Is General Kirigan the villain?
Robert Miller
Updated on April 13, 2026
In Netflix's new Shadow and Bone adaptation, Ben Barnes dazzles in the dark role of General Kirigan, a villain who uses his powers to manipulate those around him.
Is General Kirigan evil or good?
By the end of Shadow and Bone's first season, the question stops being whether General Kirigan is good or bad. Rather, it becomes whether or not he can be stopped. He tells Alina that she has cast him as the villain in her story, but it's not as simple as that. Kirigan has cast himself as the villain.Does Kirigan betray Alina?
Alina Starkov (played by Jessie Mei Li in the Netflix series) has been manipulated and tormented by General Kirigan (Ben Barnes) and betrayed by the Grisha royalty she once thought were her friends.What did General Kirigan do to Alina?
General Kirigan enters Alina's tent simply to talk. However, she accuses him of being the Black Heretic and killing her friends and parents via the Fold.Why does General Kirigan want Alina?
Though the Darkling may not have created the Shadow Fold intentionally, he never actually wanted Alina to destroy it. The only mistake that General Kirigan is seeking to fix is his loss of control over the Fold, and his true intention was to use Alina's power to expand and weaponize it.Ben Barnes Explains the Origins of General Kirigan | Shadow and Bone | Netflix
Is Kirigan the black heretic?
In the big twist of season one, we find out that General Kirigan, also called the Darkling, actually is the Black Heretic. He has been alive for centuries, and created the Fold using merzost, a.k.a. the power of creation, to expand his own power and save the Grisha with him.Is the darkling the villain?
The Darkling, despite being the villain of Shadow and Bone, works as a well-intentioned extremist with a sympathetic tragic backstory. He has had plenty of upsetting things happen in his long life, from the reason he created the Fold in the first place to losing Alina after thinking he might win her over.Who is the villain in Shadow and Bone?
In Netflix's new Shadow and Bone adaptation, Ben Barnes dazzles in the dark role of General Kirigan, a villain who uses his powers to manipulate those around him.Why is the darkling called Kirigan?
Instead, this manipulative character, played by Ben Barnes, is referred to mostly as General Kirigan, a title taken from the book that purposely disguises his true character for the show's earlier episodes, aligning him more with his role running the Second Army and less with the fact that he is The Black Heretic who ...Is the darkling the black heretic?
The Darkling's experimentation with power and darkness resulted in the creation of the Shadow Fold, in the period when he was still known as the Black Heretic. The Darkling served many kings over the years and faked his death many times.Does Kirigan take Alinas powers?
Alina Has Begun To Truly Embrace Her PowersWhen they finally found the Stag -- its antlers can be used to increase the power of any Grisha -- Kirigan imbues parts of it into Alina as well as himself, so that they share a connection through power now and he can control her.