His Dark Materials Season 3 Review
The Golden Compass was released in 2007, and at least it was passable, and it looked like a faithful adaptation of Philip Pullman’s novels would never see the light of day on the big screen.
When the BBC and HBO announced that they would co-produce the series, the result was a relatively faithful retelling of the events of the book without the murky waters and annoying loyal fans.
Season 3 is a pretty faithful adaptation for the most part, adopting many of the hallmarks that made the first two seasons so enjoyable. Of course, die-hard book fans will likely find some changes that aren’t quite right – especially a certain battle late on – and that’s completely understandable. Even so, it takes on a decent tone and vibe, putting up a big fight at the end of this third season.
Before it gets to that point, though, this third season is taking its sweet time getting going, making HBO’s decision to release two episodes a week (and the BBC to just dump the whole lot on iPlayer) more understandable. One thing that is especially noticeable for this review is that I read the last 4 back to back rather than waiting for the first set each week. The viewing experience is better as a jam, so it might be worth waiting for all of these to be released at once.
Storyline
For those unaware, the tale here sees Lyra and Will thrust into the thick of the drama as Asriel intends to summon the Angelic Authority figure Metatron. He intends to wage war against this ethereal entity and win over as many races as possible.
As this continues, Lyra unwittingly finds herself fulfilling her destiny, embarking on a perilous quest after teaming up with Mrs. Coulter, who has truly become a more interesting and rounded character this year.
The story has a dramatic final few chapters that bring these chapters up a notch, rounding out all the plot points and doing a decent job of ending Lyra and Will’s story on a sad note.
I have to admit, it’s been a while since I’ve read the books, so if there are any major deviations I haven’t covered here, feel free to highlight them in our final recap! For the most part, the story follows the same conclusion as the books, and there’s a good ending for Lyra and Will that feels poetic and will likely tug at hearts.
Overall
It’s perfect, and in many ways His Dark Materials suffers from the amount of time we’ve had to wait between seasons for this final chapter. Lyra and Will’s journey comes to a rather dramatic and poignant conclusion, and there’s enough here to enjoy this slice of fantasy, even if it cracks you up.