His Dark Materials is a fantasy drama television series based on the trilogy of novels of the same name by British author Philip Pullman.
The story is set in an alternative world where all humans’ souls manifest as animal companions called daemons and follows the life of a young orphan girl named Lyra who is living at Jordan College, Oxford, in a world governed by the Magisterium, a religious and political body. Lyra is said to be the subject of a witches’ prophecy that she will change the world. In her search for a missing friend, she uncovers a series of secrets that link to a mysterious substance called Dust, and meets a young boy named Will. Fate leads them both on a journey of epic proportions and ultimately to other worlds.
ABOUT THE EDITS
While the series captures the essence of the beautiful themes and rich characters of Philp Pullman’s novels pretty well, enhancing them with gorgeous imagery and well-composed music, Ι find that pacing was a big issue throughout the episodes.
In my edits I intend to restructure some of the key plotlines and character moments throughout a series of films, while keeping some of the greatest parts of the series and removing some of the parts that in my opinion didn’t work so well.
THE COLLECTION
His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass
Runtime: 2 hour 2 minutes
Τhe first film includes Episodes 1-3 of Series 1 and focuses on introducing the world, establishing the characters and exploring the relationship between humans and deamons. This film covers mainly Lyra’s life in Jordan College and London and the Gyptian’s attempts to find their missing children.
PLOT AND CHANGES
PART ONE: LYRA’S JORDAN
- The film starts with Lord Asriel delivering baby Lyra to Jordan College during the Flood.
Note: The text in the beginning of Episode 1 served only as an exposition tool, which I didn’t like, so I got rid of it. I think it is better for the viewers to discover this world of humans and deamons by themselves, as well as Lyra’s role in the events to come.
- Jump forward to Twelve Years Later where we follow Lyra, Pan and Roger in Jordan College. Lord Asriel visits Oxford to inform the scollars about his work, Lyra meets Mrs Coulter and the Gyptians organize the search for the missing children.
Note: Pretty much everything from Episode 1 is the same (including the opening credits where I added the “Golden Compass” subtitle) with some minor tweaks here and there.
PART TWO: THE GENERAL OBLATION BOARD
- The film then follows Lyra to London where she bonds with Mrs Coulter.
Note: I removed their visit to the Royal Arctic Institute, as well as every scene of them on the terrace.
- The Gyptians arrive at London as well to find the Gobblers’ lair where Roger and Billy once were. Lyra discovers Mrs Coulter’s unusual connection with her deamon and Lord Boreal searches Jordan College for clues about Dr Stanislaus Grumman before he crosses through the Window.
Note: This will be the only hint of the existance of other worlds in this or the next film. I just wanted to include the scene as teaser for the events in The Subtle Knife.
- Father MacPhail vistis Mrs Coulter and Lyra learns the truth about Lord Asriel. Farder Coram and John Faa inform Ma Costa about their failed mission and Lyra and Pan decide to break into Mrs Coulter’s office to discover what she is hiding.
Note: Lyra finds some documents about the General Oblation Board and the Station, but nothing about the machine that cuts “something”. The original scene gave up too much and I always thought it was weird that Lyra couldn’t connect the dots.
- At the party, Lyra learns the truth about the Gobblers and Mrs Coulter and escapes from the flat. The children are getting ready for the North and Lyra gets captured.
Note: We never learn what happens to the reporter at Mrs Coulter’s party, we just know that Boreal “took care of her”.
PART THREE: THE SPY
- Mrs Coulter goes to Jordan College where she learns about the Alethiometer that Lyra possess. Back in London, the Gyptians save Lyra and take her with them. Mrs Coulter is in destress and Lyra arrives at the Gyptians’ council.
Note: A huge chung of Episode 3 and Lyra’s time with the Gyptians has been removed. Lyra never learns that the Gyptians always knew about her father, the State Police invading Gyptains’ boats is only mentioned during the council and Ma Costa reveals the identity of Lyra’s mother way later in the film.
- Mrs Coulter sends her Spy-Flies to find Lyra and Tony with Benjamin break into Mrs Coulter’s apartment. Lyra finds out how the Alethiometer works and shares her secret with Farder Coram.
Tony arrives back at the camp where he tells everyone about Benjamin’s fate. Lyra runs away before Ma Costa reaches her and tells her about her origins. The Gyptians travel to Trollesund and the Spy-Fly returns to Mrs Coulter.
