His Dark Materials Season 3 Episode No 6 Recap And Review
His Dark Materials Season 3 Episode 6 begins with Metatron deciding to make a big decision and take Dust. He is convinced that it corrupts everyone and therefore his punishment will be swift. It begins with Mrs. Coulter seeing the spy dead and MacPhail knocked out. He approaches another priest and forces him to read the alethiometer to find out where Lyra is. “Darkness” is the answer.
When Asriel leaves his camp, the alarm goes off and Dust realizes that his signatures have changed. Everywhere in the world, everything is falling apart, a great abyss is falling to the ground. This goes back to Mary Malone, who saw the Dust being picked up from the trees and leaving this world at a faster rate. Of course, this has huge consequences for all species and creatures.
Mrs. Coulter uses the art of Intention to see Asriel again. She is completely oblivious to his arrival, instead excited by the prospect of facing Metatron. Coulter’s announcement that Lyra is dead doesn’t bother him either. He believes that the device he created is more important. The thing is, Asriel’s interference and taunting of Metatron caused the bomb to go off in the first place, explaining the giant explosion in the Land of the Dead last episode. Coulter coolly replies that if Asriel hadn’t baited him, Coulter is sure Lyra would still be alive.
Asriel descends the great chasm to find the root cause of the problem, but in doing so, Queen Ruth dies, her daemon is dragged into the chasm. When Serafina learns that her sister is dead, she flies to the camp and demands revenge. He still feels close, Asriel reveals that this chasm absorbs all the Dust and spreads throughout the worlds. Asriel convinces him to join them in seeking his revenge, emphasizing that Metatron is indeed the one he should be after.
However, Lyra is miraculously still alive. Roger is the first to find her, wake her up, and force her to act. Will is also still alive as they try to figure out what happened. With the earth collapsing around them, Lee Scorsese leads them through the dark tunnels, where Lyra gets ahead of the pack. The Dust in the Abyss casts a spell, but Lyra and the others continue, as the Harpies fly and stare at them all the while.
Lee Scorseby overhears Lyra and Will talking to John Parry earlier and reveals that he knows where Will’s father is. He believes there is a way to summon her and hastily backs out of the way.
Meanwhile, Asriel visits an enraged Iorek and wants to kill him for destroying worlds and starving the bears. It is through him that Asriel learns where Lyra really is, as a wave of relief washes over him as he realizes that Lyra is in the Land of the Dead and in Eternal Prison, meaning she is still alive. He starts laughing in disbelief, realizing that he wants to escape from prison.
Lyra loses control and falls down a steep cliff into a cliff below. Thankfully, one of the Harpies jumps in and manages to save him at the last second. Lyra decides to give this Harpy a name. He calls it Graceful Wings, and learns that stories feed the Harpies more than the lies and deceit that previously supported them. In exchange for all the prisoners telling tales, the Harpies, led by Graceful Wings, let them go.
Asriel returns to a grieving Coulter and pulls off a prison break, discovering that Lyra is still alive and that she is in the Land of the Dead. He laughs in disbelief when the truth is revealed, as Coulter realizes that the witches’ prophecy about Lyra defeating death is true.
In the land of the dead, Will is reunited with his father, where he talks to Jopari about his fate and what he must do after all this is done. He must return to his world and return to his mother. With Will now focused on the task at hand, he manages to use the knife and move beyond it to a beautiful world. Heaven. The dead will reconnect with everything after they pass, but they will also be free.
After a nice minute with Coulter and his golden monkey, with the former apologizing and pointing out that the monkey is always stronger, Asriel and Mrs. Coulter are startled when Xaphania’s voice comes from inside the camp. An ethereal image of the angel appears, revealing that Will and Lyra have succeeded and that Metatron’s purifier has been destroyed. So he will approach them with everything they have.
Episode Review
The emotionally charged episode sees Lyra and Wil fulfill their side of the prophecy, but also say goodbye to their friends along the way as they finally break free from purgatory. Meeting Roger and Lee Scorseby is certainly one of the highlights of this season, but so has Ms. Coulter’s journey.
From villain to hero (ish!), his character arc has been really well fleshed out over the last 3 seasons and shows that some people can be redeemed for their actions. His Dark Materials captures this really well by portraying that Asriel may have a tough shell, but if Iorek and Serafina are anything to go by, he really cares about Lyra, even if he doesn’t show it.
The final battle is now upon us, and if Xaphania’s warning is anything to go by, it should be quite a dramatic event. It’s a pain for those in the US, but given that HBO is streaming two episodes at the same time, for those reading this from the UK, head over to BBC iPlayer where all episodes are available!