The Golden Compass

Lyra is held prisoner in a prison cell at the disgusting bear palace with Jotham Santella, an eccentric professor who tells her about his rival at Oxford, Professor Trelawney. He tells her Iofur may be on his way, but he could not have an honorable fight with Iorek since he is an outcast (meaning he may be targeted) and that Iofur wants one thing above all else: a dæmon. This gives Lyra an idea. She asks about Lord Asriel, who she knows is also a prisoner there, but Jotham tells her Iofur is a little afraid of him and has given him equipment to study with, even though he locked up Lord Asriel at Mrs. Coulter’s request. After demanding to see Iofur, Lyra is escorted by a guard to his throne room, which appears eerily human-like, including a doll of Mrs. Coulter Iofur is using as his daemon. Lyra tells Iofur she is Iorek’s escaped dæmon, and she says that if Iofur beats Iorek in an honorable way, she will be his dæmon. To prove she is a dæmon, she lets Iofur ask her alethiometer questions, which she answers correctly. Iorek is getting close, and her alethiometer encourages her to trust in him.

Iofur gets ready for battle by dressing in his chainmail armor, and when Iorek arrives, Lyra tells him her plan. If Iorek wins, he will become bear king and get rid of the human decorations in the palace. If Iofur wins, he gets Lyra as his dæmon, and Iorek will be killed by cliff-ghosts. They fight, and Iorek almost knocks Iofur’s armor off, but Iorek is injured and bleeding badly. Iorek tricks Iofur by pretending to be hurt worse than he is, and when Iofur pounces on him, Iorek rips Iofur’s jaw off, grips his throat, and eats his heart. Iorek is restored to king of the bears and releases the human prisoners in the castle. Iorek dubs her Lyra “Silvertongue” for her ability to con Iofur, a name she takes proudly as her own. They discover Mrs. Coulter had a hand in influencing the events leading to Iorek’s exile. Lyra reunites with Roger and reads her alethiometer, which tells her both Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel desire something she has, but she assumes it is the alethiometer itself. She falls asleep as they prepare to travel to Lord Asriel.

Lyra and Roger go to the tower where Lord Asriel is being held prisoner, albeit in very nice conditions, with full equipment for his experiments, and with a good amount of freedom. He is planning to complete “the task that so terrified the Oblation Board” (318). They meet Thorold, the servant. When Lord Asriel sees Lyra at the door, he seems horrified until he sees Roger. Roger is unnerved by the way Lord Asriel looks at him, and Lyra offers to read her alethiometer, but Roger does not want to know. Lyra hides the fact that she knows Lord Asriel is her father, continuing to call him uncle. The children bathe and eat, and then Lyra chats with Lord Asriel alone and shares what she has learned, including their father-daughter relationship. They do not have a lot of respect for each other, and Lyra tells him she likes Iorek more than him. Lord Asriel brushes her off and tells her about the Dust, how they think it settles when children hit puberty and dæmons settle into a permanent form, and how theologians at the Magisterium believe it is a form of original sin.

He reads her some of Genesis and reveals his discovery, that the act of severing a child from their dæmon, which mirrors castration in the church, releases a large amount of energy. He explains that “Gobblers” are the General Oblation Board, which her mother uses to experiment with severing children from their dæmons  to avoid the Dust. However, he notes that they did not notice the immense release of energy at the severing of a daemon. Finally, he reveals that he believes the Dust comes from another dimension, and he intends to go to that other dimension to destroy Dust and stop death. Lyra tries to give him the alethiometer, but he does not want it.

Thorold wakes Lyra and tells her that Lord Asriel has taken Roger to finish his experiment. Lyra realizes she betrayed Roger by trusting Lord Asriel and putting Roger in harm’s way as a result. Lyra goes to Iorek and asks for help, and they chase after Lord Asriel, but on the way, they are attacked by enemy witches and Mrs. Coulter’s zeppelin is visible, filled with soldiers. The bears fight the witches as Iorek and Lyra carry on toward Lord Asriel until they reach a bridge, which is too damaged for Iorek to cross. Lyra says goodbye and crosses it with Pan.

Lyra and Pan chase after Lord Asriel, whose snow leopard dæmon holds Roger’s dæmon, Salcilia, in its mouth. Pan attacks the snow leopard, and Lyra and Roger get away, but the snow leopard catches Roger’s dæmon again, onto which Lord Asriel puts a wire. Roger stills and dies, and as he does, the Aurora breaks and splits, revealing another world of sunlight and palm trees. Lord Asriel seems to be controlling this breach between dimensions with the help of a witch. Suddenly Mrs. Coulter arrives, and to Lyra’s surprise, she passionately kisses Lord Asriel. He asks her to come with him into the new world, to team up and find the Dust, but after some hesitation, she refuses. Lord Asriel goes without her, and Mrs. Coulter leaves in tears. Lyra and Pan are distressed over Roger’s death, but they have the realization that if her parents and the Magisterium think the Dust is bad, then it is likely good and should be cherished. Hoping to save the Dust, they too cross over into the other world in the sky.