His Dark Materials
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His Dark Materials

The Lost Boy is the fifth episode in the first series of the TV series. It was released on 1 December on BBC On and on 2 December on HBO and was watched over 8 million times during the four weeks following the release in the UK.

This episode takes place mainly in the North, following Lyra Belacqua and the gyptians, as well as Oxford in another world, following William Parry and his mother.

Plot[]

As the gyptians, Lyra Belacqua, Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison travel from Trollesund, Kaisa tells of the prophecy that the witches have heard from immortals about Lyra and how she will not walk alone as there is a boy who will travel and who will help her, Will Parry. Lee is riding on the vehicle which carries his balloon as the gyptians walk beside him; he says that Kaisa is a better eye in the sky than he is in his balloon. As Will arrives at his house, Carlo Boreal and an agent wait outside in a car, discussing the family.

John Faa asks Lyra to use her alethiometer to see how Bolvangar is guarded and, after she gains the answer, it goes on to warn her of something else. She reports to Coram van Texel to report it: there is a ghost in a nearby village. Coram asks her if they should stop looking for the kidnapped children just for a ghost and that she should explain to Ma Costa that she wants to abandon her search for Billy Costa to look for it; he refuses her. Lyra goes to Ma and asks her to trust the alethiometer about the ghost.

In Will's world, Will is called names at his school. Meanwhile, at his house, Elaine Parry exits and walks down the lane but is interrupted by Carlo who approaches him who tells her he knew John Parry. Elaine is shocked but says little except that he has died. Carlo feigns surprise and gives her his number if there is anything that he can help with, giving the name Charles Latrom. Whilst boxing, Will is losing to another boy however the match is halted when his mother walks in, saying she was looking for him to talk to after the man approached him. When his mother decides to leave, the other boy mocks Will however Will hits him and the two get into a fight, broken apart by their coach.

Elaine

Elaine talking to Will

Will leaves the building and goes after his mother who apologises for visiting him before telling him about the man. Will goes inside to get his kit and leave when his coach approaches him, asking about his mother and telling him that she might need care. After Will says no, the coach reminds Will his door is always open.

In Lyra's world, Serafina Pekkala visits Coram to talk about their fight and they begin talking about age and witch politics. During the conversation, Coram brings up their son and breaks down into tears. Serafina kisses him before flying away.

Writing case

Green leather writing case

Lyra goes to John and John trusts her to the safety of Iorek. Iorek agrees to look after her and Lyra vows to be back before the following night. They both depart, crossing the snow and looking for the ghost. At Will's house, Elaine tells Will how like his father he really is, how kind and good at cooking. Elaine then realises that someone has entered the house as there have been disturbances, she hurridly checks for her green leather writing case and is comforted knowing that it is still there. She tells Will the truth about what is inside it: letters from his father.

During a break in travelling, Lyra talks to Iorek about him being lonely whilst eating. They also talk about Svalbard and Lyra tells him that her father, Lord Asriel, is being kept prisoner there. Iorek tells her that panserbjørne were made to be lonely, without dæmons.

In his house, Will goes looking for his mother to say goodnight to but stumbles upon the room with the writing case. He goes towards the cupboard where it's being kept and goes to get it when his mother comes in. She tells him it's alright to read it but Will refuses and tells her goodnight.

Fish-house

The fish-house

After finally arriving at the Arctic village, Lyra approaches the fish-house, extremely scared, leaving Iorek at the entrance. Upon entering and passing through the rows of fish, she spies a boy lying there and goes up to him, recognising him as Billy but sees he doesn't have a dæmon. Shocked, she takes him to the gyptian camp in the hope of getting him help. Upon seeing him, Ma immediately takes him into a nearby tent to get him warm, Tony Costa follows her, but Lyra is held back by Lee who takes her to get some sleep.

Billy death

Ma and Tony next to Billy's body

In the tent, Ma lays him down and sings to him, letting him die in peace with his family surrounding him. In Will's world, Elaine is up in the night and goes to the door to let her cat, Moxie, in however spies a car outside with the agent insidea and gets frightened. Meanwhile, Thomas and Carlo talk about John and how he must have known about the window he went through as he put money in a bank, allowing it to feed into his family's bank.

At some point, Lee wakes Lyra and she guesses that Billy has died. They both go outside and watch as Ma cremates him after Lyra looks at him one last time. The gyptians sing, mourning his death and Lyra begins to sob. Afterwards, whilst Lyra is back inside the tent, some men enter the village, killing several gyptians and awakening Lyra who then goes outside. Whilst she is looking around, one sneaks up on her, grabbing her from behind and putting her in a sledge. They take her to Bolvangar where Dr Cooper converses with one of the men in Finnish, before asking Lyra for her name in English, which Lyra claims is Lizzie Brooks.

Sister Clara is given Lyra and she is called a 'Category A' as her dæmon, although it still changes form, is close to settling. One of the nurses then informs her that they are going to inspect her to check she is healthy and that she should remove her clothes. Lyra does so unwillingly and, upon seeing the clothes they were going to give her, she decides that it is Bolvangar.[1]

Release[]

"The Lost Boy" comes from the title of the twelfth chapter of Northern Lights. The original release was on 1 December on BBC One at 8pm GMT in the UK[2] and on 2 December on HBO at 9pm ET in the US[3] and was watched by 6.689 million in the week following the release and over 8.073 times during the 28 days afterwards.[4] In the US, it was watched by around 467 000 viewers live.[5]

Cast[]

Main article: His Dark Materials (TV series)#Cast

Videos[]

External links[]

References[]

His Dark Materials TV episodes
Series 1 Lyra's JordanThe Idea of NorthThe SpiesArmourThe Lost BoyThe Daemon-CagesThe Fight to the DeathBetrayal
Series 2 The City of MagpiesThe CaveTheftTower of the AngelsThe ScholarMaliceÆsahættr
Series 3 The Enchanted SleeperThe BreakThe Intention CraftLyra and Her DeathNo Way OutThe AbyssThe Clouded MountainThe Botanic Garden
Other Making His Dark Materials
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