I am Lord Asriel Belacqua.
I am gathering the greatest from every world,
from even the heavens above.
But I want you to help me wage my war.
Welcome to the Republic of Heaven, Commander.
Lyra! Roger! What is this place?
Roger!
You must play the serpent. Save the girl.
And the boy.
What are you? Angels.
Balthamos and I have been searching for Aesahaettr, for you.
You must come with us to Lord Asriel.
I'm looking for my friend Lyra. She needs my help.
She's with a woman who is holding her against her will.
Balthamos will take you to her.
There are people coming for you.
Dangerous people.
Father... Gomez.
I'm confident I can locate the girl myself.
I will need to use methods that aren't officially sanctioned.
ROARING Stop!
You're looking for Lyra?
She's with her mother, being held against her will.
Then we must go to her.
I know you didn't want to be here.
But without you and Baruch, I might never have found her.
So, thank you.
Nearly 400 years with Baruch must have mellowed me.
400 years?
You know where he is now? Of course.
Angels can connect to any mind.
But between us, the bond is even stronger.
We feel as one, though we are two.
He's close to Asriel now.
You know what Asriel is going to ask of you?
My father told me about the war before he died.
He told me I have a duty.
There is a warrior in you, Will.
You overpowered the king of the bears.
And you'll find a way to protect the one you love.
ROGER: 'Lyra.'
LYRA BREATHES QUICKLY
Lyra.
Roger!
You have to help me.
I will.
I promise I won't let you down.
They're hurting me.
Who?!
Just tell me where you are and I'll find you!
The land of the dead.
Roger!
SHE GASPS Roger.
PAN SQUEAKS
I was having that dream again.
We need to find him when we get out of here.
PAN: Where did you go?
I...
I couldn't follow you there.
The Land of the Dead.
Oh, this is a decent set-up.
Just a start, Commander. Just a start!
Very impressive, Lord Asriel.
But your soldiers, well, now they'll need some structure.
That's why you're here!
Ruta! Welcome back.
Commander Ogunwe, allow me to introduce
Queen Ruta Skadi of the Lake Lubana witch clan
and her daemon Sergi. She's a vital member of my council.
Commander.
Your Majesty. Ruta, if you wouldn't mind...
You're well known to Ruta, Commander. She chose you.
Chose me? Mm-hm.
I listen to whispers between worlds.
I hear things others do not.
We're assembling an army.
You and your resistance soldiers
are some of the best. I'm glad you approve.
We hope we can live up to our reputation.
We all hope that.
How much more will we need?
Of what? This.
Soldiers. Witches.
It's the Authority's strength that lies in numbers -
the sheer wealth of people
willing to defend his mysticism and dogma.
We just need enough to provoke him.
So all this is just a provocation?
Come. You'll see.
Find me the latest plans for the intention craft.
Yes, sir. How do you know this one won't kill you?
It will take more than a little crash
to put an end to the pair of us.
Commander, you asked how many soldiers we were going to need.
The truth is, I don't know.
But the key to provoking the Authority lies not in men.
It may well lie...in Dust.
Asriel, you talk in riddles. I deal in strategy.
I'm not being clear.
We have to force the Authority to show his face.
And then... Then we're going to need all the fighters
we can get our hands on.
I didn't mean to scare you.
What do you want? I don't mean you any harm.
I'm just... I'm looking for someone. A girl.
Her name is Lyra.
Were you followed?
I don't think so.
Temple soldiers are in the woods.
I haven't seen anyone.
Something happened here a few days ago.
And now they're everywhere.
BUZZING
Come with us!
It's moving away.
Salt.
It burns the roots.
...of these to the southern garrison.
FLUTTERING
And 250 to the western...
Lord Asriel... Roke.
That'll be all.
Sir.
What is it? A message
from our Magisterium spy, Agent Salmakia.
She says they're preparing to undertake a search mission.
For what? Your daughter, sir.
They think she's the most important child that's ever lived.
Salmakia believes she's in danger.
When is Lyra not in danger?
Anything else?
No. There's nothing else.
Very good.
FLUTTERING
You dismiss Lyra too easily.
You know what the Magisterium believe about her.
According to the Authority, Eve was the mother of creation.
Lyra is simply the creation of Marisa and I.
She is not Eve. She's a little girl.
She must have some information they need
or some skill we've overlooked.
