For viewers who want Harry Potter‘s coming-of-age fantasy with a darker edge, HBO’s His Dark Materials offers a complete, 23-episode journey. The series follows Lyra Belacqua (Dafne Keen) from a curious child into a formidable heroine. There are daemons, armored bears, and parallel worlds, but the real danger comes from the powerful institutions trying to decide what Lyra is allowed to know.
Viewers may recognize Philip Pullman‘s world from The Golden Compass, the film adaptation of the trilogy’s first book. His Dark Materials has three seasons to tell the full story, giving its characters and worlds room to develop. Through Lyra’s journey, the series delivers both the wonder of fantasy and a darker story about free will, faith, and power.
What Is ‘His Dark Materials’ About?
His Dark Materials introduces audiences to Lyra Belacqua (Keen), an orphan who grows into the series’ heroine. As a baby, she was entrusted by a man who calls himself her uncle, Lord Asriel (James McAvoy), to the care of Jordan College at Oxford, where she is protected by its scholarly sanctuary. A unique element of this world is that all humans are accompanied by an animal spirit called a daemon, the physical representation of their souls. At the beginning of the story, Lyra spends her days roaming Jordan College wildly with her daemon, Pantalaimon (Kit Connor), and her best friend, Roger Parslow (Lewin Lloyd).
Collider Exclusive · Universe Personality Quiz Which Iconic Universe Do You Belong in the Most? Star Wars · Lord of the Rings · Harry Potter · Game of Thrones · Star Trek
Five legendary universes. Five completely different visions of what the world could be — or already was. One of them is the world your instincts, your values, and your particular way of existing were built for. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🚀Star Wars
💍Lord of the Rings
🧙Harry Potter
👑Game of Thrones
🖖Star Trek
01
What gives your life its deepest sense of meaning? Every universe is built around a different answer to this question.
02
Which kind of world do you most want to inhabit? The environment shapes who you become. Choose carefully.
03
How do you prefer your conflicts resolved? The shape of a world’s conflicts tells you everything about its soul.
04
Who do you want beside you when things get difficult? Your ideal companions reveal the world you were made for.
05
What is your relationship with power? How you seek, wield, or resist power is the map of who you are.
06
How does your universe treat good and evil? A world’s moral architecture tells you more about it than any map.
07
What role would you naturally fall into? Every universe has archetypes. Which one fits you without trying?
08
What do you ultimately believe about the future? The answer to this is the clearest window into which universe already lives inside you.
Your Universe Has Been Chosen You Belong In…
Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.
You are drawn to the moral clarity of a universe where hope itself is a form of resistance.
You’d find your people in the Rebellion — a ragtag coalition of true believers held together by conviction more than resources.
Star Wars is fundamentally a story about ordinary people choosing to matter in an extraordinary conflict — and that is exactly your kind of story.
The Force may or may not be with you. But the will to use it for something larger than yourself certainly is.
Middle-earth
Lord of the Rings
You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world’s beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.
Middle-earth is a world of ancient wonder, deep friendship, and a darkness that only retreats when enough small acts of courage accumulate.
You would thrive here because you value the fellowship more than the glory — the road more than the arrival.
Tolkien’s universe rewards patience, loyalty, and the willingness to carry something heavy across a very long distance.
Those are not burdens to you. They are simply how you move through the world.
The Wizarding World
Harry Potter
You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what’s right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.
The Wizarding World is a place of wonder hidden in plain sight, where learning is transformative and the bonds you form at school follow you into every battle.
You would flourish here because you take both the magic and the friendships seriously — and you understand that one without the other is incomplete.
Harry Potter’s universe ultimately rewards those who choose to stand for something even when standing is terrifying.
That choice — made quietly, without guarantee — is something you understand completely.
Westeros · The Known World
Game of Thrones
You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.
Westeros is a world that rewards intelligence, adaptability, and the willingness to understand that every alliance is also a negotiation.
You would survive here — possibly thrive here — because you don’t confuse the world as it is with the world as you’d like it to be.