Note: I kept the identity of Lyra’s mother hidden until the end of the film to serve as the last big reveal that changes her point of view for the events to come.
His Dark Materials: Northern Lights
Runtime: 2 hours 30 minutes
The second film includes Episodes 4-8 of Series 1 and covers Lyra’s journey into the Far North.
The main story remains pretty much the same as presented in the series, except the complete removal of Boreal and Will Parry.
PLOT AND CHANGES
PART ONE: TROLLESUND
- The film starts with Lee Scoresby and the Gyptians arriving at Trollesund followed by the opening titles with the “Northern Lights” subtitle in the title card.
Farder Coram and Lyra visit the witches’ consul with the hope of contacting Serafina Pekkala. After his failed attempt to find his old friend Iorek, Lyra meets Lee and Serafina Pekkala’s deamon finds Farder Coram and John Faa to tell them about the location of the missing children. Meanwhile, Lee finally talks to Iorek.
Note: No conflict between Farder Coram and the witches’ consul about their mission, he and Lyra go straight to his basement where the consul tells them about Iorek Byrnison, but not where to find him. Lyra’s first encounter with Iorek is removed, as well as the whole backstory of Farder Coram with Serafina Pekkala.
Mrs Coulter’s plots with the Magisterium have also been removed.
- The next morning, Lyra learns about Iorek’s lost armour. She finds him and asks the Alethiometer where it is hidden. After regaining his armour, Iorek and Lee join the Gyptians’ mission. Mrs Coulter visits King Iofur Raknison on Svalbard and togehter they plot Asriel’s capture.
PART TWO: SOME SORT OF GHOST
- As the Gyptians travel North, John Faa asks Lyra to use her Alethiometer to learn more about Bolvangar. The Alethiometer also tells her about a ghost in a fishing village nearby. Lyra and Iorek travel there, where she finds Billy Costa.
Note: As the Alethiometer spins, I added a brief montage of Bolvangar and the village. Also, Lyra doesn’t report to Coram or Ma Costa about going there. One plothole that came up during the editing process is the fact that Lyra acts like she knows about her father being held by the bears when she talks to Iorek. I can only hope that it is implied that the Gyptians learned about it from Serafina Pekkala’s deamon and told Lyra.
PART THREE: BOLVANGAR
- After Billy’s funeral, some men enter the camp, capture Lyra and take her to Bolvangar. At the dining hall of the Station, Lyra sees Roger.
Note: The whole scene with Dr Cooper and Lyra at the Station has been removed and a voiceover of Lyra realizing that the place she is being taken to is Bolvangar has been added when she sneaks a peek out of her trap. In a voiceover later, when she is being escorted to the dining hall, she introduces herself as Lizzie Brooks.
- Lyra and Roger find the room with the cutoff deamons. The next day, Mrs Coulter arrives at the place while the Gyptians travel to save Lyra. At the dining hall, Lyra explains her plan to escape, before the doctors take her to the room with the cutting machine. There, Mrs Coulter finds her and takes her to her chambers. She tells her that she knows about the Alethiometer and Lyra escapes once more, initiating her escaping plan. The Gyptians arrive at the Station, save Lyra and the children, while Mrs Coulter is hiding from the fight.
Note: Not much have been changed here storywise. A scene with Dr Cooper and Dr Rendal has been removed, as well as the scene of Ma Costa killing a guard durig the fight. Also, I removed the scene of Mrs Coulter killing the nurse after the battle.
PART FOUR: KING OF THE BEARS
- Lyra, Roger and Iorek travel out of the Station with Lee’s balloon. On the ground, the Gyptians sort out the severed children as they continue on their way back to Brytain. The same night, the balloon is attacked by Cliff-ghasts and during the fight Lyra falls off the balloon. When she wakes up, Lyra is being taken to King Iofur Raknison’s palace, where she meets a prisoner who tells her that her father has taken Iofur with his side. Lyra meets Iofur and persuades him to challenge Iorek into a fight. Iorek arrives at the palace and kills Iofur, taking his place as the King. Later, Lyra rejoins Roger and she decides to take the Alethiometer back to her father. Mrs Coulter learns that Asriel is continuing his experiments in his laboratory and she prepares an army. Lee is safe on the ground.
