Girls Gone Canon Cast - His Dark Materials S1E7 - Fight to the Death

Episode Date: December 19, 2019

    Temperatures are subzero and bears walk the plains, following their new King and Master Iofur Raknisson.  But WAIT! Lyra Silvertongue has come, and all bears will bow - but not to her.   Join the girls as they ponder Asriel's character, Serafina's scarring, and of course, the Parry family. ----  Eliana's twitter: https://twitter.com/arhythmetric Eliana's reddit account: https://www.reddit.com/user/glass_table_girl Eliana's blog: https://themanyfacedblog.wordpress.com/ Chloe's twitter: https://twitter.com/liesandarbor Chloe's blog: www.liesandarborgold.com Intro: Waltz Of The Skeleton Keys by WombatNoisesAudio | https://soundcloud.com/user-734462061

Hello everyone and welcome to Girls Gone Canon Watches, His Dark Materials, Season 1, Episode 7, Mortal Kombat. Yeah. Actually, the title of the episode is, it's Mortal Kombat. We refuse to acknowledge any other title for this episode. Yeah, absolutely. Even the UK title of the chapter? No, we don't. HBO just got it wrong i'm sorry

not sorry so i'm eliana one of your hosts you might know me as glass table girl on reddit or maybe you know me as the arithmetic on twitter i'm chloe and I am another one of your hosts. You might know me from the internet as Liza Narber on Twitter, Tumblr, and LizaNarberGold.com, where I post new essays once in a while. We got an email and a tweet of note, and I'll come back to the tweet of note, but first the email that I cannot read, as I am unspoiled, but Chloe will read it aloud for all of us. We have to proofread our emails. We really love your emails, you guys. Thank you so much.

But please continually realize that Eliana still has not finished La Belle Sauvage. So I am the spoiler checker in our email. I will check your emails. I will make sure your messages do not have the spoils for Eliana since she just refuses to read. Chloe is the watcher on the walls. sure your messages do not have the spoils for eliana since she just refuses to read chloe is the watcher on the walls i am the shield that guards the realms of eliana's eyes actually though so we got an email from our friend mary of house richmond who's emailed us a couple times before

and they said hello i just finished labelle sauvage it's my favorite pullman book so far i never would have read it had i not discovered your podcast, so thank you again. I am waiting anxiously for The Secret Commonwealth to be available at the library. I'm hoping I enjoy it as much. P.S. My demon would be my black lab, whose name is Turtle. Oh, Turtle. That's confusing. Turtle.

Turtle Black Lab. I wonder if that's like, so the Dark Material podcast, and it's Dark Material podcast hosted by Ian and Amy. They, I think, are where I learned that apparently Pullman has said that demons are named by the parents' demons, which is interesting. So like, were the parents demons think both maybe turtles and they're like our kid is also gonna be a turtle and nope mary tell me about your parents are they both turtles uh they might be they might be well you do have a tweet of note that you're very proud of, so go ahead and be super proud and I'll roll my eyes. is out this week. Actually, if you are listening to this episode, it may be in a theater near you at this very moment. I intend to go see it soon. I am

incredibly excited. But let's talk about Philip Pullman. So yeah, I asked him. I was like, Philip Pullman. I think my favorite part about your tweet to him is that you used one of your masterful Girls Gone Canon segues.

You're like, you seem to love cats. Does this mean you're going to love Cats the musical? That's actually what happened. Okay, so everyone, the tweet. At Philip Pullman, based on your chronicled love of cats, in parentheses, especially compared to dogs, through who has cats as demons, what are your thoughts on A, the musical Cats, and B, the upcoming movie adaptation of Cats? And Pullman responded with,

I'm afraid I don't think about them at all. Absolutely, he loves cats. I mean, some of his most self-insert characters have cats, right? Fart or Quam, even Mel- Who has his cat- Wait, Asher settles as a cat? Okay. Fuck, I'm sorry.

Fuck. I thought that wasn't a spoiler. Fuck, I forgot. He's young in the book you're reading. We're leaving. We're leaving it. It's season. This is a real raw

candid reality TV moment. Everyone. Oh my god. A Girls Gone Candid reality show? Is that not what this is? Oh. One day Chloe and I are going to do our fishing wilderness show. We'll come back to this. Oh my god.

So some people have animals that have settled as cats and I will not say again to you eliana the people in hopes that you forget it and maybe if you just fucking finish the book i wouldn't have this problem maybe i i have a whole break ahead of me and by that i don't really i do and i don't you know the world's my oyster the next few weeks it could happen i think that these books are ironically very good christmas reading in the way that harry potter is good christmas reading but this is actually about killing god and not about the birth of god if you think about it it's not good christmas reading i lied i think it's a good subversion of the trope that's true and to be

fair that's the one thing you can get away with right on the holidays is like oh look at her she's just reading good for her yeah that's true it makes you look really close not chloe makes you look really cozy but maybe it makes you look like chloe yeah pretty much little chloe reading absolutely they watch sports i sit there reading they can't say crap about me reading because they're watching sports. I win. Yeah. Yep. Yep. So, the episode. Last time on His Dark Materials featuring a lightning round cameo.

Yes, our very own lightning round between the episodes we actually got this commercial from hbo of the show that actually looks really good called avenue 5 maybe it doesn't look that good but it's from apparently like the creators of veep and i loved veep and it has jared from silicon valley i was like i'm in yeah i don't uh i'm gonna be honest with you i think i saw that preview i don't remember it it was brief it was bright well in the last time on his dark materials we start off with mrs coulter who's flexing that she has lord asriel because of the bears bears boreal and thomas and the other guy kinda harass Elaine stay away from her

Elaine shares John Perry's letters with Will Lyra and the other kids break out from Bullvangar they also blow it up and finally we arrive at cliffgasts and cliffhangers what was your term? cliffhangergast? cliffhang

what a cliffgast hanger. That was it. Yep, that was it. Clever as ever. Clever as ever. Tell me about Bulwanger. Mrs. Coulter is furious for obvious reasons. Bears are not the only thing boring this episode. Sister Clara is apparently still here.

Apparently everyone else really likes her saying best place you could possibly be. And by that I mean the directors and writers because they make her repeat it constantly. So, yep. Sure was meaningful. Mrs. Coulter scolds her saying they cut your demon out not your brain true yeah but also like that's not how it's portrayed in the books it's basically the same thing yeah that's true too sister clara ends up being of no assistance mrs coulter who goes full shinji akari at the end of evangelion and then apologizes profusely to sister clara i outlined this episode and chloe doesn't know what to do with me

sister clara is like i don't know where to go and deep down mrs coulter's face kind of says same yeah in a weird way i'm terrified yeah there's definitely some similarities in the moments and that kind of pity that coulter rains down upon her when she looks at her and that I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. And like trying to shake her back awake and alive. But God, the wide shot of Coulter right here, that slow horror zoom on her and the monkey. Holy shit. Phenomenal. Each week there's a new shot that's better than the last week.

