There is a lot to unpack here. New characters, Roger and the Land of the Dead, foreshadowing
of the prophesied betrayal, and much more. His Dark Materials Episodes 1 and 2 centered
on Lyra as a prisoner. This was the third time that Marisa had captured her daughter.
First, she took Lyra under her wing so that Lyra would be safe from the Gobblers. The
second time happened up at Bolvangar after Marisa saved Lyra from the intercision machine.
She captured Lyra for the third time at the end of Season 2. This time, she did it in
an attempt to protect Lyra from the Magisterium since Lyra had been prophesied to be Eve – the
Mother of all sin – and they wanted to kill her.
In many ways, Marisa is not the type of character whom I tend to like, but her arc is one of
my favorites in any story since she is so broken yet so loving.
“Mrs. Coulter.” “That’s me.” When the local girl hugged Marisa, she was
surprised and made a face. That hug might have reminded her of the first time that Lyra
hugged her. That first hug lit a spark inside of her, and ever since, she began to prioritize
Lyra at the expense of losing the good will that she had built with the Magisterium. But
now she is alone and confused as to what to do. Marisa had hoped that Asriel would come,
but he never did, so she continued to drug Lyra and keep her as a prisoner.
The Golden Monkey did not agree with what they were doing. In fact, the Golden Monkey
actually let Lyra escape. As a reminder though, the Golden Monkey isn’t just some cute and
sometimes crazy little monkey. It is a piece of Marisa Coulter. It is her soul. In other
words, a piece of Marisa realized that what she was doing to Lyra was wrong.
When the Golden Monkey let Lyra escape, you could hear the sound of it scream from inside,
which meant that Marisa physically abused the Golden Monkey yet again. Later on, however,
Marisa asked the Golden Monkey to smash her in the head with a rock in an attempt to sell
a story to Father Gomez. Father Gomez saw through her lie, but the main takeaway was
that Marisa has physically abused the Golden Monkey her entire life, but this time, she
let the Golden Monkey assault her. In other words, Marisa is now willing to sacrifice
her own health for the sake of her daughter. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for
Lyra’s father. Lord Asriel. Asriel has always loved Lyra, and he did things
in the past to assure that she was safe. With that said, he never embraced the role of father,
and he has always put his own ambitions ahead of Lyra.
Case in point, although Asriel had heard the rumors that Lyra was destined to play the
role of Eve, and although Lord Roke told Asriel that Lyra was in danger from the Magisterium,
Asriel blew it off, claiming that Lyra was always in danger. In response, his dæmon,
Stelmaria, chastised him for his indifference. “You dismiss Lyra too easily.”
When Asriel claimed that Lyra was not special, Stelmaria growled at him. And, as a reminder,
Stelmaria is not just a beautiful snow leopard. Stelmaria is Ariel’s soul. In other words,
Asriel was mad at himself because, deep down inside, he knows that Lyra deserves better
from her father. “What? What would you like me to say?”
“The truth.” “She's better than you think she is. She's
special.” “Everyone’s special.” After Asriel freed Ogunwe from prison, he
saw Ogunwe embrace his youngest daughter, and it clearly brought to mind Lyra. Nevertheless,
he never even mentioned her to Ogunwe. “Your daughter is the mother of all sin?”
“They believe so. But they believe a great deal of fanciful nonsense.” “And you didn't
think it worth mentioning before?” And that speaks to the heart of Asriel’s
biggest issue. Despite the fact that Lyra earned the love and support of none other
than Iorek Byrnison and despite the fact that the Panserbjørn are nearly impossible to
trick yet Lyra somehow managed to trick King Iofur Raknison, Asriel has refused to accept
that Lyra is anything other than ordinary. He is in denial that Lyra is actually more
important than himself. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Asriel claimed that he was willing to sacrifice everyone and everything, including Lyra. And
he might be. That would explain why he didn’t rush off to rescue her when he heard that
she was in danger. The only reason that he finally flew off to find her was because Baruch
told Asriel that the boy with the knife was on his way to Lyra.
