Hes always the villain.
But in this season, its unleashed a little bit and he doesnt have an army to rely on.
And if you dont help me, Im going to kill you.
Shadow and BoneNetflix
DEADLINE: For most of Season 1, General Kirigan is pretty well respected and well liked.
In Season 2, hes feared more than anything else.
How was it to be able to tap into the much darker side of Kirigan for this season?
Thats really fun for me to look at those curves and those arcs and to chart them through.
Hes a more raw version of himself, but…he finds himself now in slightly unsteady territory.
He also doesnt have his position to anchor him.
He doesnt have the status anymore.
Like you said, hes not really revered.
Hes just feared and hes so much more powerful.
I think even hes a little scared of himself.
I think he begins to wrestle with and understand that.
[Kirigan] was always on the wrong side.
Hes always the villain.
But in this season, its unleashed a little bit and he doesnt have an army to rely on.
He doesnt have these masks of charm to rely on.
And if you dont help me, Im going to kill you.
I think that was an interesting counterbalance to the first season.
So we worked very closely with our showrunners on having something for him to be afraid of.
Spending another eternity alone is very scary for him but also hes being poisoned by his own demons.
DEADLINE: Im glad you brought up the shadow monsters being a metaphor.
I think that comes to a head when they attack Alina and he cant stop them.
You see that hes just as scared of them as everyone else is.
They may not mean to, but they do.
She takes responsibility for it as well.
She says to Alina, Im not your salvation.
I was not a good person.
I liked that about the villains in our story.
She could play out his agenda without even needing him, and maybe he was wrong about it.
Theres questioning in these moments where he realizes how mortal he is.
He says to Alina that Ravka doesnt need another saint, it needs a monster.
How do you at all rationalize what hes doing when he knows what hes doing is terrible?
We even see in the flashbacks.
And in the seventh episode, weve seen him trying to protect a different way without employing fear.
If I dont understand them, then theres absolutely no chance they come across as authentic.
But that doesnt mean I have to make them explicit.
It can be for other people to define as they watch.
I think hes confused a lot of the time.
He feels overwhelmed by this power because it does feel so dark, even for him.
Hes left very much alone.
He doesnt have the mother that always supported him.
Then he started to clearly have these feelings for Alina, whos then moved past them.
At least I dont have to defend him anymore.
Because thats what he believes.
I think now its very much obvious that hes gone off.
DEADLINE: You and Jessie have some very intense scenes together this season.
BARNES:Well, in the books theres more clues [about their conflict].
Shes got all this attention.
She doesnt want it and it doesnt seem to be getting her anywhere.
Theres sort of a political infighting.
That naivety comes across beautifully in her performance in the first season.
She has this wide-eyed wonder, and she has just a general joy about her which is so clear.
It busts through the screen.
By now, she is a little bit more experienced and has a power to her.
She doesnt suffer fools.
I think she begins to realize she can manipulate [people] herself.
She almost actually takes on a little bit of what his role was.
At some point, she talks about Well I can put on a mask too.
But Kirigan is not an easy person to manipulate.
So it doesnt really work.
Its left for people to decide who had feelings for who, and if so, what were they?
We make those decisions very clearly ourselves, but not to spoon feed it.
You have to keep checking in with somebody and looking after them.
Its just as important in a fight scene as it is in a love scene.
Weve always had really good communication.
