Shadow and Bone Season 2 has brought back the villainous General Kirigan after the character was initially believed to be killed by the Volcra in the Shadow Fold. Still, the second season concluded with The Darkling finally being defeated by Alina Starkov. So what was it like filming Kirigan's final moments? As expected, Ben Barnes says it wasn't easy.
In Shadow and Bone Season 2, Alina finally managed to destroy the Fold. However, the Nichevo'ya remained and it was confirmed that the Darkling cannot control them. Still, the only way to get rid of them is by killing Kirigan and that's exactly what Alina had to do.
Kirigan's death certainly didn't look comfortable and Ben Barnes confirmed this while talking to Collider. During the interview, Barnes was asked about his last day on the set of Shadow and Bone Season 2 and he revealed that he had shot the Darkling's death scene on that day.
"It was actually my very last few days. And it was interesting because it was almost joyful for me. I’d been so alone for the season, and then I got to be with almost everybody for the last couple of days," he said.
"In the car on the way into work, I was feeling the pressure of wanting to get out of these scenes what I was really prioritizing, which was a tenderness between the two of them, that’s exposed in the books as her using his real name, and she’s the only one who knows it," Barnes continued.
"We toyed with names in a different way in the show, so we had to replace it with something else, and there was a lot of discussion about how we could do that. It was this idea of her being the guardian of his realization that he has become this monster that he feared, but also always knew he would become," he added.
"It’s complicated, where he is in the final throws," Barnes stated. "He’s feeling love and he’s feeling regret, but he’s also still championing his cause, all the way to the bitter end, which you can respect, but the way he went about it was always wrong."
He concluded, "It’s messy, and I think life is messy and relationships are messy. Trying to find the clarity in the messiness, it felt like a lot to try to navigate in that final scene, especially in three leather coats in the desert, covered in black blood. There was a lot to it."
Although his final scene with the series wasn't fun to shoot, it's clear that Ben Barnes still enjoyed being part of Shadow and Bone.
All eight episodes of Shadow and Bone Season 2 are now streaming on Netflix.
Related: Shadow and Bone Showrunner Credits Jessie Mei Li For Alina's Season 2 Changes
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!