PART FIVE: THE TEAR IN THE SKY
- Lyra, Roger and Iorek arrive at Asriel’s house, where she tells him that she knows the truth about him. Later that night, when Roger is asleep, Arsiel explains to Lyra everything about Dust and his plans. Mrs Coulter and her troops arrive there as well, only to find nobody inside. Asriel has taken Roger and Lyra with Iorek and the rest of the bears follow them up the mountain, where the are being attacked by the Magisterium’s airships. Asriel opens a portal to another world, killing Roger, while Lyra is watching. Lyra mourns the death of her friend and decides to follow Asriel into the portal to learn more about Dust and why it is so important. As she enters the portal, a young boy in another world, Will, finds a window and they both travel to an unknown world.
Note:
Again the main events following Lyra are here. I removed completely Thorold, the first encounter of Asriel and Roger, Lyra and Roger talking before sleep and a scene between Mrs Coulter and MacPhail on the zeppelin. Will’s first appearance is right at the end of the film, where he finds the window. It is obvious by his clothes that he is from a different world and the police sirens inidcate that he is on the run. Anything important that we need to know about him is being reaveled in the next film.
His Dark Materials: The Subtle Knife
Runtime: 2 hour 57 minutes
Unlike the previous films, this one covers the entirety of Series 2.
The film follows Lyra in a new world, Mrs Coulter’s attempts to find her, Lee’s journey and the war between the Witches and the Magisterium. We also meet Will Parry for the first time.
PLOT AND CHANGES
PROLOGUE
- The film starts with Episode 4’s narration of the history of the city of Cittàgazze and the origins of the Subtle Knife.
Note: Though it is pure exposition, that scene was so beautifully filmed I couldn’t lose it, so I placed it as the prologue of the film. Footage from the original prologue were used later in the film for other porpuses.
- After the history lesson, I put together a brand new montage following the aftermath of the Northern Lights events. Airships are surrounding Asriel’s laboratory and Mrs Coulter is looking at photographs of Lyra. Inside the empty laboratory, we take a close look at the window through which the tear in the sky can be seen, then cut to black. A voice calls for Lyra and we see her waking up in a new world. She and Pan travel through the forrest, until they reach the city in the sky. Cut to the opening titles with the “Subtle Knife” subtitle.
PART ONE: CITTAGAZZE
- Lyra and Pan enter the city of Cittàgazze. They wonder around the empty streets until they find a cafe. There, they meet Will, a boy from another world who doesn’t have a daemon. Lyra runs away scared. While sitting by the sea, Will finds them and they agree to stay together. They search the abandoned city and find two sisters, Angelica and Paola, who inform them about the Specters, creatures that only adutls can see.
Note: As said above, I wanted to create small chapters inside the film covering the characters and their arcs at their location. So unlike Episode 1 of the series, we see Lyra and Will’s first contact uninterrupted.
- Lee Scoresby travels to meet the Witches. He tells Serafina Pekkala about his plan to find a man named Stanislaus Grumman who thinks he can help him protect Lyra. Queen Ruta Skadi arrives to inform them that the Magisterium captured a sister witch.
Note: After Lee arrives at Lake Enara, we see the Witches flying to their lair, a scene taken from the original prologue.
- Back at Cittàgazze, Will and Lyra are chatting when they realize that there are two Oxfords, one in Will’s world and one in Lyra’s. Lyra wants to visit Will’s Oxford with the hope to find more about Dust. Later that night, the Alethiometer tells Lyra that Will is a murderer, while he reads a letter from his absent father.
At Svalbard, Mrs Coulter interrogates the captured witch, asking her about Lyra. While she is telling her about the proghecy, Queen Skadi arrives and kills the Cardinal.
Note: There were two interrogation scenes which I merged into one.
PART TWO: WILL’S OXFORD
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The next morning, Will and Lyra cross the window through Will’s Oxford. At Geneva, after the Cardinal’s funeral, Father MacPhail asks for elections. While discovering the new Oxford, Lyra visits a museum where the Alethiometer tells her to find a scholar in St Peter’s Univercity. Before leaving, she meets Lord Boreal who introduces himself as Charles. Meanwhile, Will visits his mother who he has left alone. Lyra finds the scholar, Mary Malone, and tells her about Dust and the Alethiometer. Dr Malone takes her to the Cave, a machine through which she studies Dark Matter. Later on, Will and Lyra meet at the Botanic Gardens where Will tells her that he accidentally killed an intruder and now the police is looking for him.
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In Geneva, the Magisterium elect Father MacPhail as the new Cardinal and attack the land of the Witches. Mrs Coulter goes to MacPhail and tells him that she is going in search of her daughter.
