WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for His Dark Materials, Season 2, Episode 7, "Æsahættr," which aired Monday on HBO.
His Dark Materials Season 2 introduced several new characters, including Dr. Mary Malone, a physicist studying dark matter in Will's world, and the sisters Angelica and Paola, who are living alone with Cittagàzze's other children when Will and Lyra arrive in the city. Similarly, the actors Oliver Monaghan and I-Kay Agu were cast to play the angels Baruch and Balthamos ahead of Season 2's premiere. It turns out, though, the pair were later cut and, consequently, won't appear on the show until Season 3.
In Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials book trilogy, Baruch and Balthamos are lovers who play a significant role in the events of the third novel, The Amber Spyglass. The two initially approach Will at the end of the second book, The Subtle Knife, in hopes of convincing him to follow them and bring the subtle knife to Lord Asriel. However, Will refuses to do so until he's found Lyra, who's only just been kidnapped by her mother, Mrs. Coulter, after she tracked Lyra and Will to the mountains near Cittagàzze.
During a Twitter Q&A with His Dark Materials showrunner Jack Thorne, it was revealed a scene had originally been written for Baruch and Balthamos in Season 2. However, according to Thorne, "the mechanics of series 3 (when we started discussing it) for lots of complicated reasons meant it was best to end without them." He went on to assure fans the two are featured "very heavily" in the scripts for the show's recently confirmed Season 3, describing them as "magnificent to write."
Rather than having Baruch and Balthamos meet Will, the His Dark Materials Season 2 finale ended his storyline with Will finally reuniting with his father John, aka Jopari. Before being shot and killed by a Magisterium agent, John pushes Will to embrace his destiny as the new Knife Bearer and tells him the angels will guide him on his journey. In addition to deciding Baruch and Balthamos' debut was best saved for Season 3, it's possible Thorne and his writing staff were concerned their inclusion in the Season 2 finale would've lessened the emotional impact of Will and John's final moments together.
Still, while viewers will have to wait to see Baruch and Balthamos until His Dark Materials Season 3, they did get a glimpse of several other angels in the Season 2 finale. The episode ends with Asriel in a barren-looking location calling out to the angels, who eventually appear and agree to support him in his war against the Authority. It's a big hint that the angels will play a major role in Season 3 after quietly manipulating the events of Season 2, similar to how they did in Pullman's books.
His Dark Materials Season 2 stars Dafne Keen as Lyra, Amir Wilson as Will Parry, Ruth Wilson as Marisa Coulter, Lin-Manuel Miranda as Lee Scoresby and Andrew Scott as John Parry. The complete season is available on HBO Max.