HBO’s 3-Part Fantasy Masterpiece Quietly Fixed What ‘Game of Thrones’ Couldn’t

Right after Game of Thrones ended, a fantasy series adaptation of another beloved book series debuted on HBO. His Dark Materials, based on the Phillip Pullman trilogy, ran for three seasons. The network dropped new episodes on Monday nights instead of its traditional Sunday and, therefore, failed to grab the attention of Game of Thrones fans. But in the long run, the fact that His Dark Materials wasn’t gunning for a Westeros comparison served it well. Lest we forget, the unsuccessful 2007 movie The Golden Compass never had any sequels. This is kind of the only screen adaptation of the second two books out there – and it’s really good.

The series follows a young girl named Lyra Belacqua (Daphne Keen) who leaves home to search for a missing friend and becomes a person of interest in an inter-dimensional conflict. Keen, better known as Laura or X-23 from Logan and Deadpool & Wolverine, is joined by Amir Wilson as Will Parry, the series’ secondary protagonist. The series also has Heartstopper actor Kit Connor as the voice of Pantalaimon, Lyra’s animalistic soul companion, a.k.a. “daemon.” Other actors who graced the silver screen in this series include James McAvoy, Ruth Wilson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Andrew Scott (and Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the voice of his daemon), Bella Ramsey, Harry Melling, Sophie Okonedo, and more. That’s a stacked ensemble!

‘His Dark Materials’ Made Smart Adaptation Choices

Book fans were hesitant throughout the series’ run, but His Dark Materials made several bold adaptation choices that worked. For example, they brought in Will Parry in Season 1, even though his character doesn’t appear until the second book, The Subtle Knife, giving the audience extra time with the character and improving the pacing to fit the TV series. Even when the storylines took place in alternate universes, they felt connected. Since the book trilogy was completed and published decades before the HBO series, they were able to confidently adapt the first two books with the third one and the His Dark Materials series’ ending in mind. For better or for worse, this was not a luxury afforded to Game of Thrones.

The show expands on the adult characters and relationships outside of Lyra and Will’s viewpoints as well. It explores the evil Magisterium and the witches who oppose them. The series also spends more time with characters like Lee Scoresby (Miranda), John Parry a.k.a. Jopari (Scott), and Lord Asriel (McAvoy), showing them apart from the kids they’ve sworn to protect. There’s a minor antagonist named Lord Boreal (Ariyon Bakare), whose role is expanded in the series. Wilson’s Mrs. Colter has a deliciously complex villain’s journey. She flips between terrifying and sympathetic on a dime.

Mary Malone (Simone Kirby), a character who appears later in the series, has a pivotal moment where she describes falling in love to Lyra and Will. The series changed her love interest in the story from a man to a woman, which, while maybe not revolutionary, does add another layer of depth to the series’ themes of freedom from religious tyranny and repression. While the show does not have the “sexposition” that made Game of Thrones famous (and may/may not have contributed to the misguided belief that television is filled with “unnecessary sex scenes” today), it is a sex-positive series.

The Understated Special Effects on ‘His Dark Materials’ Fit the Theme

It’s not that there aren’t stunning visuals in the His Dark Materials series, but the special effects are more low-key than one might expect. This is a world where human souls live outside of their bodies in animal forms called daemons, yet a lot of the daemons are hidden away in crowd scenes. While the low-key world-building takes a little time to get used to, it ultimately works. The series leans into its darker themes. After all, in this magical world, the government is actively trying to snuff out the magic and wants children severed from their souls so they are no longer tempted to sin. It makes sense that a world like this wouldn’t be especially whimsical.

While the fantasy worlds of Game of Thrones and His Dark Materials have a cynical outlook and reject the black-and-white characters who traditionally populate the genre, His Dark Materials sees those morally gray characters as something beautiful rather than dirty and inescapable. They’re just very different shows, plain and simple. Lyra and Will are not trying to take power or are even reluctant leaders. The way their story ends is triumphant and tragic in a way that’s inconceivable for the characters in Westeros. And finally, His Dark Materials may have been HBO’s next fantasy book series adaptation, but unlike many shows that aim to fill Game of Thrones’ shoes, it never tried to one-up or shock its audience with unexpected twists. His Dark Materials is a different dish for fantasy fans, not a reheated meal.

His Dark Materials is streaming on Max in the U.S.