S03.E06: The Abyss

[Cranberry]

Quote

As Metatron’s abyss rips through the worlds, sucking Dust into its depths, Lyra and Will attempt to lead the ghosts out of the Land of the Dead.

Original air date: December 18, 2022 (BBC iPlayer); December 19, 2022 (HBO); January 22, 2023 (BBC One).

[Cranberry]

About time that Asriel, narcissistic piece of shit that he is, realizes his kid is the amazing one. He's lucky Coulter was too numb to strangle him when he barely cared their child was dead.

I liked the conversation between Serafina and Coulter, and the conversation between Coulter and her monkey. The latter pretty much answered the "how can Marisa and her daemon be so far apart" question -- she forces it, despite the pain.

Loved seeing the dead dissolve and become part of everything. What an amazing, meaningful accomplishment for Lyra and Will to literally defeat death itself. Very clever of Lyra to understand the harpies were enjoying her stories and recruit them as guides in exchange for true tales.

Jack Thorne did not write episodes 5-8, and it shows -- the dialogue is so much better in these episodes.

[aghst]

Asriel seemed to have more of a reaction that Roke was dead than Lyra being dead.

So it turns out Land of the Dead wasn't just a detour to "soothe guilt" for Lyra.  It was part of a larger prophecy and the Great War when Lyra and Will freed all the ghosts.

If they explained that the ghosts would just meld into everything, not become corporeal again, I must have missed it.  But all the ghosts had this white makeup -- was it suppose to make them appear to be glowing? -- but Lyra and Will didn't get that hue.

Yeah the adult actors had to emote some in this episode.  The children also had tearful reunions and goodbyes again with their lost loved ones.

Only two episodes left but you don't sense this narrative momentum heading towards a climax.  I guess the abyss is suppose to make it seem that there's urgency and there has to be a resolution soon or the abyss is going to swallow all living beings eventually, though you don't feel a dramatic loss with Ruta's demise, because she's relatively a minor character.

 

[Noneofyourbusiness]

13 hours ago, aghst said:

If they explained that the ghosts would just meld into everything, not become corporeal again, I must have missed it.

Yes, John said it when talking with Will, and Will mentioned that before the ghosts went through the window.

[Bill1978]

OK I admit I was not expecting to see John Parry again, so that was a nice little surprise. And based upon the way the scenes were shot and edited, I'm going to guess the show wasn't sure if they'd be able to get Andrew Scott back either. But I am glad they did. Glad that Will was able to get the closure needed, that Lyra got with Roger.

And I really shouldn't vacuum before watching this show as dust (lower case d, not capital D) got in my eyes while Roger and Lyra were saying goodbye. And again, when Ms. Coulter was apologizing to her daemon. I was not expecting to be feeling empathetic towards her when this season started. I thought by now I would be having the same urge I have whenever Asriel opens his mouth. I just want to slap him into next year.

And so I have it correct in my head, when the 'multiverse' was created originally when you died you returned to the universe. But then the Authority (or Metatron) decided that wasn't fun and designed a place for souls to be trapped but convinced the worlds that you had to be good to get into a place called Heaven and if not, you go to Hell. So, when you died, you ended up in the Land of the Dead and only then discover you've been duped or think you weren't good and have been sent to Hell. And therefore, the concept of Heaven is actually a lie and just another world where angels are hanging out? I have a feeling after next week, I'm going to be reading the last two books to get some deeper answers.

I was happy that we got confirmation that Will lost his soul in his journey, hopefully we get to meet this mystery daemon of his.

I am also going to assume that the titular amber spyglass plays a larger role in Book 3 than what the show is presenting. Cause at the moment, I don't understand why a book would be named after a circular piece of amber than can see Dust. There must be more to it than solving the mystery of dying trees.

Right now, I wished the whole series has been dropped in Australia so I can watch it on my TV, can't believe I have a week to see how it all ends. Oh well I guess I've been waiting 15 years for the conclusion, what's one more week.

[edhopper]

It was nice and all, but it took 3 long, slow episodes to get here. I am often bored with this season.

Edited December 23, 2022 by edhopper

[Tachi Rocinante]

• So who or what is Will's daemon?  His mother? Some random animal?
• How did Lee Scoresby get ahead of them if he went back to find Joe Parry??
• Agree that there is a lack of urgency in the storytelling.
• I still don't trust Mrs. Coulter.

[Black Knight]

What an awful fate for Ruta. I was very sad for her. I guess it was needed in order to demonstrate what happens to anyone who falls into the abyss, but she so didn’t deserve it.

I agree Asriel seemed more upset about Roke than Lyra, probably because at that point he still viewed Lyra as a useless kid while Roke was an important ally in the rebellion. Asriel is all about who’s useful to him.

Lee mentioning he’d be with Hester again was very touching. Also important for the point that all the dead were getting reunited with their souls. I felt from the point that the ferryman was telling Lyra and Will that it was a law that souls couldn’t go into the land of the dead that it meant something was very wrong with that land.

Glad Will got a final conversation with his dad.