Light spoilers ahead for Philip Pullman’s The Amber Spyglass.
His Dark Materials has spent three seasons building to what’s shaping up to be an epic conflict uniting fighters from multiple worlds against the forces of the Authority, but Lyra and Will have been fulfilling prophecies without taking part in Asriel's war so far. With the series concluding after two more episodes on December 26, the two teens’ stories will come to a close, and actors Dafne Keen and Amir Wilson weighed in to CinemaBlend with their thoughts on their characters’ endings.
Now, readers of Philip Pullman’s The Amber Spyglass already have a pretty good idea of what’s likely to happen, but – as executive producer Dan McCulloch said – changes have been made from book to show in Season 3, so nothing is guaranteed. When I spoke with Dafne Keen and Amir Wilson, I asked for their spoiler-free reactions to how the story ends for Lyra and Will. They didn’t drop the details that will reveal exactly what’s on the way, but it sounds like viewers will want to prepare themselves.
When asked for their spoiler-free reactions to the end for Lyra and Will, Dafne Keen said:
It's sad. We can't really say anything, but it's sad. It's pretty heartbreaking.
Well, beloved shows releasing their series finales can always be heartbreaking for fans regardless of how the story ends, simply by virtue of being the last time we see the characters. That said, fans are evidently in for something sad by the time the final credits roll on Lyra and Will. Dafne Keen didn’t lay out precisely what happens, but Amir Wilson agreed with his co-star that the ending is going to be “sad." He continued:
[There are] some conclusions to people's stories, some things that are answered, some questions that are answered towards the end. Ultimately, it's – as people who have read the books know – it's a sad ending.
There’s still time to stock up on some tissues, but it seems that viewers can also expect some closure for at least some characters, if questions are going to be answered. There are definitely a lot of questions heading into the final two episodes, with Asriel’s war on the horizon and Will and Lyra presumably heading to follow Will’s father’s dying wish as best they can.
Amir Wilson opened up about what viewers may have missed in Will’s reunion with his dad in the land of the dead. Meanwhile, both teens are still separated from their daemons, and Dafne Keen had already previewed that they’ll be feeling “the separation” and “the pull” for as long as they’re not together. Both characters have even already gone through some fresh traumas in Season 3. Dafne Keen did preview why Lyra and Will's endings happen the way they will:
But [the sad ending] is necessary, so it needs to happen.
His Dark Materials planned ahead for a 2022 release of Season 3 so that it could have “a more adult feel” in adapting The Amber Spyglass after letting the young stars “grow up that little bit more,” according to EP Dan McCulloch, to “really tackle those quite more difficult, darker themes.” The land of the dead was certainly darker than Will and Lyra getting to know each other in Cittàgaze; will the story get darker still before the very end?
Fans will have to tune in to get all the details! Find out what’s left for Lyra and Will with the series finale of His Dark Materials in the last two episodes, starting at 9 p.m. ET on HBO. You can also find the episodes streaming with an HBO Max subscription at the same time, as well as all the episodes that came before. If you’re ready to start planning ahead for the new year, you can do so with our 2023 TV premiere schedule.