It’s worth noting, however, that the intention craft stalled at first since his mind was
muddled. In other words, it’s implied that when Asriel got inside of the intention craft
so as to go find the boy and the knife, he couldn’t help but think about Lyra.
So what is Asriel’s masterplan? “The real war is coming, and we must win
it.” The first person whom he recruited was an
angel named Xaphania. Xaphania was the first angel to figure out that the Authority was
not actually God. That the Authority was just another angel. Because of that, she was exiled.
Ever since then, she and other angel exiles have lived between the worlds, watching and
waiting for vengeance. Asriel’s plan has several aspects. First
of all, he opened a window to a new world where he intends to build a Republic of Heaven
where free thought is encouraged rather than struck down.
Xaphania told Asriel that the Authority has a dark angel by his side, and Baruch told
Asriel that that dark angel is his brother, Enoch. Baruch said that Enoch is now regent,
and the captive Archangel named Alarbus told Asriel that Enoch’s new name is Metatron.
Xaphania warned Asriel that Metatron is very, very powerful. That is where the knife comes
into play. The second person whom Asriel allied with
was Ruta Skadi, Queen of the Lake Lubana clan of witches. In the past, Asriel and Ruta were
lovers, at least, they were in the books. When Ruta Skadi went looking for Asriel, she
came across some cliff-ghasts and she heard them speaking about a weapon called Æsahættr.
The cliff-ghasts said that Asriel would need that to win the war.
More recently, Baruch told Asriel about the boy with the knife called Æsahættr. That
knife is also known as the God Killer. Supposedly, that knife is the only weapon that can destroy
the Authority and his Regent. So, one of Asriel’s goals is to draw out
the Authority and the Regent named Metatron, and kill them with the knife. Unfortunately,
Asriel has two problems. First off, Alarbus told Asriel that he is so insignificant that
Metatron doesn’t even know who he is. “Were he to notice you, he could crush you
and burn whatever remains.” “Doesn't even know my name.”
Asriel’s second problem with drawing out Metatron is that he needs the knife, but Will
and Lyra escaped through into another world before he got there.
“We’re too late.” “Damn.” The last thing that Will’s father ever told
him before dying was to go to Lord Asriel since Will has the only weapon in all the
universes that can destroy the Authority. More recently, two angels appeared, and they
also told him to go to Lord Asriel. However, Will said no. Not until he rescued Lyra.
Will has rescued Lyra, but now he has another issue to navigate. Lyra hates Asriel since
Asriel killed her best friend, Roger. That is the first problem, but not the only one.
While Lyra was captive and sleeping, she came across Roger in the dream world, and he begged
for her help. This upcoming subplot relates to another one of Asriel’s plans. Asriel
told Ogunwe that death was a lie. He also told Ogunwe that quote:
“The Authority has managed to pervert the natural order of Dust. I don't know how but
when I find out, believe me, death is going to die.
The episode began with a voiceover from the angel named Xaphania. In that voiceover, Xaphania
said that the reason that she and other rebel angels appeared now was because a spark of
hope is alive due to a bold leader whose ambitions transcend his kind. So the show opened with
a voiceover about the concept of hope. Later on, Commander Ogunwe asked Queen Ruta
Skadi why the war even mattered to her considering how long she lives, and this is what she said.
“So why do you fight with us?” “Hope.” Unfortunately, sometimes things don’t play
out as people hoped for. As an example, Marisa had hoped that Asriel would show up to help
protect Lyra, but he never did, at least, not for the right reason and not in time.
Something similar is happening with Roger. While Lyra slept, she travelled to a mysterious
world alone. “Pan… Pan…”
“Where did you go? I ... I couldn't follow you there.” “The Land of the Dead.”
At first, Roger yelled to her for help because he had hope.
“I need you! Help me!” But as time progressed, Roger began to lose
hope evidenced by the way in which his voice went from loud and bold to soft and resigned.
“Lyra ... They’re hurting me.” “Who!?” So, Lyra has been interacting with Roger in
the Land of the Dead while she slept, and it just so happens that the episode ended
with Lyra reaching out to hold Will’s hand as she went to sleep.
