Take Three: His Dark Materials

His Dark Materials: Season 1, Episode 3 “The Spies” (B)

It’s definitely good news that the Gyptians are the ones who surprised Lyra at the end of last week’s episode, though that didn’t make for an overly exciting episode. All of the different representatives being called for to charge north felt all too much like a “Game of Thrones” episode that didn’t provide too much specificity but instead featured endless characters who will likely all meet an unfortunate end before important new details about what they’re up against are revealed. The Gyptians are at least starting to realize Lyra’s significance, namely that she can read the alethiometer all by herself, which is apparently unprecedented, and that may lead to those who see her value trying to exploit her. Mrs. Coulter did manage to get one of her spy flies back, and so she’ll likely show up with her vast new security team to try to find the always-traveling Gyptians, just a formidable a threat as the Magisterium that paid them a visit earlier. I remembered also that Mrs. Coulter was Lyra’s mother, news that apparently only Lyra didn’t know since it was well-established in the Gyptian community. Lyra hasn’t had a chance to confront her about it yet, but we did see Tony try to find her on his own and end up coming back alone after Benjamin chose not to talk but instead to jump to his death. Even Mrs. Coulter’s daemon seemed startled and shaken by the disintegration of Benjamin’s daemon, a powerful physical manifestation of the loss of life.