His Dark Materials – The Scholar Review

Following on from the events of “Tower of the Angels” that stuck closely to events of the books, “The Scholar” takes a bigger diversion from the source material.

Will and Lyra have decided to steal the Alethiometer back from Sir Charles Latrom. With the Subtle Knife in their possession, they plan to bypass Latrom’s security by going through Cittàgazze.

Latrom has brought Mrs. Coulter to Will’s Oxford. She uses the opportunity to explore the new world and find Lyra.

“The Scholar” was an example of the TV series needing to stretch out the material to fit the new median. In the books, Will and Lyra simply waited until till nighttime before trying to get the Alethiometer back. Because of this, the writers used this episode to focus on Mrs. Coulter. Some may say this was an opportunity for character development, others say that this was just padding.

For the episode to work it needed to make some huge changes from the source material. The key scene was when Mrs. Coulter met Mary Malone – they never met in the novel. This was similar to the events in “Theft” where Coulter met Lee Scoresby. The aim of the scene was two-fold, the first was to show a contrast between Lyra’s maternal figures – one was sweet and caring, the other cold and ruthless. The other reason for this scene was to show what Coulter could have achieved if she grew up in a different world.

Lyra’s world was male-dominated – as Coulter pointed out in “The Idea of the North” she and Lyra were the only women allowed into the Royal Arctic Institute. Coulter was a gifted scientist and rose to a high position within the Magisterium, but she still faces a thick glass ceiling. Latrom called Mary arrogant and he called Will’s world more corrupt. Coulter also points out that she was denied a PhD in Lyra’s world and she states she could only have a paper published if a man’s name was printed on it.  She was resentful.

In the previous season, Coulter was shown to be a raged filled woman who let her emotions get the better of her. She wasn’t the cold and cunning as she was in the books. The second season made Coulter a conflicted country because of her love for Lyra and the character has been softened. Ruth Wilson’s performance has improved because she more to work with and her performance could be more subtle.

The final change from the source material was Coulter’s ability to separate from her dæmon. She didn’t have that ability in the novel and it does seem like the series was trying to come up with an excuse to avoid her having to travel around Oxford with a monkey. In the novels, it was established that humans and dæmons cannot move too far from each other without suffering unbearable pain. The TV series has taken a concept from The Secret Commonwealth because there was a small number of people who could separate from their dæmons and because of this, there were some people and dæmons couldn’t stand to be with each other. It was touching to see Mrs. Coulter’s dæmons look longingly out of the window as she left.

Another change in the episode was when Lyra and Will try to take back the Alethiometer. The series made this scene more action ordinated and dramatic and it was all the better for it. This was the TV show at its best as Lyra and Mrs. Coulter face off against each other for the first time in the season. It was a moment of tension and distrust that evolved into violence. It was a fantastic scene as dæmons fight each other and Coulter gets physically and mentally hurt.

The scenes between Will and Lyra in Cittàgazze were faithful to the book. They had to figure out the geography between the worlds so they could raid Latrom’s home. Lyra acted as a reassuring force to Will who doubts he can use the knife. Their relationship has changed from bickering at the beginning of the season to a more tender one.

In the previous episodes, Mary was a proxy to explain what Dust was and why it was important. The show was able to explain complicated ideas in an understandable way. However, this episode was too on the nose when it explained what her role will be later in the story. “The Scholar” also sets up the future conflict between Will, Lyra, and Angelica.

“The Scholar” was a more divisive episode because of it changes it made from the novel, but it did reach some highs with its scenes involving Coulter, Boreal and Lyra.