His Dark Materials – Tower of the Angels Review

“Tower of the Angels” is the most loyal episode to the books so far this season. It’s also the best so far as the wider plot of the series starts to come together.

Lyra and Will have been tasked by Sir Charles Latrom to retrieve The Subtle Knife from the Torre delgi Angeli – a tower with no obvious entrance. In Will’s Oxford Mary’s research in Shadow Particles is about to be shut down, but Sir Charles offers her a funding lifeline. Whilst in Lyra’s world, Lee Scoresby finds Stanislaus Grumman and discovers the man has a long and complex past.

The second season of His Dark Materials has had an internal tussle between book loyalty and having to create new storylines. The creation of new storylines was done because the source novel is pretty short sustain a TV season and the showrunners wanted to put their own spin on the material. “Tower of the Angels” was the first episode in a long time that felt extremely faithful to the novel. The only added storyline involved Mrs. Coulter and Lord Boreal meeting in Lyra’s Oxford and that was more a case of the show filling a gap. The other addition was a character facing The Spectres which was again, just filling a gap, and the end of “Tower of the Angels” had a fun action sequence that allowed the episode to finish on an exciting note.

“Tower of the Angels” started with a prologue about the history of The Subtle Knife with Phoebe Waller-Bridge narrating. This prologue went into extra detail that the novel and it was both fitting and illuminating as it showed the guide getting rich from their universe hopping. The only risk of this prologue was it reveal a twist earlier than expected. The production was able to bring the Torre delgi Angeli with its Italian Medieval architecture and showing the treasures the Guild had hoarded over the years.

The adventure in this series can be split into three parts. The most obvious split would be between Lyra and Will, Grumman and Scoresby, and the Witches but there was also a wider context. Lyra and Will’s adventure seems small scale – they’re unaware of all the events going involving the other characters and as the audience keeps getting reminded that Lyra is prophesised to save all reality but she must not be aware of this. The witches’ immediate struggle was with the Magisterium who had attacked them. Grumman revealed the multiverse struggle where he stated that across universes was a war between the forces of repression and freedom and Lord Asriel was the only person who can end it.

This episode brilliantly brought some important moments from the novel to life. The big event was Will getting the Subtle Knife but had to fight to earn it. Will had to use his boxing training that was established in Season One and the director was able to show the power of the knife by being able cut through metal. It was a well-done small-scale action scene due to Will’s boxing and Pan (and therefore Lyra) got hurt. The other key scenes taken from the book was when Paradisi taught Will how to use the Subtle Knife and a wonderfully tender moment when Pan licked Will’s wound.

The other scene that was book loyal was when Mary communicated with the Shadow Particles. This was a scene where Mary got to confirm her theory and science and faith were smashed together. The explanation and warning the Shadow Particles gave to Mary will help people who haven’t read the novels a better understanding of what Dust was and the wider plot of the series.

The storyline involving Lee Scoresby and Stanislaus Grumman was more dialogue-heavy. The series has already revealed that Stanislaus Grumman was really John Parry, Will’s father. He told Lee of his experience as both a scholar and a shaman in Lyra’s world and lamented that he had left his wife and son. John also states that he had been looking for a way back to his world without success. Andrew Scott as John did come across as otherworldly and mystic who spoke like his mind was elsewhere because he had powers linked to nature. Lee and John’s scenes show a clash in objectives. Lee simply wanted to help Lyra whilst John saw the bigger picture regarding the war to come. They had to come to an agreement.

“Tower of the Angels” showed the true threat of The Spectres. The TV version of The Spectres moved like the Dementors from Harry Potter – ghostly, cloaked things that feed on the souls of people. They were a scary and haunting presence as they stalk their prey.

“Tower of the Angels” was my favourite episode of series so far due to its combination of book loyalty, world-building and myth-making and being well done fantasy drama.