Alina Starkov and Mal Oretsev grow up as fellow orphans at the Duke's orphanage, forming an inseparable bond.

Volcra descend on the sandskiff crossing the Shadow Fold, and Mal is critically wounded defending Alina.

Alina releases a burst of blinding light that drives the volcra away and saves the skiff's survivors.

The Darkling tests Alina's power in the Grisha tent and formally declares her a Sun Summoner.

The Darkling holds Alina's hand in the King's throne room as her light fills the palace.

Alina spends weeks in training unable to summon her powers without the Darkling's amplifying touch.

A suppressed memory resurfaces, revealing that Alina deliberately hid her power during the childhood Grisha examination.

Alina releases her full power alone in Baghra's hut for the first time, flooding the room with light.

Baghra reveals the Darkling is the Black Heretic who created the Shadow Fold and plans to enslave Alina.

Mal tracks Alina to a forest hiding spot and leads her safely away from the Darkling's searching soldiers.

The Darkling arrives with Grisha soldiers and captures Alina and Mal just as Morozova's stag appears.

The Darkling kills the stag and has its antlers sealed as an unremovable collar around Alina's neck.

The Darkling forces Alina's power to expand the Shadow Fold, destroying a village on Ravka's western shore.

Alina understands that sparing the stag's life gives her power over the amplifier, and she seizes control.

Alina and Mal escape the Shadow Fold and sail away from Ravka on a foreign ship.

Alina Starkov and Mal Oretsev grow up as inseparable orphans before joining the First Army and preparing to cross the deadly Shadow Fold. A volcra attack on the crossing reveals Alina's hidden power as a Sun Summoner, and the Darkling swiftly brings her to the Little Palace to train under his protection. Alina spends weeks unable to summon her powers alone, until a recovered memory of suppressing her abilities in childhood finally unlocks her full strength. Just as Alina settles into Grisha life, Baghra exposes the Darkling as the Black Heretic who created the Fold and plans to enslave Alina using the stag amplifier. Alina flees with Mal's help, but the Darkling captures them, kills the stag, and seals its antlers as a collar around Alina's neck before forcing her power to expand the Fold and destroy a West Ravkan village. Alina ultimately realizes that her mercy toward the stag gives her control over the amplifier, allowing her to break free and escape with Mal by ship.

The headline events driving Alina's journey from orphan soldier to Sun Summoner.

Grisha Examiners arrive at the Duke's orphanage to test the children for magical abilities.

The Darkling's Grisha coaches nearly run down Alina and Mal at the army camp before the Fold crossing.

The Darkling performs a deadly slash called the Cut, splitting a Fjerdan soldier in two during an ambush.

Around a campfire, the Darkling tells Alina she is his first real hope for saving Ravka.

Genya uses her Tailor abilities to subtly improve Alina's appearance before her audience with the King.

The Darkling offers Alina a black kefta marking his rank; Alina asks for blue instead.

Alina invites Genya to stay for dinner, openly defying the Grisha's strict social hierarchy.

Zoya uses her Squaller powers to slam Alina into a wall during sparring, sending Alina to the infirmary.

The Apparat appears at Alina's infirmary bedside and reports that border peasants are building altars in her name.

The Darkling shares his plan to use Morozova's legendary stag as an amplifier to strengthen Alina's powers.

Alina and the Darkling perform a breathtaking combined light-and-shadow display at the King's winter fete.

Mal confronts Alina outside the fete, angered by seeing her wear the Darkling's colors and perform beside him.

A Darkling guard spots Alina in the town of Ryevost after she fights off an attacker, forcing her to flee.

Alina and Mal fight off robbers who threaten to expose Mal as a deserter during a village celebration.

Alina visits Mal in his guarded cell the night before the Fold crossing, and Mal declares his love for her.

Before Alina's powers are known, the world of the Grisha first intrudes on her life when Examiners test the orphanage children and Grisha coaches nearly run her and Mal down at camp. Once Alina is brought into the Grisha world, she encounters its politics firsthand — from the Darkling's lethal power in the field to the rigid hierarchy of Os Alta, where she defies expectations by befriending Genya and rejecting the honor of wearing the Darkling's black. Her struggles with belonging intensify as Zoya attacks her during training, the Apparat hints at a saintly destiny, and the Darkling reveals his plan to find the mythical stag. The tension peaks at the King's winter fete, where Alina's dazzling public performance is shadowed by Mal's bitter confrontation and the gathering danger of the Darkling's ambitions. On the run, Alina narrowly escapes recognition in a Ravkan town while Mal risks everything to stay by her side. The pool closes with Alina and Mal's final night before crossing the Fold, where Mal declares his love through prison bars.

The key secondary moments that shaped Alina's world and relationships.

Alina and Mal grasp hands as Grisha Examiners approach the orphanage children, silently vowing not to be separated.

Alina watches Mal leave camp to spend the evening with a Grisha girl, feeling their friendship slipping away.

Alina is escorted at gunpoint from the battlefield to the Grisha tent as a suspected Sun Summoner.

Alina arrives at the Little Palace and collapses in her room, overwhelmed by the grandeur surrounding her.

The Apparat gives Alina a book of saints' lives and suggests she will suffer as the saints have suffered.

Genya delivers word that Mal is stationed in the north and healthy, meaning he could have received Alina's letters.

Botkin awards Alina a knife of Grisha steel, formally recognizing her hard-won progress in combat training.

The Darkling walks Alina home from her lesson and kisses her suddenly, surprising them both.

Alina accepts a black kefta bearing the Darkling's eclipsed sun symbol and chooses to wear his colors to the fete.

After a bitter confrontation with Mal outside the fete, Alina decides not to chase him and lets him go.

Alina slips out of Os Alta in the night, hidden inside a wagon carrying entertainers from the royal fete.

Alina asks Mal to promise to kill her rather than allow the Darkling to capture and control her power.

Mal reveals he lost his two closest friends while tracking the stag herd, blaming himself for their deaths.

Alina chooses to spare the stag's life when she has the chance to kill it for her own amplifier.

Alina performs the Cut for the first time and splits the skiff in two, stranding the Darkling inside the Fold.

Alina's journey is defined by a series of quiet and explosive turning points, beginning with her silent vow at the orphanage to resist separation from Mal and continuing through her painful watch as Mal drifts away toward other company. Her identity as a Sun Summoner forces a cascade of revelations — her escort at gunpoint to the Grisha tent, her arrival at the overwhelming Little Palace, and the Apparat's unsettling suggestion that she is destined to suffer like a saint. The middle stretch of her time at Os Alta brings smaller but crucial turns: Genya delivers news that Mal could have written to Alina all along, Botkin's recognition of her combat growth, and the Darkling's unexpected kiss that tilts Alina toward belonging. On the night of the fete, Alina's acceptance of the Darkling's black kefta and her refusal to chase Mal mark her fullest embrace of Grisha identity — before Baghra shatters it all. Her flight, Mal's sacrifice in following her, and her choice to spare the stag culminate in the climactic moment where Alina performs the Cut and splits the skiff in two, forever changing her and trapping the Darkling in the darkness he created.

The discoveries, decisions, and emotional shifts that define Alina's transformation.