Other than being able to read the alethiometer,
she has very little, I'm afraid,
other than a nose for trouble.
SHE GROWLS What?
What would you like me to say?
The truth.
There are angels above the camp.
What are they doing?
They're fighting.
Clear the camp!
Not too close. Not too close.
Back away. Back away!
His chest is moving.
I'd say one of them fights for the Authority and one for us.
Which is which? I don't know. Maybe neither.
Ruta.
This one's higher status.
Could be an Archangel.
This one...I don't know.
Shall we see if we can move him?
Mm-hm.
You have him? Yes, sir.
HE CRIES OUT Get back.
GROANING
Are you an agent of the Authority?
Please...
Say again.
There is a message I must give to you.
We're going to assume that one's with the Authority
and this one with us. I'll take him inside.
Sergeant!
Take him to the intercision field chamber.
Right, give me your message.
We found the boy.
The bearer.
What boy? What does he bear?
Aesahaettr.
The god killer.
The only weapon that will destroy him.
Destroy who?
The Authority.
What?
And his Regent.
My brother Enoch.
The Authority has a Regent?
Baruch!
How?
Who did this?
An angel.
We've already incarcerated him.
He's leaving us.
Not yet.
Tell me where I can find the boy!
GASPING
He's on his way to Lyra.
Lyra?
Find him.
There is an angel waiting.
My Balthamos.
Find them.
Find the knife.
Balthamos...
Baruch!
I don't understand. It doesn't make sense.
What doesn't make sense?
What did they do to him?
What happened, Balthamos?
This is your fault!
You forced me to come here.
I wanted us to stay together.
I wanted to go with him!
They've killed him!
FAINT SQUEAKING
FLUTTERING
FAINT SQUEAKING
The messenger returns.
PUTS GUN AWAY
He did not resist.
Didn't say a word. He just...
..stared at me.
Yesterday I believed that angels were merely symbols,
and witches were... villains in children's stories.
Yet here I am.
Mm. There you are.
Our kind have been to your world before.
Centuries ago.
The Temple would burn women they suspected of witchcraft.
I remember it.
Witches live for many hundreds of years.
Angels for millennia.
It gives them a power and perspective
far greater than either of our comprehension.
I imagine they regard us witches
in a similar way as we see humans.
And how is that?
Your lives are short and easily extinguished.
So then why do you fight with us?
Hope.
I believe there is a chance we can win.
And so...do you trust Asriel?
I'd stake my life on it.
DOOR CLANGS SHUT
You're awake.
That's good.
This chamber...
..I created it for experimenting on Dust.
As such, it's lined with adamantine,
properties of which include preventing Dust from escaping.
Now you, as well as my daemon,
are entirely made of Dust,
so you might find yourself locked in here for eternity.
I am eternal. I have no concept of time.
Good for you. You'll be comfortable, then.
I'm going to begin now.
I'm going to ask you some questions, and you will answer.
What's the Authority so afraid of
that he sent one angel to attack another?
Don't want to talk?
Perhaps you're afraid of revealing that the Authority
no longer rules in the Kingdom of Heaven,
and that he has, for some reason, appointed a Regent.
It's quite all right. I already know.
What's wrong with him that he won't rule?
Or is it that he can't? If he...
HE LAUGHS
Oh, now, that's interesting.
Now we're getting somewhere.
Do you know what else is interesting?
Dust.
Fascinating stuff.
I've spent most of my adult life trying to understand it.
And I once killed an innocent young boy
in order to harness it.
But no-one, before this moment...
..has ever tried to weaponise it.
CRIES OUT
HE GASPS
HE YELLS
Enoch. Brother of Baruch.
How did he become Regent?
Do not dare use that name! He is Metatron.
Metatron? Good.
HE CRIES OUT
HE YELLS
Asriel... Stop!
YELLING CONTINUES
HE GASPS
What does he want?
The end of this!
Dust is not for you to understand.
Conscious beings have become dangerously independent.
He will lead a permanent inquisition into every world,
on every being, until they understand
complete obedience.
And with it,
we will bring an end to the freedom of thought and will
and control Dust once and for all.
How do I find him?
The Kingdom of Heaven is not yours to enter.
You think you're significant?
He does not even know your name.
Were he to notice you,
he could crush you and burn whatever remains.
