During the night of the great flood, Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) place an infant girl in the protection of the master of Jordan College (Clarke Peters). Twelve years later, Lyra Belacqua (Dafne Keen) eagerly awaits a visit from her Uncle Asriel. During his brief visit, Lyra learns about something called dust, which attached to adults but not children, whatever that meant. Moreover, the talk of dust is treated as the gravest sin, a topic that should never be discussed. Though she wanted to travel north with him on his further research, she was left behind. However, Marissa Coulter (Ruth Wilson) arrived at Jordan College soon after and enlisted Lyra as an assistant.
In this world, humans have an external soul that is called a daemon (pronounced demon). Though the daemon of a child can change shapes, it settles into one form after puberty. Lyra's daemon is named Pan. The religion of the world is an oppressive form of Christianity that is maintained by the Magisterium, a militant order that deploys armed airships and ground troops in the later episodes of the series. The world also has an underclass of folk called Gyptians, a gypsy-folk whose children have been targeted for abduction for unknown purposes. The abductors are called Gobblers. Then there are the armored bears, polar bears who live in the cold north, wear suits of armor, and maintain a kingdom. They look like normal polar bears who just happen to have the power of speech. Not particularly dexterous paws and yet they have buildings and skilled craftsmanship items. Interesting. Lastly, there are witches. Witches are long-lived - the only one who appears claims to be 300 years old - can fly without a broom and move like the Flash.
Before Lyra left Jordan College with Miss Coulter, she was given an alethiometer. It is a peculiar device that can answer any question, but few can deduce the meaning of the answers. Where most must spend years to learn how to decipher an alethiometer, Lyra has a natural ability. She is thus an unmatched augur, able to know the unknowable if only she can craft the right question.
The story follows Lyra has she traveled north, having different allies along the way. Initially, she is with the Gyptians, then she teamed with Iorek Byrnison (Joe Tandberg) the Armored Bear and Lee Scoresby (Lin-Manual Miranda) the Aeronaut.
Meanwhile, in our world, Will Parry (Amir Wilson) is the son of an explorer who went missing 13 years ago. He is a highschooler who boxes after school. His mother, Elaine, suffers from anxiety and Will is more her caretaker than vice versa. As it happens, Carlo Boreal (Ariyon Bakare) of the Magisterium has a doorway between worlds. He believes that Will's missing father, who was exploring in Alaska, may have found another path between worlds.
With how central dust is to the plot, it is not well explained. Is it the physical manifestation of sin, thus it sticks to adults but not children? Is it a byproduct of the clash of worlds, most easily investigated at the northern lights where cities in the sky can be viewed with the right lens? Why is the Magisterium ramping up to Def Con 1 over a couple of scientists investigating the northern lights? Even after 8 episodes, it is unclear why there is panic. Perhaps this adaptation missed something.
Dafne Keen is good as Lyra. In the previous adaptation, The Golden Compass, I developed an almost instant dislike of Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) because she lied with glee from the moment we met her. This Lyra likewise proves to be a talented liar, but it is a tool rather than a personality trait. Lin-Manuel Miranda is a downgrade from Sam Elliot as Lee Scoresby. He's okay, but he doesn't pass as a Texan. As for the armored bears, there is no matching Ian McKellan and Ian McShane from the 2007 version, but the new actors are adequate.
Overall, pretty good. The longer format provides for more explanation of some characters and development of the world. The character development of Lyra, Lord Asriel, and Miss Coulter greatly benefit from a miniseries format. Good popcorn fun.