My boyfriend is a huge horror fan. And the whole time he was sitting there and he's like don't cop out don't cop out finish the shot do that slow zoom finish it do it and then they did and he was like yes under his breath so i think that's how you know it was a good shot technically speaking uh maybe finished uh he's a cinephile he knows what he's about i uh i do appreciate ruth's acting in general just straight appreciation for ruth in this because it mimics the demon very physically it's incredibly clever it's easy to see the evil in mrs coulter kind of more than the vulnerable to most and the

vulnerability and the monkey kind of shows up in the show a little bit more than the anger i feel like we've only seen the anger in a few hints but her monkey is very much so an embodiment of her and her crouching low on that desk and then here with sister clara is so telling even in normal moments coulter exudes just so much coulter in the show just as the golden monkey with the luxurious fur uh there's that passage in the books where she lets the children stroke her coat, and the way she uses just her charm, her voice so musical, and her outfit so glamorous, and just so warm and inviting. It doesn't always come through here. Some of the adaptive choices of removing Coulter from capturing the kids might be part of that. It's sad having those lackeys with the foxes, but when they do use the opportunity for Ruth and let her go wild,

oh man, it's great. There's so many lines in the books that just come out here talking about the monkey, his fur is long and silky and of the most deep and lustrous gold or about Colter. She was beautiful and young. Her sleek black hair framed her cheeks and her demon was a golden

monkey and then of course the thought that lyra has the thought of that sweet face and gentle voice the image of that golden playful monkey was enough to melt her stomach and make her pale and nauseated yeah ruth is absolutely killing it and they've just done a really good job of writing for her throughout the show really centering her and making her a sort of anchor throughout the first season i also really agree on what you're saying about that first shot that opening shot of mrs coulter and that slow zoom in there's a lot of really great shots and cinematography throughout this episode like you said every week they kind of step it up i didn't love some of the pacing um a lot of the ideas make perfect sense to me i think it was just the way that it was organized and cut together maybe like obviously in post i was like interesting

interesting cutting back and forth between things and i get it they're juggling like a lot of different pieces right now that are obviously all going to start coalescing next episode and that's very much what this episode is a setup for next um but i i appreciate what they're trying to do the this shot of mrs culture though actually reminds me a bit of that shot of lyra in the intro right as we zoom in on her centered in that frame in the darkness and her back it's kind of like how in the intro you zoom out of it lyra facing away and then you come out of like a window and it's her back also but here that door is of course acting as the window in the darkness and there's a lot of other great framing with windows throughout this episode and we'll talk about them as they

come up oh god yeah there's tons to talk about when it comes to windows i didn't notice it so much until my second watch through and it's just so obvious really good work i'm always watching for the windows yeah to the window to the wall to the intro on the show it is straight fire oh my god it is flames i feel like we have to highlight this every week because every week it's just better than it was before i just love it i just like it's just more of a banger every time and like is it different this time but it's not but it feels different because it just feels new to me yeah it's a straight banger you know when party in the usa came out i remember yes i remember when party in the usa came out about 73 years ago when we were children oh my god best song of the decade or best song? No, it's not.

Oh my god. Yeah, that's what I would equate this to. That good. Oh my god. That good of a masterpiece. Lauren, I hope you never hear this. I'm so sorry. So, somewhere on the ground below, Lyra is alive. Creepy

noises are all about her. A bear that is so not Eoric finds her and takes her to Svelbard. For some reason, there's a scene of Lord Boreal that catches between the two just out of nowhere. I do love the shot of Boreal. It was a weird choice to have that flash of him stepping through the window in between this. But I think it's kind of a foreshadowing catch on the whole walking between worlds because lyra very much so right now is passing into new territory the world of the pants you're born it's not really a separate world but it pretty much feels like it and in

the next episode she's gonna pass into a real other world just like boreal's doing it just was weird yeah because we spend all of like a minute in this scene cut to boreal's doing it just was weird yeah because we spend all like a minute in this scene cut to boreal and you think that like oh part of it is they're building suspense for what the next thing is going to be but each one's kind of too short and you think that they're going to continue with one of the lines a little bit they don't um ever yeah and i think they do a much better job of creating that sense of continuity and letting things build in some of the previous episodes. Yeah, they're kind of rushing to finish, I feel like, but they're not. Like, they're adding things to do that.

It's very interesting. I don't know. I don't know how I feel. They're just juggling. Yeah, they're juggling. It's a lot. I get it and i do love that when we zoom in on lyra and she awakens from the snow pile she's doing a couple things that she does in the books she pulled snow over herself

like a bear to sleep that happens in the books she wakes up with her eyes frozen shut and that actually happens i believe post this episode this uh chapter but that's okay and then lyra was asleep eliana yeah she does the thing. We saw her asleep. This is what, the third time in the whole season? Fourth? No, there were a couple of other ones, but I mean, every single time is noteworthy because that tells me that we are being faithful

to the book. That's how I know. If Lyra's asleep, we're doing it. Canon. Yeah. We get to Svalbard though. It is enormous and it's bloody so you don't see the bird poop as much but you see blood and they they sort of gesture how terrible it is through that darkness and foreboding sense um for the gates yofer also apparently takes architectural pointers from scar of the lion king. It feels very Elephant Graveyard. The whole entire story

is very Scar from Lion King. Ah, interesting. Now that you say it. Actually, yeah, you're right. Joffre's story is very Scar from Lion King. No king, no king. Um, it didn't have the kingdom of shit feel like the books gave it, right?

But it worked. I liked it. It was marble. It was big it worked it worked yeah i expected it to be shitty it would be hard i think to portray would it shit all over it well because the bird poop's gonna look white how can you tell it's different from snow yeah but bears shit you could put bear shit all over the castle it's all you gotta do but they might just think it's weird rocks and i think part of what makes it work is like, in your hearing Lyra's thoughts of how smelly it is,

it's different in that medium. I mean. So I get it. She has a face. But like you said, it works. She has a face, Eliana. She can make a scrunched up face thinking it's gross and look at a pile of dung. That's true. They could have done it. They could have dung it. Give us the poop. Jack Thorne. Give us the poop, Jackthorn.

Give us poop. I feel like I'm starting to get a little ridiculous of my requests of Jackthorn, but at the same time, are they that far-fetched? I don't know. In the dungeons, Lyra consults the alethiometer about where Yorick is. He's headed her way to rescue them.

Look, I know that they're looking for shit for pan to do but his interactions are feeling so forced for me uh he's still good i like his voice actor i i was totally on the whole don't shit on them about the demons train but there are moments that i totally forget demons are a thing or matter that's true i will get that i i get it i'm a i'm a grown-up i'm an adult you know my demons settled they're not that special once they're settled they're kind of annoying honestly if you ask my cats but uh i just i don't know i feel like maybe the pan stuff could be better i know it's not intimate because they can't have it be intimate puppeteer wise just doesn't work out easily but it's a bummer and it's um it seems like you're not the only one who has that criticism.

