Shadow Particles: A His Dark Materials Companion Podcast

Season 3 Episode 3: The Intention Craft with Wesley

2022-12-24T12:00:00Z

Wesley from the Bookwarm Games podcast joins Evan to discuss Season 3 Episode 3: The Intention Craft. With Iorek’s help, Lyra and Will attempt to mend the subtle knife — as well as their differing opinions on Lyra’s plan to go to the Land of the Dead. Meanwhile, Asriel takes Mrs. Coulter captive and the two spar over Lyra and his war, leading to Coulter stealing the titular Intention Craft.

Email questions and responses to shadowparticlespodcast@gmail.com! Podcast art photo courtesy of WillGrunenthalsART, licensed via Creative Commons: https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/c4c89e77-86e3-4217-ba51-14abdc8445b9

Season 3 Episode 2: The Break with Winston

2022-12-19T12:00:00Z

New guest Winston joins Evan to discuss Season 3 Episode 2: The Break. Mrs. Coulter is holed up with Lyra while Will, The Magisterium, and Asriel converge on her location. Featuring a stellar Ruth Wilson performance, some great moments for Will, and more details on Lord Asriel’s war with the Authority. Once again the guest’s audio was pretty rough, but I did my best to clean it up. Sorry if he’s a little hard to hear at times!

Season 3 Episode 1: The Enchanted Sleeper with Mia

2022-12-11T12:00:00Z

Shadow Particles returns for Season 3 of His Dark Materials! This season Evan will be covering one episode per week, ignoring the TV series’ screwy release schedule: two episodes per week on HBO, with the entire show dropping on BBC on December 18. Our first guest is Mia, a.k.a. @buttpraxis, a returning guest who forgot about Season 2 entirely (don’t worry, she read the books). Production note: Mia had to record from her AirPods so the audio quality is not great, my apologies!

Season 2 Episode 7: Æsahættr with Renee

2020-12-30T12:00:00Z

Evan discusses the Season 2 finale with returning guest Renee. Will finally meets his father, Mrs. Coulter kidnaps Lyra, and we see some major character deaths and the return of two big characters from season 1. Thanks for listening! See you next season!

Season 2 Episode 6: Malice with @jeffinitelyjeff

2020-12-24T12:00:00Z

Evan discusses Episode 6 of Season 2 with Jeff Ruberg, a.k.a. @jeffinitelyjeff (host of the Love It Or Weeb It and Podigious podcasts). This episode is a bit of a bridge, setting us up for the finale, but it still has a few high points. Mrs. Coulter’s terrifying confrontation with the Spectres and a big twist in her relationship with Boreal, the revelation of Lyra’s “other name,” and a high-flying chase scene with Lee and Jopari!

Season 2 Episode 5: The Scholar with @illegenes

2020-12-21T12:00:00Z

Evan discusses Episode 5 of Season 2 with Natasha, a.k.a. @illegenes (check out her anime blogging on Isn’t It Electrifying). It’s a high-stakes heist episode in which Lyra and Will sneak into Lord Boreal’s house, but we spend a lot of time talking about the incredible amount of character development Mrs. Coulter gets as she explores a world in which women are far more free than they are in her world.

Season 2 Episode 4: Tower of the Angels with @tiffysniffs

2020-12-10T12:00:00Z

Evan discusses Episode 4 of Season 2 with Tiffany, a.k.a. @tiffysniffs, another huge fan of the books! This episode is the most exciting one yet, with multiple action scenes and the long-awaited introduction of the Subtle Knife and Stanislaus Grumman. Plus: Lyra and Will’s relationship just keeps getting more complex and satisfying as the series goes on!

Season 2 Episode 3: Theft with @sasuraiger

2020-12-03T12:00:00Z

Evan discusses Episode 3 of Season 2 with Dave, a.k.a. @sasuraiger, the first non-book reader guest of Season 2! This episode has got some more development in Lyra and Will’s relationship, the titular theft of the alethiometer by Lord Boreal, and an incredible interrogation scene between Mrs. Coulter and Lee! Plus: Iorek, the return of Evan’s Dæmon Corner, and entirely too much talking about Paddington.

