His Dark Materials has come to a conclusion, with its third season adapting The Amber Spyglass. It was the best season the show has produced.
About the season:
Lyra has been abducted and held captive by her mother. Will searches across the multiverse for his lost friend. As the youngsters go on their personal quests, the conflict between Lord Asriel and the Authority starts to heat up. Lyra and Will realize how important they’re going to be in this war for consciousness.
His Dark Materials was a series that suffered from diminishing interest. The third season was released on HBO Max in its entirety without any fanfare, and even in the UK, the season was released on the iPlayer at the same time as the first episode aired. The previous seasons were at times drawn out because they were adapting two average-sized novels into a TV series and there were needless changes and additions to the story. Yet, The Amber Spyglass was the book best suited for a TV adaptation.
The Amber Spyglass had a much bigger scope than the previous books. Besides Lyra and Will’s adventure, there was a wider story about Asriel’s rebellion, the Magisterium’s hunt for Lyra, Mrs. Coulter playing all sides to protect her daughter, and the forces of good and evil preparing for the final battle for all reality. Lyra and Will’s adventure was structured like a TV series, since it starts with Will going on a quest to save Lyra, then Lyra and Will looking for a way to repair the knife, and after that, they need to find a way to go to the Land of the Dead.
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Season three did make some big changes from the source material, and those changes ended up improving the story — or at least worked in the context of the adaptation. One of the most notable changes was when Iorek Brynison repaired the knife. In the novel, Iorek reforges it without much difficulty and warns Will the knife is dangerous. In the TV series, Will had to play a role in repairing the knife because it was tied to him, and when Will tried to cut a portal to the Land of the Dead. These changes increased the challenge, and the peril, and gave Will a more active role in the story. It also shows the knife has its own intentions.
Another noticeable change was showing how the war between Asriel and the Authority escalated. In the show, Asriel has to make a big statement to get the attention of the Kingdom of Heaven and uses his scientific invention to do this. This was like what happened in season one, this action showed how ruthless Asriel could be and how it made him a threat to The Authority and his Regent. The show also gave the Kingdom of Heaven a more prominent role in interfering in Lyra’s quest. This was done during the setting off with the interdimensional bomb. It may seem like a small change but it was significant since it changes the context of the story.
The relationship between Lyra and her mother was one of the longest-running themes in the show. Mrs. Coulter did some irredeemable actions, including stealing the souls of children. Yet she would do anything to protect Lyra in her own twisted way. This led to a change at the end of the penultimate episode which had an emotional impact on Lyra.
The third season did have to make some changes due to the show’s budget. Even though His Dark Materials was one of the most expensive British series, elements of the story had to be scaled back. Will didn’t have a long journey in the Himalayas to find Lyra, nor was there a battle between the Iorek’s bear and villagers from a small village in Russia, nor was the final battle the big Biblical spectacle that it was in the book. This was the compromise fans had to accept since television has limitations unless it’s a colossal hit like Game of Thrones.
The season did have some issues. This affected the first half of the season in particular, which was slower-paced and there was a need to expand the story to justify the extra length. The most obvious example of this involved Mrs. Coulter forming a relationship with a deaf girl when she was hiding. This was an issue that affected the previous seasons because of the needless additions.
The third season was the best His Dark Materials since its story worked better on TV than the previous series. There were some pacing issues and it wasn’t as epic as the novel, but it was able to retain the spirit of the source material, even with the changes that were made.