Note: We don’t see Boreal until he meets with Lyra. I removed the Witches talking about the Cardinal, Dr Lanselius’ trial, Mary Malone talking to her colleague , Will visiting his grandparents and Mrs Coulter talking to Thorold. It is assumed that Mrs Coulter makes the decision to search for Lyra after the witch’s interrogation, not becauese Thorold told her so.
PART THREE: THEFT
- The next day, Lyra decides to go to Will’s Oxford by herself, leaving Will in Cittàgazze. Will wakes up and searches the place for Lyra. He discovers Angelica staring at the city’s tower where she tells him about the Guild.
At Will’s Oxford, Mary warns Lyra that a detective was looking for her. A strange man finds them both and Lyra runs away before she comes across Boreal who offers to give her a lift with his car.
Back at Cittàgazze, Will finds a note Lyra left for him. Back inside Boreal’s car, Lyra tells him to stop and gets out. Sorty after she reallizes that he stole her Alethiometer. Will finds Lyra crying, where she tells him what happened. Meanwhile, Mary finds a way to communicate with the Cave.
Later that night, Will and Lyra go to Boreal’s house and ask for the Alethiometer back. He tells them that he needs a knife that is hidden in Cittàgazze’s tower and they make a deal.
Note: In this chapter the narration is shifting between Oxford and Cittàgazze for a more suspenseful viewing.
Mary Malone is not shown in her office and her meeting with the detective has been removed. Lyra doesn’t talk with him either. When he finds them in the elevator, there is a jump cut of Lyra storming out of Mary’s office, which appears like she is getting out of the elevator.
PART FOUR: JOPARI
- In the North, Stanislaus Grumman uses a ring to summon Lee Scoresby to him and Lee finds himself above the Yenisei River. He makes his way by boat until Grumman’s daemon leads them to him.
Note: Lee’s visit at the Samirsky Hotel and his investigation about Grumman have been removed. So did Mrs Coulter’s talk with him.
- Back at Cittàgazze, Will and Lyra are looking for an entrance to the tower. They find a door nearby and they break in. Meanwhile, Lee and Grumman (aka Jopari) talk about Lyra, the Knife and Asriel’s plans.
Back inside the tower, Will and Lyra find Giacomo Paradisi the original owner of the Subtle Knife. There, Will fights Tullio (Angelica’s brother) for the Knife and he loses two of his fingers. After waking up in Giacomo’s chambers, Paradisi teaches Will how to use the Knife to open and close windows to other worlds. Then he climbs up the tower to end his life, as his fate is complete now that Will is the new bearer of the Subtle Knife.
Note: Boreal doesn’t visit Mary’s office and Paradisi’s talk with Will and Lyra has been trimmed. Jopari agreeing to follow Lee has been removed, since it is implied later on. The Witches’ meeting has also been removed.
- In Lyra’s Oxford, Mrs Coulter meets with Boreal where he tells her that he has Lyra, before taking her to the window near Jordan College (from the first film). Lyra and Will come up with the plan to steal the Alethiometer without losing the Knife. Jopari gets into Lee’s balloon and the fly off to find Lyra. Meanwhile, Mary is finally communicating with the Dark Matter. Back in Svalbard, Serafina Pekkala attacks the Magisterium’s airship and crosses through the tear in the sky.
PART FIVE: THE MISSION
- In Cittàgazze, Will and Lyra discuss opening windows into Boreal’s house. The Angels tells Mary that she must find the entrance to Cittàgazze and save the kids. Meanwhile, Will and Lyra find Angelica and Paola mourning over Tullio, who has been attacked by the Specters, blaming them for his fate.
The same night, Will and Lyra prepare for their mission. Lyra goes to Boreal and Will cuts a window inside his house. Will tries to grab the Alethiometer, but Mrs Coulter caughts him. Lyra meets her mother and Will fights Boreal. Eventually, they both escape with the Alethiometer and the Knife.
In Will’s Oxford, Mary finds the window, decives the guard and enters Cittàgazze.
Note: Mrs Coulter’s time in Will’s Oxford has been removed. We first see her when she finds Will in Boreal’s house. The Magisterium’s meetings have also been removed, as well as any scenes with Mary in her house.
PART SIX: THE RESCUE
- In Cittàgazze, Will’s hand is getting worse, while Angelica with Paola and other children come after him and Lyra as they hide on the roof where Serafina Pekkala saves them.
