S02.E01: The City of Magpies

[Cranberry]

Quote

Lyra and Will find themselves in a strange new place. The Magisterium take action as Mrs Coulter interrogates a suspected heretic witch, and Lee Scoresby embarks on a mission.

Originally aired: November 8, 2020 (on BBC One -- HBO gets it Nov. 16)

[AnimeMania]

Originally aired: November 16, 2020

[Cranberry]

Good episode! It was mostly setup/getting the various people and alliances into place, but it wasn't boring. Some nice moments of humor, too, with Lyra and Will discussing their differences. Loved Pan's little "thanks?" when Will said demons are bad in our world.

Cittàgazze is beautiful, and I like how we're learning about it a little at a time. I don't remember the second book as well as I do the first, so a lot of this feels fresh to me; I'm not sure what to expect next.

Mrs. Coulter is so dangerous. I love to hate her.

The witches are pretty badass, even if they do look mildly goofy flying around. I like how the cloud pine is incorporated into their flesh, and I could feel that witch's pain as Mrs. Coulter plucked it out.

Daemons work so well to show a character's true feelings without having to do an internal monologue -- Pan speaking to Will even while Lyra had her back to him showed us that Lyra wanted to trust Will, wanted to ally with him, even though she was holding back. Lyra and Pan's debate over using the alethiometer showed how torn she was about trusting it again. Similarly, the two witch queens' daemons debate told us more than the witches' actual words to each other.

The daemons/Pan's various forms (especially the magpie and the pine marten) looked really good in this episode, and it felt like there were more shots of them. Perhaps there's more time and money for those when there isn't a giant armored bear around!

[Bill1978]

Cannot believe I have to wait an extra week for episodes. Damn Australian television having the contract with the US distributor and the not the UK distributor. I am eager to see the story unfold since I'm too lazy, busy, unable to concentrate?? on reading the actual source material at the moment.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I didn't realize how much I missed this show until I watched the season premiere!

The city where the kids are is gorgeous. It seems like the other kids are going a bit Lord of the Flies (or maybe they just hate cats?).

Lyra's realization about the alethiometer reminded me a bit of the machine on Person of Interest - it can give you facts but not always context, so you get information but not the full picture. But could Lyra try to get more information by asking more specific questions? She knows this other kid is a murderer but could she ask the alethiometer about the details or circumstances of the murder?

It was great to see Lyanna Mormont again! I guess there aren't many parts for young actresses who are fierce beyond their years.

I know it could have gone very sitcom 101, but I enjoyed Lyra and her new friend learning about each other's worlds and words. Apparently he forgot to tell her that a crucial part of making an omelette is not including the shells. Mmm, crunchy.

As much as I enjoy Mrs. Coulter being deliciously eeeeevil, most of the scenes with the church guys bore me (probably partly because all those middle aged white guys look the same and I don't care enough about them to figure out which one is which). I felt a little guilty enjoying the witch torture scene, but it was mostly because she got to be her fun filled evil self without all the boring church guys.

[Quark]

I absolutely love this show and thought this was a great premier. It was great to see Will and Lyra interacting. And the music is to die for. Oh I can't get over how much I love the music.

 

On a separate note, I'm a week ahead as I am able to watch His Dark Materials at UK pace on BBC iPlayer. Is it possible to make another thread for the UK pace?

Edited November 15, 2020 by Quark

[Cranberry]

5 hours ago, Quark said:

On a separate note, I'm a week ahead as I am able to watch His Dark Materials at UK pace on BBC iPlayer. Is it possible to make another thread for the UK pace?

They already are at the UK pace. Episodes receive topics when they first air in their country of origin, with an "Unaired USA" tag if that's a country other than the US (the tag will be removed once they air in the states). Episode two aired today in the UK and the topic is already up.

[aghst]

One of the featurettes said they built up Cittagazze rather than shoot abroad, as in Italy since the name is very Italian.

So even though

Spoiler

Lyra wants to see the Oxford in Will’s world straight away, it looks like they will have a lot more to do in this connecting world which Cittagazze is a part of.

It seems the Magesterium should not be any threat to the witches.  Then again the one being held captive wasn’t turning into dust and whooshing past the grasp of the soldiers like Queen Skadi.