I've seen a lot of the other writers on whatever sites. I don't know. I don't remember which ones I was reading. But every now and then, a lot of them bring up that the demons don't seem to be as prominent. And I think for them, that's why they felt a lot of the moments in Bovanger didn't hit. Yeah, it wasn't enough of a demon connection. Or that and Billy Costa. Yeah.

And it's not entirely that I don't see enough demons. It's actually more of there aren't enough intimate moments with the demons, which I understand is a big constraint for them with filming and with production. But it sucks because I would change the shots of everyone having a demon i would switch that for having moments where lyra's intimate with pan we're like roger and her on the airship on the balloon when they were sitting on the balloon with salsilla and salsilia and pan right there and they're kind of curled up against them that was nice i. I felt more connected then. So shots like that, I do feel the connection. It's strong there but sometimes it's just not strong enough

to carry the entire show on it. You know what I realized is a scene we did not get? Lyra and Roger eating walrus. Yeah because of the almondy hazelnut creamy taste. You and I are very fixated.

We're like, we want to try the seal fat. Dude, when I learned that about it, I just, mind blown. I didn't know it would taste good. I've still not tried it, obviously, but. I believe it. I believe in that bung. That seal bung. The bung.

That's right. They didn't include the bung either. And that's the biggest problem with the show adaptation. Honestly, we've been robbed by Jack Thorne. Give us the bong! I like that Lyra is talking to Pan about how she wishes she was a witch so she could fly to find Asriel. I'm happy they kept this because this is something Lyra's consistently doing in the books, right?

She's always like, if I were a witch, I'd cure my current problem by doing this. And she ends up using that phrase several times, even as late in life as The Secret Commonwealth, the most recent book of dust. I'm curious to see if they're going to adapt more of these books than what I expected. Maybe go as far to finish the books of dust on screen? I don't know. They could put like an epilogue or something you know yeah but these are like full-ass adventures so i wouldn't be surprised i just wouldn't be surprised they did the whole thing i don't know maybe they're gonna gauge people maybe are into spin-offs who knows yeah lyra's room advisor didn't warn her by the way your dungeon comes with a roommate it's a rude one it's jotham centilia who is the

professor of cosmology at the university of gluster gluster he says it on the show and then i forgot his pronunciation i'm so sorry everyone he laughs when he learns Lyra's last name, because turns out her roommate is also great at info dumps. He's been here at this university, at this campus for a while. Maybe that would mean prison. Asriel was here before and tricked Joffre to let him return to his lab. He tricked him to make him this nice-ass lab. Also, by the way, Yorick is in trouble,

because he's considered a bear trader and bears have flamethrowers he is a threat to the current king also by the way yofer wants a demon this guy's kind of useful yeah he's useful in the books too whatever we have a brief cut to yorick running and then we come back because lyra now has hatched a plan and then the scholar accuses her brilliant line love it it's not in the books great addition just like your father protecting your own skin are you betraying your friend i'd like that he was an info dump at least in broad strokes it was similar to what we get in the books i like that he was included at all you know the

one nice thing is like they're at least using some book names, even if they're not giving them all they're due. They're giving out at least a little bit. This line, of course, is heavy. Other people don't know, but we all do. Oh, that's right. We forgot to warn you all, and you now know.

We cover all the books in this podcast. Spoilers all the things. Even for me, anything could happen to books in this podcast. Spoilers all the things, even for me. Anything could happen to me during this podcast. Yeah, I like how we're covering it now, not earlier, when I spoiled something from LaBelle's Sausage to you. I know. LaBelle's Sausage, the beautiful sausage.

And of course, the betrayal that Jotham,ilia harkens to here and you as you say we know what it means Lyra's not doing it here to Yorick but she does betray a friend twice right once of course being Roger the other being Pan

and I do wonder who Jotham Centilia means that Asriel betrayed or if he's just like saying shit to troll Lyra. And I mean, technically, Asriel probably betrays everyone. But there's a part of me that kind of wonders like, what if Jotham Centilia means himself in the show? In the books, he was supposed to like teach at Bear University. Like literally, this was this is not a joke where I'm riffing off the roommate thing.

Literally, he was invited up here by Joffre to teach at the Bear University. like literally this was this is not a joke where i'm riffing off the roommate thing literally he was invited up here by yofer to teach at the bear university but then he ended up being defamed by the palmerian professor and drothim scintillia both in the books and the show is a professor of cosmology which is the study of like the origins and evolution of the universe and this this goes back there there's a study of it in the mythical way and studying different legends of how the universe came to, but there's also physical, like physics, scientific cosmology, and coming at it from the astronomical point of view. And it's interesting because I assume in Lyra's universe, right, these two are combined as people, you know,

they talk about scientists experimental theology so it would make sense for him to be up north maybe even with asriel as studying the dust in multiverse and how all these things came to be i made a backstory for him that was clearly no one thought about this i think in depth in the show but i've decided this is this is a canon in my head now. I think that works. I mean, it's as good as anyone else's at this point. Yeah. Or he could be up here for Bear University too. It's still possible.

It wouldn't surprise me if he was on his way to help Asriel and Coulter knew this, maybe, from some sort of connection and convinced Eofre to get him, hold him, I don't know, trick him into coming to Bear College. Truly, Bear College is really... Bear College. Bears. Bears. Well, we go back to our world where Boreal is watching videos

of the sexy fleabag priest, a.k.a. that's John Perry, Joe Parry, about the letters again. So he knows there are letters. Aha! I get it, that's the whole reason we're watching this but you know they could have shown me a new video of John Perry come on now I agree damn I was like

I don't know but I agree as a content creator you have to use every square inch of content you have I get it John Perry I get it yeah but I mean like maybe other people wanted to interview him too or maybe only one person ever wanted to interview him that's why

he wasn't like that big you know he wasn't shackleton 11 greatest britons to have ever lived will says that though there were no books with his dad in him um that's selling from that first chapter with will that we get will says there's no books there's no history there are no photos of my father doing magical crazy things like how do i know he was some great man how do you know he's sean perry how do you know he's gone but i do think part of it like this makes sense for our day and age right for will to be, I couldn't find any books on it. Yeah, well, you didn't have the fucking internet, and now everything lives forever on there. Again, though, coming back to what you were saying earlier about framing and windows,

we've been talking about throughout the season how Boreal has been shown through a bunch of windows and framed through them for so much of the season, which makes makes sense he's the one that we see going through a window between worlds here in the car as he's watching videos we see him behind a window and there's a reflection of tree branches above his face and we talked a little in previous episodes about him his snake demon right and here i i like to interpret him as the serpent in the tree this time he is longing for the knowledge that is forbidden to him in the letters i don't think you're wrong on that knowledge is power power is power so more spalbard lyra walks in front of the bears to eofer and the lighting is super moody

though eliana's convinced it's daylight outside during this there's like some windows and it makes me think that it's daylight outside okay they just they're just really goth i mean who knows how time works out there literally it's just snow and snow and snow oh you're right sometimes it could be daytime all the time up in the north yeah yeah anyway the bears are goth where is cynthia a really cool dancer cynthia no but really where was the colter doll where was she like yeah it's creepy maybe it didn't translate story-wise but where is it yeah i mean i. You're right. It probably doesn't translate story-wise. And that's why we noticed it so much in the movie.

