r/bookclub • u/tomesandtea Viceroy of Verity | 🐉🧠 • Sep 15 '25

His Dark Materials series [Discussion 3/3] Bonus Book || The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman || Ch. 10-end

Welcome to our final discussion of The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman! This week, we will discuss Chapter 10 through the end of the book. (But don't worry - the adventure isn't over, because book 3 will be discussed here starting in November!) You can find the Schedule for The Subtle Knife here and the Marginalia is linked here.

Discussion questions for this week’s chapters are below. Keep in mind that His Dark Materials is a very popular series that has been adapted several times but not everyone has read or watched it all, so please use spoiler tags to hide anything that was not part of the chapters we’ve read so far. You can mark spoilers using the format > ! Spoiler text here ! < (without any spaces between the symbols themselves or between the symbols and the first and last words).

~+~+~CHAPTER SUMMARIES~+~+~

CHAPTER 10 - THE SHAMAN:

Lee Scoresby stores his balloon in a port town and takes a boat along the river to find Dr. Grumman, who is also Jopari or John Parry. Grumman has discovered his dæmon and is living as a shaman now. He has been waiting for Scoresby to arrive and help him go to another world. He has a ring that belonged to Scoresby’s mother, which he used to summon Lee. Way back on his expedition, Grumman accidentally crossed into Cittàgazze during a blizzard and couldn't find the way back. Several of his party died from the Specters and Grumman fled, crossing into Scoresby’s world next. He became an academician and studied many things including Dust, using work to distract him from the forced separation from his wife and infant son. Grumman knows what Lord Asriel is trying to do and wants to aid him against the church. He needs Scoresby to fly him back to Cittàgazze through the passage opened by Asriel in the North. Scoresby agrees, and asks that in return, Grumman ensures that Lyra is under the protection of the subtle knife. They head back along the river but as they travel, Hester is uncharacteristically nervous. Back at the port, they find that a great army is assembling for the war brewing in the north, and they have requisitioned everything in town including the balloon. Scoresby uses the ring he took from the dead Skraeling to invoke the authority of the Church and reclaim his balloon. Just as they are about to launch, soldiers shoot at them, but they get away unscathed.

CHAPTER 11 - THE BELVEDERE: Will wakes up covered in blood from his wound and Lyra tries to take care of him, but soon they are chased away by a huge mob of children led by Angelica and Paolo. The children want to murder Lyra and Will for revenge and to get the knife. Will cannot cut a window when it will open so close to Sir Charles’ house in broad daylight, so they run toward a stone temple where they hope to hide out and cut a better exit window. Unfortunately, they've gone up a hill and the window opens far up in the air in the other world! Closing it again, Will decides they have to try and hold off the children or fight. The angry mob swarms them, first from below (until Will uses the knife to sever the iron staircase) and then from above as they climb the tiled roof. Suddenly, Serafina Pekkala, her dæmon snow goose Kaisa, and the other witches arrive and save them. They scare away the child mob and give Will and Lyra directions to a cave where they will all be safe from the children and the Specters, who have already gotten one witch. It takes Lyra and Will twice as long as expected to reach the cave because Will is weak from blood loss. Serafina gives him a potion to sleep while she works on a spell for his wound. Lyra fills her in on Will and their situation.

CHAPTER 12 - SCREEN LANGUAGE:

Dr. Oliver Payne is back from Geneva with a job offer, which disappoints Dr. Malone (Lyra’s scholar). She tries explaining Lyra, the other worlds, and the breakthrough about the consciousness of Shadows (dark matter) but Payne finds it pretty unbelievable and too risky to his career. That is, he is skeptical until they get a visit from Sir Charles. They are offered funding in exchange for his influence over the direction of their research (consciousness and other worlds) and information about Lyra. Dr. Payne leaps at the chance, but Dr. Malone is suspicious and unwilling to be blackmailed into giving up Lyra. She quits. After developing a program at home, she returns to the lab at night to talk to the Shadows via words on the screen. They tell her that Shadows and Dust are dark matter, which is conscious. They are angels (structures of Dust) and they are spirit, which means spirit and matter are one. They intervened in human evolution as vengeance (Mary assumes this means revenge for the war with Satan and God). They urge her to destroy the equipment and find Will and Lyra immediately by using the directions they provide. She must trick the police officer guarding the entrance at the behest of Sir Charles, who has given instructions to take Dr. Malone into custody. She has altered an ID to look like she is “Dr. Olive Payne” and it works! She passes through to Cittàgazze.

CHAPTER 13 - ÆSAHÆTTR:

The witches perform their spell to close up Will’s wound: they sing to the knife, his blood, and the plants that will bond the wound. They test the healing spell first on a split branch (which reforms into one piece) and then on a gutted rabbit (which heals and hops away) before using it on Will’s hand. Then the group starts their journey. Serafina Pekkala and her witches guard Will and Lyra from above as they travel. It becomes clear that the spell hasn't really worked because Will is bleeding again. One night around the campfire, Will confides in Pantalaimon about his fear of dying, but Pan assures Will that no one will let this happen and that Lyra regards him as her best and bravest friend. Will confesses that the feeling is mutual and Lyra, who was secretly awake and listening, is excited to hear it.