Frankly Mrs. Coulter shouldn’t be this scary to other adults, unless she too has some secret powers.

 

From the previews for the rest of the season

Spoiler

it appear they’re going to have some more fish out of water scenes, like Will introducing Lyra to the cinema.

Someone noted that the in the books,

Spoiler

 

The world that Will (and us viewers) does not have a big role.  So this could be a departure from the books, for Lyra to see our world, connect with a woman physicist, to explain the multiverse to her.

But back in Lyra’s world they seem to explain the multiverse and her role in it as part of some grand prophecy.

 

 

[AnimeMania]

The Witch Queen seemed extremely powerful, I don't know why she wasted do much time flying to the other witches for help. If The Witch Queen would have gone straight to the captured witch, she could have rescued her easily and the captured witch would still be alive.

You would think the city would be full of mindless adults since they were only brain dead and not dead dead. The spectors must have recently attacked the city since the bread is still good. I wonder why all the kids appear to be the same age.

[tennisgurl]

I am so glad that this show is back, I had totally forgotten it was starting already. Great episode, I already like the interactions between Lyra and Will and their discussions and confusion about their respective worlds, especially Will's reaction to seeing Pan and Lyra being so confused about his lack of Daemon and how hard it is to describe what they actually are because in her world everyone just knows. This was clearly a place setter episode where we see what characters are up to, who is working with who, setting up some of the main plot threads, but they did a good job at making it interesting. Also funny how Lyra and Will talk about one of the big differences their worlds is that they have different names for the same thing, which is something I remember thinking when I was reading the books as a kid. 

Cittàgazze is very beautiful while also being creepy, especially with the zombie people and the kids starting to go all Lord of the Flies. It is turning into some kind of multiversal waystation, which makes me wonder if that is what created the monsters sucking the life out of adults. People tampering with reality in the world next door affected this one. 

The witches are always cool to see more of, I can never tell if their flying is cool looking or silly, possibly its a bit of both. It just looks weird and unnatural, which I suppose is the point for the ethereal witches. 

Mrs. Coulter is still creepy as always, when she is just sitting around talking to people, or when she is torturing someone. Her going from calm and collected to screaming and freaking out is always really unnerving. With a lesser actress it could come off as unintentionally funny or ridiculous, but it works here, it really shows how much murderous rage she has constantly simmering under her cool exterior. 

Edited November 20, 2020 by tennisgurl

[Quickbeam]

Bella Ramsey! I’d watch anything with her in it. Seriously, the kid is magic. 

[WatchrTina]

On 11/14/2020 at 4:00 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

It was great to see Lyanna Mormont again!

Thank you!  I was sure I recognized her but I couldn't figure out why.

I read these books years ago but have forgotten most of the story.  So I can't tell if the foreboding I feel in this new city is just a reaction to all the creepy we saw on screen or some vestigial knowledge that bad things, they are a-coming.  All things considered, I think it was all on the screen:   the recently abandoned city, the creepy kids who attack animals, the stupefied adult at the fountain and -- last but not least -- that creepy smoke-monster cliff-hanger ending.  I mean . . .  damn.

I'm delighted the show is back.  I just stumbled across it in the online listing at exactly the right time.  As if . . . I was supposed to find it.  Hmmmmm.

[Bill1978]

So great to have the show back. I like how the show is happy to just plod along and tell the story at it's own speed. I can't help when watching the show, what would the movie had been like if it continued as a franchise. I know we wouldn't have spent an hour exploring Cittigaze that's for show.

I know I can read the book (and I will one day) but I have been waiting for Lyra and Will to meet since watching The Golden Compass, so this episode was great. And I loved how the discussions comparing their words. Really helped me process this universe I'm travelling in. I also liked that Will & Lyra met on neutral grounds so everything was weird for them which probably helped them accept each other's little oddities.

I know the Magisterium plays a big part in this series, but man do my eyes glaze over whenever we hit their scenes.

[cleo]

This show is just beautifully shot in almost every scene. It really amazes me. Even the gloomy scenes with the Magesterium- like there is a richness to the dark and crimson contrasts that is just beautiful. 

[maczero]

I think there was a nod to Lyra's actress appearing in Logan.  It was when her daemon turned into a wolverine.