This episode opens up with Lyra crossing over into another world—our world—to learn more about Dust and about the similarities between her Oxford and Will’s Oxford. Unfortunately, Lyra has to learn how to adapt to this “new” world as she experiences technology—the scene with the car is straight from the books—and people without daemons, poor Pantalaimon.
Will warns Lyra that people are looking for them and they have to do everything they can to blend in and stay hidden. Alas, Lyra is still young enough to be naïve as she makes her way through Will’s Oxford. She hasn’t figured out that there are a few individuals from her world who’ve made their way into hers a long time ago.
Meanwhile, the Magisterium deals with the death of Cardinal Sturrock—due to the witches’ attack and the motivations of both Father MacPhail and Mrs. Coulter—and an election for a new leader must occur before their plans can continue to move forward. At the same time, the witches convene in order to further their plans, before they receive retribution for their actions. The “testimony” provided by Dr. Martin Lanselius delves into the culture of the witches, which reveals why the Magisterium is afraid of them. “Rituals are not secret.” However, does the Magisterium fear the witches, their knowledge, or both?
Will’s story continues to develop further in this media adaptation. There are some hints in the books that Will’s father made arrangements for his family just in case something happened to him. Will learns he has living (paternal) grandparents, but soon realizes why his family is estranged from them. Not to mention, they are working with the authorities in the investigation about Will’s father. This scene embellishes Will’s fear of people looking for him.
Lyra’s search into what Dust is and her meeting with Dr. Mary Malone is from the books, precisely. Everything from Lyra using the alethiometer to her using Dr. Malone’s equipment, which confirms that both Dust and Dark Matter are the same thing. In my opinion, Dr. Malone’s research about Dust—known as Dark Matter to us—is explained better in the TV series than in the books. This could be because I read the books when I was in high school, and while I’ve heard of Dark Matter, I didn’t know enough about it to grasp the explanation of it in the books.
Lyra and Will share a heart-to-heart about their experiences, their situations, and their families. From there, they decide on what they have to do next. At the same time, a new Cardinal has been elected, and someone else has pinned-pointed Lyra’s location. And, the witches’ decision about war is made for them by their adversaries.
In all, The Cave was a better and a stronger episode than the previous one. Now, that all of the characters have a better understanding of themselves through their interactions with each other, they know what they have to do and are ready to follow up on those choices. War has been declared, the existence of worlds are starting to become recognized, and actions are about to be taken as the story continues. What will happen in the next episode?
My Rating: 8.5 out of 10
How does it compare to the book so far?
“The Subtle Knife” is the shortest book in the trilogy, so the TV show takes the time to develop the characters even more than in the books. So far, it’s a great adaptation. Note: there are 7 episodes in Season 2, instead of 8, like in Season 1.