General Kirigan / The Darkling The villain of Shadow and Bone seasons one and two is the Darkling, the former commander of the Second Army. He is a Shadow Summoner, and the creator of the Shadow Fold. He was born centuries ago and his mom is Baghra (see below).
Type of Villain
Aleksander Morozava, also known as the Darkling or General Kirigan is the main antagonist of the Shadow and Bone book series and its 2021 Netflix adaptation of the same name, serving as the main antagonist of both seasons.
Ultimately, the Darkling is the antagonist of the novel, but he is much more than the black-and-white villain that his name implies. He's the leader of the Grisha, the commander of the Second Army, a potential love interest for Alina, and the man who created the Shadow Fold.
Kirigan, played by Ben Barnes in the series, is an ultra-powerful Grisha, known as a living amplifier; his essence can enhance the power of those around him. His mother, Baghra, is extremely powerful and, like him, naturally immortal.
Alina used this dark magic before to resurrect Mal, and it now seems to have taken a hold of her, much like it did with Kirigan, the Darkling. It is an ironic ending, Alina using dark powers instead of her light powers, slowly transforming into her enemy.
Rather than raping or assaulting women, the Darkling tricks Alina into falling in love with him, his goal being to take Alina's power for himself and effectively enslave her.
He feels the loneliness of immortality, causing him to fixate on Alina because she had the capacity to be like him. However, he is also shown to truly care for and wants to be loved by his people (the Grisha) and his nation, claiming that all he ever wanted was to create a safe place for people like him.
Dead: Aleksander Morozova (The Darkling)
The Darkling could only watch in awe as Alina cleared the darkness. In the end, he is killed by the blade of Neshyenyer by Alina as he reminisced on his one peaceful moment.
By nature, their abilities make them so connected. Light and shadow create a balance, which explains why Alina is expected to destroy the Shadow Fold. Since learning of her powers, The Darkling has been obsessed with getting Alina on his side.
The two go to find the stag before the Darkling can and grow close again before confessing their love for each other. Alina gets Mal to promise to her that he should kill her if they are about to be captured by The Darkling, as she does not wish for her powers to be used against her will.
Alina and the Darkling kiss, with him making the first move in the novel and her making the first move on the show. But then she finds out he's actually using her to gain control of the Fold and rule the country, so she flees. Despite his nefarious plans, it is thought the Darkling did love Alina.
Ulla is a half-sildroher songcaster and the half-sister of The Darkling via their late mother, Baghra. She is also known as Sankta Ursula of the Waves.
As skilled as Alina is, though, the Darkling has to place higher than her in terms of power rankings once you take a look at everything he was capable of across the Grishaverse books.
Kirigan was undoubtedly manipulating Alina, but he never realized that he had fallen in love with her as well. Until his last breath in Season 2 of “Shadow and Bone,” he kept telling Alina how they belonged together.
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.
Barnes explained to Deadline that his character really does have feelings for Alina, and when he loses her, his army, and his palace everything “brews into this storm.” Not only is he tormented, but he's also angry about losing everything he had, and as the actor behind him said, The Darkling has “gone off” which is ...
Mal was oblivious to Alina's love from before book one even began. He slept with Zoya and countless others before he realised who was waiting by his back door.
While searching for the last amplifier, Mal and Alina find out the truth about Mal's heritage. He is descended from Baghra's sister, making him a great-nephew of the Darkling.
Shadow and Bone
It is revealed that Alina had been subconsciously suppressing her power when she was tested as a child in Keramzin for signs of Grisha ability. It was as though she knew that if she was found to be a Grisha, she would be taken away from her best friend, Mal.
In the final episode of Shadow and Bone, a lot goes down—the Darkling dies, Alina uses shadow power, Mal becomes Sturmhond, Nikolai is crowned King of Ravka, and jurda parem is introduced into the plot.
Kirigan does indeed die at the end of the third book in the Shadow and Bone trilogy, Ruin and Rising.
While they manage early on to find and kill the ice dragon Rusalye, aka the sea whip, it takes them until the end of the season to realize that the final amplifier, the firebird, is actually Mal.
In the books, Alina and Mal go into the Fold, but the Darkling finds them and they don't have a chance to execute their plan. Mal tells Alina to stab him. And she does, but unlike in the show, he's not already dying when she does so. However, instead of the power surging into her, she loses her powers.
But the biggest question on viewers minds after watching: Are Mal and Alina endgame? The books and shows diverge after Alina has to kill Mal to use him as an amplifier. In Leigh Bardugo's books, the answer is yes, they end up together.
In a recent interview with RadioTimes.com, showrunner Eric Heisserer and Bardugo herself explained why the change was necessary. "We just wanted to make sure that people had a name that they could call him outside of the General," Heisserer said.