Season 2 Episode 2: The Cave with @caraesten

2020-11-27T12:00:00Z

Returning guest Cara joins Evan to discuss Episode 2 of Season 2. Lyra explores Will’s Oxford and meets the wonderful Mary Malone (one of Evan’s favorite characters), Mrs. Coulter orchestrates Father McPhail’s rise to power, plus lots of great little moments of character development. Apologies for the audio quality; Cara had to record using her iPad!

Season 2 Episode 1: The City of Magpies with @liamdanger

2020-11-18T12:00:00Z

Shadow Particles is back for His Dark Materials Season 2! Returning host Evan Minto and first-time guest Liam Campbell gush about Lyra and Will’s first meeting and the show-don’t-tell character writing that sets this first episode off from Season 1. Plus a whole lot of appreciation for the renewed focus on dæmons in this season!

Episode 8: Betrayal with @QX20XX

2020-01-04T00:00:00Z

Evan is joined by his Ani-Gamers Podcast co-host David Estrella (@QX20XX) to wrap up the first season of His Dark Materials. The season finale, “Betrayal,” shows a darker side of Lord Asriel and ups the story’s stakes to cosmic levels. Since this is the season finale, we go a little longer than usual, discussing not just the episode itself but also the season as a whole and David’s predictions for Season 2. This will be the last podcast for a while, but stay tuned for more podcasts once Season 2 gets started later this year. Thanks for listening!

Episode 7: The Fight to the Death with Renee

2019-12-22T12:00:00Z

Evan sits down with his friend Renee to discuss the seventh and second-to-last episode of His Dark Materials Season 1: “The Fight to the Death.” This is a jam-packed episode covering Iorek’s battle with Iofur over the right to rule the Svalbard bears, Lyra’s reunion with Asriel, and Will’s fight to protect his home from Boreal’s henchmen. The episode has a few problems, including overly fast pacing and a relatively short stay in Svalbard, but it ends on a tense cliffhanger leading into the season finale!

Episode 6: The Daemon-Cages with @WanderinDreamr

2019-12-12T00:00:00Z

Evan sits down with Helen (@WanderinDreamr) to chat about the sixth episode of His Dark Materials: “The Daemon-Cages.” We finally get a glimpse into Bolvangar and the experiments that the Magisterium has been conducting, as well as some more excellent Lyra and Mrs. Coulter content. However, the conspicuous lack of dæmons in some of the scenes is beginning to get in the way of the core themes of the story.

Episode 5: The Lost Boy with @illegenes

2019-12-05T00:00:00Z

This episode Evan talks to Natasha (@illegenes) about the fifth episode of His Dark Materials: “The Lost Boy.” Things are really kicking into gear now, with Lyra and the Gyptians discovering the true nature of the Magisterium’s operations at Bolvangar and the introduction of one extremely important character from The Subtle Knife! Also we will never stop talking about Best Boy Iorek Byrnison and his powerful tired dad energy.

Episode 4: Armour with @kyle_cardine

2019-11-27T00:00:00Z

Once again Evan is joined by a guest who hasn’t read the books: Kyle (@kyle_cardine) comes on the show to talk about the fourth episode of His Dark Materials: “Armour.” We discuss the introductions of Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison, Lyra and Lee’s banter, Mrs. Coulter’s ability to control the men of the Magisterium, and more of the mechanics of dæmons. And we just keep coming back to Iorek Byrnison because he’s great.

Episode 3: The Spies with @jeffinitelyjeff

2019-11-21T00:00:00Z

Evan is joined by series newcomer Jeff (@jeffinitelyjeff) to talk about the third episode of His Dark Materials: “The Spies,” which focuses on the Gyptians and features another entry in the continuing adventure of Lord Boreal Doing Regular Things. Evan’s curious to hear what Jeff thinks is working so far and what’s not, without the bias of having read the books.

Episode 2: The Idea of North with @caraesten

2019-11-14T00:00:00Z

Evan is joined by Cara (@caraesten) to talk about the second episode of His Dark Materials: The Idea of North,” which surprised us both with a bunch of twists delivered much earlier than they are in the books!

Episode 1: Lyra’s Jordan with @buttpraxis

2019-11-10T00:00:00Z

Our inaugural episode! Host Evan Minto sits down with Mia (@buttpraxis) to talk about the first episode of His Dark Materials: “Lyra’s Jordan.”