{"id":176648,"date":"2020-12-15T19:42:45","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T19:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/25yearslatersite.com\/?p=176648"},"modified":"2023-01-29T21:14:02","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T02:14:02","slug":"his-dark-materials-s2e5-the-scholar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvobsessive.com\/2020\/12\/15\/his-dark-materials-s2e5-the-scholar\/","title":{"rendered":"His Dark Materials S2E5 \u201cThe Scholar\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following contains spoilers through <\/em>His Dark Materials<\/em><\/strong> Season 2 Episode 5 on HBO.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Welcome, dear reader, as we continue to review Season 2 of HBO\u2019s His Dark Materials<\/em> with S2E5, \u201cThe Scholar.\u201d The title this week is a bit misleading, because we really have two scholars, don\u2019t we? There\u2019s the obvious one, Mary Malone, and the one we didn\u2019t suspect the episode to be about, Mrs. Coulter. Once again, we are treated to Mrs. Coulter meeting another character that she never met in the books, and once again, the results are perfection. They have been doing such an amazing job this season of staying true to the novels, but augmenting them in the most fascinating ways.<\/p>\n

No witches in this week\u2019s episode, nor Lee and John Parry, but we do get a brief return of Cardinal MacPhail. Will and Lyra now have both instruments, and all forces seem to be converging on Citt\u00e0gazze. With just two episodes to go, the pace has been picking up and there\u2019s a lot to talk about.<\/p>\n

\"His
Safety first!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Monkey<\/h2>\n

Mrs. Coulter\u2019s d\u00e6mon got a lot of screen time this episode, and most of it weirdly sympathetic. So I thought maybe we\u2019d do something different and start with him. First of all, who would have thought we\u2019d all collectively go \u201caw\u201d at the sight of this nasty little monkey seat-belted into the back seat of Boreal\u2019s car. He seemed to be having a better time of it than Lyra did. I suppose that shows the difference between his submissiveness to authority and Lyra\u2019s fierce defiance.<\/p>\n

His next big moment comes when Mrs. Coulter goes out to visit Mary Malone. Boreal tells her that she is \u201cfar too conspicuous\u201d because of how she was dressed. He seems to have overlooked the really conspicuous thing\u2014running around campus with a monkey tagging along beside her. Mrs. Coulter solves that little problem by leaving her d\u00e6mon behind, closing the door on him as she walks out of the bedroom. Both her d\u00e6mon and Boreal are a bit stunned by this move. Once again, we find ourselves sympathizing for the poor little guy as he whines at the window, watching her dive away.<\/p>\n

Lastly, we get the big confrontation as Will and Lyra pull off the big heist. The monkey derails their little plan right off the bat, snatching the alethiometer away from Will and handing it over to Mrs. Coulter. When Lyra and Boreal arrive on the scene, Lyra squares off against her mother while Pan squares off against the monkey. Coulter seems to be making some headway reaching out to Lyra until she warns her away from Will. Then she makes the final mistake of comparing Lyra to her younger self.<\/p>\n

Ironically, it\u2019s this moment, when Lyra is verbally denying that she is anything like her mother, that she becomes most like her. With a growl, she has Pan attack Mrs. Coulter\u2019s d\u00e6mon. Of course, this mirrors the scene from S1E2<\/a> where the monkey attacked Pan to subdue Lyra. Pan tears into the monkey, changing into wolverine form. The monkey appears to be getting the crap kicked out of it, and Coulter is feeling the pain of it.<\/p>\n

Personally, I\u2019m fairly well convinced Mrs. Coulter and her d\u00e6mon are letting Lyra and Pan win. They are purposely not going on the offensive. Then Mrs. Coulter, with some obvious effort, overcomes the pain and stands up, facing down her dumbstruck daughter. At this moment, Will grabs the alethiometer and cuts them an escape window. Here is where you can tell Coulter and her d\u00e6mon were pulling their punches, because the monkey is immediately back in full snarl mode and leaps after them just as the window closes.<\/p>\n

\"His
Mrs. Coulter observes the differences in this world<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mrs. Coulter<\/h2>\n

Leading up to that confrontation, Boreal tries so hard to woo Mrs. Coulter all episode, and he just couldn\u2019t be failing more. It almost makes you feel sorry for him as well. Sitting in his collection room, Coulter tells him, \u201cI can see why you like it here,\u201d and the silly man takes it as a compliment, with a glimmer of hope that she is finally admiring all the wealth he has amassed.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s really calling back to his own comment from the coffee shop that \u201cit\u2019s a culture of consumerism, not faith.\u201d He fits right in here. He sees this world as full of material treasures to plunder. Boreal is no better than the \u201cmagpies\u201d of the Guild, using the window between worlds to acquire trinkets for his own benefit. If he had access to the Subtle Knife, he would pick up right where they left off.<\/p>\n

However, Marisa the scholar sees this world as a treasure trove of ideas, to be shared, not stolen. At the caf\u00e9, she was not appalled by their lack of d\u00e6mons, she was amazed by the working woman with the baby. She is stunned to learn that Mary Malone runs her own department at the college, and her final assessment of Mary is that she is \u201cfree.\u201d This is the life she could have had. Granted the degree she earned. Publishing the papers she wrote. A life she could have shared with her daughter even.<\/p>\n

The other thing about that woman she was watching is that she was doing it alone. Balancing work and family, and not a man in sight. Coulter just cannot tie herself to a man. Not Asriel, whose goals are aligned with her own, nor Boreal, who ultimately repulses her. In the confrontation with Lyra, she even warns her to \u201cstay away from that boy\u201d because he will do her \u201cnothing but harm.\u201d All of her life has been a struggle against the male-dominated Magisterium. Here is one of those ideas from this new world\u2014that men and women can work together as equals\u2014and she cannot accept it any more than the Magisterium would be able to.<\/p>\n

\"Mary
Mary has her final conversation via the Cave<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mary Malone<\/h2>\n

After meeting Lyra\u2019s mother, Mary turns to Google for answers, finding that all results for \u201cMarisa Coulter experimental theology\u201d come back \u201cMissing: Marisa Coulter\u201d (nice work prop department). Then the Cave chimes in, unprompted, with some real answers. Well, sort of.<\/p>\n

She is instructed that she \u201cmust play the serpent.\u201d She is going to take a journey. She must \u201cdeceive the guardian\u201d and \u201cfind the entrance.\u201d She \u201cwill be protected,\u201d presumably from the Spectres, and she in turn needs to \u201csave the girl, and the boy.\u201d Lastly, the angel tells her that they \u201cwill not speak again\u2026in this world.\u201d At this, the Cave flares up and self-destructs.<\/p>\n

Mary grabs her things and runs home to pack. Maybe also to grab her I-Ching, remembering that in S2E2<\/a> Lyra told her, \u201cThe Chinese box you have upstairs\u2014you’ll need it where you’re going.\u201d Being a good scientist, she takes a moment to do a little research, finding out that she is going to need to be \u201ccrafty.\u201d Not especially helpful.<\/p>\n

Later she finds the park, guarded by a Latrom Industries security guard. She manages to pull off the most unconvincing deception in the world. Turns out Latrom\u2019s visit to her lab paid off in her ability to name drop \u201cCharles.\u201d We end the episode with Mary walking through the window and stepping into a moonlit Citt\u00e0gazze.<\/p>\n

\"Father
Father Graves is stunned<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Quick Takes<\/h2>\n

A couple of quick takes on the rest of the episode:<\/p>\n