His Dark Materials – The Enchanted Sleeper Review

His Dark Materials has returned for its final season and starts with the episode “The Enchanted Sleeper.”

Lyra has gone missing and Will travels across universes to try and find his friend. He gets two unlikely allies as he is followed by two angels. Lyra has been abducted by her mother and kept unconscious, leaving the girl in a dream world. In the dream world Lyra sees her old friend, Roger. Lord Asriel’s rebellion starts to gather momentum and seeks an ally in the form of Commander Ogunwe and his army. Father McPhail arrives at The Magisterium’s headquarters in Geneva and sees potential in a young priest.

The final season of His Dark Materials is based on The Amber Spyglass, the longest novel in the series. The Amber Spyglass had a wider scope because it had multiple characters spread across the multiverse as they had their own storylines. The Amber Spyglass was the novel that would have benefited the most from a TV adaptation. This episode had four major storylines and there will be more to come.

However, even in this early stage of the season, there were major departures from the novel. Some were done for budgetary reasons since Mrs. Coulter’s hideout was on a small island instead of high up in the Himalayan Mountains and Balthamos and Baruch spend most of their time in human form. Others were done to expand the story, like Mrs. Coulter talking to a deaf girl and convincing the child she was protecting Lyra. The biggest change was Asriel’s recruitment of Ogunwe since in the novel Ogunwe was king of an African nation in Asriel’s world. Fans of books know by this point that the TV series has taken major liberties with the source material.

One of the most significant changes from the novel happened early in the episode. The Amber Spyglass picked up where The Subtle Knife left off with Balthamos and Baruch approaching Will saying they want to take the boy and the knife to Lord Asriel. In the episode Will was going from universe to universe. This search shows how determined Will was no matter how much the odds were stacked against him that he was willing to go it alone, and most importantly shows the passage of time. “The Enchanted Sleeper” opened with a recap and it was notable how much younger Dafne Keen looked in the first season compared to now.

Ogunwe was given a more prominent role. In the book, he was a member of Asriel’s council and one of his generals. Changing his backstory was done to show that Asriel’s world was not the only one being suppressed by organised religion and Ogunwe’s family were victims of The Temple. One of Ogunwe’s daughters suffered the same as some of the children of Bolvangar.

There was a contrast between Asriel and Ogunwe. Asriel was determined to bring down The Authority, even ignoring his daughter and willing to sacrifice children, whilst Ogunwe was reluctant to join the rebellion because he wanted to protect his family first. A notable moment was when Ogunwe arrived back in his camp his youngest daughter hugged and kissed him, something Lyra would never have done with Asriel.

Mrs. Coulter has always been the most interesting in the books and the TV series. Mrs. Coulter has done some heinous actions which included stealing the souls of children and controlling soul-sucking ghosts but her loyalties were divided because of her relationship with her daughter. Mrs. Coulter sets out to protect Lyra from The Magisterium but her way of doing this was by drugging a child. Mrs. Coulter has a duality to her character because she can be kind and charming to youngsters but she could easily flip like a switch. The Amber Spyglass was the novel that saw Mrs. Coulter’s allegiances shift but considering all the horrible things she has done, people find it hard to trust her.

Lyra’s dreams are set to be a major catalyst for the series. It will drive the girl and give her and Will an important mission during the series. The dreams in the series were not how I pictured them when reading the novel. Still, I did like the Holocaust-style imagery when Lyra saw Roger and the other recently deceased people being marched to the next stage of the afterlife.

The final storyline involved The Magisterium. Father MacPhail had risen to a position of power in The Magisterium so the series can move on from the political manoeuvring. The Magisterium was trying to find Lyra and Mrs. Coulter, meaning the organisation and Will were conversing to the same point. This storyline also introduced Father Gomez and showed the young priest who was prepared to use intimation and unholy methods to ensure the will of The Magisterium. Gomez plays an important role in The Magisterium’s search for Lyra.

“The Enchanted Sleeper” was the best season opener of His Dark Materials. It was a continuation of the story and not just setting up the season ahead. The multiple storylines and broad scope ensured that the episode moved at a brisk pace.