The Subtle Knife

Lee Scoresby arrives in Yenisei, where Stanislaus Grumman was last spotted. He visits a local bar to gather information, saying Grumman owes him money. Several locals have seen him and describe him as a shaman with an osprey daemon. They say he joined a local tribe and goes by the name of Jopari.

Finding no one to guide him to Grumman, Scoresby travels to a local observatory to see if any of the scientists know him. There he meets five men from around the world, all of whom have conflicting stories about Grumman. He asks them about Dust, which ignites the suspicion of one of the men, an agent of the Magisterium. As Scoresby leaves the observatory, the man’s owl daemon attacks his rabbit Hester, and he is forced to kill the man. Scoresby steals an official church ring from the man’s finger, knowing it may help him later. He flees the observatory and ventures deeper into the arctic, still unsure about Grumman’s location.

Meanwhile, Serafina and the witches travel to world where the Specters have begun to suck the life out of all adults. They fly high above the landscape, knowing they cannot land without being attacked. They see a small band of travelers on a road and watch in horror as the group are engulfed in Specters. The children cry as their parents become blank, soulless shells. The witches descend and discover that two of the adults escaped on horseback; all parties are required to have two adult riders so children will not be left alone when the Specters find them. The horseback riders tell the witches how the Specters entered the world: A group of learned men in a tower in Cittàgazze created a weapon that could cut holes to different worlds. They wielded it too freely, and the Specters entered from some unknown place. Now, their world is almost completely destroyed.

As they talk, the witches and riders see a faint group of gold beings flying high above them. The riders describe them as angels, and say they often see them moving with purpose across the sky. Rita Skadi decides to follow them, hoping they are on their way to meet Lord Asriel. She eventually catches up and finds a group of gigantic naked human-looking forms, although she can tell they are not really humans. They guide her toward a large golden fortress buzzing with activity and tell her that Lord Asriel is inside.

Lyra wakes up early and takes a walk in Cittàgazze. The city seems idyllic with children playing in the water and the sun shining. She is anxious to get back to Oxford, though, and decides to go alone before Will wakes up. She hurries through the window and finds Dr. Malone’s lab but is met by two people claiming to be police officers. They have already spoken to Dr. Malone. They know Lyra’s name, and they ask her questions about where she is staying and why she is interested in Dr. Malone’s work. Suddenly, they ask if she knows Will and without thinking, she says yes. She immediately realizes her mistake, remembering that Will is likely wanted for murder. She runs from the lab with no regard for traffic or people, trying to get back to the window before the police catch her.

Just as she thinks she is about to be cornered, a Rolls Royce pulls up. Inside is Charles, the old man who had been watching her at the museum a few days earlier. He gives her a friendly greeting and offers her a ride, which she gratefully accepts. Charles asks about Lyra’s interest in Dark Matter and the museum skulls while they travel to Summertown, a short distance from the window.

Back in Cittàgazze, Lyra wants to ask the altheiometer about the man, and realizes he has stolen it. She runs to Will in tears, apologizing for abandoning him and causing multiple problems while in Oxford. They agree that their only option is to go to Charles’s house (he gave Lyra a business card at the museum) and ask him to return her device. Charles greets them pleasantly. However, he makes it clear that he will not return the altheiometer and that they have no way to prove that it belonged to Lyra, or that she hadn’t stolen it herself. He agrees to make a deal; there is a knife that is kept in a tower in Cittàgazze, but he cannot access it because he is an adult. If Will and Lyra can bring him the knife, he will exchange it for the alethiometer.

Charles tells Lyra and Will that the knife is in the possession of an old man in the Torre degli Angeli, the mysterious tower in Cittàgazze with angels on the base where Lyra thought she saw an adult through a window. Charles can’t follow them because of Specters. They have his driver take them directly to the window and head straight for the tower. They enter without trouble.

Inside, they find a young man who appears to be dancing. He is making strange movements and seems to be unaware of their presence. He has the knife in his hands and appears to be trying to use it to cut through something they can’t see. They know the man to be Paolo and Angelica’s older brother, Tullio, due to his looks and the children’s reticence to speak about him when they first met.

Moving further into the tower, they find an old man named Giacomo Paradisi, who Tullio has attacked to steal the knife. Will and Lyra realize they must fight Tullio for the knife, and in the struggle Will loses two fingers. Tullio escapes but is quickly enveloped by Specters once he no longer holds the knife, which the creatures are afraid of.

Paradisi shows Will his own hands, which are missing the same two digits, and explains that this marks Will as the knife bearer. He teaches Will that the knife will cut through anything, including the barriers between worlds. He also instructs him to always close the windows back up so nothing gets through that shouldn’t. As Will and Lyra leave, he tells them that they should not trust Charles, and that under no circumstances should Charles get the knife.