Recap of His Dark Materials Episode 1x6: The Daemon Cages
So we start off with Lyra getting introduced to life in prison Bolvagar
Establishing shot to remind us that we’re in the north
so lyra decides to sit by herself so as not to let the gobblers/bolvangar guards know that her and roger are friends
of course they decide this via a not-at-all obvious tete a tete between their respective daemons
a girl comes to sit at Lyra’s table and anyone with the slightest sense of narrative framing should already know where this is going
Of course their dinner is interrupted by the Bolvangar doctor, accompanied by handmaid# 2, who asks for lyra’s table buddy to come with her
then we get a 10 second creepy shot of handmaid# 3 staring right at us, for no real reason, until she's interrupted by the doctor
which segues into the intro music
up next, we get another doctor, who tells lyra that he needs to take some kind of "measurements" from her
lyra figures out that he’s taking pictures of the dust around her through the special camera
which prompts the doctor to ask where she found out about dust
the doctor buys it, of course
then lyra, truly the child of lord "gives no fucks" asriel and marissa "gives negative fucks" coulter, straight up calls him out on cutting children from their daemons, which the doctor of course denies
then they get interrupted by the fire alarm, and handmaiden #4 (or just #3 again? I'm losing count) gives directions to go to the nearest fire exit in the most robotic voice ever
we then cut to a very prison-like locker room where all the children are getting into their jackets, while being watched over my more handmaids
more handmaids are taking roll call outside
surprise snowball fight started by lyra and roger, because this show is really determined to drive that schoolyard/recess allegory in with an anvil
lyra and roger escape while the snowball fight is happening
they run in a direction which roger thinks is the way out and i have Questions as to why he would ever think that
another dead-eyed handmaid is coming around the bend (seriously do they order them from handmaid-costco or something?) so lyra and roger have to hide
they realize that they're in the room where the children's severed daemons are kept, neatly filed away by name
but cage containing billy costa's daemon is empty, of course
then they find the room in which all the children who have undergone intercision are kept
lyra and roger rejoin the other children as they go back in, resolving to escape before lyra is chosen for intercision next
meanwhile, bolvangar has an avian visitor
then we get a way-too-creepily-normal breakroom scene with the two bolvangar doctors
doctor# 2 seems to be exhibiting signs of having an actual conscience
then we cut to "our" world, where will is listening to an interview of his father's on his laptop, and then tucks his mother into bed
of course they're being watched by Lord Boreal's goons
STAY AWAY FROM THEM! GET A JOB!!
meanwhile back in Lyra's world, She is here, and the children all know it as soon as they wake up
lyra has a talk with the other girls and they agree to hide her from mrs. coulter
the girls tell lyra to hide under the bed, and the rest of them pretend nothing is out of place when marisa comes in to inspect them
meanwhile, we check in with the Gyptians who are trying to break into Bolvangar and save the kidnapped children (seriously, how is this show managing to juggle so many locations and characters in 50 minutes??)
back in bolvangar, lyra is organizing the girls to break out
doctor# 1 is back, and asking for Lizzie Lyra this time
lyra says goodbye to her newfound friends
lyra tries to make a break for it, but is stopped when doctor# 2 catches her daemon
dr. conscience locks pan up in a cage
of course lyra raises hell trying to get him out
LYRA YOU’RE DOING AMAZING SWEETIE
but she’s eventually subdued
doctor# 1 primes the intercision machine
pay not attention to the incredibly sharp giant blade
as a last resort, lyra screams out for mrs. coulter and well, speak of the devil
then, marisa sees who's in the cage
of course she stops the “experiment” and saves lyra
we cut to lyra recuperating in what are presumably marisa’s quarters in bolvangar
we finally get a chance for lyra and marisa to talk, and for some things to be explained
and it just kinda goes downhill from there, guys
lyra asks her mother why she is intercising children and marisa gives her the same half-gospel half-pseudo-science spiel that we've seen everyone else give
Lyra of course calls her out by asking the obvious question here... if intercision is such a positive thing, then why was Marisa so afraid of Lyra undergoing it?
marisa promises not to hurt lyra's friends and of course lyra claps back because billy is already dead
marisa then explains to lyra that this experiment is her calling in life, and she's not about to be stopped by petty things like a conscience
marisa asks for the alehtiometer, and lyra hands over the box that it's presumably in
lyra escapes while marisa and her daemon are busy fighting off the metal-insect-spider-tracking thingy
synchronized screaming... loving these mother daughter bonding sessions the show is giving us!
lyra pulls the fire alarm, and tells the other kids to get out while she keeps the bolvangar guards distracted
in a truly horrifying intermission scene, we learn that the dead-eyed handmaids have in fact had their daemons intercised from them
roger finds the intercised children and tries to get them to leave with him, while lyra blows up the intercision machine
the children try to escape but are waylaid by Dr. Conscience and his bolvangar goons
who are then waylaid by the Gyptians coming to the rescue
because prison break-in is a family fun activity, the whole gang is here
meanwhile, the Gyptians are obviously outnumbered by the Bolvangar guards
why, perhaps a witch by the name of Serafina Pekkala?
I didn’t have to take this many screenshots of Serafina taking out the trash. I CHOSE to take this many screenshots of Serafina taking out the trash.
then she peaces back out as quickly as she came
look who's still alive
we don’t even have time to breathe after the battle, before lyra says goodbye to the Gyptians and the freed children, and continues with roger, scoresby and iorek to free lord asriel
serafina pekkala shows up on the balloon out of nowhere but i'm not complaining because i'm always happy to see madame pekkala on my screen
lee and serafina have a very Important and Foreshadowing talk about lyra
cut to cute scene of Lyra cuddling to sleep with Iorek
LEE ADMITS HE LOVES LYRA THE ADOPTION PAPERS ARE GOING THROUGH IMMEDIATELY
then serafina bounces, and we should have the nice, peaceful, hopeful ending THAT WE ALL DESERVE, but of course we don’t, because lee gets woken up in the middle of the night by some noises
between all the chaos of fighting off the cliff ghasts, lyra tumbles out of the balloon
the return of synchronized screaming, the only true Lyra Family Bonding Experience
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