HIS DARK MATERIALS - Episode 4: Armour - Preview and Teasers

As you are no doubt used to by now, each week sees Lyra introduced to a new environment which she, and now her companions too, must navigate before setting off for the next one at the end of the episode. This fourth instalment sees the young heroine finally reach the north which she has long yearned to visit, though the whaling town of Trollesund they land in isn’t exactly the vast snowy planes she may have imagined. John Faa may want to move on quickly, with only a swift stop-off to contact the witches, but we won’t be seeing our group out in the wilds until episode five as there is some unforeseen business to take care of first.

This mostly involves the introduction of a few new characters who decidedly shake things up and will no doubt make all the difference in the long, hard journey ahead of them. Firstly, we have Lee Scoresby, a Texan aeronaut and sharp shooter, accompanied by his dæmon, Hester, an arctic hare. We’re don’t delve too deeply into them and their past here, although I can't wait to learn more about them as I find their blunt talk and good natured look at the world at odds with a decidedly shady other characteristic behaviour we see Scoresby in particular partake. I do enjoy seeing them singing a ditty when being introduced in the show for the first time however, it feels fitting since this is Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The other new character is one whom I imagine many who aren’t so familiar with the material have been wanting to see since the show started, a panserbjørn called Iorek Byrnison. As both Lee and Lyra with the Gyptians arrive in the north, they discover that the polar bear has been tricked by the people of the town into working for them. And in doing so, they have taken away his sky armour, leaving him feeling essentially soulless. This is due to the fact that polar bears feel a similar bond with their armour as humans do with their dæmon. Getting Iorek his armour back could be a great way to gain a valuable ally, but how do you beat the Magisterium when they hold all the aces?


Here are this week’s teasers:

“I have changed much since last you saw me Kaisa”
“My whole life I wanted to be here. And now I’m here, I’m not so sure I want to be”
“Perhaps then, as an envoy from my people, I can offer you something that might be of worth to you?”
“You realise anything you may ask me may take weeks of study”
“The process is shrouded in secrecy, but the rumours are disturbing”
“Say what you like about the north, wherever you go there’s guaranteed to be a bar full of men who should be at home but aren’t”
“Yes, I heard a rumour too. Of an aeronaut who creates bedlam wherever he goes. Any truth to that?”
“You gotta kick. Now kick again. Bottle! That was nice, more of that, love it! Hey, you almost got me!”
“The Witch-Consul is the link between the human world and the witch’s. He will decide whether to pass our message on”
“I do myself more damage not trusting anyone”
“I told you, if they fight, they die”