The war against the Authority was only half the battle for the fate of the multiverse.
There is a certain irony that the final two episodes of His Dark Materials, the TV adaptation of Philip Pullman’s YA fantasy novels, aired one day after Christmas. On December 25, one of the world’s larger religions celebrated the arrival of its messianic figure, while tonight, a bunch of soldiers, angels, witches, and a very self-centered scientist banded together to destroy organized religion throughout the multiverse. It’s an awkward pairing, but in a way, it’s perfect for the series’ fascinating, flawed, moving, and absolutely awkward culmination.
When we last left Lyra (Dafne Keen) and Will (Amir Wilson), they had murdered death by creating a door from what was essentially the Authority’s holding cell back into the (well, a) real world where they could disperse into Dust and become part of the universe. It was great work, but it was also basically a side gig for them, and now they have to head to Asriel’s great camp, find their daemons (yes, Will has one now), then… do whatever it is they’re supposed to do to save the world.
Asriel (James McAvoy), a man of science, is quite bitter to learn his lifelong war against the Authority is going to be nothing more than an attempt to distract Metatron (the Authority’s regent, and the angel who’s really in charge) to his daughter can fulfill a prophecy. That said, it ends up being a hell of a distraction: As “the clouded mountain,” which gives the penultimate episode its title, of Metatron’s forces roll over the base, the way the sky seems to fill up with stars is an impressive visual, given that we know they’re Metatron’s angels, ready to murder all those who yearn for free will. Then it gets into a Star Wars-style fight of whizzing lights and lasers.
Here’s the problem with Asriel’s distraction—it’s also distracting us from what really matters, which is what Lyra and Will are up to, which is mainly wandering around Asriel’s camp, successfully not getting pulled into the main conflict. It’s busy work for them, even after they find their daemons, because they immediately send them away somewhere safe so they can… we’ll get there. And big action set-pieces aren’t His Dark Materials forte anyways, but just went they get too tiring the show recalibrates to give us the real fight.
3 free months of Xbox Game Pass + controller
This ginormous display will let you experience deep blacks and bright whites that pop and an impressive range of vibrant colors.
Having weaponized the Abyss Metatron created, Asriel plans to find Metatron (Alex Hassell) and physically tackle him into it.
