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His Dark Materials Season 3 Review

The third season of His Dark Materials premiered in 2022. It consists of eight episodes. It’s a weaker conclusion.

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“Desire is not sin“

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I am not the biggest fan of the third book. In fact, I find it to be the weakest of the trilogy. This is why this season did not appeal to me as much as the second one, though in its quality it is on par with the first season. Too many plot points from the book were retained here, but because I did not love that novel, I found the storyline here troublesome as well.

For instance, how the main villains died was so anti-climactic and so frustrating that it really annoyed me. I love Ruth Wilson’s Marisa Coulter and she was once again incredible in the role, but her demise was rather abrupt and a big letdown. As for James McAvoy as Lord Asriel, I never quite bought him in the role and his characterization was also rushed. The two were excellent together, but they both deserved better.

Lyra and Will continued to be immensely likable and endearing. I loved all of their shared scenes and how full of love and respect they were to each other. Dafne Keen is such a good actress and Amir Wilson proved to be such a talented young actor. Both of them deserve great careers in the future.

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My main issue with the story of this season is that it’s all so rushed, very much lacking in magic and incorporating the author’s anti-religion stance in such an obvious, overly aggressive manner that it became tiresome to watch and listen to very quickly. The fantastical elements were overwrought and nowhere near as interesting as they were in the previous seasons, but the CGI was at least incredible and the score remained powerful.