Yeah. But it's just like, I deserve it. You know, everything for the books. I deserve every part of these books on a screen, like adapted. So right now, it kind of feels like Jack Thorne is taking something I deserve away from me. Where is Cynthia? Isn't that an episode? That's an episode of Rug an episode of regrets right yeah i think we lose cynthia was looking for look looking for cynthia cynthia she's a really cool dancer lyra then tells yo for that she's your ex demon because beers get humans as demons duh keep up makes sense she's also is like i'm like a witch's demon and can travel

and then she pins you're getting a demon on mrs coulter and your first like demons for bears salami for cats oh my god the same joke was made in my household as the episode aired was made in my household as the episode aired actually though i'm so i didn't even know i was so connected she tells eofor that she can be his demon if he defeats yorick in single mortal combat mortal combat the title of this episode finish him so in this scene it's interesting that she's embodying a demon which the magisterium who has got Eofor in cahoots with them for power is trying to separate people

from their demons to eliminate dust in the world it's this blatant political irony of the people preaching god is good murdering the kids and Eofor is obviously not a righteous king like this is so known from this scene that's all she needed to know about his character lyra proves she's a demon though by revealing to iofur while on one knee i beg your pardon iofur ragnarsson i didn't know you were

so great and powerful the first creature you killed was your own father i think you're a new god only a god would have the strength and power to do such a thing. Which is actually very similar to the line that she delivers to Joffre in the books when she reveals this. In our reread, we talk a lot more in depth about this and about Joffre killing his father. Because the show doesn't provide the entire backstory and context. Where Joffre had killed his father unknowingly. He had come across him alone as a young ice bear. And didn't know it was his father.

And they quarreled and he killed him. Because he was brought up only by the she-bear, his mother. And so he concealed the truth of what he had done. Because obviously now he's a huge hypocrite. Because he's king. Because you already killed another bear bear and it's probably way worse killing your own dad anyway probably probably and in our book episode we talk a lot more about like the parallels between this and the story of oedipus only there's like a lot less incest in this because this is a children's book series. But this line about him killing his father and it making him a new god, that only a

god would have the strength and power to do such a thing is very interesting in the context of a story that's all about religion and, you know, God. But because Asriel doesn't do this, right? Well, as far as we know, Asriel has not killed his father throwing it out there he never plays the role of god and never really aspires to but he does take on this role of lucifer in this retelling of paradise lost the fallen angel rising in rebellion and the one in the story who does kill god though who and as many of you may know god is often referred to as the father right lyra is the one who kills god so i kind of wonder does that mean lyra's something like a new god and interestingly she doesn't do it through strength and power in the same way that the bears exuded and use it against one another she's strong as we know because you don't go on this entire like multiverse journey

and through the underworld and do a bunch of crazy shit if you aren't like of strong will of some sort she's powerful but in different ways right as you're saying knowledge is power but she kills god not through that but through an act of compassion and gentleness she sees this like frail creature inside of the crystal ball and she's like i'm gonna free it and i think that's a perfect response to a regime that is built on exerting strength and power to subjugate others yeah she truly inspires, and those people that she inspires, she inspires them to be better, and that's what kills God, truly. Yes, there are specific instances that also lead to it, but her power comes from the goodness of her heart, right? this so well so far. Lyra takes detours to free suffering dead stuck in the underworld, even though there are a hundred other routes she could take. She refuses to leave Roger in the underworld. She has to undo her betrayal. She faces the Harpies, which are these seemingly awful creatures

with grace, composure, and empathy over all, and she finds a common ground with them. She seeks redemption and atonement when she actually sins, whether it's an accidental sin like Roger or not. And she brings back dust, which is what makes the planet go round, we learn, right? She brings it back through love and compassion for a fellow human, whether the Magisterium finds it sinful or not. Yeah, she's a good girl. Yep.

Yeah, she hugs the Harpy, even though he's got, like, crazy eye boogies. That's literally how they're described. Yeah. She tells Yofur that, hey, Mrs. Coulter has deceived everyone. And I'm sure I'm not the first one to say this. And obviously the book does it too, but the is really really hamming it up doing it even more so of how bad mrs coulter is playing her out to be like the big bad guy in evil because obviously they're gonna like bait and switch it for asriel like wow surprise he was the bad guy all along

yeah absolutely we see it a lot with sister clara in this episode too right like that was a little unnecessary that was something i felt about that opening scene now that I say it was an intense scene it was great it was fine but it was a little weird it was a little intense right yeah it was weird obviously yes it's for the bait and switch with Asriel but I'm seeing so much at play with Coulter rebelling from the magisterium in the next season and her you know saying no fuck you, I do what I want, because she's playing a lot of her cards here in this episode especially. She's kind of like last chancing with the Magisterium. They're kind of telling her, you have to go and bring Asriel back

or else it's over for you, Marisa. And I just can't wait to see the flip when she's drugging lyra in the cave and when they can't decide if she's pure evil or psychotic the audience right like it's psychotic probably but i digress a lot of people have been saying she's like an iconic character which which she is she's and part of it is of course ruth's performance doing a great job. Just like Lyra. Doing a great job of inceptioning Guilfer about mortal combat and convinces him to let her go to Yorick.

She's like, I gotta trick him. Let me prove my love. Weird. Strange vibes. I don't get it. I mean, I get it, but I also am like, I'm uncomfortable. It's like a Coulter parallel thing, and honestly, she is owning the silver tongue in this episode for sure. She is.

Well earned. I like that they kept a lot of the stuff from the books as far as how she tricks him. I mean, it all felt in the same vein, even if it wasn't a one, two, three, here's the step by step of how it happens. Yeah. And Daphne delivers it really well also. Yeah, absolutely. She kills it.

She does all of this entire scene, I think, really well. Especially when you think about the fact that she's not really acting against a bear, right? Yeah. Completely not. So later at Will's house, Boreal trespasses into the household under the guise of needing to give Elaine information about her husband.

We then briefly cut to Will at his locker for no apparent reason. No reason. None none he's at school yeah i guess it's just established will is not at home okay which i guess makes sense um we spoke before in a bunch of earlier episodes from this season about the inspiration of mc escher the artist in the intro and of course tana sent us that really great email pointing out the unique architecture of the perry household but it strikes me now like in this episode watching as lord boreal goes up the steps leading into the perry to the perry door that

visually their steps also very much resemble that mc esher-esque uh portrayal in the intro that's a really good catch i didn't notice that and now i see it yeah it's just like these nice visual cues that hold the show together yeah and it's really modern right so lyra's world has that steampunk quality about it you're not really sure what year you're in but will's world has smartphones and the even just the architecture is sharp and modern and new and fresh a lot of those stairs and cutouts and just step ups kind of look like that to me very very slick yeah john perry providing yeah absolutely with his stylistic choices. Interior designer, Joe Pari. I mean, he seems like the kind of guy who'd have a bunch of different interests and talents. Oh, yeah.

