#hydra talks

The Shadow is connected to the incident 13 years ago, the incident the Mayview Wight was at the center of and continues to be to this day. The Wight, the spirit that ties every mystery in Mayview together, is also the single biggest threat to it (Gwen is all ominous about what might happen when it wakes), at least in its connection to everything.

Chapter 7, having told us this, provided crucial context to this panel: 

I remember people (including myself) supposing Lucifer was referring to the Shadow when calling out the "TRUE THREAT" (also that it’s the “strongest spirit” Nin was referring to back in chapter 4), and used "SHADOW" as a smart and fancy way to directly reference it to Hijack Now, however, we can tell that the threat is the Wight (or implications created in the context of its existence), and that the Shadow is not equivalent to the threat; it spawned from the threat.

The Shadow is an entity cast by the Wight during the incident, just as any real shadow is cast by an object. Lucifer and Rick sought to understand the "power” through it because that's the most direct link they have to it.

Understanding this, another possibility is created: the Shadow is not a spirit. Not a traditional one (far as the adjective applies to matters of wights), in any case.

It has been noted by many readers that we were never shown its spectral energy. Why is that? I think that it's because while it follows the laws any other spirit has to (due to its origin), at its core, it's different somehow, specifically because of its nature as a sort of silhouette or leftover of the thing that birthed it. This difference is primarily seen in its lack of spectral color. It's not part of a spectrum, it's not white, it's not black: it simply doesn't have one, just as a shadow has no light. Just as shadows are an absence of light, the Shadow is a sort of absence of spectral energy. (it still has to be made of it, being a supernatural construct)

This might also explain why it didn't come out of Spender back when it was crawling out in chapter 4, as perhaps it can't? It might only be able to exist while it possesses something, and getting out is either physically impossible or spells certain doom. (note for the image: the tendrils come out, but not the Shadow itself. I don’t think it’s for the lack of time and speed.)