The Break
In a moment of intense revelation, Balthamos tells Will that he has been watching him from the other side for eons and has been able to sense his presence. The bond between angels is so strong that they can sense one another across large distances. In this instance, Balthamos can sense his brethren getting close to Asriel.
Lyra has a bad dream in which she is whisked to the Land of the Dead. There, she sees Roger but as she calls out for him, she suddenly wakes up in bed, still under Coulter’s watchful gaze. ..
Queen Ruta Skadi and her demon Sergi have assembled an army, including Ruta’s clan and the Lake Lubana witch clan. They’re a vital part of Asriel’s counsel, and Ruta recommended bringing Ogunwe onboard. The reputation of his soldiers precedes him, however Asriel is quick to point out that they need a vast number more at their disposal to provoke the Authority. They need to force Him to show His face, and when that happens they’ll need the numbers.
Asriel is worried about Lyra and the possible danger she’s in. He scoffs at the idea that she’s just a child and doesn’t deserve to be in danger like Eve is said to be.
Anyway, the angel interrupts them and reveals that they’ve found the God Killer. They know this is about Will, as he’s en route to Lyra and Asriel. Unfortunately for Will, the Angel is in love with Balthamos, who finds out. Before the Angel can tell him anything, Balthamos arrives and interrupts them.
The angel working with the Authority, Alarbus, is imprisoned by Asriel who begins torturing the creature for information. Alarbus unveils that the new Regent, known colloquially as Metatron, intends to control Dust and make all domains bend the knee to his will. ..
Asriel is determined to bring his leader out of hiding. He learned that those in the Kingdom of Heaven don’t even know Asriel’s name, and he’s more determined than ever to remedy that.
The soldier’s story could tell us a lot about the future of Dust.
Meanwhile, Mrs Coulter has been expecting Will, and knows that he has the knife too. She steps forward to confront him, but is quickly tackled by Balthamos. Lyra then steps out of her bedroom and sees Mrs Coulter being tackled, and she immediately runs to help.
Coulter is well aware that the Magisterium believe Lyra is Eve and she’s quick to point out that they’ll stop her no matter what. As for Coulter, she’s keeping Lyra dosed and asleep as she knows her daughter will just run away if she awakens. Despite believing she’s doing right by Lyra, Will is not quick to believe this silver-tongued woman and leaves, unsatisfied with her explanation. ..
Asriel, a secret agent of the Authority, learns of Mrs. Coulter and Lyra’s location from his secret agent. He decides to head there himself to intercept them. He is not particularly interested in saving Lyra but does want to take the God Killer for himself.
Mrs Coulter notices the Authority arriving and decides to have her daemon smash a rock against her head, blaming it on Will and claiming he’s taken Lyra away. The lie is a tepid one, and does little to quell Father Macphail and his followers, in particular Father Gomez. ..
Balthamos decides to leave the group in light of all the drama, believing that the human aspect of the situation is more important, while Will cuts a hole in reality once more and leaves. This is unknown to Asriel who is still inbound. But wait, Will suddenly cuts a hole in the fabric of reality once more, and arrives right in the middle of the hut. Why didn’t he just do this originally rather than getting a boat and taking an age to arrive? ..
Lyra is saved by Will and he tries to take her away, but unfortunately Mrs Coulter’s venomous words cut deeper than that knife ever could. In fact, it distracts him so much that he ends up shattering the knife into pieces!
With very little to his name, Mrs Coulter grabs Gomez’s gun and holds him captive. That is, until Salmakia, the fairy spy we’ve been hearing from, stings Coulter and encourages them to follow. As they head outside, the whole place erupts into gunfire but Iorek jumps in to stop the Authority, long enough for Will to head through another gap in reality. As they leave, Asriel shows up and realizes he’s too late.
The Episode Review
The second season of His Dark Materials is starting to pick up and it’s great to see Lyra and Will working together as a team. Asriel is flirting that line between hero and villain in a great way, making it clear who will come out on top in the end.
In this chapter, the novel steps up the drama by introducing new characters and giving more background on old ones. I’m expecting that the story will continue to develop in next week’s episode, which should be a blockbuster.