Like, if these walls could talk, but it's like if these windows were closed. Yes. And he can't get back and he's a shaman. You know, anyways, so that's the next book. What a shaman he's you know anyways so that's the next what a shaman that he wasn't so boreal is making small talk and then he starts to spin some lies about john being entangled in something bad he tells elaine they could find him alive but they need the letters speaking of the cinematography and the visuals again i'm a little bit confused about the cinematography here because every now and then

you know we see the conversation from the foyer and i understand how they're laid out in the living room i right the camera does a good job of establishing where they are in that room but then we go out into the foyer and look at them through the door in the living room right and i think this comes back to what Tiana was saying of, it's a strange house, and they're using this very interestingly and intentionally. But at one point, Elaine is in front of the larger couch, and then we see in this small picture frame, a reflection of Boreal sitting down, and that cues the audience to understand that the next time we see Lord Boreal,

he's going to be sitting down, right? And that part, I understand why that's happening. But, what I don't understand is how can Lord Boreal's reflection be in the picture frame from outside of the room, because he should be behind on the other side of that wall, because he's

in the same room as Elaine. And it's not a window, it a it's a picture it's an artwork or something and i guess the cinematographer thought it looked cool and we're like we'll do this even though it doesn't make sense because no one's gonna actually think about it except for me but so when boreal and elaine are standing opposite of the glass door before he forces himself into the house. I noticed a couple things that might add to this. He opens the door to come in and walks through that glass door and it looks very much so like walking through the window. But the way that the camera follows him on a technical note is really impressive in this shot because there's no evidence of a camera in the frame whatsoever. And there are things like the Matrix, for example,

there's that famous shot where the door handle, you can kind of see if you look really hard, the camera and the door handle in that shot. But this, they cut it just right. The transition is just right that you don't see a single camera. And I'm wondering in that painting, in that frame that you're talking about, if it's a similar thing but not if they had done it any other way in that room and I think because of these angles they have very limited ways to actually film in this set in this house so I wonder almost if they have to angle that way and that was the only shot they really had I think they could have just showed him like sitting down from within the room which is why I think that they chose this because it looked cool and I think they could have just showed him sitting down from within the room, which is why I think that they chose this because it looked cool.

And I think that's a great note that the camera's not in the frame with those because, yeah, there's a lot of reflective surfaces. So that is very skilled. And they've thought these things through in a lot of ways because as this scene ends right boreal when he's exiting he closes this glass door behind him and then we see elaine again through that doorframe but then because of the glass there it ends up with us again looking at her she becomes the one behind the window now she's screaming into her pillow and it's another way that we feel

removed from these characters but shows like all of these different spaces and that maybe there are different worlds between all of us deep down inside speaking of different worlds inside people elaine tries to kick boreal out but boreal threatens to take will from her and we have this great line of, I'm frightened of everything, being frightened of you is just one more thing. I love her. I am so, you know, that is the one thing I can comment on, is that zero points for Ma Costa, but at least two points for Elaine.

They at least characterized her. I can't be mad at what they've done for Elaine in at least giving her a part and not having her be some random bystander we saw for a flash um yeah they've given elaine agency a lot of agency in elaine's story and a story that previously had like none so i can't be mad at that at all um in fact you could be glad of it i I am glad of it. And this is such an intense, I mean, very, very intense scene, right? Because in the frustration, Elaine sees his demon and he immediately tries to gaslight her and fails at it because she saw it. She knows what she saw. And he says he's going to leave and return with paperwork instead. Yeah, and by paperwork, he means fists.

Well, yes. Yes. yeah and by paperwork he means fists well but yes yes i like how she tries to get him to tell what agency he's in because like elaine knows her stuff yeah right she's not stupid god the way that he walks into against her consent like she says no it feels wrong it feels like a violation of her privacy. And the way he's standing in that casual way, he's like, where's your lounge at? You can feel that. His words say something, but the smile doesn't reach his eyes. And it's just like, eebie-jeebies.

Yeah, because he's used to exerting power over others. We see him do it with- The reporter. The reporter with Fra Pavel. Yeah. Right, that was Pavel, right? Intvel yeah right that was pavel right intimidation pavel intimidation blackmail he's in a position of power in the magisterium and he might not have any actual power in this world at this moment right we see that he establishes himself when he meets lyra in book two but you know like he's just used to it he knows how to act as a person who has power he's like whatever yeah he's used to having authority and control and it really shows exactly the authority the authority is on his side he is part of the authority

but then he doesn't get what he wants here so he goes back to at the car that's how i've titled this thomas and the other guy ask how it went he gives silence and they're like okay so it didn't go well and there's another great line boreal says do you ever think people just don't understand what's good for them oh that's such a good line. It completely embodies the paternalism that he and Mrs. Coulter have been exerting over others. What the magisterium thinks that they're doing.

That they get to decide what's good for others. Yeah, it's the removal of free will. Yeah. And I'm not saying free will because I wish everyone would free will. Free will! Free will! Oh my god, that's all I want is a picture of his face on a shirt now that just says free will because I wish everyone would free will. Free will! Free will! Oh my god, that's all I want is a picture of his face on a shirt now that just says free will. Oh, I thought you were going to say on the whale.

Nope. Like free will-y. So we have another guest in this episode. Yorick is here. Lyra finally goes out to meet him. It flashes over and she gives him a pep talk yes she goes show him

he's nothing we thought that we were she was lying to Joffre about that in the previous episode in the what is it called previews but turns out no she was really just showing it to Yorick and she really meant it I felt so proud when it was actually her saying it to Yorick.

I was like, thank god that they lied to me in that preview. Yeah, I do like they have done a good job of keeping me on my toes about what I'm gonna see each episode. Obviously we have an idea of some things, right? But

So then it comes to Mortal Kombat. Yofur acts like he invited Yorick and then he shit talks him this coca-cola commercial is extremely violent um none of us wanted the klondike bar this bad chloe's about to fire me at any moment and i'm just saying i that's the quote that Lyra said in this moment she says I did not want the contact bar as she rushes to Yorick's side and Yofa realizes that this whole time he's been tricked you're not a demon he's about to attack Lyra

but Yorick is like absolutely not and then off screen he kills him it's all behind Lyra and I'm like fascinating I thought this was going to be more violent TV14 yeah BBC yeah that's true yeah I felt the tv14 hard in this scene that is absolutely the first thing I noticed we'll talk about that in a second after uh they get their Klondike bars because what would they do for a Klondike bar well kill Yofur off screen. A coup! Lyra tends to

Yorick's wounds. She says that they tricked a bear. Yorick is like he wasn't a bear. Also, Lyra's now one of them because she's given a brand new name from Yorick. Lyra Silvertongue. Aww. Aww. The thing.

