I Watch TV: His Dark Materials

 

His Dark Materials

The third season of the TV show, which corresponds with the third volume of the trilogy of books. Lord Asriel has formed an army to challenge the Authority, the chief angel who claims to be god (he’s not, or at least he’s not the creator, also he’s abdicated in favour of his regent, the Metatron). Asriel, a man of science and reason, finds himself surrounded by magical weirdos insisting that the prophecies surrounding his daughter, and a magic knife that cuts between worlds, are important.

His daughter Lyra has been kidnapped by her mother, Mrs Coulter. Her friend Will, the knifebearer, goes to rescue her. They might go and join Lord Asriel but the story goes more mythic and weird than that. Lyra has had dreams of her friend Roger, who died, and so wants to go to the Land Of The Dead.

A fine and exciting apocalyptic finale is followed by an almost-but-not-quite revelatory last episode, where secrets are revealed and the theme is complicated. It’s not just about reason and freedom versus authority and tradition, but also that you need to have love, friendship, loyalty and love to fix the world.

Watch This: A satisfying end to an interesting and entertaining series with something to say
Don’t Watch This: After all this rebellion against rules and arbitrary authority, the bitter-sweet ending requires a whole bunch of arbitrary restrictions brought up at the last minute