His Dark Materials season 2 episode 2: How did it compare to the books?

Whether you’re a fan of the books or not, read below to find out how the second episode of His Dark Materials season 2 differed from the source material.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for His Dark Materials season 2 episode 2, “The Cave.”

Though Lyra and Will ventured into Will’s Oxford in search of information about Dust and Will’s mother, respectively, the primary action in this week’s episode of His Dark Materials centered once again on the Magisterium and the Witches.

Though the Magisterium is the primary engine of the plot and themes in the original His Dark Materials books, the adaptation seems to expand the plot much further in an effort to further examine author Philip Pullman’s ideas on religion and better explain the complexities of the original series.

So, how did “The Cave” compare to Pullman’s books? Let’s dive in, shall we?

How “The Cave” Deviated From the Books

As discussed in last week’s coverage, the murder of Cardinal Sturrock is handled quite differently in The Subtle Knife, the book season two of His Dark Materials is based on.

While in the book, Serafina Pekkala does invade the Magisterium in order to mercy kill one of her sisters — taking out several Magisterium operatives in the process — she also outright kills Cardinal Sturrock.

In the HBO series, Ruta Skadi gravely wounds the Cardinal, leaving Marisa with a dastardly idea: kill the Cardinal herself, frame the witches, and start a war between them and the Magisterium, framing Father McPhail as the architect and new Cardinal.

This all adds to the ever-increasing expansion of the Magisterium plot in the adaptation, potentially to give Ruth Wilson something to do every episode.

While the ending of the episode made for a delightful moment of Mrs. Coulter devilry as she essentially lit a bomb inside the Magisterium before walking away, it all felt a bit…unnecessary.

Speaking of unnecessary, the television adaptation seems to be working overtime to make us think something about Marisa. There were some subtle moments in the first season showcasing the unusual distance between Mrs. Coulter and her dæmon, but this was all easily explained through the tunnels in her apartment.

However, the expanded storytelling focused on the Magisterium, including a very pointed monologue about witches (not so thinly veiled as an allegory for actual religious men conducting actual historical witch hunts for rebellious women), positions Marisa in opposition to the Magisterium.

During the monologue, Marisa seemed unnerved and like she might almost lose her cool, as if she were taking it personally. What His Dark Materials seems to be suggesting is the idea that Marisa herself is a witch.

Beyond very subtle moments like the peculiar dæmon relationship in The Golden Compass, this idea is never fully explored in the books. It seems like a fun idea to investigate in a television adaptation, but only if they follow through on it.

As it stands now, it feels a little more like confusing breadcrumbs, especially for viewers newer to the universe.

One further, minor change from the books seen in “The Cave” is the moment between Marisa and Thorold, Asriel’s servant. Last seen in the first-season finale, Serafina Pekkala finds Thorold immediately after the events at the end of The Golden Compass at the beginning of The Subtle Knife.

In the books, they essentially have the conversation he has with Marisa. This subtle rewrite was a smart decision considering how heavily the writers have chosen to lean into giving Marisa additional villainy that didn’t exist in the books to begin with (for an already scary character).

A humanizing moment, where we are reminded that Mrs. Coulter genuinely cares about Lyra, and has a somewhat fond relationship with someone, was a nice emotional moment to leave viewers with as Marisa heads off to find Lyra.

Regardless, “The Cave” was another great episode of His Dark Materials. Make sure to follow along with Culturess each week for more comparisons between the book and HBO series.

What did you think about Marisa Coulter and the Magisterium in this week’s episode? Tell us in the comments below!