His Dark Materials season 1, episode 8, “Betrayal,” finally draws the battle lines and everyone must choose a side of history.
If you have been waiting for some answers, especially regarding the stakes of the so-called war that is on the horizon, His Dark Materials season 1, episode 8, “Betrayal” will suit you just fine. As the finale of the debut season, “Betrayal” pushes Lyra in the direction of the long awaited prophecy — that she must commit a betrayal but be completely unaware that she is doing so.
Now that she is finally on Asriel’s doorstep, what will her presence mean for him, the approaching Mrs. Coulter, the bears, and the work that Asriel has been putting together in the North?
The finale follows the book closely, giving readers one more episode to soak up Pullman’s intentions in the intended order. However, as viewership goes, this episode is the missing piece to all the conflicts that are taking place inside the organizing and governing bodies of Lyra’s world.
It will provide insights into the beliefs that are driving these people to attack Asriel’s research and support Mrs. Coulter’s rather extreme methods. “Betrayal” also gives us the next stencil to fill in some key information at the core of The Subtle Knife.
Before you read on, check out our recap of His Dark Materials season 1, episode 7, “The Fight to the Death.”
‘His Dark Materials’ season 1, episode 8 screener secrets
The head and the heart
It’s an episode that spends most of its time navigating these personal relationships and how they balance with the ties to this idea of work for the greater good. How does the drive Lyra felt from her mission to bring Asriel the alethiometer conflict with her emotions when she actually sees him?
How does Mrs. Coulter’s ambition to rid the world of Dust rival her affections for her child? For Lord Asriel? What does Father MacPhail’s appointment as leader of the mission to find Asriel say about his commitment to the causes of the Magisterium?
The daemons provide some insight into the true feelings of their human counterparts, either by speaking directly in opposition to the emotions they give away, providing an outlet for their aggression, or delivering some of the most heartbreaking lines.
Special shout out to Stelmaria, Salcilia, and, as always, the golden monkey, the daemons to watch in His Dark Materials season 1, episode 8.
Answers about this world and that world
What could be construed as an information dump, should not in the case of this episode. Whereas His Dark Materials episode 7 left Lee and Serafina’s conversation about their purpose in this mission sounding more like a bunch of hot air– which may have helped Mr. Scoresby’s situation in other ways — episode 8 explains what is actually at stake through two key conversations.
The first is a confrontation of faith, fear, and belief between adults. Testing the waters with Father MacPhail, Mrs. Coulter is able to press him about why she thinks his authority in the situation is nothing more than a mask for his fear about what he might see.
This heresy that the series has been speaking of, is now, finally, going to come to light in opposition of what he and the Magisterium stand for. Their power is in jeopardy and Mrs. Coulter, who has only one thing left to lose, is ready to put the entire scenario into context.
The second takes place between two people who need to listen to one another, to connect with sincerity, for the first time in ages — Lyra and Asriel.
Now, Asriel is a man of secrets, so getting the information out of him is going to take some negotiations. Placing Lyra in his company after witnessing all the similarities she has with her mother, provides an interesting compliment to her character.
The information in the North is dangerous, but the secrets that remain in this world and Will Parry’s are even more dangerous. With Will on the move, the letters that he took from his house are going to provide some interesting insight into what exactly his father was up to in the North.
But as other information comes to light, it appears that the pieces of paper in his backpack are not the only thing that can give Boreal a clearer path to Stanislaus Grumman.
‘His Dark Materials’ season 1, episode 8 spoiler-free review
After an impressive survey of the VFX team’s hard work this season, episode 8 delivers the best display of the immense talent that comes with a cast of this calibar. Ruth Wilson’s Mrs. Coulter has been the strongest frontrunner of the season providing depth to a character that has forever been so engrained as being the full embodiment of evil.
Finally, in “Betrayal,” we see why James McAvoy was the right fit for Asriel as he and Lyra attempt to hash out over a decade of secrets between them. And Daphne Keen continues to worm her way into our hearts as she and Lewin Lloyd’s Roger have another wonderful set of scenes together.
Though Lyra and Mrs. Coulter’s interactions have been brilliant to watch from the perspective of the mother figure, episode 8 flips the script and gives us insight into how this child sees her role model be reassembled in front of her.
Entering Asriel’s prison, she was seeing her father for the first time. Not the eccentric, critical explorer, who she knew as a distant relative. His character has not changed, but you can see her searching for some bigger kindness in him.
But it is not the North that has made his heart and mind so cold. Rather, it is the information he feels burdened with. The idea that there is not only a city in the sky, but what that city is providing their world with is weighing on him.
Jack Thorne does a phenomenal job of mudding the waters of those pivotal conversations from “Lord Asriel’s Welcome” in The Golden Compass. There is so much going on in McAvoy’s eyes the entire time he is on screen that it makes his final conversation in the episode pack such a punch, it will set you on edge.
The season was not perfect, but I will say that for all the changes that the creative team made, in the end they feel more like tweaks. At the end of the day, information got delivered, and the facts that were altered or left out in previous episodes, resulted in much stronger character building on the screen.
Season one has done a great job of making you feel further away from Lyra in a majority of the scenes, allowing you to take in the world from different vantage points.
But at the moments that truly matter, for instance the battle at Bolvangar, you are right there with her thanks in large part to the blocking and directional choices. The finale continues to expand on what’s been laid out thus far and drive the second bit of the foretold future of Lyra and Will closer to fruition.
His Dark Materials season 1, episode 8, “Betrayal,” airs Monday, December 23 at 9:00 p.m. ET on HBO.
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