Game of Thrones is a story about what happens when the idealists and the realists collide. You are sharp enough to know which one lasts longer.
Winter always comes. You are already prepared.
The United Federation of Planets
Star Trek
You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.
Star Trek is a universe where the questions matter as much as the answers, and where encountering something utterly alien is cause for wonder rather than fear.
You would belong here because you are fundamentally optimistic about what intelligence and decency can achieve — while being honest about how hard that achievement is.
The Federation is the universe’s most ambitious thought experiment: what if we actually got better?
You don’t just hope that’s possible. You think it’s the only thing worth working toward.
Upon Lord Asriel’s return to Jordan College, Lyra learns through him about the mysterious particle called Dust and his research into parallel worlds — things that the authoritarian religious organization known as the Magisterium condemns as heresy. After he leaves Oxford to once again begin another expedition to the Arctic, the mysterious Mrs. Coulter (Ruth Wilson) arrives at the school, and she takes Lyra in as her personal assistant. As Lyra adjusts to her new life, Roger and several other children suddenly go missing, suspected victims of the child-abducting organization known as the Gobblers.
‘His Dark Materials’ Is Perfect for ‘Harry Potter’ Fans Who Want Something Darker
Unlike other lighter YA franchises like Harry Potter, His Dark Materials never hesitates to look into the darker and grittier world that it’s a part of. Although Lyra is just a child, Season 1 reveals that there’s much more brewing in Lyra’s world as a growing conflict between scholars and authoritarian religious theocrats begins to reveal itself, which then snowballs further into a cornucopia of heavy concepts packed into one fantasy epic: armored polar bears, talking spirit animals that serve as extensions of a person’s soul, a compass that can tell the truth, multiverse travel, a prophecy foretelling a new Eve, and even the concept of Original Sin.
That might sound like a lot to cram into three seasons, but His Dark Materials does a fantastic job of making some of those highbrow ideas easy to digest because, at its heart, the story is about a child fighting against oppressive forces. The show doesn’t shy away from its religious themes, with the Magisterium inspired by the medieval Catholic Church’s opposition to scientific inquiry. Faith-based sentiments aside, His Dark Materials is an allegory about what happens when institutions blindly interpret their beliefs and impose them on others without consent. The result is a society that restricts free will, curiosity, and consciousness itself — traits that Lyra embraces.
Dafne Keen as Lyra Belacqua Is the Best Part of ‘His Dark Materials’
Dafne Keen as Lyra and Simone Kirby as Mary Malone in His Dark Materials Season 3Image via HBO
The star of His Dark Materials is none other than its lead actor, Dafne Keen, who delivers a strong performance as Lyra. Previously known for her role as X-23 — the daughter/clone of Wolverine in Logan — Keen already proved that she can handle weighty material. We watch as Lyra grows in front of our eyes, from a plucky but naive girl into a young woman who is slowly learning about the horrors and the beauty of her world.
For a fantasy epic that’s as complex as His Dark Materials, Lyra’s growth from child to teen is the root of the show. At one point in our lives, we all shared the same innocence and sense of curiosity that Lyra has at the start of her journey. As we grow up, we start to realize that the world is not as simple as we believed it to be when we were young. The same goes for Lyra, who has been forced to grow up through the adventures that take her not only to the polar north but also into other worlds.
Yet, despite being a tad disillusioned, her integrity and determination are unshakable. Top that off with impeccable world-building, the cutest animals, and supporting performances from Andrew Scott and Lin-Manuel Miranda, and all three seasons of His Dark Materials become rewarding viewing from start to finish.
Release Date
2019 – 2022-00-00
Network
BBC One
Directors
William McGregor, Amit Gupta, Leanne Welham, Charles Martin, Otto Bathurst, Euros Lyn, Dawn Shadforth, Harry Wootliff, Jamie Childs
Writers
Jack Thorne, Francesca Gardiner, Amelia Spencer, Sarah Quintrell
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