Your Dark Materialists are gobsmacked by these compact and thrilling final chapters filled with wonder, deception, epic battle and tragedy. We cannot wait to find out what happens in The Subtle Knife!
After falling asleep by the fire, Lyra is suddenly awakened by Lord Asriel’s servant, Thorold, who is trembling and frantic. He tells Lyra that Lord Asriel has kidnapped Roger and Lyra realizes Lord Asriel is going to cut Roger’s daemon away in order to harness the loose energy and open a door to another universe. She enlists the help of Iorek Byrnison and his bears to track Roger and Lord Asriel across the ice. Suddenly, dozens of witches circle high above and attack the small band of bears. A heavily armed zeppelin carrying Mrs. Coulter also joins the fight. Iorek and Lyra must rush off after Lord Asriel, leaving the remaining panserbjorne to keep the witches, Tartars, and Mrs. Coulter’s soldiers at bay. Iorek takes Lyra as far up the frozen mountain as he can to a bridge of compacted snow but it is unable to bear his weight, so he must send Lyra on alone. At the top of the mountain, Lord Asriel works to set up his instruments, pushing away a pleading, crying Roger while Stellmaria clutches Roger’s daemon in her mouth. Lyra and Pan battle fiercely for their friend and manage to briefly free Roger and his daemon but Stellmaria gets a hold of Roger’s daemon once more, hindering their escape. In the struggle, the cliff of snow beneath Lyra and Roger gives way. As they fall, Roger is severed from his daemon. The burst of energy tears open the sky and reveals the gateway to another world. To Lyra’s surprise, Mrs. Coulter appears and instead of dismissing her, Lord Asriel asks her to come to the new world with him. He tells her that he’s going to find the source of Dust and destroy it. Mrs. Coulter refuses to come and Lord Asriel walks away into the other world. Pan convinces Lyra that if Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter hate Dust, then it must actually be a good thing. She and Pantalaimon decide to go and look for the source of Dust themselves. Battling both fear and doubt, they leave Roger’s body in the snow on the mountaintop and bravely walk into the sunny new world.