So, before I get too upset, there were a few things about this scene that didn't really do it for me, which is a bummer. It didn't make me mad. I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed in them, you know? There was an interview that came out from EW with Joe Tanberg,

the voice actor for Yorick, who also does a bit of the puppeteer stand-in work for him as well. The question asked was, did you ever have conversations with the writers or producers about what it means for these characters to be fighting each other without armor, which is so significant to them? And Joe answers, and I'm going to be honest honest this is painting it with my feelings but feels like a cop-out answer and here's why he says it's a question i knew fans would ask it's tricky you have to put yourself in because you want to showcase one thing but the fans of the books have seen something else we talked about the importance of this fight one thing is yorick

shows up in his armor if it wasn't for lyra's deception and trickery he would have been torn apart even with his armor for yofer who's king to take off his armor and challenge yorick is almost religious we want him to be as animalistic as they are part of their nature they're warriors and you can imagine vikings or samoan warriors or mayori warriors in a maori sorry thank you or or Maori warriors in a fight to the death, you'd imagine it being man on man and you'd have little protection and very little weapons. Okay, so in this same exact answer it went from, we knew this was a question that was going to be asked. Really, it's more meaningful without armor because these are bears. It's part of their nature and it's almost like they're human warriors and they're like humans and man to man. You gotta pick one.

You can't answer this with four different things. They're not those kind of warriors. They're bears. They're bears, Eliana. The whole emphasis on armored bears being nothing without their armor, like Hester literally just said, a bear's nothing without their armor like hester literally just said a bear's nothing without their armor to lee when she was introduced no armor no jaw i'm over it i'm over it i agree i mean first of all like we just established this is tv 14 why are they fighting naked okay that's like inappropriate. But also, you're welcome. Also, I mean, I agree. Like, they're nothing without their armor.

It's their souls. We talked a few episodes about how bears make their souls. They make it as they grow up. And again, it's their souls. For them to be fighting with their armor, and as Yorick tears the armor off of Yofur, it's significant. It shows that, you know, this thing that you've built up your entire life to protect you and that is your soul doesn't stand up to snuff. It's absolutely part of their culture in, as you said, their bareness, their specific

kind of bareness as Panzerbjornjorn yeah it's completely frustrating because in this same interview he said well this is like a cultural thing for them even though he just said out loud that their culture is established that this is important to them it's just sloppy it's just be honest about it you know that's what i want obviously he can't say certain things let's be real no offense to you joe tanberg you're a real g you're doing great but but not as good as me as yorick yeah that's true eliana is the best yorick i'm gonna let you finish joe tanberg but eliana was the best yorick of all time roar and thank you you're welcome but it's just obvious that there were other reasons right like it was a production thing we already know that it's hard to capture these creatures including yorick and he takes up a lot of screen space and time and money

and armor might not have been something palpable during this fight for two bears in one scene this episode had to be freaking pricey in fact i don't know how much it cost to make this episode but it had to be pricey there's bears everywhere dude you know what did give us armored bear fighting the golden compass Chris Weitz wins again actually though there are a handful of things

Chris Weitz did better I'm just putting that out there and worse a lot of the directorial choices are the same in this series so interesting. We're back at school. Yes! Not Bear University, like school in our world.

Not Bear College. Not Bear College. Will's like, Mom, you need to stop doing this. You need to stop showing up here. And Elaine ends up sounding crazy talking to him about men coming to her house with snacks. And that people think his father is still alive and was like hold up this is a lot but wait no sorry i know you wanted to digest all that but we are back to svalbard again and yorick is giving a speech about being bears and not humans i hope you heard heard that, Joe Tanberg. To your interview,

Yorick himself says that they're bears and not humans. Just putting it out there. So Lyra reunites with Roger, who was hiding out in the rocks. They hug like two toasted marshmallows, one about to be more toasted than the other in one episode. And Yorick asks if Lee is safe. Lyra checks and he is.

He is. Then they ask about the Magisterium. Turns out the Magisterium is trying to head to Svalbard with Mrs. Coulter. Lyra then decides that Lord Asriel really needs to get Leithiometer because we need the truth to defeat her, meaning Mrs. Coulter.

And then Roger says that they are both coming too, and I'm like, but what if you stayed home? Yeah, you could have some tea you could curl up maybe Yorick and you could read a book I don't know Roger it's an idea they could yeah he could curl up and cuddle Yorick and eat seal fat these are ideas

we move to the magisterium they tell us Eofor is dead and Asriel has been free so they're all heading north things we already know. Magisterium needs to keep up. Lots of little fluff scenes to get us to the end of this episode. Just putting that out there.

Yeah, let me get to the northern airbase. Where Mrs. Coulter and Father MacPhail have a very tense and very, very close conversation. He tells her that you failed. That he needs to go get Asriel now because guess what? Joffre is dead. Again, we know. Mrs. Coulter then gets very, very in his face. I don't like when people do this. What if her breasts smell bad?

Anyways, and says that she knows Asriel the best of anyone, so they need her. Then Macphail says Romeo must die. Oh my god, you're fired. What is that? Also, I beg to differ. I think Thorold probably knows him a little better. That's true.

So, whatever. Maybe I was going to say even Stalmaria. Stalmaria probably knows him. I guess she doesn't count. Because she's his soul. Yeah, she doesn't count. Never mind. The scene's fine. Whatever. It was showing what was happening in the background that we didn't actually get to see

in the books. It does give her a purpose to really go after asriel and i do like that like i said earlier she's specifically playing the last card she has here it's building up that rebellion it's building up that bomb to go off uh really well yeah and earlier she didn't really succeed and i guess being very close to father mcphail's face but here it seems like she's whittling him down a little i guess i don't know there is obviously some tension between the two of them anyway we're back to will's house thomas and the other guy broke in as they were searching for the letters when will and his mother returned the place is a mess and will drags her past the lake that we first saw him walk by when we first saw will a few episodes ago elaine pleased with will to believe her and he's like

i believe you then he takes her to the house of his boxing coach mr hanway to stay for a bit while he sorts things out um cleans up their home. They embrace very fiercely. It's a beautiful scene. And then they part. Also, Chloe was right. Bada-boom, snitches! She called it. Yeah, I was right. She called it.

I did call it. Yeah. Felt a little empty for Mr. Hanway. It was like, okay, I get it. Whatever. That was the person Will trusted, and he left his mom there. But the look Mr. hanway gave him absolutely was a knowing like i know you're not coming back any day soon kid i got some pajamas yeah and it reminds

me of this line from will's very first chapter from the moment in the supermarket when he had realized he must pretend in order not to worry his mother part of will's mind was always alert to her anxieties he loved her so much he would have died to protect her my good boy yeah so really if there's any sort of like double entendre of will telling mr hanway you said your door is always open and needed it to be open right now oh yeah door being open again the world people love

say words and maybe they'll all come together and you can all understand what I'm trying to say you're doing great somewhere in the north in Lyra's world we're all over the place this episode Lee is rummaging through the balloon, which is grounded. He's humming the song, and Hester's like, I don't like that song anymore.

