His Dark Materials S1 E2 – The Idea of North

I’ve stumbled upon reviews other people have done, one episode at a time, and they’re way longer than mine. Maybe my style is different! Anyway, welcome to another rundown of my personal thoughts of His Dark Materials, now onto the second episode.

One thing that I’ve been noticing about this series so far is that it doesn’t just focus on Lyra. We’ve been learning more about characters in the Magisterium such as Lord Boreal who discovers a portal to an alternate Oxfurt. He’s searching for someone, but we don’t know why he is just yet.

This episode had suspenseful moments, like just when we thought the Gyptians were going to find the missing children, the Gobblers practically moved them at the last minute, but then it would have ended there if they had been successful.

I think Lyra was being a bit too anxious about wanting Roger to be found as she lives in luxury in Mrs. Coulter’s penthouse. It’s a lot more explored than it is in the movie, but that’s because I have not read the books yet. There was even a time where she and Pan were sleeping and heard movement in the vents, eventually discovering that Mrs. Coulter’s monkey daemon was using them to navigate and eavesdrop on them.

Suspicions rise as she eventually sees regular Magisterium officials visit Mrs. Coulter and talk about experiments. I get the feeling she’s not exactly in the best ties with those people. After she orders her daemon to attack Pan do we see how humans and their daemons are connected, they both feel pain so no wonder they have they have to stay close together. I think the books will also reveal more.

The only thing I didn’t like was when she blurted out to Lyra that Asriel is actually her father, I felt like that was a bit anticlimactic. I mean, in the movie, she doesn’t learn about that until towards the end. Well, every adaptation is different and I’m trying to keep an open mind here.

When Lyra learned the truth, she saw more than just children’s names and Mrs. Coulter’s signature, but blueprints for some kind of device. (I already know what it is, but I’m not going to talk about it until it actually appears in the show) I was on the edge of my seat as she hurried to get back through the vents to her room when Pan alerted her that the elevator was coming.

While the add with that poor journalist meeting her fate after warning Lyra about the Gobblers was an interesting approach, (and this is why I do NOT want my daemon to be any kind of insect if I lived in this universe!) the part where Mrs. Coulter pretends to send the letters the kidnapped children have written, but instead chooses to burn them on her way back to her penthouse starts to reveal how cruel she is.

Another well-done episode with lots of surprises and suspense too. A+.

👽Emily