Lee with Jopari also arrive at the tear in the sky and Mrs Coulter with Boreal cross the window from Oxford to Cittàgazze. Mary finds Angelica and Paola and promises to lead them to a safe place. Up in the air, Jopari talks to Lee about his family. On the ground, Serafina treats Will’s wounds.
Lee and Jopari fly above the city of Cittàgazze and Serafina talks with Will about Lyra. In the city, Mrs Coulter discovers that she can control the Specters and sends them to kill Boreal. The same night, Lee’s balloon gets attacked by the Magisterium’s airships and Lyra, Will and the Witches confront the Specters. After Lee and Jopari crash to the ground, Will wakes up from a nightmare.
Note: Mary’s time in Cittàgazze has been trimmed significantly (we first see her when see finds Angelica and Paola) as well as Lyra’s and Will’s course through the jungle. Mrs Coulter’s and Boreal’s exploration of Cittàgazze has also been trimmed substantially. I also took the liberty to create a new scene that changes parts of the narrative. Mrs Coulter doesn’t poison Boreal, instead she summons the Specters to kill him. We never see him actually dying, but we hear the Specters attacking. Later, we see him dead at the cafe.
PART SEVEN: BELOVED SON, BELOVED DAUGHTER
- On the ground, we see that Lee and Jopari have survided the fall and Ruta Skadi reports to Serafina about Asriel. Lee and Jopari have a gunfight with the Magisterium’s troops in which Lee takes a severe hit and urges Jopari to leave him. Before his last breath, he calls for Serafina. Mary leads Angelica and Paola to the safety of their parents campsite and she begins her journey. While Serafina is off to find Lee, Will finally finds his father, Jopari, before a trooper shoots him down. Mrs Coulter finds Lyra sleeping and kidnaps her, while Serafina finds Lee’s body. Voiceover of Asriel’s speech until we see him speaking to the Angels.
Note: The scene where Ruta Skadi finds the Cliff-ghast has been removed, as well as part of Mary’s journey. In the final scenes before the epilogue, some lines of dialogue have been reomved and Mrs Coulter finding Lyra has been moved right after Jopari’s death.
His Dark Materials: Republic of Heaven
Runtime: 2 hour 34 minutes
Τhe fourth film covers Episodes 1-4 and parts of Episode 5 of Series 3 and follows Will’s journey to find Lyra, Mrs Coulter’s attempts to protect her daughter, Lord Asriel’s war against the Authority and Mary’s discoveries in a strange new world.
PLOT AND CHANGES
PROLOGUE
- The films starts with Xaphania’s narration of the history of the Kingdom of Heaven and the importance of the Rebellion while the new Eve emerges.
Note: Episode 1’s footage remains untouched, only with the addition of an amber tint istead of green.
- After the history lesson, I put together a brand new montage following Will in his search for Lyra through multiple worlds and his first encounter with the Angels. Cut to Lyra dreaming about Roger and then to the opening titles with the “Republic of Heaven” subtitle.
Note: I removed Will asking the old lady about Lyra and I pasted footage of later episodes of Baruch searching for Will.
PART ONE: THE ENCHANTED SLEEPER
- Lord Asriel travels to a world oppressed by the Temple to recruit General Ogunwe, while Mrs Coulter is keeping Lyra in a drugged state on a remote island fortress. In Geneva, Cardinal MacPhail orders Father Gomez to find and kill Lyra. Baruch and Balthamos tell Will that Lord Asriel needs him and that he must go to him. Using Lyra’s alethiometer they find her location and Balthamos accompanies Will to rescue her, while Baruch goes to inform Asriel about the Knife Bearer.
Note: I removed Lyra’s attempt to escape and Father Gomez’s visit to Fra Pvel, since they didn’t really help with the progress of the plot. I also removed Ogunwe’s older daughter completely.
PART TWO: THE BREAK
- Ogunwe enters into the Republic of Heaven where he meets with Ruta Skadi. Will and Balthamos reach a fishing settlement where they join forces with Iorek Byrnison, while Father Gomez uses a spy-fly to locate Mrs Coulter and Lyra. Baruch reaches Asriel’s Republic, where he gets attacked by an Angel loyal to the Authority and dies, after delivering his message. Balthamos senses the death of his partner and decides to quit the mission and leave Will.
