Spoilers His Dark Materials TV series

Huh...that's nothing like I imagined...and a rather basic quadrupedal. Just a mini-elephant with no ears.

 

That's nothing like they are supposed to look. They are supposed to have one leg behind, one leg in front and two on each side. That's how they keep balance when using the seeds.

 

There was one recent article, possibly posted in this thread even, that pointed out that they'd had to make changes to make it easier to film in terms of concept. They do look like mini-elephants. A bit of a cross between an anteater and elephant, actually.

 

Another teaser trailer:


Chevalier Tialys and Lady Salmakia confirmed!

 

Solid premiere with a few understandable changes. I like seeing Asriel recruiting his armies instead of just jumping to him in full power. Although that said, it's a shame they changed Ogunwe's character to someone who doesn't have a daemon (he had a cheetah in The Amber Spyglass), but it's always good to see Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Ogunwe's role was rather minor, so I don't mind so much.

We only briefly glimpse Chevalier Tialys and Lady Salmakia here but it's good to know they're around. Also good to see Balthamos and Baruch finally (since they were introduced in The Subtle Knife in the books) and I love the special effects that gives them their angelic appearance. I love forward to seeing their story arcs play out.

Not much else to say except I completely forgot that Helen McCrory voiced Stelmaria until the dedication card at the end.

 

Pity we're not seeing it in the UK for another two weeks. I've read the books, so I'm unlikely to get spoiled, but I'll stay out of this thread for now.

 

Anyone else still watching?

I only just caught up with this week's episodes. There are some changes I like, some I don't, others I'm not even sure if they're changes or not. And I definitely don't like how the mufela are presented (but we only glimpse one at the end of the last episode).

But they managed to capture the most heartbreaking moment of the entire trilogy quite eloquently. I speak, of course, Lyra's decision to abandon Pan at the dock prior to crossing to the Land of the Dead. While they didn't quite depict the heart-wrenching image I always held in my mind of Pan's face, showing his sense of anguish and betrayal, the moment was still devastating to watch for both his and Lyra's sakes. This was the singular scene I've been looking forward to with anticipation and trepidation since the show was announced, and for all of the show's other faults, it nailed this moment.

I look forward to seeing next week's episodes...even if it means solidifying the wrongness of the mulefa portrayal.

 

Are they showing two episodes a week? I thought I was caught up, but it turned I was two behind
Really enjoying the season so far, I don't remember the books well enough to judge all of the changes made, but they seem to be doing a pretty good job of at least hitting the big plot points I remember.
One thing that I remember being curious about in the books, that has come back for me in the show, is Mrs. Coulter's relationship with her daemon. Did they ever address in the books why their relationship seems to be so different from most people's? He doesn't speak, doesn't appear to have a name, and their relationship almost seems borderline hostile at times, like when she threatened him with the specters, and the incident after that.
The acting in this show overall is pretty phenomenal, Dafne Keen and Amir Wilson are especially impressive for as young as they are. The scene with Asriel and Marissa outside the Intention Craft was great.
It was nice to see Iorek again, I really missed him last season.

 

Marisa Coulter has long been speculated by fans to be part witch.

 

Pretty sure it was never addressed in His Dark Materials but I believe I remember Lyra speculating a bit on the subject in The Secret Commonwealth due to the nature of the situations she and Pan deal with.

Still waiting for that third book in The Book of Dust trilogy. Don't even have a title yet, let alone a release date...

 

I haven't started The Book of Dust trilogy. I'm waiting until it's complete. I think Lyra's mother being part witch is very likely.

 

Yes, at least in the US.

The last two episodes of the series air on December 26th.

 

That's fair although it looks like you'll have to wait awhile. I just saw on Wikipedia that we finally have an update on the third one and, as of October, Pullman is still writing it and only at around 260 pages. The Secret Commonwealth is more than 600.

 

I forgot about The Book of Dust, I'll have to check them out.

 

All eight episodes of season 3 are now available on BBC iPlayer in the UK. I just watched the first two and I'm not disappointed. I suspect people who haven't read the books might get quite confused by what is going on.

 

Yeah, I was bawling my eyes out. It didn't help that I just lost my own "daemon", my cat Buddy.

 

Damn, I'm sorry for your loss. Losing a pet is like no other thing, especially one who has been in your life for so long (as often has been the case for me and the cats in my life).

 

Thank you. He was with me over 15 years.

 

Hope you feel better soon!

 

Thank you.