One of the most important bonds is that of a person and their soul. For humans in Lyra’s
world, that is their dæmon. For bears, it is their armor. But that is not the only type
of bond that is important in this story. When Marisa explained her love for Lyra to
Will, she said that the bond between a mother and a child transforms, but it never breaks.
There’s also the bond of lovers such as Baruch and Balthamos. When Baruch died, Balthamos
felt it because they were two different angels, but in a way, their love had bonded them as
one. It’s worth noting that Will took on the traditional role of an angel when he tried
to comfort Balthamos as best as he could. Balthamos hung around and helped out for a
bit such as translating the conversation between Will and Ama. Sadly, the loss of Balthamos’s
better half hurt him too much, so he eventually withdrew in grief.
One last bond that you might find interesting is the lodestone resonator. The Gallivespians
were able to communicate with Asriel over long distances with a technology that relies
on quantum entanglement. Some particles are bonded. When one moves, the other does as
well even if it is far away. In the last season, an angel named Xaphania
sent Mary on a mission to save the boy and the girl. When Mary traveled through the Cittàgazze,
the specters did not attack her. She does not know this, but the reason why she was
safe is that at least one angel was secretly trailing her and protecting her.
Mary’s role in the prophecy is that of the Serpent. The tempter. It just so happens that
the tempter herself was tempted to stay and rest for a little bit with two of Ogunwe’s
resistance soldiers. The girls told Mary that they had stayed behind because their father
chose to side with the temple of their world, and they didn’t want to leave him. Mary
responded by telling them that she was in a situation like that before, eluding to the
time when she used to be a nun. Mary went on to tell them that the future might seem
scary, but sometimes the end is actually just the beginning. Keep your eye on that theme
as the story progresses, and the characters come to crossroads in their lives as the upcoming
war unfolds. The end is a new beginning.
Now, let’s talk about the actual ending. During their escape, Will had to kill a man,
and his face spoke volumes. As a reminder, Will accidentally killed someone when he first
escaped his home. Then, the alethiometer told Lyra that Will was a murderer. At the time,
Lyra had considered that to be a good thing since Iorek was also a murderer, and she could
trust Iorek. Lyra figured that if Will was a murderer too, then she could probably trust
him as well. Her logic didn’t really make sense, but it is what it is. She was happy
to find out that Will was a murderer, and she told him that not realizing that Will
was struggling with it. “I needed to know about you, so I asked
it. And it's fine - it's the good kind of murder, like…” “Stop saying that word!”
Will has now killed a second person, and it is weighing on him. That is why Will put down
the gun before leaving. They left through the window from which Will
had arrived and he closed it up, but not entirely. He had to leave it partially open since the
knife is broken and he cannot open new windows anymore. As a result, one of Asriel’s spies
– a Gallivespian named the Lady Salmakia - was able to secretly follow them through
into the other word. The last topic for today is one of the most
important. Betrayal. When Will lied and told Marisa that he was
leaving since Lyra was safe in her hands, Marisa said this:
“This … This is a betrayal bigger than any I have committed.”
Later on, Alarbus referred to Xaphania as the great betrayer since she was consorting
with humans. Xaphania responded with this. “You speak of betrayal when you have taken
orders to kill one of our own kind?” So, betrayal was mentioned twice in this episode,
and it is one of the bigger themes of this season. In order to understand it, we actually
have to go all the way back to very first episode of the show.
The alethiometer told the Master of Jordan College that Lyra had to make a journey. One
which included a great betrayal. “She will be the betrayer. And the experience
will be terrible.” Lyra does not know about the betrayal prophecy,
but if she did, she might think that it’s already been carried it out since she feels
guilty for having brought Roger to Lord Asriel. “I've done that before. I betrayed someone.”
But that was not the great betrayal. The great betrayal of prophesy has yet to happen.
“The Serpent has been summoned. A new Eve emerges. The time for a new rebellion is coming.”