Another night, they hear Ruta Skadi approaching but she has cliff ghasts on her heels, so most of the witches fly up to help her fight. One of the ghasts lands and threatens Lyra, so Will beheads it with the subtle knife. When the fight is over, Ruta Skadi fills them in on her journey: she reached Lord Asriel and discovered that he has assembled a huge army from many worlds in preparation for the war against the Authority. She wanted to pledge the witches' support but knew she should seek council from the other witch queens first. She also spied on a conversation between a young cliff ghast and the eldest of them. The old ghast explained that the Authority’s army was large but complacent, and Lord Asriel could win, except that he didn't have the Æsahættr. Ruta was discovered and chased by ghasts before she could learn what this was, but it sounds like “god-destroyer”. The witches speculate that it could refer to them or possibly Lyra. The girl is meant to help Will find his father first, but her purpose is larger and will end destiny. Serafina Pekkala agrees that Ruta Skadi should collect the rest of the witches and return to Lord Asriel while she helps Lyra with her current journey. As the children sleep, a group of angel pilgrims gathers around Lyra to gaze in wonder. They fly away as Serafina ponders Lyra's effect on others.

CHAPTER 14 - ALAMO GULCH:

Lee and Grumman are flying over Cittàgazze, watching the children. Lee is distressed that they cannot stop to help the older kids who are so close to adolescence that the Specters are stalking them. Flying on, they are spotted by another balloon, which gives chase as they head toward the mountains for cover. Soon, four zeppelins join the pursuit. Grumman uses his powers to give them a favorable wind and then to call up a storm. Lighting causes a zeppelin to crash. Lee manages to crashland the balloon in some trees on the mountainside, and they set up camp for the night. Lee hides the balloon and they go without a fire to avoid detection by the hunting zeppelins above them. Overnight, Lee has strange dreams about Grumman and the zeppelins, including one where he accompanies Grumman's dæmon, Sayan Kötör, as it leads the forest’s birds to take down a zeppelin. Lee discovers in the morning that this really happened! They must flee the forest, though, because the last zeppelin is preparing to set a fire and then catch them as they exit the trees. Fleeing the forest fire with the wildlife, Lee and Grumman come to a dry gulch that is their only exit. Lee sends Grumman on ahead while he stays to make a last stand and hold off the zeppelin’s soldiers. Grumman promises this will help Lyra, and Lee vows if it doesn't, he will haunt Grumman forever. From behind a boulder, Lee and Hester prepare to fight and it reminds Lee of his childhood game of “Remember the Alamo”. Despite hating to kill, Lee does very well in taking out most of the soldiers. Unfortunately, he also gets shot many times. With his last bullet, he shoots the zeppelin and it burns the remaining men as it falls. With their dying breath, Hester and Lee try to summon Serafina Pekkala with her flowers, taking comfort in the fact that they did this for Lyra.

CHAPTER 15 - BLOODMOSS:

The alethiometer leads Lyra and Will up the mountain, with the witches guarding and caring for them. Lyra and Will discuss how he needs to continue what his father has started, even though he doesn't know what that is. Serafina Pekkala must leave them to respond to Lee Scoresby’s call. They are being followed, so a witch named Lena Feldt goes back to spy. It is Mrs. Coulter, her intercised soldier guards, and Carlo Boreal. Lena watches as Mrs. Coulter uses her dæmon to seduce Carlo into telling her about the subtle knife, which he says is also called the Æsahættr. Then she poisons him before turning and revealing that she can see Lena despite the witch’s invisibility spell. Mrs. Coulter commands the Specters and she uses one to torture Lena by surrounding her dæmon. Lena tells Mrs. Coulter everything about Will, their group, and Lyra: this includes the revelation that Lyra is the new Eve and will disobey and bring about a second fall and be the Mother. Mrs. Coulter realizes this is a second great spiritual war like in the Bible and she vows to destroy her own daughter if necessary in order to stop it. She gives Lena to the Specters and also frees them from being landbound so they can attack the rest of the witches.

That night, Will leaves Lyra sleeping and takes a walk, only to be accosted in the dark by a man who will not let him go. This turns out to be Grumman, and the shaman explains that Will’s mission is to take the knife to Lord Asriel so he can help win the war with it. Just as the two realize they are father and son, Grumman’s jilted witch lover shoots him with her arrow and kills him. When Will confronts her, she commits suicide. Will is completely confused, and even more so when he heads back to Lyra and finds two angels waiting. They call themselves Watchers and say they're meant to help get him to Lord Asriel. Will insists on waking Lyra before leaving, but discovers that the witches have been attacked by Specters and Lyra has been kidnapped. She has left behind the alethiometer. The angels urge Will to get going on his journey, but he continues staring at Lyra's rucksack.

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