We were big fans of season 1 of His Dark Materials on HBO. Based on the novels by Philip Pullman, if you haven’t been watching, why? The first series was everything a book fan could dream of. Faithful, with just enough adaptation to keep you gasping. It’s truly a wonderful series.
Season 2 of His Dark Materials on HBO is happening, and is an adaptation of the second book in the trilogy, The Subtle Knife. And sure, you can watch the entire panel yourself here:
But what if you’re just looking for juicy season 2 tidbits? We’ll help you out here!
1. Multiple Worlds means your faves might not interact as much
Spoiler alert- You know that there are multiple worlds, we saw that at the end of season 1. Everyone’s journeys in season 2 will be different now as the various characters need to learn to trust again. So if you were dying for a little of that Lin Manuel-Miranda and Dafne Keen chemistry, you’re going to be out of luck. Manuel-Miranda let slip that he missed Keen so much he used to leave his set and go visit her on hers!
2. Andrew Scott’s daemon is going to be voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Oh, was that me screaming you hear from where you are? Yup. It is. Scott says the relationship between Parry and his daemon should be one of easy friendship. So who better than Waller-Bridge to voice her? Alright, we won’t get to see her. But it will sort of be like she’s there! Hot priest dreams!
3. The only thing they didn’t film for season 2 was an Asriel stand-alone episode
Lord Asriel doesn’t appear in The Subtle Knife. But he turns up again in the third book in the series, The Amber Spyglass. Series creators Jack Thorne and Jane Tranter had filmed all of season two with the exception of a stand-alone episode with the backstory of what Asriel has been doing before the The Amber Spyglass begins. That has been put aside, perhaps to be revisited, or it might just be another thing that won’t ever happen due to COVID-19.
4. Boreal is bad. And Lyra’s having trouble with trust.
Yes, you knew he was bad in season 1. But Ariyon Bakare’s evil and subtly threatening character inspired Jane Trantor and Jack Thorne to entwine his story with Will Parry’s (Amir Wilson) early. He’s really gonna go there for season 2. Lyra, broken at the end of season 1 with everyone she trusted betraying her or leaving her, has quite a journey to go on for season 2.
We cannot wait for the second season of His Dark Materials. If you didn’t catch up on season 1, get thee to HBO Max and check it out! We’ll be there, too!
