Two major new characters showed up on His Dark Materials tonight and they both play a significant role in the story moving forward. One was the Armored Bear, Iorek Byrnison, and the other was the aeronaut Lee Scoresby.
Here is everything you need to know about Lee Scoresby and the actor who plays him, Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Who is Lee Scoresby on His Dark Materials?
Lee Scoresby is a bit different on His Dark Materials on HBO than he was in the movie, The Golden Compass, or the books the show is based on.
Instead of being an older man who joined up with Jon Parry and Lyra, he is younger and very spunky on the HBO version. This does work well as it gives him a little more connection with the younger Lyra as well as the Armored Bear, Iorek Byrnison.
The story about how Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison connected was pulled from the spin-off novel, Once Upon a Time in the North.
On His Dark Materials, both Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison become allies with Lyra and the Gyptians in their battle with the Gobblers and the search for the missing children.
Who is Lin-Manuel Miranda?
Lin-Manuel Miranda is an actor, producer, director, and playwright who was responsible for the biggest Broadway musical of the last decade.
After Miranda won a Tony Award for his work writing the lyrics and music for In the Heights in 2008, he moved on to the massively popular and successful Hamilton.
After reading the Ron Chernow biography of Alexander Hamilton, Miranda wrote a rap about Hamilton that he performed at the White House Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word, on May 12, 2009.
That was just the start. By 2015, Miranda had worked to expand and create Hamilton: An American Musical, which premiered in 2015 and hit Broadway later in the year.
On top of Hamilton, Miranda also helped create the music for the Disney movie Moana, contributed music to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and is writing the songs for the upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.
His Dark Materials airs on Mondays on HBO at 9 p.m. ET/PT.