His Dark Materials hints Roger will be brutally sacrificed by Lord Asriel in season finale
THE finale of His Dark Materials’ debut season looks to be its darkest episode yet.
On Sunday night the fantasy drama will reach a grim climax – and it looks like Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) could prove to be just as treacherous as Mrs Coulter (Ruth Wilson).
The latest instalment saw Lyra (Dafne Keen) finally reunited with her father, who wasn’t exactly pleased to see her.
In fact, he teetered on losing his temper as he asked her: “What are you doing here? You need to go before…”
However, before he could usher her out of the secret dust research facility, his daemon made a cryptic observation, pointing out that Roger was also there.
A wave of relief washed over Asriel as he established that Roger used to work at Jordan College and has accompanied Lyra on her trip, although it was not immediately clear why.
“Roger Parsley, I am very pleased you came,” he said with an eerie grin.
In a teaser clip for next week’s episode, it seems that Asriel has sinister plans for Roger.
He promises to teach Lyra more about dust, specifically how it has the potential to build a bridge between worlds.
“Let’s go to the source, let’s ask what dust is,” he says, leaving Lyra wide-eyed.
However, a project of this undertaking requires sacrifice and Lyra seems to realise that the new frontier will come at the cost of Roger’s life.
“Where are they going? What does he want with him?” Lyra demands as Roger is escorted away.
The official synopsis doesn’t exactly bode well either.
“As the Magisterium closes in, Lyra learns more about Asriel's rebellion,” it reads.
“But her assistance to him comes at great personal cost.”
Is Lyra about to discover her father’s true nature in the run up to his master plan?
One thing’s for certain – season 2 is going to be dealing with a fallout of epic proportions.
Earlier this week fans were stunned as Lyra survived a horror plunge from a hot air balloon.
His Dark Materials concludes Sunday on BBC One at 8pm and is available to stream on iPlayer.