Doesn't even know my name?
So this Metatron will require a little more coaxing?
And then will his kingdom come?
Good. Very good.
Wasn't so difficult, was it?
Didn't even take an eternity.
GIRL: Maddy's been here for nine years.
I joined a few years later.
You've been on your own all this time?
We have a life in the resistance.
We can read, write, learn.
All of those things are forbidden by the Temple,
especially for... Girls?
What about your parents?
Our father stayed.
He's one of them.
When we ran away, he helped us get out, but he wouldn't come.
He wanted us to join the Temple.
He thinks that we'd let the Temple turn us
into braindead followers.
I'd rip their eyes out first. She actually would.
Fair enough.
So...where's everybody else gone?
A stranger came here and...
..blew a hole in the sky.
And then Commander Ogunwe led everyone through it.
Like a window...
..to another world?
Is that how you got here?
Something like that, yes.
But you decided not to go?
We can't leave him - our father.
I left my community once, too.
Long time ago now.
I left everything I'd ever known.
It felt like the world was ending.
But now I can see it was just beginning to open up in front of me,
full of strangeness and mystery.
I'd better go.
Are you going to another world?
A few more, I think.
I'm following these, erm...
..sticks. They're telling me where to go.
But... I know that sounds crazy, so I won't...
Stay with us a while.
Who knows when you'll next have a chance to rest?
Go on, so.
Tell us more about why you're looking for this girl.
Today...
..we have been offered an opportunity.
The opportunity...
..to purge this world...
..to purge these worlds...
..of all that has been ailing them.
We are going to release
the righteous from sin.
Father Gomez will lead you.
And the Authority will guide you in your sacred mission.
Be swift.
Be brutal.
But make no mistake,
the girl - Eve - must not be allowed to escape.
Retrieve the child.
Retrieve the mother.
And return them to me...
..dead or alive.
ENGINE PUTTERS
I understand that none of this matters compared to him.
I don't know what else I'm supposed to do.
MONKEY CHIRPS SOFTLY
You know what this woman is capable of.
Balthamos and I will take a closer look.
You attract too much attention, so stay here and keep watch.
Do not underestimate her.
I won't.
I'm not going to hurt you.
I'm looking for a girl on this island.
FAINT WHOOSHING
Balthamos, you're going to scare her.
Yes. Angel.
And this is Will.
This is Ama.
Ask her about Lyra.
Is there a girl here?
I care about her a lot.
There was a girl here being kept asleep
by a woman who claims to be her mother.
But no mother could possibly be so cruel.
This mother would.
Is that sun root?
It's a waking medicine.
Are you going to use that?
The woman has gone but will be returning soon.
Stay here. OK?
If you see her coming, run and get help.
Lyra.
MRS COULTER: You see, she's quite safe.
How did you get here?
Oh, these chambers, they have secrets.
She's not safe. You're drugging her.
Hmm.
You've grown, Will.
You know, I always suspected you were coming,
but I didn't think you'd be the first.
It's impressive.
Why are you keeping her here?
Why won't you let her leave?
Come.
Let's sit, hmm?
Tea?
Come on, I know for a fact you have tea in your world too.
Who else is coming?
Did you bring the knife?
May I see it?
Why are you keeping her here?
I'm keeping her here because I'm her mother...
..and I love her.
Lyra's in the most appalling danger, and here I can keep her safe.
Please, sit down.
What could be more dangerous than you?
SHE CHUCKLES SOFTLY
How sad you can't see the truth.
Three times I've seen her in danger...
..and three times I've tried to save her from it.
It's cost me everything.
And now she's in danger again.
Who's she in danger from?
The Magisterium.
And they intend to have her killed.
Do you know who they say she is, Will?
I know there's a prophecy.
They think she is Eve.
The mother of all sin.
And they think she will do great damage.
So they are determined to murder her
as an act of devotion.
Unless we stop them.
Even if that's true,
why are you keeping her asleep?
Because she hates me, Will.
If I woke her, she'd run.
In fact, she's already tried to run.
So explain to her, like you've explained to me.
I'm doing this to keep her alive.
Wouldn't your mother do the same for you?
A child needs their mother.
You understand that, Will.
You need your mother.
And here's the trick they never tell you.
Your mother needs you.
You know, that bond...
..it stretches, it transforms,
but it never breaks.
