The Blacklist: What did Red whisper to Kirk?

The Blacklist type TV Show network NBC genre Crime

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With Red’s life on the line, a mysterious piece of information spared his life during The Blacklist winter finale — but what exactly did he tell Kirk?

During the midseason finale, Kirk (Ulrich Thomsen) basically tortured Red (James Spader) into revealing that Red is actually Liz’s (Megan Boone) father, though it’s unclear whether the fedora-sporting criminal mastermind only told Kirk what he wanted to hear. Knowing that he was going to die, Kirk planned to kill Red anyway, saying there was nothing that Red could say to stop him — until Red whispered something that literally stopped Kirk in his tracks.

So, what did Red whisper to Kirk? Theories abound. Are Red and Kirk related? Did Kirk reveal that Kirk does have a child somewhere out there? Did Red reveal that Katarina Rostova (Lotte Verbeek) is actually alive? Or — the craziest theory of all — did Red tell Kirk that he is actually Katarina? It’s a theory that’s been gaining traction in recent seasons, though executive producer Jon Bokenkamp seemed to debunk that one recently.

“That’s funny,” Bokenkamp told EW. “I’ve heard that theory before and it’s a wild one. I’d love to have someone walk me through the logic of exactly how that would work. I’ve also heard that Liz is Tom’s sister, Liz is a robot, and Ressler is Tom’s brother. All great theories, by the way.”

So, now it’s your turn, Blacklist fans: What do you think Red told Kirk? Hit the comments!

The Blacklist returns Thursday, Jan. 5 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.