Anna Daniels
His Dark Materials Season 1 Recap
HBO’s His Dark Materials explored the world that author Phillip Pullman created, where humans have physical manifestations of their souls in daemons and the Church as the Magisterium reigned supreme. To close out our recaps of His Dark Materials, we’re looking back at the defining moments of the season.
The Comeback of Iorek Byrnison
An armored bear is nothing without his armor. While Lee Scoresby searched for him, it was Lyra that helped Iorek Byrnison reclaim his armor. After Lyra skillfully manipulated Iofur, Iorek fought Iofur to the death and won his rightful seat on the throne in Svalbard. Iorek renamed her “Lyra Silvertongue” and raced to help her save Roger from Asriel.
The Lost Children
The Magisterium’s General Oblation Board thought no one would notice if a bunch of Gyptian children and orphans were taken. However, Lyra and the Gyptians never stopped looking for them. Under the Magisterium, Mrs. Coulter’s main purpose was to experiment with ways to safely separate humans from their daemons. They believed that doing so would save humanity from Original Sin, but the process left the children as hollow shells of their former selves, or dead.
The alethiometer led Lyra to Billy Costa, but she was too late. She brought him back to the Gyptians long enough for them to say goodbye before he passed. After storming Bolvangar and freeing the children, everyone thought Roger was safe. Unfortunately, Asriel intercised Roger to use the resulting energy to open a portal to another world. The process left Roger dead in Lyra’s arms.
Another World
Asriel introduced the other worlds early, but when Boreal stepped through the tear into a world without daemons, we saw the two worlds mix for the first time. He searched for Col. John Parry and found the wife and son he left behind. As Lyra walked through the portal that Asriel opened, Will walked through the tear.
If you’ve missed a recap or want to revisit the entire Season 1 of His Dark Materials, check out our full list of recaps below.
Written by: CS
