His Dark Materials review: season 3 goes out with a bang
The show's final season on HBO Max is an epic reminder to be wary of institutions that claim to guide us
[Editor’s note: This review contains spoilers of His Dark Materials seasons one and two.]
War. Authoritarianism. Religious bigotry. Hearing those topics, you’d be hard-pressed to figure out if someone was talking about our current state of affairs or the final season of His Dark Materials on HBO Max. It’s no secret that novelist Phillip Pullman’s trilogy is known for commentary that has gotten it banned from U.S. schools. And while the first two seasons of this adaptation did certainly dip their toes into those waters (religious and otherwise), this third and final installment takes Pullman’s views and practically beats you over the head with them. Admittedly, it can make the show—one entrenched in fantasy with talks of dæmons, angels, and traveling across the multiverse, but rooted in the notions of faith and love—feel a bit on the nose this time around. But it’s a quality sendoff nonetheless.
When we last saw Will (Amir Wilson) and Lyra (Dafne Keen) at the end of the second season, they’d been separated. Will went off to find his dad, John Parry (Andrew Scott), who instructed him to find and join Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) and his army. Unfortunately, their father-son reunion was cut short when John was killed, leaving Will once again without a parent to guide him. To make matters worse, while he was gone, Lyra’s mother, Mrs. Coulter (Ruth Wilson), found and kidnapped her. And in the final scene of the season, Asriel was speaking directly to the angels, pleading for them to join his fight against the Authority, which they agreed to do.
Cut to this final season, which puts a stronger emphasis on angels, heaven, and the freedom of choice than we’ve seen so far. It builds on the idea that the Authority has created an institution across all the worlds, intent on manipulating humans into thinking that they are serving not just some random angel but the creator of all living things. Sounds familiar, no? Especially with the Magisterium’s belief that Lyra is the reincarnation of Eve, the mother of all sin, it’s practically impossible to ignore what the series is trying to say about religious righteousness and the guise of doing evil things “for the greater good.” In short, the show spends a ton of time exploring this idea, especially when compared to past installments.