PART THREE: REUNIONS
- In Geneva, the Magisterium’s troops board on airships, where agent Salmakia, the Gallivespian spy, follows along and informs Asriel about their destination. Will arrives on the island fortress alone, with Iorek hidding nearby, and finds Lyra drugged. Mrs Coulter sneaks on him and asks for his help. Will decides to leave her and Lyra, after realizing her noble intentions. Father Gomez arrives on the island as well. While confronting Mrs Coulter, Will opens a window inside the room with the intent to steal Lyra. After trying to open the window again, Will breaks the Subtle Knife, while Salmakia knocks Mrs Coulter unconscious and Will and Lyra run away. Outside, Iorek is fighting with the Magisterium’s troops and the children escape in another world with Salmakia going after them. Asriel finally arrives on the island as well, only to find the chapel empty with Marisa lying on the groud.
Note: I removed Mary Malone in Ogunwe’s world - but we follow her journey afterwards- and Asriel’s interrogation of Alarbus. I also decided to make Balthamos leave Will because his presence on the island offers absolutely nothing to the plot. I also removed Alma meeting Will and her involment in the fight after Lyra’s escape.
PART FOUR: THE SERPENT’S JOURNEY
- Mary travels through worlds, consulting her notes and I Ching, when she encounters a Mulefa, a sentient being which uses seed pods as wheels. In the Republic of Heaven, Asriel keeps Marisa captive in order to interrogate her about the Knife. Lyra wakes up from another dream about Roger and she determines to travel to the Land of the Dead to rescue him. She and Will find out that agent Salmakia has been with them all along and plan to return to Iorek to ask him to mend the Knife. Asriel’s council decides to trust Marisa and let her stay with them, even though she doesn’t admit knowing anything about the Knife. Salmakia finds out that Marisa was responsible for breaking the Knife and informs Asriel. Mary follows the Mulefa to its kind’s camp where they tell her about sraf and her mission. Lyra and Will find Iorek who helps them fix the Knife, as Asriel confronts Marisa and shows her the prisoner Angel. While he is torturing him, Marisa steals the Intention Craft and escapes not knowing that Commander Roke snuck inside. Will and Lyra open a window and cross through the Land of the Dead.
Note: I put together a brand new montage of various moments of Mary travelling up to the point where she first meets the Mulefa. I removed Gomez returning to Geneva and Ogunwe and Ruta’s concerns about Marisa. I also removed Dr Cooper’s first appearance - we know nothing of her return and the Cardinal’s plans until the end of the film.
PART FIVE: LYRA AND HER DEATH
- Marisa arrives at Geneva and confronts MacPhail for wanting to kill her daughter. Will and Lyra find themselves in a place full of people who have died but are not 100% dead yet. While they try to figure a way to the Land of the Dead, a man and an old woman tell them about how every person has their own Death, a life-long companion who greets them when they die. While she is asleep, the Cardinal steals Marisa’s necklace cointaining a piece of Lyra’s hair, which will help him locate and destroy the girl using a machine he calls the Bomb. Lyra decides to call for her Death who agrees to help her and Will go to the Land of the Dead to find Roger. The Boatman, a man who delivers the dead, agrees to take them with him, but points out that Pan cannot follow. Lyra is devastated, but determined to rescue Roger and Pan feels betrayed left alone on the dock. Meanwhile, Mary improvises a spyglass through which she can see Dust. Back in Geneva, MacPhail and Dr Cooper prepare Mrs Coulter for the incision procedure that will unleash the Bomb. However, Dr Cooper experiences guilt and halts the operation. MacPhail kills Dr Cooper and Commander Roke, who came to rescue Marisa, while Mrs Coulter’s daemon frees her from the device. MacPhail, willing to sacrifice himself, takes Mrs Coulter’s place, but she disables the mechanism before the Bomb detonates. When Alarbus tells the Regent Metatron that Will is the new Knife Bearer, Metatron intervenes and triggers the mechanism, killing MacPhail. The Bomb detonates as Asriel witnesses the ground tearing apart and Mary watches Dust aggressively escaping the Mulefa’s world.
Note: I removed Marisa wondering around the Magisterium, as well as her capture by the guards. Instead, it is implied that she has been caught in her sleep. I also made a significant change to the plot that affects this and the next film. In my cut, when the Bomb detonates Lyra is still sailing to the Land of the Dead and the explotion does not reach the Land of the Dead, as it happens in Episode 5 of the series. Instead, Metatron’s interference twists the Bomb’s porpuse to only cause the tear in the ground and the extinction of Dust.
