Episode two of His Dark Materials followed Lyra Belacqua (played by Dafne Keen) after she left the safety and Scholastic Sanctuary of Jordan College, Oxford. Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon (Kit Connor) travelled with Mrs Coulter (Ruth Wilson) to the big city in the hopes of finding Roger Parslow (Lewin Lloyd). However, the child’s new guardian turned out to be more dangerous than she could have ever imagined.
Does a person die when their daemon is killed?
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from His Dark Materials episode 2 and Philip Pullman’s novels
In one disturbing scene, Mrs Coulter reprimanded Lyra by making her own monkey daemon attack Pantalaimon.
As the monkey inflicted pain on Pantalaimon, Lyra too could be seen doubled over as she struggled and begged Mrs Coulter to stop.
Lyra pleaded with Mrs Coulter, telling her: “You’re hurting us!”
The scene seemed to perfectly illustrate the close bond between a human and their soul which manifests as a daemon.
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Later on, at Mrs Coulter’s cocktail party, Lyra met journalist Adele Starminster (Georgina Campbell) who revealed her warden’s true identity as the part of the General Oblation Board for the Magisterium.
Lyra was left terrified and fled from Mrs Coulter’s London residence after the usually locked doors were left open for the guests.
While Lyra was making her getaway, Adele was spotted at the party and escorted out by Lord Boreal (Ariyon Bakare).
She was forced into a car where Boreal spoke to her before killing her daemon, a beautiful butterfly.
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The Magisterium official simply crushed the flying creature in his fist and appeared to render Adele dead too.
Mrs Coulter seemed to be able to separate from her daemon with Lyra realising the monkey had been listening to her and Pantalaimon.
The monkey was also able to move much further away from Mrs Coulter than most people could from their own daemons.
So far in the series, humans and daemons are seen in close proximity to each other.
Whether Mrs Coulter’s unique ability to separate from her daemon will be explained remains to be seen. But in the novels, readers never find out why this is the case.
READ MORE: His Dark Materials: Can Mrs Coulter separate from her daemon?
Although at the moment, it seems pretty clear cut with humans unable to survive without their souls, this is going to be explored further.
The show will also go on to explore the notion of Intercision which explores the separation between humans and their daemons.
Unsurprisingly, the Magisterium will be involved in this process but viewers will have to tune in to see how this works.
Speaking to media including Express.co.uk about Mrs Coulter and the relationship she shared with her daemon, star Wilson said: “My daemon doesn’t have a name and doesn’t speak. So I have a different relationship to everyone else.
“I can also separate from my monkey or my daemon, which you later find out. But for me, I felt my key into Mrs Coulter’s world was her relationship with her daemon.
“I mean, everyone’s character has that interesting relationship, but hers is quite specific. I felt that psychologically that’s how I might access Mrs Coulter.”
His Dark Materials airs on BBC One on Sundays at 8pm