His Dark Materials: Season 2, Episode 2, ‘The Cave’ Episode Recap & Review
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
In this week’s episode of HIS DARK MATERIALS, we start to dig deeper into the nuances of Dust and begin to learn more details about Will and Lyra’s respective worlds. As they jump between realms, Lyra is taken to Will’s town of Oxford when he finds that he has missed several calls and texts from his mother, who he immediately leaves to go check on. He tells Lyra to meet him at the botanical gardens (a place which exists in both of their worlds) at 5:00pm, and Will sets off leaving Lyra on her own.
Meanwhile, the Magisterium holds a funeral that looks more like a courtroom hearing than something to honor their fallen cardinal. Marisa continues to keep a relatively low profile while maintaining her search for Lyra, who learns from the alethiometer that she needs to head towards St. Peters college to find a scholar who will tell her more about Dust.
Amir Wilson and Dafne Keen in HIS DARK MATERIALS
While consulting the alethiometer at a museum, where she thinks she is safe, she runs into Lord Boreal who has been spying on her and Will since they entered his realm. He plays coy with her to maintain his facade and unbeknownst to Lyra, is working with Marisa.
Dafne Keen in HIS DARK MATERIALS
In the forest, the witches gather and discuss their plan as they prepare to enter into war with the Magisterium, who are planning their attack on them as they speak. They state that their vision on Lyra is unclear, and that she seems as if she is hidden behind some sort of veil.
Will, in his continued effort to care for his mom, tries to inquire about how to get immediate access to the trust set up for him and his mom by his (presumed) late father. He is informed that due to his age, the funds cannot be released to him, but that he can consult his paternal grandparents who are overseers of the trust. His subsequent meeting with them goes awry when his grandparents lack sympathy and express judgement, particularly towards his mother’s declining mental health. He pretends to knock over a cup of tea and quickly runs out the door.
Lyra successfully makes her way to St. Peter’s college and is surprised to find the scholar she is looking for is a woman—something unheard of in her world—and a former Catholic nun, at that. Dr. Mary Malone (Simone Kirby) at first claims to not know much about Dust, but when Lyra opens up and tells her the truth about what she knows and what she has been through, most particularly the death of Roger, Dr. Malone agrees to tell her what she knows. This ultimately leads to performing a test on Lyra to see how she interacts with Dust, and she proves to be an anomaly when the screen starts recording images that match her alethiometer, confirming she can communicate directly with it. She realizes it’s almost time to meet Will and leaves promptly, promising the doctor that she will return the next day.
Simone Kirby and Dafne Keen in HIS DARK MATERIALS
She and Will meet up on the bench in the botanic gardens (fans of the book series will recognize the sad and spoiler-y significance of the bench) and they have a long talk about Dust, Will’s parents, and the next step in their search. This scene stands out as the strongest in the episode, proving again that Keen and Wilson are quite remarkable performers for their age and continue to have a compelling on-screen chemistry that makes you eager to see where their adventures will take them.
The episode ends on the formal beginning of the war when the Magisterium drops literal bombs on the witches’ land and they watch with tear-filled eyes as their home burns before them. Though the episode was again a little bit slower-paced, it continues to provide the necessary context that is sure to set-up the major storylines beginning to unfold. More and more hints at Andrew Scott’s mysterious character were dropped and it shouldn’t be long before he formally joins the cast and the action really begins to pick up.