History Headscratchers / HisDarkMaterials

It's noted that seeing people without a daemon triggers an instinctual revulsion, like "seeing someone without a head." Why? Are there no mice daemons, no insect daemons, no spider or scorpion daemons? We have a reporter with a butterfly daemon, why can't someone have a beetle hidden up their sleeve, a hamster in their pocket, or a skink under their collar? Some species of spiders have a leg span of less than a centimetre, and there are way more insect species than species of any other animal family on earth; is it really more logical to people on the "everyone has a daemon" planet that someone hasn't got a daemon than the way more plausible explanation that the daemon is small and hiding somewhere in someone's clothes?

** The Magesterium, Asreal and Mrs. Coulter all spend the whole story making an enemy out of Lyra (and Will). If even one involved party had decided to just be ''nice'' to Lyra and Will, indeed, they might very well have taken that party’s side.

** Maybe a human touching another's daemon without permission doesn't feel so good for the human doing the touching, either. Maybe Lyra touching Stelmaria would produce similar sensations as when someone else touches Pan, which wouldn't leave her in very good shape for fighting anyone, let alone a leopard.

Did they not know they could have stopped her from fulfilling the prophecy by just ''telling'' her of it?

* I dunno about escaping the Dust, but Will and Lyra touched each others' daemons without feeling revulsion, which has been stated to be an intimate act, and they ate what was obviously intended to be a parallel to the Forbidden Fruit in [[Literature/TheBible Genesis]]. It was more than implied that they were having sex when the Magisterium guy with the beetle daemon who was trying to assassinate them was killed by the angel. The sex part was {{Squick}} to me because they were pre-teens, regardless of individual maturity, but that they went through all that they did and reached the pinicle of intimacy only to immediately be seperated forever was just sad.

*** No, I'm pretty sure he was railing against Christianity specifically. The very use of the name Metatron automatically leans it toward Judaism/Christianity, and multiple (poorly researched) historical references make it clear that the target is painted on Christianity.

*** That's just not true: in Northern Lights we are shown a world where the oppression is invisible to the point of not really affection most of the people we see. Neither in the academic world of Oxford of the glamorous one of Mrs. Coulter's London do we see any oppression affecting the characters. The Gyptians don't have things so good, but this is nothing to do with the Church - it's the burden of a maligned social group. Only really when we get to Bolvangar is there any evidence of Church wrong-doing, and it's worth noting that Bolvangar is run by an organisation the official Church has been careful to maintain plausible deniability of. People in Lyra's world are depicted as living their lives as freely as we do. The controlling force at work becomes evident in insidious ways - for instance, the Victorian-ness of a world contemporary with out own timeline presumably being due to the Church's control of scientific endeavour (it's probably safe to assume that the Age of Reason was less... Reasonable in Lyra's world). The Church doesn't seem to have any more overt bearing on the lives of the characters we meet than it does in this world. In fact, where the Church is mentioned for the majority of the story it's in a neutral or positive light. The Intercessor (Jordan College's resident clergyman) is portrayed as boring to the thoughtless, boisterous young Lyra, but thoroughly well-meaning. When Lyra is running away in London her first thought is to seek shelter in an Oratory (a church). It's apparent that the Church, for all the evil that is later revealed, still represents many positive things to the people of Lyra's world as well: guidance, sanctuary etc. In the later books we hear more about the Church's injustices as A. we spend time with characters who have reason to know about the Church's more secretive side and B. yes, Pullman becomes more Anvillicious. But for the most part the Church don't act as tyrants. One of the few good things about the [[Film/TheGoldenCompass: movie]] was a couple of lines from Mrs. Coulter that crystalised the L-world Church's attitude:

*** That's just not true: in Northern Lights we are shown a world where the oppression is invisible to the point of not really affection most of the people we see. Neither in the academic world of Oxford of the glamorous one of Mrs. Coulter's London do we see any oppression affecting the characters. The Gyptians don't have things so good, but this is nothing to do with the Church - it's the burden of a maligned social group. Only really when we get to Bolvangar is there any evidence of Church wrong-doing, and it's worth noting that Bolvangar is run by an organisation the official Church has been careful to maintain plausible deniability of. People in Lyra's world are depicted as living their lives as freely as we do. The controlling force at work becomes evident in insidious ways - for instance, the Victorian-ness of a world contemporary with out own timeline presumably being due to the Church's control of scientific endeavour (it's probably safe to assume that the Age of Reason was less... Reasonable in Lyra's world). The Church doesn't seem to have any more overt bearing on the lives of the characters we meet than it does in this world. In fact, where the Church is mentioned for the majority of the story it's in a neutral or positive light. The Intercessor (Jordan College's resident clergyman) is portrayed as boring to the thoughtless, boisterous young Lyra, but thoroughly well-meaning. When Lyra is running away in London her first thought is to seek shelter in a Oratory (a church). It's apparent that the Church, for all the evil that is later revealed, still represents many positive things to the people of Lyra's world as well: guidance, sanctuary etc. In the later books we hear more about the Church's injustices as A. we spend time with characters who have reason to know about the Church's more secretive side and B. yes, Pullman becomes more Anvillicious. But for the most part the Church don't act as tyrants. One of the few good things about the [[Film/TheGoldenCompass: movie]] was a couple of lines from Mrs. Coulter that crystalised the L-world Church's attitude:

* There's no precise quote to match the other conclusion you declared, that "sin" is "pleasure," but here are some more things that Mary says to them in that same monologue: [- "Sister Mary Malone, flirting! What about my vows? What about dedicating my life to Jesus and all that? Well, I don't know if it was the wine or my own silliness... but it gradually seemed to me that I'd made myself believe something that wasn't true. I'd made myself believe that I was fine and happy and fulfilled on my own, without the love of anyone else. Being in love was like going to China... I thought, I ''want'' to go to China, it's full of treasures and strangeness and mystery and joy. I thought, will anyone be better off if I go straight back to the hotel and say my prayers and confess to the priest and promise never to fall into temptation again? And th eanswer came back - no. No one will." -] (and then she goes on to describe how she concluded there was no God.)

* I dunno about escaping the Dust, but Will and Lyra touched each others' daemons without feeling revulsion, which has been stated to be an intimate act, and they ate what was obviously intended to be a parallel to the Forbidden Fruit in [[Literature/TheBible Genosis]]. It was more than implied that they were having sex when the Magisterium guy with the beetle daemon who was trying to assassinate them was killed by the angel. The sex part was {{Squick}} to me because they were pre-teens, regardless of individual maturity, but that they went through all that they did and reached the pinicle of intimacy only to immediately be seperated forever was just sad.

* "Stop hittin' yourself! Stop hittin' yourself!" Seriously, now. First of all, if you hit your own daemon, that could be from a variety of causes - telling your daemon to "snap out of it" or stop daydreaming, if your daemon and you are of differing opinions. In our world, where we've only got the one head, those contradictory voices can only be dealt with by certain means - when the contradictory, questioning aspect of your personality is incarnated and chattering away at you, you're bound to react differently (don't tell me you've never wished you could decide on one course of action and shut up all your doubts). It could even be an form of self-mutilation, expressing much darker purposes.

Because even if we accept that the portals have shifted due to the events of the first book (as stated by Sir Charles), this does not change the fact that Will takes several days to get from somewhere in Russia to the Himalayas, whereas Mrs. Coulter still does it instantly.
Also, you can't say that the first chapter of The Amber Spyglass, which establishes where Mrs. Coulter is, takes place in the future, shortly before Will arrives, implying that Mrs. Coulter took just as much time as Will to travel. This being because Baruch, very early on, scouts ahead and finds her there already. That's the whole point of Will traveling in the first place.

Something bugs me about the transition between the 2nd and 3rd books. Firstly, it's blatantly stated that the portals created by the Knife don't abolish distance. This means that Cittagazze is, geographically, where England is, yeah? Secondly, the scene where Will [[spoiler:meets his father]]doesn't take all that long: a short walk up a hill, a conversation, walking back down. Must've taken an hour tops, depending on how slow Will is. So at the beginning of the hour, everyone's alive. At the end of the hour, the witch sentries are dead and Lyra's been kidnapped. Thirdly, at the beginning of The Amber Spyglass, it's shown that Mrs. Coulter has been at the Himalayan village for a while. I mean, she already has all the people's respect, and that little Asian girl visiting her has become a daily, routine thing.

Did they not know they could have stopped her from fulfilling by just ''telling'' her of it?

** They seem to be a FantasyCounterpartCulture of Romani and Travellers, and it is possible in the modern day to have a variety of skin tones. Presumably there's been plenty of intermarrying with people of different races. In fact, because they travel, it allows them plenty of opportunities to meet people from around the world and have relationships to produce mixed race children. It's said in the books that the Gyptians are actually dispersed quite widely all over the world. While Lyra in the books does mention that their features are very distinctive, she is a child and prone to black and white thinking - we have LatinoIsBrown as a trope, but Latinos can be blonde and fair-skinned and darker skinned with afro hair as well. Even in real life it's possible to have blonde and pale Romani.

** To expand on this: since someone who's severed is now effectively soulless, looking at them would probably be like looking at an empty shell, a living doll or a reanimated corpse--straight into the [[UncannyValley Uncanny Valley]]. [[NightmareFuel Have fun thinking about that]].