Why?
Because the line from here...
..to here...
..matters more than any line in nature.
It's primal.
It's beautiful.
It overwhelms all other things.
If you let it.
Help me.
The three of us could be extraordinary.
Your strength, my guile, Lyra's bravery...
I'm not strong.
You are strong, Will. You think I can't see that?
You promise that you're keeping her safe?
That you'll carry on keeping her safe?
I give you my word.
Then I can leave her here.
Go to Asriel like I was supposed to.
No, no. No, no, no, no.
No, I-I-I need you to stay.
I saw what you did at Carlo's house.
We...we could help each other.
We could protect each other's vulnerabilities.
Will, we can't stay here. We have to keep moving.
You must come with us.
I gave my word to my father
that as soon as I knew Lyra was safe,
I'd go to Asriel, to fight.
I have to do that.
D...Do you understand what you're doing?
This...
This is a betrayal bigger than any I have committed.
If you abandon us now,
you leave her for dead.
Do you understand that?
Thank you for what you're doing for her.
I'm going to leave her in your care.
Will, you're making a mistake!
You...
W...
I thought he'd stay.
ASRIEL: We are going to find that knife
and we're going to use it to destroy Metatron.
You know nothing of him.
He is the Dark Angel. You cannot fight.
I can, because I must.
Ruta, this knife,
it's the weapon you heard the cliff-ghasts talking about?
Aesahaettr, yes.
Though I wasn't aware it required a bearer,
or that it would have been the boy who was with Lyra.
So, we find Lyra, we find the boy.
I have seen them together.
Where one goes, the other follows.
Who is this girl that everyone is so interested in?
Asriel's daughter.
They believe she is Eve.
Eve? Mm.
Who is Eve?
In some worlds, the mother of all sin.
Your daughter is the mother of all sin?
They believe so.
But they believe a great deal of fanciful nonsense.
And you didn't think it worth mentioning before?
Where is she?
We don't know.
And how will we protect her?
If there is one girl in all the world
that doesn't need protecting, it is Lyra.
Now, what I need is that knife.
The Magisterium can help us in this matter.
Roke, I want you to contact Salmakia.
Once she knows where Lyra is, I'll follow her there.
You would use your own daughter as a trap?
I've already risked everything I have to get us this far.
My fortune, my reputation...
But what we risk now, here,
in the next few weeks, that will shape
the course of history forever.
So if I have to journey to every world, I will.
If I have to incarcerate every angel, I will.
If I have to take a knife to the heart
of the Authority himself, I will.
And, yes, I will risk Lyra.
I will risk my own daughter,
because the alternative, Commander,
is what happened to yours.
And I would risk everything -
and everyone -
to ensure that can never happen again.
So I suggest you all ask yourselves,
what are you willing to risk?
An angel has been killed,
and all you can think about is how that might benefit you.
Would you rather he die in vain?
Xaphania. The great betrayer.
You're consorting with humans now?
Was a millennia in exile not degradation enough for you?
You speak of betrayal...
..when you have taken orders to kill one of our own kind.
Baruch is - was -
an enemy of the Kingdom.
HE LAUGHS DRYLY
What few rebels there are will not fight for you.
They are defectors. They run away from conflict, not towards it.
They will fight for what they believe in.
Why have you really come to see me?
Perhaps you wanted to see if it is true...
..what Asriel has been doing to me.
Don't expect your rebels to follow a mortal
who enjoys torturing angels.
Where is the Authority?
Hiding behind a Regent who cares for nothing
but his own greatness.
The Kingdom as we know it has already gone, Alarbus.
This is our final rebellion.
What happened? She's a liar.
And yet you're drawn to her.
I know what I'm doing.
DISTANT HUMMING
Look.
There is no time now. This is absurd.
Baruch died for a purpose, but this...
This is meaningless.
I promise it will work.
TANNOY WARBLES
PILOT: 'Five minutes to destination.'
RUSTLING AND BUZZING
What is this?
It's a Gallivespian communication device.
We have a message from our agent in the Magisterium.
Lodestone resonating, go ahead.
Lyra is with a woman named Marisa Coulter.
Of course she is. How close are they?
We're about to land on a remote island in the German Ocean.
Fair Isle.
I know the place.
I'll take the intention craft. It's the fastest way.
