His Dark Materials Review: The City of Magpies (Season 2 Episode 1)

Two destinies cross paths and are now entwined.

His Dark Materials Season 2 Episode 1, “The City of Magpies,” does a wonderful job of reacquainting us with this exciting universe with a sense of haste and urgency that’s felt through every scene, but also knows how to take its time and breathe, allowing characters to acclimate to their new settings.

But before we get to Lyra and Will, it’s time to check in on Mrs. Coulter.

Mrs. Coulter makes for a terrifying villain, as she essentially has no line she’s afraid to cross to get what she wants: power, privilege, and Lyra. Her way of massaging circumstances to her advantage, even in a room full of Magisterium who are shaky to trust her, shows how far her reach can go.

Through torturing the witch, almost like she’s dissecting an insect and fascinated by it, is certainly a dark avenue for Mrs. Coulter to go down, but it’s not entirely something new for her. She’s been cruel before, but here there’s a sense of strategy to it that makes the scenes a little darker.

Coulter is even still able to work her way through Father MacPhail, who is used to her ways by now. Ruth Wilson sells these scenes, though, as it’s hard to take your eyes off her as she turns anything she wants to her favor.

It’s not exactly manipulation, per se, but a form of mutual opportunity.

When there’s opportunity and power at hand, you can’t really deny MacPhail’s draw to wanting to help her achieve more, as it will only rise him higher through the ranks himself. She’s really the only one accepting reality and willing to take initiative at this moment in time.

Lee Scorseby and the witches is mostly set-up so far, and it’s great to have the witches taking on a more central role now that we’re entering The Subtle Knife territory. It also leads to the episode’s big action sequence on the Magisterium submarine, which has some frenetic phasing that looks awesome on screen.

It piggybacks off of Mrs. Coulter’s storyline, as well, as there’s a clear fear of letting Coulter and the Magisterium know Lyra’s other name (what is likely her other world’s name). We’re going to start getting into certain characters having double names soon, and so it may add into that in some way, along with the larger meaning of the prophecy.

But the larger brunt of the story comes from Lyra and Will finally coming together. It’s been a season-long build-up, and it’s given the right level of care here.

Lyra’s initial dislike of Will comes from a deep-seated fear of getting close to someone again after what’s happened to Roger, and a general distrust after everyone she puts faith in failing her in some way.

But with Will, his kindness shines through and allows her to finally open up.

With Will, it’s a lot of catching up to the world we already know and love, and it helps build their friendship through bonding over the differences of their words and their life structure.

It’s a fun, cute moment when Lyra’s immediate response to Will knowing how to cook is that he must work in a kitchen, as the concept of cooking for yourself seems so foreign to her. Little things like that peppered throughout the episode go a long way to realizing the characters and worlds better and breathing life into them.

While the episode is mostly about building on their friendship and gaining trust, it ends up being a massively rewarding way to break the ice and also to get inside their heads after their rather traumatic journey to get to this point.

Lyra’s entire world has turned upside down, and Will’s has been effectively shattered, which speaks to his reluctance to bring Lyra there. It will be interesting to see if the next episode delves solely into the tower and its drawing power, or if we will get to see Will’s world again so soon.

Lyra’s dislike of the alethiometer is also a smart beat to take, as it’s done nothing but torn things from her.

Its truths are never wrong, but they are fragments that only lead to tragedy. 

It’s also refreshing that Pan is the one to open up first with Will. He’s always been a little more trusting than Lyra, more like the angel on her shoulder, and a larger focus on him on the episode goes a long way to bring Lyra out of her shell more.

The spectre that haunts Will at the very end of the episode is definitely a frightening cliffhanger, but after Angelica (Lyanna Mormont/Bella Ramsey!) mentions that he’s on the cusp of adulthood, it will hopefully just be a threat and nothing more.

Though it does put the question out there if these spectres consume Dust, and because children have little to none of it, it may move on.

Will is drawn to the tower in the middle of town, and it will be curious if his destiny, as Lyra mentions after consulting the alethiometer, is within that tower.

“The City of Magpies” is one of the absolute best looking episodes of His Dark Materials yet. The city streets of Cittàgazze are gorgeous and labyrinthine in their design, and Jamie Childs shoots the scenes with an eye toward the vertical, how the city seems to keep on rising for more to discover.

But it’s also present in the grand scope of the establishing shots of Lee heading toward the meeting of the witches, of the great portal now open into the skies, and of the action sequence and race to the Magisterium sub. The first season is definitely epic, but this feels like it’s on another level, nearing that film barrier ever more by the episode.

While everything around the two leads is moving fast and furious, His Dark Materials Season 2 Episode 1, “The City of Magpies,” is able to provide the exact level of character development we need to step into a new adventure.

Bringing Lyra and Will together so soon will help converge their stories into a larger, fascinating look at how they’re connected, where the search and hunt for Lyra will prove to be the secondary beats that help build it up.

This episode is a fun start, and the way both Lyra and Will bounce off each other, personality-wise, is an exciting thing to see so soon.

Some stray thoughts on the episode:

• It’s quick, but we get our first visual hint at angels on the episode, with the small angelic statue that is at the cafe Will and Lyra stay at.

 

What did you think of this episode of His Dark Materials? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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His Dark Materials airs Mondays at 9/8c on HBO.

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