The Golden Compass

Lyra watches as the Master greets Lord Asriel, and the Scholars enter to see Lord Asriel’s findings. Lord Asriel shows images of the north with a projector and lantern. Lyra hears the Master and librarian exchanging whispers about how Lord Asriel caught onto their plot to kill him with the poisoned wine. They are concerned he will cause political issues with his findings. Lord Asriel shows a photo with a special filter that reveals something he calls “Dust.” The Dust is not on a dæmon as the scholars think, but on a child. Lord Asriel shows them a picture of a city in the middle of the Aurora. He takes out the severed head of Sanislaus Gunman, a former scholar at the college who was scalped by the Tartars in Svalbard. The Dean asserts the possibility that the panserbjørn, a species of ferocious bears who live in Svalbard, may have attempted this murder in the Tartar fashion, but the scholars argue that it is not possible. Iofur Raknison, an armored bear, wants a dæmon.

Lyra falls asleep, and her uncle, Lord Asriel, wakes her up. She wants to go with him to the north. The Librarian and Master chat late at night about Lord Asriel and the Oblation Board. They discuss Lyra’s role in this and the knowledge that she must betray someone. They worry about her and want to help her fulfill what she must experience even though it will be terrible for her.

Lyra loves Jordan College and its reputation in Oxford and beyond. She often explores it and has many questions about the nature of experimental theology but knows about as much as the kids she plays with in the streets. Even at Oxford, Lyra and her peers had rivalries with the children of other colleges. Lyra often plays with her best friend, Roger. She is curious and wants to know more about the Dust.

Along the River Isis, there is a place called Limehouse where a boy, Tony Makarios, is snatched. He is eating a pie when a beautiful young woman with a monkey dæmon approaches him. She comes across as kind and offers him chocolatl, stating she has too much. He goes with the beautiful woman and will never be seen again. Tony is just one of many children who is snatched by the beautiful woman who has collected pre-pubescent children. Though the missing children are “street urchins,” there are so many that go missing that the authorities begin to take notice. Rumors of “the Gobblers,” or mysterious kidnappers, begin to spread as people try to imagine where the children are going; one of the most prominent rumors is that the Tartars are taking them to be eaten. Lyra and Roger play Gobblers, which always leads them to new places.

One day, they find the crypt below the oratory, where dead men are laid to rest with an image of their dæmons on their coffins. Lyra lifts a skull from one of the coffins and finds a coin with a man’s cat dæmon on it. Pan scolds her to put it back, and Roger is also uneasy with Lyra’s behavior. The Intercessor, Father Heyst, who led the college’s services, knows they go exploring in the crypt. He is not angry with Lyra but sends Roger away to go work. He asks if she wants to meet other children like her, meaning high society children, but she declines and he sends her on her way.

She goes back to the streets to play with the kids, but the Gobblers have returned to Oxford, which Lyra learns about through a gyptian with a hawk daemon whose son, Billy, went missing. Her name is Ma Costa, and Lyra admires her for her strength and ferocity. Lyra tries to help Ma Costa find her son with some of her friends, but they are unsuccessful. Suddenly, Lyra realizes Roger is also missing. She is mad because no one seems to care that he is missing as much as she does. Mrs. Lonsdale, the Housekeeper, instructs her to clean herself up. She does not want to, but she has to as she is meeting someone. The Master introduces Lyra to his guests, Mrs. Coulter and her golden monkey daemon.

Mrs. Coulter shows kindness and interest in Lyra in a way that makes Lyra enamored of her, especially since Mrs. Coulter is an explorer. Mrs. Coulter reveals she knows Lord Asriel and tells Lyra they met at the Royal Arctic Institute. The Master asks if Lyra enjoyed spending time with Mrs. Coulter, and she says yes. The Master has a frank conversation with Lyra about leaving the school, and even though she is initially resistant, she is won over by the idea of living with Mrs. Coulter. Lyra learns she will travel north with Mrs. Coulter as her assistant, and she is ecstatic to learn everything Mrs. Coulter knows. They have plans to leave the next day in the zeppelin. Pan is restless, and Mrs. Lonsdale wakes them up. Lyra goes to see the Master as instructed straight away. He gives her the alethiometer, one of only six that were ever made, which is a kind of compass that can show the truth if one can learn how to read its cryptic symbols. He instructs her to trust herself and keep it hidden from Mrs. Coulter. Then, he sends her along.

She says goodbye to everyone and remembers Roger is still missing, though she thinks Mrs. Coulter will help her find him. She boards the zeppelin and travels to London with Mrs. Coulter, where she sees her strikingly beautiful house. Lyra and Mrs. Coulter have lunch at the Royal Arctic Institute and later shop for clothes. At home, Mrs. Coulter gently washes Lyra’s hair, and when Pan shoots her a look, Mrs. Coulter shoots one back, prompting Pan to turn away from Lyra out of respect for her privacy for the first time ever. Lyra loves her room and looks at the alethiometer as she talks to Pan about it. Mrs. Coulter instructs Lyra to go to sleep, and Lyra hides the alethiometer under her pillow. She is torn about to whom she owes her allegiance: the Master, who tried to poison Lord Asriel, or Mrs. Coulter. For now, she is protecting the alethiometer as the Master instructed her to do.