Immediately after the conclusion of Game of Thrones, HBO began airing another beloved fantasy adaptation of a book series, His Dark Materials. Based on Philip Pullman's trilogy, the series ran for three seasons. The network failed to capture the attention of Game of Thrones fans by airing new episodes on Monday nights instead of the traditional Sunday slots. However, in the long run, His Dark Materials' avoidance of comparisons with Westeros proved beneficial. It is worth noting that there has been no sequel to the unsuccessful 2007 film The Golden Compass. This is the only production available as a screen adaptation of the second two books, and it is indeed quite successful.

The series follows a young girl named Lyra Belacqua (Daphne Keen) who leaves home to search for a missing friend. Keen is better known as Laura or X-23 from Logan and Deadpool & Wolverine. The other main character alongside Lyra, Will Parry, is portrayed by Amir Wilson. The series also features Kit Connor, known from Heartstopper, as the voice of Lyra's animal daemon, Pantalaimon. Many famous names such as James McAvoy, Ruth Wilson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Andrew Scott (and his daemon's voice, Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Bella Ramsey, Harry Melling, and Sophie Okonedo are also part of this impressive cast!

Book fans were cautious throughout the series, but His Dark Materials made several bold adaptation choices that paid off. For instance, although the character Will Parry appears in the second book, The Subtle Knife, he was introduced in the first season. This improved the pacing of the series by giving viewers more time with the character. Even the stories set in alternate universes felt interconnected. Since the book trilogy was completed and published decades before the HBO series, they had the opportunity to adapt the first two books with the third book and the conclusion of the His Dark Materials series in mind. This was a luxury not afforded to Game of Thrones.