As Lyra, Will, and the witches continue travelling, Serafina sends two witches ahead as scouts. Elsewhere, Ruta Skadi overhears creatures called cliff-ghasts discussing a coming war that Lord Asriel cannot win without &A Elig;sahættr (the Subtle Knife). In Cittàgazze, Mrs Coulter captures and then tortures the witch, Lena Feldt, to reveal Lyra's location and the prophecy that states Lyra will be the second Eve who brings a second Fall of Man. After finding the adults' campsite, Angelica and Paola leave Mary, who continues searching. Pursued by Magisterium soldiers, Lee urges Parry to flee while he fights them off. Lee is mortally wounded and summons Serafina with a cloud pine branch, but dies before she arrives. Parry summons his son, Will, through a vision. Reunited, Parry urges Will to fulfill his destiny as the knife bearer before they can return home. Parry is fatally shot, and, before dying, tells Will the angels will guide him to Asriel. In a desolate world, the Angels pledge Lord Asriel their support in the coming war against the Authority. Will returns to find Lyra missing after Mrs Coulter abducted her. On a ship, Coulter vows to protect Lyra, who appears drugged and is confined inside a trunk. In a post-credits scene, Roger and Lyra call to one another in an unknown location.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Diabolus ex Machina: The sequence of events necessary for Mrs. Coulter to somehow arrive at exactly the right place at exactly the right moment to kidnap Lyra.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Sadly subverted, as Lee's sacrifice accomplishes nothing good and even makes the situation worse. He is unable to take down all of the approaching gunmen, so one gets past to kill Parry. He doesn't think of summoning Serafina until after he's already fatally injured and knows it, but attempts the summoning anyway, which only has the effect of calling Serafina away from Lyra so that Mrs. Coulter can capture her.
- The Stinger: Lyra hearing Roger's voice, suggesting both that there may be life after death and that something is very wrong with her current state.
- Vagueness Is Coming:
- The entire explanation that Will receives from his long-lost father:
Jopari: Will… if you’re the Knife Bearer, you have a task ahead of you. The fate of many worlds may rest on you. There’s a war coming, Will. The greatest war there ever was. You must go to Lord Asriel and tell him that you have the only weapon in all the universes that can destroy the Authority. All right?
- Will is from Earth. He has basically no idea who or what the Authority is or why it needs destroying. He either has never heard of Lord Asriel or knows him as Lyra's child-killing father, thus having no reason or desire to help him. He doesn't know where he is, what he looks like, or how to find him. He (and the audience, if they haven't read the books) has no clue what's going on. But instead of asking any of these questions, he only vaguely protests that he's not good enough.
