The last episode was fantastic so it is going to take a lot for this episode to live up to the last and unfortunately it doesn’t. The Fight to the Death is still a great episode with lots of action and mystery but compared to the previous instalment it isn’t as amazing.
This is the penultimate episode in this first series which sees Lyra played by Dafne Keen, as she destroys the polar bear monarchy by the use of a polar bear battle. This battle which sees the polar bear monarchy destroyed forever, is the long-awaited battle between Iorek (Joe Tandberg) and Iofur (Peter Serafinowicz). This battle is violent, just as you would expect any polar bear fight to be but it seems over every suddenly. It feels as if this fight should have lasted longer yet that would have required a lot more CGI.
In this episode we see Lyra grow even more into a hero, she is becoming braver and stronger as these episodes progress and that is down to Keen's performance growing stronger as the series has continued. Keen has shown she is a great physical actor and she can be emotional at times but her anger is more powerful in scenes than when she is upset.
It feels as if too much happen in this one episode as they know there is only episode left or it wasn’t possible to cut this episode into two individual episodes. With so much occurring, we are constantly engaged with what is happening but we don’t get time to process what is happening and the revelations that are revealed. Lyra is imprisoned due to Iofur until Iorek's arrival and fight to the dead. Once this fight is over, Lyra is freed from Svalbard and reunited with Lords Asriel (James McAvoy). We also see moments with Lee Scoresby whose scenes don’t really add that much to the overall episode and we see Mrs Coulter who is concerned and frustrated due to the events in the previous episode. That is a lot to happen in just an hour and yet it feels as if they had to rush this episode to get to a huge finale in the next episode.
With all that happening in that world, we also deal with events in 'our' world as things are progressing with Will (Amir Wilson). Will was introduced a lot earlier than expected yet now the screen version has caught up with the book version due to the opening scenes in The Subtle Knife, a worried Will drops his mum off with a trusted man before accidentally killing a man who invaded their home which sends Will on the run. Will and Lyra won’t meet in this series but it is exciting to see what kind of relationship they will have when they do meet. We have been given more of a backstory to Will's character, this has made him more likeable and we trust him yet are curious to see what will become of him.
All performances were strong in this episode, as mentioned above Keen has really grow in this episode. Although McAvoy's, Asriel may have had only a small amount of screen time in this episode yet his performance was outstanding. We have learnt that we don’t really like this character and that he can’t be trusted. He is constantly sending Lyra away and when she comes to rescue him, he tries to get her away. Yet once he sees her friend Roger, a sly smile crosses his face. All of a sudden, we are curious to know what he has been doing and is Roger safe? If you have read the books then you will already know the unexpected conclusion and what will happen. McAvoy's performance is intriguing and it is exciting to see what he'll be like in the finale episode.
In the finale we will see Asriel and Mrs Coulter finally face off and it makes us question who we and Lyra should be more afraid of. As of right now both appear as dangerous and deadly, who will cause harm to our beloved characters. A lot happened in this penultimate episode, maybe a bit too much as we didn’t get to savour particular narrative moments. The final episode is going to interesting to see if it has the impact, we want to draw this series to a conclusion and what surprises may be in store for us?
