His Dark Materials 3.7-3.8: HappySad Endings

Well, His Dark Materials certainly saved the very best for last, in the two concluding episodes of the third and final season (on HBO, at least for now) that lifted this entire three season narrative, for me, into Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter territory.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

Episode 3.7 contained some first-class battle scenes between good and evil and its various manifestations, as well as a suitable reunion of Coulter and Asriel, even if that also spelled the end of their fleshly existence.  In fact, this next-to-last episode was so good and satisfying, I almost was hoping that it was the final episode in this all-too-short, three-season series.

I felt both more and less so after seeing episode 3.8.  As a paean to love, it was as tender and beautiful as 3.7 had been powerful.  But if you were looking for a happy ending, you were bound to be disappointed, as at least I was.  It was wonderful to see Lyra and Will on the bench at the end, sitting next to each other but unable to touch each other, because they were in different worlds.  And it was heartbreaking to see that closing scene as well, for the same reason.

Look, I'm a hopeless romantic and an incurable softie when it comes to fiction, whether on the screen or page.  There's more than enough pain and heartbreak in real life.  But I also wasn't convinced that Lyra and Will in separate worlds was so necessary.  (Note, again, that I haven't read Philip Pullman's novels.)  But it seems to me that with all this magic around, with the angels and witches and who knows what and who else, there could have been and should have been a way.

But, hey, that's what season fours are for, and I predict there will be one or more on HBO or elsewhere.  In the meantime, I'll try to take some solace in my daughter's daemon.

See His Dark Materials 3.6: Stories

See also His Dark Materials 2.1-3: Dust, Dark Matter, and Multiple Universes ... His Dark Materials 2.4: Chosen by the Knife ... His Dark Materials 2.5: Daughter and Mother ... His Dark Materials 2.6: The Hug and the Control ... His Dark Materials 2.7: Lots of Action, Little Time

And see also His Dark Materials 1.1: Radiation Punk ...  His Dark Materials 1.3: Coulter's Daemons ... His Dark Materials 1.4: The Bears ... His Dark Materials 1.5:  Sleepers and Questions ... His Dark Materials 1.6: His Fast Materials

His Dark Materials 2.1-3: Dust, Dark Matter, and Multiple Universes

Back with a review of the first three episodes of the new second season of His Dark Materials on HBO.  I liked them a lot, and thought that, in a variety of ways, these episodes moved the series a bit from high fantasy to steampunk on the genre dial.  A good thing, in my book. (And speaking of books, I'll mention again that I haven't read any of Pullman's novels.)

Multiple universes or alternate worlds have become an increasingly important subset of science fiction.  One of the best novels I've read in years was the late J. Neil Schulman's The Fractal Man, a kaleidoscope of alternate worlds right here on Earth in our own time.  In His Dark Materials, Season 2, Lyra travels from the universe we saw last year, to one which is more like ours.  Smartphones, computers, and the like are in ample evidence in Cittàgazze, and play essential roles in the story.  But "Spectres" which turn adults into zombies are also on hand, and make this more-Earth-like alternate world markedly different from ours.

The computers signify a more scientific bent in this new world.  Lyra discovers that dark matter -- known in this alternate world as well as the world we all now inhabit, in which we can watch His Dark Materials on the screen -- is the equivalent of the dust we have all come to know by virtue of the first season.  Lyra now has a great vehicle for understanding what she needs to understand in order to save herself and all of these worlds.

It's good that she's joined in her often desperate adventures by Will, who understands at some of the workings of Cittàgazze.  They're just friends, at this point, but there's a chemistry that will likely move them closer than friends as the story progresses.  Mrs. Coulter is in good form, meting out cruelty as necessary but ultimately unwavering in her love for Lyra and her need to protect her.  

All in all, His Dark Materials occupies a unique niche of sheer fantasy ala Lord of the Rings and some kind of steampunk as in The Difference Engine, and it's most enjoyable to see.

See also His Dark Materials 1.1: Radiation Punk ...  His Dark Materials 1.3: Coulter's Daemons ... His Dark Materials 1.4: The Bears ... His Dark Materials 1.5:  Sleepers and Questions ... His Dark Materials 1.6: His Fast Materials