Lyra (Dafne Keen) certainly found herself in a predicament at the end of the second season of His Dark Materials from BBC One and HBO. We see her back in the hands of Marisa Coulter (Ruth Wilson), seemingly drugged and locked in a trunk , calling out to Roger as war with the Authority looms. So where will Season three take us? Show producers and the cast took to the stage at New York Comic Con today to give us a glimpse into the show’s third and final season.

His Dark Materials; HBO
Executive Producer Dan McCulloch, James McAvoy, Amir Wilson, and Executive Producer Jane Tranter discuss His Dark Materials at NYCC 2022. (Image: JJ Goodman/That Hashtag Show)

Based on the books by Phillip Pullman, His Dark Materials follows Lyra, a young girl at the center of a witches’ prophecy and dark happenings with a substance simply and ominously referred to as “Dust.” The first two seasons track the first two books of Pullman’s trilogy, with the new season set to follow The Amber Spyglass, the last in the series. At a panel at NYCCC 2022 today, Executive Producer Jane Tranter hinted at “spectacular” things to come in Season 3. Those include visits to multiple, new locations, including the Clouded Mountain and the Land of the Dead.

His Dark Materials promises “epic” third season

His Dark Materials
Image: BBC

Cast members James McAvoy (Asriel), Amir Wilson (Will), and Dafne Keen (remotely) all chimed in about their collective excitement for His Dark Materials, Season 3. McAvoy especially promised a complex turn in his character’s arc. “He definitely has bigger things on his plate than fatherhood,” said the Scottish actor of Asriel. His character, though, will discover a hard truth in that “the means need to be as full of integrity as the ends,” said McAvoy. That’s a lesson he’ll learn from Lyra.

Lyra, for her part, will truly come into her own in Season 3. Keen hinted that the final season of His Dark Materials will see Lyra dive deeper into her relationship with Mrs. Coulter. “The goodness and greatness that makes Lyra precious,” Tranter explains, will be put to the test. In Season 3, Lyra faces more “adult themes” than she had through the first two seasons.

Surprises for Season 3

Image: HBO

Fans in attendance got a first glimpse at the new season, which included the surprise return (SPOILER) Lin Manuel Miranda to the cast. Ruth Wilson, in a recorded message, described Season 3 succinctly:

“It is going to be epic.”

His Dark Materials returns to BBC One and HBO December 3rd with a two-episode premiere.  Two new episodes drop each week thereafter until the series finale on December 26th.