Agent Salmakia, get to the children, get them to safety,
away from the woman, then stay with them
until I arrive. Understood? Understood.
You will go?
I must.
You heard what the angel said.
Aesahaettr - god destroyer.
Hmm.
In which case...
..try not to die.
The child is asking what you are doing.
I'm counting my steps.
We'll return by them in another world.
GOLDEN MONKEY SHRIEKS
HORN BELLOWS
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no... No!
MECHANISM WHIRS AND CLICKS
CLANKING SOUND, CRAFT POWERS DOWN
The intention craft works through clarity.
Your mind is muddled.
I know exactly what and who we're going for.
HE INHALES DEEPLY
WHIRS AND CLICKS RESUME
Do your worst.
As soon as I've got to her,
I'll come back through and close the window.
I need you to keep watch.
I'm sorry, Will, I must leave.
Balthamos...
It was one thing for the Aesahaettr,
but this...this is a human matter.
Don't go.
I know this is hard for you, but I need you to trust me.
I can't. I'm sorry.
Not for this.
Balthamos!
Thank you...
..but go home, OK?
Stay out of danger.
HORN BELLOWS
Mrs Coulter?
That's me.
You're too late, Father.
She's gone.
A boy got here first.
You know, he had several hundred miles
and the boundaries between worlds to cross
and yet...
..still managed to get here before you.
Bravo.
I don't know why I'm surprised.
MacPhail likes to think he knows what he's doing,
but he prevaricates.
Dithers. Don't you think?
Ah!
That was from the boy.
Surprisingly vicious little brat.
I am going to take Lyra now, Mrs Coulter.
And I'd rather not travel back to Geneva after nightfall.
Like I said...
..she's not here.
Please.
I'm sorry.
Her fate was decided long before I arrived here.
OK.
She's in there.
Sit.
What was your plan?
Would you have kept her unconscious forever?
Run from world to world,
trying to escape the alethiometer...
..forever?
No, no, it's stupid.
Quite the opposite.
You knew we would find her, eventually.
And destroy her.
That is her destiny.
You brought this fate upon her.
You gave her the terrible punishment of her existence.
And now, when she reaches the hands
of Father President MacPhail...
..death.
HE TUTS
Ow.
Why have you been prolonging her pain in this way?
I don't know.
I'm sorry.
SLICING SOUNDS
I did not know what else to do, Father.
That is not true.
The answer was so simple, and you knew it...
..all along.
A truly loving act would have been to let her die.
To drift off in a sleep so deep
that no-one could ever hurt her.
In her mother's arms.
It is time for you to let her go now.
To kill one's own child
takes a kind of strength I do not possess.
Oh, but you do.
You have greater strength than you know.
Will you do it for me, please?
Grant me that.
WHISPERS: Hey. Hey, we're leaving.
Please?
FAINT SNARLING
MONKEY SHRIEKS
Oh, dear.
Perhaps you were right about that strength.
You came back for us.
I knew you would, Will.
What are you doing?
We're leaving. Well, I'll come with you.
We'll be safer together.
You'll need the two of us. No, no...
Stay back.
You're not coming with us.
She needs me, Will.
Please don't take her from me.
Please... Just...just stay back.
Will...
Do you think it's that easy to dispose of me?
Get away from us.
Is that what you do, Will?
Was your mother as easily disposed of?
Where did you leave her?
Where is she, Will?
Where is your mother?
Look at me, Will.
Look at me.
What have you done?
You broke the knife.
Leave.
Without the knife, you're useless to me.
Please leave now, Will.
Leave!
Lyra, move. Move. Move.
Move, move...
Don't look at me like that. Please.
Let me go.
Please let me go.
METALLIC PINGING SOUND
It was only a small sting. She'll be fine in a few hours.
Boy, do you have the knife?
Who are you?
I'm under instruction to take you to Asriel.
Follow me. No.
No, we're not going to Asriel.
It's OK. Come on.
This is a way out.
GUNSHOTS Whoa!
Get down.
ROARING
Iorek's here? I'll explain later.
ROARING
GROWLING Ah!
ROARING
Whoa!
Get her out of here!
SHOUTING
GUNSHOT
Hey, are you OK?
Will, we need to go.
Come on.
Come with us.
Thank you.
Come on.
SOFTLY: Lyra?
Lyra!
We're too late.
Damn.