Balthamos confronts Father Gomez as he stalks Lyra in the Mulefa world. He fatally crushes Gomez's insect daemon, but its venom kills him. The Mulefa lead Will and Lyra to Mary, who explains about the escaping Dust which has a shared consciousness. Mary reveals giving up being a nun to experience life and love beyond religion. When Will and Lyra realize they are in love, Dust rains downward, restoring all worlds. Serafina Pekkala arrives and urges Pan and Kirjava (Will's daemon) to find their humans. Xaphania, the Angel who communicated with Mary in her lab, says Mary's role as the Serpent is completed. Xaphania says all windows between worlds except for Mulefa and the Land of the Dead must be closed to prevent Dust escaping and spectres forming. Knowing neither can survive long-term in an alternate world, Lyra and Will sadly agree to separate, promising to reunite in the afterlife. Seeking guidance, Lyra discovers the alethiometer no longer works because she has matured. The group return to Lyra's world. Before Mary departs for her Oxford, Serafina helps her to see her own daemon. Lyra and Will say goodbye before Will permanently closes the window between them. As promised, he breaks the Subtle Knife so Angels can seal openings that previous Knife Bearers never closed. Lyra returns to Jordan College while Will reunites with his mother. Each midsummer's day in their respective worlds, Lyra and Will sit on a bench in the Oxford Botanic Garden to remember each other. A postscript reveals Will becomes a doctor and Lyra learns to read the alethiometer. Lyra and Pan have future adventures.
Tropes in this episode:
- And the Adventure Continues: The postscript says that Lyra and Pan eventually went on another adventure.
- Bittersweet Ending: While order is restored to the Multiverse, Lyra and Will are forced to separate permanently right after realizing their feelings for each other.
- Brought Down to Normal: Lyra can no longer read the alethiometer by grace, though the postscript says she eventually relearns the ability through study. Meanwhile, Will is forced to destroy the Subtle Knife so the angels can close all the windows between worlds.
- Grand Finale: The series finale of His Dark Materials.
- The Power of Love: Lyra and Will kissing restores the Dust and saves the Multiverse.
- Sadistic Choice: To prevent a multiversal loss of Dust, the angels have to close all the windows between worlds except one. They can only afford to leave one open, and the ghosts need the one in the Land of the Dead that leads to the world of the mulefa. If Will and Lyra kept one open for their own use, the ghosts would once again have no way out of the Land of the Dead.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Like in the books, despite falling in love, Will and Lyra both have to return to their respective worlds and since all portals have to be closed, they aren't able to meet again for the rest of their lives. They promise that both will go to a bench in their respective world's Oxford Botanic Gardens every midsummer's day to remember each other.
- Your Universe or Mine?: Deconstructed. Lyra and Will finally realize their feelings for each other, but then they have to go back to their respective worlds. As neither can live in the other's world and the Subtle Knife is destroyed, they can never see each other again.
