His Dark Materials, Season 2, Episode 6, "Malice" Recap and Review
Ruta Gedmintas in HIS DARK MATERIALS.
Warning: MAJOR spoilers ahead.
This week’s episode of HIS DARK MATERIALS was JAM-PACKED with action! It opens with the Witches seeing Angels in the sky, and they note that the last time this happened was right before a massive war broke out. They accept this as the sign they needed, and they set out to find Lyra so they can get to Asriel and destroy the Magisterium.
Will, after battling Lord Boreal in last week’s episode, is not recovering well as the wound on his hands continues to bleed and worsen. He has another vision of his father and sees the summoning he did with the ring of Lee Scoresby’s mom. Suddenly, the kids from the Cittagazze (led by Angelica) charge into the home that Lyra and Will are staying in and stage an attack. The two are able to escape to the roof, but it’s not long before the kids meet them up there and pull knives out on each other. Serafina arrives at the last moment and sends the kids away. She takes Will and Lyra to a safe place and examines Will’s wound. She tells him that his wound has not poisoned him but that it’s not a normal wound, either. Will is very reluctant around the Witches and hesitates to tell them anything about himself or the knife. Lyra assures him that they are there to help, and says that if he trusts her, then he must trust them as well. Serafina tells Will of Lyra’s legacy and that she he must protect her as she does him. Lyra speaks to Serafina and tells her all that she knows of them, and Serafina responds that she must take them somewhere else where they can keep her safe.
Amir Wilson in HIS DARK MATERIALS.
Meanwhile, Dr. Malone walks in awe around the Cittagazze. With no Spectres seemingly in sight, she walks around her surroundings and tries again to contact the Dust. She meets Angelica and her sister, Paula, who can tell that she is not from here. They mention that they know Lyra, which gives hope to Dr. Malone, but that they do not like her. In one of the most tender moments of the episode, Paula asks Dr. Malone for a hug. It is then that Dr. Malone realizes and learns of what happens to the adults here, and Angelica asks if she could stay to take care of them. She declines at first, saying she is here on a particular mission, but feeling deep sympathy for the siblings, offers for them to join her.
As Will and Lyra continue their trek with the Witches, he tells her that he does not want to go to her world for protection and that the two of them together are strong enough to carry on. He has her ask the alethiometer where is dad is and they are surprised to learn that he is close by, as Lee and Jopari have just flown the air balloon through the tear in the sky. After a rest at Lyra’s insistence, the Witches try once again to heal Will’s wounds. They tell Lyra that they have done all that they can for him in this world, but knowing that Will’s father is nearby, they agree to rest for the night and will continue heading up the mountain in the morning.
Will Keen in HIS DARK MATERIALS.
At the Magisterium headquarters, The Cardinal gets informed that Marisa is in another world searching for Lyra, who has a great legacy behind her name that is set to destroy everything. At the same time as this conversation, Marisa and Lord Boreal walk around the Cittagazze in search of Will and Lyra. Lord Boreal continues to warn her of the Spectres, but Marisa remains calm. As they wander, they run into a victim who has been made into a “zombie.” Marisa studies him carefully, unaffected, and says that they can learn a lot about the Spectres by looking at him.
On their continued walk, Marisa and Lord Boreal finally encounter the Spectres. Marisa makes her daemon stand down and Lord Boreal locks himself behind a storefront and watches as she faces them head-on. She walks ahead, nervous, but steady, and seems to have a control over the Spectres. They do not control her, and rather actually respond to her commands, and she sends them away with a sly smile. She tells Lord Boreal they should go celebrate, now that they can walk around safely, and the two enjoy wine together. She explains that the Spectres are attracted to what makes them human, so she “suppressed” that part of herself to send them away. Thinking of the power the two of them could harness, Lord Boreal again proposes that they share their life together and reap the rewards. He tells her that he sees her as his complete equal and offers to share The Subtle knife with her. She kisses him and offers him more wine. Moments later, Lord Boreal begins struggling to breathe, and as it becomes evident that Marisa has poisoned him, she tells him that she never saw him as her equal and that he would only hold her back. His daemon disappears in the air and with that, Lord Boreal takes his last breath.
Ruth Wilson and Ariyon Bakare in HIS DARK MATERIALS.
Up in the hot air balloon, Lee and Jopari see the Spectres swirling around the Cittagazze. Immediately fearing that Lyra is in danger, Lee insists that the land the balloon. Jopari tells him that they will be attacked by the Spectres and reminds Lee that they are only helpful to Lyra so long as they are alive. Lee clocks Magisterium ships entering from the distance, and Jopari insists again that they keep flying. He puts up his hood and summons a storm to help them fight off the ships.
Lyra confides to Will that she has never seen children like the ones in the Cittagazze, and Will confesses to her that he has seen similar zombie behavior in his mother. He tells her how he longed to be a normal kid, who. could have gone to school and had friends, and that he never met anyone he could trust until he met Lyra. Soon after, the Spectres find where Lyra, Will, and the Witches are walking and begin an attack, nearly killing one of the Witches. Will pulls out the knife and is able to send them away.
Dafne Keen and Amir Wilson in HIS DARK MATERIALS.
Up above, the storm Jopari summoned isn’t enough to fight off the Magisterium. He instead summons a Hitchcockian flight of birds to fly and attack the ships, which mostly fends them off. The Magisterium is able to fire off one final shot in the attack, and it hits the gas canister and sends the balloon spiraling down towards the ground. The scene cuts to black mere seconds before a presumed crash.
This episode operated at full-speed from the opening scene. It was filled with constant action and overlapping stories, and it is all building to the climactic season finale. Will the balloon land safely? Do Lee and Jopari make it out alive? Does Will get to be reunited with his dad? Leave your theories and episode thoughts in the comments below!
Lin-Manuel Miranda in HIS DARK MATERIALS.