His Dark Materials: The Amber Spyglass
Runtime: 2 hour 29 minutes
Τhe fifth and final film covers parts of Episode 5 and Episodes 6-8 of Series 3 and covers Will’s and Lyra’s journey through the Land of the Dead, Lord Asriel’s plans against the Authority’s regent and Mary’s role as the Serpent in the Mulefa world.
PLOT AND CHANGES
PART ONE: THE LAND OF THE DEAD
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The films starts Metatron’s proclamation against the humans as Mrs Coulter gains her consciousness. Meanwhile, the boatman ferries Lyra and Will across the waterway to the Land of the Dead. Cut to opening titles with “The Amber Spygalss” subtitle.
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Back in the Republic, Witch queen Ruta Skadi, who is working with Asriel into the Abyss, dies when her daemon is pulled into the chasm and perishes into dust. Will and Lyra wonder around the Land of the Dead where they come across some deceased denizens who are being harassed by the Harpies, the guardians of the Underworld, while Serafina Pekkala demands Asriel to answer for her sister’s death. Mrs Coulter returns to the Republic, believing that Lyra perished in the explosion. Asriel travels to meet with Iorek Byrnison, since he was the last who has seen Lyra in the world of the living. Will and Lyra finally find Roger and together they set off for the higher ground of the Purgatory to free the dead.
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Lord Asriel returns to the Republic to tell Mrs Coulter about Lyra’s plans. Meanwhile, Will reunites with his father. Later, Will and Lyra lead the other to the Purgatory’s higher point, where Will opens a window, allowing the dead to leave. Then, they both open a window to the Republic of Heaven to find their daemons.
Note: The first part of the film is basically a back-and-forth between the events of Episode 5, 6 and 7. Beacuase of the way the last film ends, the explotion does not affect the Land of the Dead and all scenes around the chasm have been removed.
PART TWO: THE CLOUDED MOUNTAIN
- Lord Asriel asks for Mrs Coulter’s help in his plan to deafeat Metatron, as his Angel army converge above the rebel camp and the battle begins. Ogunwe’s soldiers rendezvous with Lyra and Will and escort them back to the camp after fending off cliff-ghasts. Metatron summons Mrs Coulter and Asriel to the Cloud, where he reveals himself as a former mortal named Enoch who became divine. Mrs Coulter feigns loyalty to Metatron while he defeats Asriel in physical combat. As Coulter’s monkey daemon activates the bomb beneath the Cloud, Stelmaria, Asriel’s daemon, helps him and Coulter to pull Metatron into the Abyss, killing them all. While Asriel’s forces celebrate their victory, Lyra and Will discover the Authority’s crystal prison that fell from the Cloud. Will cuts it open and the ancient Angel immediately dies. Having sent their daemons to the Mulefa’s world for safekeeping, Will and Lyra follow them there.
Note: No drastic change in this part; just minos tweaks here and there.
PART THREE: THE BOTANIC GARDEN
- Will and Lyra have finally found peace. As they search for their daemons, the Mulefa lead them to Mary, who explains about the escaping Dust. Mary reveals giving up being a nun to experience life and love beyond religion. When Will and Lyra realize they are in love, Dust rains downward, restoring all worlds. Serafina Pekkala arrives and reunites Pan and Will’s daemon with their humans. Xaphania informs Will and Lyra that all windows between worlds must be closed to prevent Dust escaping and Spectres forming. Seeking guidance, Lyra discovers she can no longer read the alethiometer because she has matured. Knowing neither can survive long-term in an alternate world, Lyra and Will sadly agree to separate, promising to reunite in the afterlife. The group return to Lyra’s world. Lyra and Will say goodbye and promise to visit the bench in the Oxford Botanic Garden every midsummer’s day to remember each other, before Will permanently closes the window between them. As promised, he breaks the Subtle Knife. Lyra returns to Jordan College while Will reunites with his mother.
Note: The only major change here is the removal of Father Gomez. While this subplot gives a porpuse to him and Balthamos, it kind of ruins for me the emotional aspect of the main events. Also, I rearranged the text in the final moments of the last episode to give a reinforced feeling of finality and I removed the part about Lyra’s future adventures. As much as I would like to see an adaptation of The Book of Dust I hardly believe this would ever be a possibility.
All films are available through PM. Any kind of feedback would be much appreciated.
UPDATED ON JAN 23
