First Look at the Final Season of His Dark Materials

As 2021 reaches its conclusion, His Dark Materials fans were given a glimpse at the third and final season on social media and in the HBO 2022 trailer. The footage itself adds up to about three seconds, but we were given a sneaky preview of where are main characters are in Season Three:

Lyra’s Captivity

In the second season’s finale, viewers saw Dafne Keen’s Lyra kidnapped by her mother and unconscious as Marisa Coulter (Ruth Wilson) vowed to take her far away to “keep her safe” while enclosing her unconscious child in a box.

Now three years on, we see Lyra in what looks like a cave. One picture shows her huddled on the ground looking warily over her shoulder, whereas the other shows her looking outside towards the daylight. Both pictures show Lyra looking exhausted with dirt covering her face, something to be expected given she’s spent three years in isolation inside a cave.

Considering Lyra is mainly unconscious throughout the beginning of the Amber Spyglass, these stills confirm that we should expect some scenes with Lyra conscious. This should allow for some great scenes between Keen and Wilson’s mother/daughter duo and the chance to explore the emotional aftermath of Lyra being held hostage by her own mother.

The Dark Side of Will

Amir Wilson’s Will suffered multiple loses last season - with his father dying in his arms after just being reunited, Will’s best friend is kidnapped and he finds himself alone in an unfamiliar world.

In the book, Will refuses to deliver the Subtle Knife to Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) until he’s found Lyra and she’s safe. I suspect he’s spent the show’s three year timeline doing just that, possibly jumping between worlds in his quest to rescue Lyra. This picture shows Wilson glaring into what appears to be firelight, could this be hinting at a dark side of Will being explored and the depths he’ll go to for Lyra?

Both Dafne and Amir have shown they can portray emotionally complex scenes and with their characters being older, the screenwriters may use this to delve into darker themes for the finale.

Mrs Coulter’s Back…

Ruth Wilson’s Mrs Coulter ended her second season arc with the revelation that her daughter is the reincarnation of Eve, which left her unnerved and prompted her kidnapping Lyra. Coulter also gained power in more than one way in two different worlds, making her even more formidable than she was.

With the Magisterium after her child and with many believing her to suffer a similar fate to Eve and bring about the end of the world, Coulter goes to unspeakable lengths to protect Lyra.

Our first glimpse at Ruth Wilson back in Mrs Coulter’s expensive shoes depict her in an industrial looking building, her chilling gaze staring out into a light illuminating her face. Is it daylight? A portal to another world?

Mrs Coulter’s morals and beliefs will be severely tested in this final season and Wilson will undoubtedly give stellar performances throughout these eight episodes.

War Is Coming

With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing Bad Wolf to scrap an episode which would have explored James McAvoy’s Lord Asriel’s story after his actions in Season One’s finale, McAvoy made a surprise return in Season Two’s final scene. With Asriel determination to bring war to the Authority, he was surprised to be joined by rebel angels.

Asriel was always an interesting villain, especially with an adaptation that has really taken the time to delve into his character’s psychological. Asriel is a character who has committed murder, betrayed loved ones and is in many ways a tyrant - but he’s also someone who genuinely believes his actions are for a greater good.

Now he’s someone who’s not on a one-man mission, but he has a following and people who believe in his ideology. It’ll be interesting to see how his plans will play out and whether Asriel will have an attack of conscience or feel guilty over his actions.

I’m guessing with these previews, we should hopefully be expecting a full trailer in the near future.

In preparation for the final season, I’ll be re-reading the original books to review in 2022 before it airs on BBC/HBO.