Some men like to unwind with a couple of brewskis and a football game, or an indulgent pedicure. The Witcher’s Geralt of Rivia, on the other hand, much prefers hunting for powerful spirits in a monster-infested bog alone as a way to relax. But Geralt’s solitary and grumpy preferences may be changing. The actor who plays Geralt, Henry Cavill, told us that things are evolving for the witcher in Season 2, and that Geralt is about to get in touch with his emotions.

“The loss of Yennefer is a great blow for Geralt, and it's something which he buries deep,” Cavill tells Netflix, referencing the disappearance of Geralt’s mage love interest Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) in Season 1. “But [Geralt’s] also a man of action, a wise man, and so his focus is Ciri.”

In the Season 1 finale, Geralt finally finds Ciri (Freya Allan), who is his Child of Surprise. Before Ciri’s birth, Geralt accepted the Law of Surprise from her father, Dunny, for saving his life; in repayment, Geralt was owed whatever Dunny found at home. Ciri’s existence is that surprise, tying Geralt’s and Ciri’s fates together forever. By the end of Season 1, Ciri — or Princess Cirilla — has grieved the deaths of her entire biological family, seen her city burn to the ground, watched her refugee subjects get slaughtered in their sleep and fled a child-hungry shapeshifter. In Season 2, Ciri is tasked with understanding her destiny as a girl connected to a terrifying and mysterious prophecy. Geralt’s job is to help Ciri through these overwhelming struggles. Cavill knows his character has to serve as a “father figure” to Ciri, or, at least, “an older brother figure.”

“I wanted him to be warm… But he’s also tough; he's not going to be super soft. He’s lived a very hard life, and Ciri is about to face a very hard life, too,” he says. “It was important to me that Geralt have a sense of humor while also being tough and intellectual and wise. I tried to lean into that as much as possible when it came to the relationship with Ciri.”

As fans watch Geralt settle into his role as Ciri’s protector and supernatural mentor, they’ll also see him connect to his own patriarchal figure. This season Kim Bodnia portrays Vesemir, the witcher who raised Geralt from human boyhood into adult Witcher-dom. Bodnia and Cavill worked hard to create the on-screen bond between surrogate Witcher father and son.

“There’s a strong and loving relationship between the two… A dynamic that was genuinely caring and not so simple, not so basic,” Cavill says. “We wanted it to be sensitive, because I believe that real men are very sensitive. And so we wanted to make sure that sensitivity was a core element in their relationship, and that it wasn't too driven by conflict.”

Now you know: Real witchers have feelings.