He's like, well, I need to sing, okay? And Serafina then appears. She offers help with the balloon, and emotionally. By the way, Yorick is king again. Lee whoops. She gives him back his gun. Yeehaw! She gives him back his gun, and Lee catches the the hint he's going to need to keep fighting because lyra needs all of us so something i found today

interesting on reddit was that someone pointed out seraphina's tattoo is in the same fern pattern as lichtenberg figures which are branching electric discharges that sometimes appear on the surface or interior of insulating materials, you know, like skin when you get hit by lightning and your vessels burst, for example. They're named after German physicist George Christoph Lichtenberg, who originally discovered and studied electrical charges. He was an experimental physician, interestingly enough. One of the first scientists of his time to introduce experiments with apparatus. He was friends with Kant and Groucho. Lightning really actually kind of works for Serafina in resembling that traditional symbolism of sudden illumination and destruction of ignorance.

It's also something that represents punishment of humans by the gods in the skies, which I feel really works with witches, even though it's mainly attributed to Zeus. Interesting. Yeah, I think that's some really great symbolism read into there. And I mean, like, also, it makes sense if it isn't a tattoo and she just got hit by lightning. I mean, to be honest, if you are flying in the skies, you're the highest object out there, right? Like, it makes a lot of sense to me. Yeah, good thing I'm not in the sky, because I would always be the highest object. It'd be very

dangerous. In the sky. Yeah, only in the sky. Yep. Ever. Yeah, so fun fact, look it up. Lichtenberg. Check that crap out. See the pretty fern scar thing? Probably sucked, probably felt like crap, but, you know, look it up, Lichtenberg. Check that crap out. See the pretty fern scar thing? Probably sucked, probably felt like crap, but you know, see it. Looks very similar.

There's a couple of really good ones in Google Images. Anyways, I just came here to talk about something actually serious next, which is Lee and Serafina. Many people have tweeted at us about Lee and Serafina this week. I'm glad they've all come to the light. They are all my tiny little bugs who are going to get squashed by the subtle knife, but that's okay. That is fine.

That is what you're here for. So I wanted to share some of the ship names we're getting from people online. Lo Jacomir said Finley Le Fine. That's a great ship name. Reds said Finalee. That's my favorite. F-I-N-A-L-E-E. I like that one. that's my favorite f-i-n-a-l-e-e

i like that one that's my favorite our friend fat walda said sarah lee which is a good one we had lira fina from compod a couple of my favorite ones though i did like scores beckala from laura silver tongue but shadow blade 217 just took the cake they win they win this uh mini competition i made up right now. And they said I would vote for Sarah Lee,

Peckaby, or Arrow Witch. I love Arrow Witch. It's very cute. And Peckaby. Peckaby's cute. Peckaby is cute. Sounds like a Pokemon. I just want to say... My favorite Pokemon. I'm really proud of you. I think Chloe's been really disciplined this episode. She held

back until, to talk about this, until this moment. She even started this section off, right? The section where we talk about Seraphina and Lee meeting with a different thing entirely. Even though, I know, she wants to scream about this, so I'm proud of you.

I mean, look, I've already accepted my doom of my beautiful ship, and I've already written all the meta behind why I ship it. So I'm good. I'm free. You know, like, I'm ready to just cry on the screen. That's the end of season. Yep. Can't wait. Can't wait till the end of season two. Yeah, season one yeah but speaking of emotional scenes we have an emotional scene now of lyra and roger riding on yorick there's like i don't know slow-mo and music those are the best like i could forget about any of the bad things that i've been upset about i could watch this on a loop of yorick and them just riding off it's all i need yeah we jump over to will once more he returns to

his house he finds that the letters are still there and safe and then we jump over to Will once more. He returns to his house. He finds that the letters are still there and safe. And then we jump back to the north, where the northern lights are above Asriel's isolated lab. Coulter is walking dramatically through Magisterium Military. I love that the northern lights have really been consistently hanging over this story this season. That's how it should be, right? Should be hanging over us it's

literally the name of the book yeah the northern lights the aurora yes and then after we go will to the north come back to will right now he's about to read his father's letters when lo and behold thomas and the other guy i refuse to learn his name return and then as thomas is climbing the stairs will starts wrapping his hands the way one does when they're about to put on boxing gloves and then he comes for thomas he wails i think he misses a little but then the most important part of the entire episode yes the most important the star the star of the show truly stole the show and usually i'm talking about other cat demons like the one i spoiled earlier or farther quorum's demon sophanax but truly elaine's demon which i think is canon so i'm just gonna say it stole the show thomas just

fucking falls over and it was the best. It was probably my favorite thing ever. I cheered. I chanted. I was so happy that Thomas died because fuck that guy. You're out there like, I kind of like him as a villain. And I'm like, no, fuck that guy. He was evil. He was a bad guy.

He's just as bad as Boreal. He is bad. I actually did feel kind of satisfied with his death. I was like, all right. I feel closure. Yeah, I felt great. satisfied with his death i was like all right i feel closure yeah i felt great and we literally were chanting murder cat murder cat in our household during this and by we i mean me my boyfriend was sitting next to me going don't give the cats ideas but he did he was like ally is

getting ideas uh but it i love in the books when this all goes down you can see the panic with will he takes off he makes a break for it and he's freaking out because this dude just laid there motionless dead uh and he realizes it in the books and you see that dread in the show on him the man was dead he killed him he couldn't get it out of his mind but he had to there was quite enough to think about his mother would she be safe where she was mrs cooper wouldn't tell would she even if will didn't turn up as he'd said he would because he couldn't now that he killed someone and moxie who'd feed moxie would moxie worry about where they were would she try to follow them moxie's gonna so as you can see moxie is the important character yeah i mean moxie's just gonna fucking eat Thomas. Don't worry about it. Yorick would approve.

And also, I love that Moxie is Kajava Foreshadow here. Yeah, absolutely. Would she try to follow them? Aw. I also, I also, I wasn't chanting it. I just screamed, Moxie the murder cat! In that moment. I was so proud.

I was like, this is it and i knew i knew you were chanting or yelling it also wherever you were but yeah this was i'm glad that they included this and they very much played it out similar to the books more satisfying as you said because apparently it turns out deep down i did want thomas to die i didn't know that i did yeah and i was really worried that will was going to read the letters before they showed up because it was all calm and he was sitting there and i was like no no no it's so important to me that that waits until season two or until you know the finale where they finish the third season like next week and but no i was happy like they didn't taint that for me because i feel like will trusting lyra with them if she wants to is so much more important almost all the will scenes

have been pretty much gold yeah very much so uh clean and they're honoring them which i'm happy about i also like the way they play this out of Will and Elaine just missing each other through Mr. Hanway's windows as Will decides not to return. Elaine leaves just a breath before Will shows up in the window. And I think it's such a great example, again, of that visual framing that we've been talking about throughout this episode, again, with those windows where they're separated by the windows. They're separated in these two worlds as Will and Lyra will be one day. And also. Excuse me. Rude.

But also Will through these windows. Everyone being seen through windows right now. The visuals are cluing us in for what to expect in the finale. Yeah. Absolutely. And even with that aurora showing. The aurora above. I mean it's time. It's coming. even with that aurora showing, the aurora above, I mean, it's time. It's coming. Speaking of that aurora, in Lord Asriel's lab, Yorick tells the kids to be safe as he drops them off at the pool.

