All 3 Seasons Of This Fantasy Series Are Perfect From Start To Finish

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As a fantasy fan, I always felt His Dark Materials on HBO, even though it was only three seasons long, was a really solid adaptation of Philip Pullman’s books. What’s impressive is that it didn’t have a single weak episode! It really proves a point I’ve noticed with a lot of fantasy TV – sometimes, shows need to make changes from the original books to really work. Take The Magicians on SyFy, for example. It took some liberties with the source material, but honestly, it made the show even better.

The show smartly left out parts of the original novels that had become clichés in fantasy stories, creating a series that honored the books’ core themes while still feeling new and exciting. Unfortunately, not all fantasy adaptations manage to strike this balance.

The final season of Game of Thrones is well-known for significantly departing from the books it was based on, and many viewers felt this ruined the show. Ironically, just a few years later, HBO released another series, co-produced with others, that stayed much closer to its original source material.

His Dark Materials Has No Bad Episodes

The 2019 series His Dark Materials, a co-production of HBO and BBC One, is based on Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights trilogy. It tells the story of Lyra Belacqua, an orphaned girl who discovers her parents aren’t deceased, but are actually involved in a growing religious conflict with profound implications.

Lyra’s father, Lord Asriel, played by James McAvoy, is fighting against a powerful, controlling force called the Authority. Ruth Wilson plays Ms. Coulter, who represents this Authority and becomes a threat to Lyra. Lyra enjoys a peaceful life at Jordan College in Oxford, but that changes when she’s sent to live with Ms. Coulter and becomes determined to find a friend who has disappeared.

The show’s many storylines eventually connect in a complex and surprising way, exploring ideas like alternate realities, parallel universes, and a full-scale conflict between Heaven and Earth. Although the ending of His Dark Materials is grand and sweeping, the series leading up to it skillfully balances personal character stories with larger political events.

One of the best things about His Dark Materials is how well it’s paced. The story never feels slow, even with its complex alternate world. As Lyra’s journey connects to our own, the show reveals these connections gradually, finding a perfect balance between taking its time and keeping things moving.

How His Dark Materials Fixed The Movie

As a huge fan of fantasy, I was so excited when His Dark Materials finally got the adaptation it deserved. But it’s easy to forget that it wasn’t the first try! Back in 2007, when everyone was still obsessed with Harry Potter and a ton of kids’ fantasy movies were being made, they attempted to bring Pullman’s books to life with The Golden Compass. It felt a bit like they were just trying to make a quick buck off the book’s popularity, and honestly, it didn’t quite capture the magic.

Despite earning a solid $372 million at the box office with a $180 million budget, the film The Golden Compass received mostly negative reviews when it came out. Even with well-known actors like Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman, director Chris Weitz’s adaptation was criticized for making the story less complex and more suitable for children.

It’s immediately clear how different Dafne Keen’s portrayal of Lyra is compared to the previous film version. This Lyra is much more headstrong, quick to anger, and occasionally difficult to like. The earlier version, in contrast, was more pleasant, predictable, and ultimately, a less compelling character.

The movie version smooths over the more complex and controversial parts of the book trilogy, ultimately creating a confusing story that doesn’t offer much depth. While the books and HBO series strongly criticize organized religion, the film avoids this topic altogether, instead relying on a predictable “Chosen One” storyline.

His Dark Materials Ended Perfectly

Fans of the books were relieved when the excellent HBO series followed the disappointing 2007 movie. The series quickly stood out by perfectly capturing the unique atmosphere of the novels – a blend of realistic settings and imaginative fantasy, all wrapped up in a fast-moving and surprising story.

One of the things that made the show so good was that it was able to finish telling its complete story before ending, making it a remarkably well-structured fantasy series. Many fantasy shows struggle because they’re expensive to produce, leading to early cancellations, or they run out of source material, as we saw with Game of Thrones. Fortunately, this show avoided those pitfalls.

Unlike many adaptations, His Dark Materials successfully brought the complete book trilogy to the screen without adding unnecessary content or sacrificing key plot points. As a result, it quickly became a beloved and essential piece of television fantasy.

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2026-02-19 21:41