Darkling’s room. At this point, I’m pretty sure he keeps his door open 24/7 just in case she needs, you know, “counselling”.

They chat for a while. The Darkling makes an effort to be funny. Alina is like, Uh… you haven’t been out much, have you?

When the Darkling stops making embarrassing jokes, Alina kisses him.

Mal who?

Don’t point the knives at me. It’s Alina who’s going all “Mal who?”.

Comes the party everyone has been preparing for. It’s a diplomatic dinner where Grisha would put on a performance, mostly to remind the world it’s a bad idea to mess with Ravka.

Note that Alina and the Darkling are not the only ones generating all the chemistry here. We have Fedyor force-feeding Ivan macaroons, Genya and David stealing looks at each other, and Kaz annoying Inej with his “sun-summoner is not real” lecture.

At the party, Alina walks in and we get a full Cinderella moment where everyone is entranced by her. The Darkling walks up to her and says the usual stuff mentors say, I guess, like “You look lovely, by the way”, so and so.

Then, people gather around the platform at the front as Alina and the Darkling exchange their eternal vows showcases her power.

Kaz insists that this is just a magic trick. At one point, Inej is so tired of him that she has to move to watch the show in peace.

Alina’s performance turns out to be successful. Don’t we all just love Alina’s confidence in this scene. She puts on a fantastic show, is also fully aware of how important she is, and quite bluntly checks out the most powerful man of Ravka.

A bit later, the Darkling has to go meet with a tracker who has claimed to spot the legendary stag. Big surprise (not really), it’s Mal.

The Darkling asks Mal more questions about the stag. But Mal, being the innocent and genuine darling he has been all along, insists on seeing Alina first and worrying about the matters involving the future of his country later.

Needless to say, the Darkling isn’t happy about this. He asks Mal to prove he really is Alina’s friend, a test that Mal passes with flying colors.

The Darkling moves on to make a deal with Mal, agreeing to let him see Alina later if she can verify his identity, a promise he obviously doesn’t intend to keep. Also, is it really necessary to stand this close to Mal just for this short conversation, Darkling?

I think you two are about the same height. No competition to be had here, OK?

Afterwards, the Darkling picks up Alina and they go to talk in private about world peace.

No, not really. They make out on his desk.

The background music here sounds like someone is dying, which is kind of appropriate. A ship is about to die tragically.

Ivan comes to bring the Darkling news of Genya and the Alina-double being attacked. After some hesitation to leave his desk, the Darkling steps out to see Ivan, pink spots on his face and unable to stop himself from smiling. If I were you, Ivan, I would drag this guy out and check if he’s an imposter before giving him any information. I mean, when was the last THE DARKLING answered the door smiling and blushing?

When the Darkling is out dealing with the man who attacked Genya, Baghra finds Alina and gives her some dating advice.

“Aleksander IS the Black Heretic.”

Well, thanks, Baghra. That would have been useful at orientation.

Baghra then proves her story by showing Alina a painting of the Darkling which… really doesn’t prove anything. But anyway, the Darkling is the villain now, so just go with it, I guess.

Baghra shows Alina a secret tunnel and tells her to turn right at a fork to receive help. So of course, Alina turns left. Not knowing what to do next, Alina locks herself in a trunk behind a carriage which turns out to belong to the Crows, the very people who are trying to kidnap her. Well, I guess after finding out that your new boyfriend is a dark sorcerer who created a theme park with flesh-eating monsters, being kidnapped doesn’t sound so bad.

COMMENTS

Let’s say a few things about the Darkling. It isn’t necessary to point out that he is a manipulator or a liar because that’s exactly the point of his character from the beginning.

This show makes a huge effort to humanize the Darkling, but whether he deserves sympathy is all down to the audience’s interpretation. As Baghra says: The Darkling is eternal. He has spent centuries lying and manoeuvring, so everything he does with Alina can logically be seen as manipulation. But let’s take into consideration that even though the Darkling has dealt with countless people in his life, he has never met a sun-summoner until now, someone with the potential to be his equal. However cliched that may be.

Just because the Darkling doesn’t let emotions compromise his plan does not mean he isn’t emotionally affected by Alina’s existence. What kind of emotions are those? It’s complicated and it is entirely up to the audience to determine when he acts upon his emotion and when with logic throughout the show.