The two children hug, ferociously. Roger tries to tell Lyra that he's there for her. Thorold lets them in, amazed and bewildered that lyra somehow came that far north he takes roger away first asriel sees lyra he drops the papers and tries to kick her out with his classic line of i did not send for you but before he can stell maria points out roger is there yeah asriel's like way too jazzed in this moment it's like very nice to roger which is very different from how they acted towards each other before he's like wow who are you and roger's like i'm the kitchen boy but also in my mind i'm like roger's like we fucking met we yelled each other at each other the end of the first episode everyone talked about it it was all over twitter and how could you forget me it was really rude how dare you Asriel

yeah I don't know Asriel just kind of he's obviously not the kind of person to remember I get it yeah I get it no and oh no I'm not really criticizing anything you're saying. It's just more like, I can't make myself care about Asriel. That's fair. I mean, I'm still giving it room for it to change based on the portrayal, but like... I don't know. La Belle Sauvage didn't convince me in the books about the character in general. And that, I feel like, was supposed to be as more redemptive.ive not redemptive but it was supposed to show a little bit of redeeming factors about asriel and it was okay i guess the main trilogy didn't convince me professor

xavier here on the show isn't really convincing me no one's just convinced me about asriel as a character not farter quorum not malcolm polstead not the witches not not god no one none of these motherfuckers have done it Eliana I think the only thing that has convinced me about Asriel is as I think about him in the context of the Egyptians and compare him to what Mrs. Coulter has been doing to the Egyptians and

that's the only thing kind of but then there's the part of me that like everything in La Belle Sauvage about, especially about Asriel's treatment of the Egyptians and how he's, you know, a big advocate for these people. And the fact that, I mean, you've obviously read far enough. We talked about this in our very first episode where I talked about, you know,

how he basically gives. No, I have not gotten there. God damn it. I must have missed it he basically says like take care of these people just take care of them so like they can eat for free or go places do things and they have friends and family in the area and like it's good but roger is technically alice's cousin so if azrael was nice towards alice and nice Melkub, and now he's just straight up Stannis-ing Alice's cousin, it's just kind of like... Yeah. I feel a little... I don't know.

It doesn't, to me, it doesn't feel like his Gyptian stuff can blot out any of this. Like, the way he looks is, and I mean, I'm not saying anything about the show portrayal. No. It was fine, it's whatever. But the way he's supposed to look here is, like,, I'm not saying anything about the show portrayal. No. It was fine. It's whatever. But the way he's supposed to look here is like hungered and crazy. You know, like he's supposed to have a look at his eye, a glint, like, ha ha ha, the thing I've been missing for my secret experiments. And I don't know, anyone watching this that hasn't read the books, I'm so curious as to

what the fuck they're thinking right now. Because if you don't know, it's kind of like it's obvious something's going to happen. Yeah. And it's obvious that it won't happen to Lyra. Yeah and I think that the show frames it there. And I do think that James McAvoy. Nailed that look. Yeah.

He did fine. It's just the character itself. Yeah. I do think that's something that. Pullman actually was intentionally writing and maybe he was trying to like rectify that a little in the bell savage i don't know but seeing like you know that again that difference between like tragedy comedy that distance right and because we're so close to roger that's why we're we're never able to forgive Asriel that one thing

yet so many people find Mrs. Coulter to be a compelling character when she's done this over and over again you know yeah absolutely I'm that person it's just an interesting that this is something that he's playing with in that storytelling yeah

I don't know I just think like if either of my parents even the one i don't really know like the sperm donor one like if they tried to kill my best friend i just don't i don't know don't know slash did yeah yeah anyway it's a lot to think about it is a lot to think about that's why pullman wrote it. Well, I hope no one is in the same situation because that would just be terrible. Yeah. I think we know what's going to happen next week, right? Without even

looking at the previews. Yeah. Betrayal. Betrayal. Actually, that literally is the title. I know. I think that's the one thing that they did for us. Wait, is that the title of the episode? Yeah. Oh, amazing. It's for us. You mean they didn't call it Mortal Kombat Part 2 with a K this time?

Actually, that's next episode. And then we get episode nine, which is covering all of the third book, The Amber Spyglass. Yes, yes. So you guys can tune in in the next couple weeks to hear that. Yeah, so I'm excited for next week's episode. This episode was a lot of just setting up for next week. Yeah, it was. And I hope they nail it out of the park next week.

The visuals alone are going to be really exciting to see the northern lights just at their peak. To see Sitigase. Yes, to finally see it we've got excited about that we've gotten like glimpses of it but like for that curtain to tear and again like as i as i said i i still think personally that the last scene is going to be lyra and will each individually stepping into the world of sitagaze but from different points well you know what they say you never bet against your partner, and I think you might be onto something there. Yeah. Except I bet

against your ass all the time. That's true. I was like, we have different ships, you know? But I don't care about mine that much. Yeah, well, you know, when there's good ones. Wow. I'm just kidding. I love your ships. Anyways, so you guys, thank you so much for tuning in. It was a pleasure to have you this week.

Did you just fucking answer? Thank you for listening to Mortal Kombat. I love this episode. Mortal Kombat. Mortal Kombat. The global name of both the chapter and the episode.

Of course, keep up with us. You can find us on social media. Where, you know, every now and then, Philip Pullman may or may not respond to us. You know, you can find us at Girls Gone Canon, C-A-N-O-N, on Twitter. Or maybe you have an email for us that may or may not have spoilers. Shoot it to us at girlsgonecanon at gmail.com. Yeah, absolutely. And I can read it to us at girlsgonecanon at gmail.com. Yeah, absolutely.

And I can read it to Eliana and spoil her on air. This is real life, real television. It's a reality TV. It's not just a podcast. It's reality TV. Wow. You guys, if you haven't already, please subscribe to us so you can get the latest updates of when episodes come out on any of the platforms we're available on such as google play apple podcasts spotify stitcher a cast you name it we're on a bunch of them and of course we're on podbean

which is where we host all these episodes. Somewhere else we also host episodes is on Patreon, where we have patron-exclusive episodes. Last month was about our Song of Ice and Fire read-through, which as many of you may or may not know, we do. We do it by each character POV. Right now we're still finishing up John. And this month's Patreon episode is going to be about the lantern slides that are at the end of each of the three main books. Yeah, I'm excited about lantern slides. I think there's a lot to dive into that will of course be encompassing spoilers from all three books. And so you guys know, we will be releasing an episode sometime next week for the finale. It might be delayed by

a day or two of your usual release. And we will not have a Jon Snow and a Song of Ice and Fire chapter coming out next week on the 27th for the public or on the 3rd for the public. Had a solid year in run and we are doing a lot of things. And of course, we are going to start up with The Subtle Knife at some point in 2020 early in probably in the first month so stay tuned for that yeah we'll have some updates on that over on our social media or on patreon or stay subscribed for those updates so thanks a lot everyone can't wait for the last episode i've been one of your hosts eliana and i've been another one of your hosts chloe see you next week guys