His Dark Materials Season 3 Episode No 5 Recap And Review
Episode 5 of His Dark Materials Season 3 begins with Mary Malone walking through the woods. He remembers his calling—to save “a boy and a girl”—but doubts himself. That is, until it leads to a large tree bark. Going inside, he finds shelter and begins to explore more of the area around Mulefa. The name of the person who brought her here happens to be Atar, and Maryam slowly begins to learn their language.
He keeps coming back to the word “sraf” but eventually realizes that it translates to Dust. It takes him a while to figure this out, but once he’s above the trees, he realizes Dust is disappearing at an alarming rate. The trees – along with Mulefa himself – die.
It is as if an iron hand is pulling at his heart. Finally the boat stopped, the ferryman adamantly stating that Pan would not be where they left him, leaving him wondering if he would ever meet him.
Will and Lyra wander the land and encounter many dead men and women, many of whom have been separated from their demons. Lyra asks them for help, but Will and Lyra are separated when whispering voices start taunting her. However, Lyra finds Roger, but he is very different. Worse, the blade doesn’t work either.
Harpies arrive and start taunting Will and Lyra, explaining why they’re here. Lyra wishes the creature away, but the words are harsh and of course cuts Will off. As he talks around Roger, discussing their past, all the dead muster the courage to listen as he and Will hatch a plan to get them out of this horrible ghost camp.
Elsewhere, Mrs. Coulter is in jail, but she’s trying to get out. Our Gallivespian spy notes that the bomb is ready and the Magisterium intends to separate it from the golden monkey. However, Dr Cooper is clearly having second thoughts about this.
In the midst of all this, Alarbus heads off to see the Authority and brings up Asriel’s manipulation of the Dust and how there is a new blade bearer that hasn’t been manipulated. As a result, Metatron decides to send a warning.
Mrs. Coulter is taken out of the cell and taken to the laboratory while the remaining priests pray. Ms. Coulter finds herself sitting next to her demon, preparing for the worst. Dr. Cooper walks in to prepare his bandages in a chair, where Coulter does her best to talk Dr. Cooper down, telling him that this needs to stop. Coulter is convinced that Macphail intends to blow up the entire Magisterium, but his leadership system is convincing enough for Macphail to let it go.
Gallivespian enters and takes out several guards, while Dr. Cooper stops the car before it can close and turns it off. As a result, MacPhail shoots him, and the Gallivespian releases the golden monkey. Coulter manages to free himself from the chair and wrestles with McPhail. Unfortunately, the bomb is targeted and ready to go off. At the last possible second, Coulter manages to remove the power source and stop it.
However, Metatron emerges in all his dazzling light and decides to get rid of all the Dust in the world. Not only that, the machine restarts after enough time has passed for Macphail to disconnect from the Daemon. A bomb targeting Lira is also released. the bomb is also released.
Back in the Land of the Dead, Lyra tells her stories and reminds all the Dead what it is to be alive. When the band starts to take off, who should show up but Lee Scoresby! After some heart-to-heart meetings, a scout joins them on their run. An explosion occurs in the Land of the Dead thanks to a blinding light falling from the sky. It’s a bomb. And as he hits the ground, the episode ends.
Episode Review
His Dark Materials returns this week with an intense episode and plenty of drama for all of our different characters. We set Lyra and Will off in the Land of the Dead, where their plan will have major consequences for the wider world. Whether or not Lyra will be reunited with Pan is still a mystery.
Meanwhile, the situation in the Magisterium is reaching breaking point, and perhaps ironically, it is Macphail who is now separated from his daemon. But what about Asriel and his future war? Given her absence in this episode, it wouldn’t surprise me if we see something good about her in the next chapter. Thankfully, we get to see more of Mary Malone, and her role is crucial to the ongoing fight.