Against her better judgement, Lyra wants desperately to believe that Mrs Coulter really is the nice, kind woman who thought her to be extraordinary. That the woman hurting her right now isn’t really her.
This, we know, isn’t true. But the thing is, Lyra is right. Just in a different way than intended.
Marisa Coulter wants to be in control at all times.
“She’s constructed this version of herself which is glamourous, and graceful and in control. But actually there’s a side of her she has suppressed which is much more free, and feral in a way.” - Ruth Wilson
But the men that came threatened her research. Her research, her experiments, essentially her baby. She’s certainly devoted more time and energy to it than she ever has Lyra. And someone from the Magisterium wants her to slow down. Sending lackeys to her instead of coming to her himself. She is seething.
How. Dare They.
And Lyra disobeys her again. Marisa snaps at Lyra, but she’s not really angry with Lyra. She’s angry with the men who came to her home.
Marisa is pissed, but she tries again to reign herself in. She apologies for being sharp with Lyra. Lyra says, plainly, “You lost control,” and Marisa’s reply is telling.
Lyra won’t let her deny it. Marisa was angry at the men and for a moment, she lost control. The one thing Marisa absolutely refuses to do.
Marisa turns around, removing herself from the situation, but her daemon stays put. Not moving.
There’s a poignant moment where Marisa stands there warring with herself and then she turns back. For once, she gives in to her daemon- her base desires. The ones she always tries to keep a lid on. The ones she’s distanced from herself so much she barely lets her own daemon look at her. For once, Marisa and her daemon are aligned.
This isn’t Marisa as she usually is. As Lyra said, those men upset her, and she’s taking it out on her daughter.
(A+ patenting!)
But what’s interesting is that even as her daemon is attacking Pan and Lyra is crying for her to stop, Marisa still tries to keep her cool.
Then Lyra mentions Asriel.
Marisa is still trying to control herself, but suddenly her anger isn’t just at the Magisterium officials. It’s Asriel. A complicated decade long series of emotions, anger and bitterness and so much more that I’m really hoping the show will delve into. Asriel is her weak spot. Try as she might, even after all these years he can still get to her in a way nothing else can, (except maybe Lyra?), and that’s when Marisa Coulter finally loses it.
And she slips.
And she RETREATS.
Again, Marisa and her daemon are in sync with their reactions, something that we haven’t really seen until now. The anger drains out of her, but her emotions are still heightened.
“Who’s my mother?” Lyra asks. But Marisa is back to trying to regain control. No more slips.
She’s blinking fast, once again holding herself back. I’d argue, holding tears away.
She’s still very bitter about Asriel. Bitter and petty.
When Lyra runs to her room, Marisa frantically follows, but Lyra kicks her out. Marisa lets her. Accepts that Lyra needs time alone to process everything.
And then, alone and unwatched, for just the barest sliver of a moment, Marisa lets herself break.
She’s back to normal throughout the remainder of the episode, but then at the end, Lyra escapes. And once again, Marisa’s control slips. She spends all of the next episode going absolutely wild and feral, and somewhat suicidal, to get Lyra back. Lyra wasn’t meant to mean this much. She shouldn’t invoke this sort of reaction from Marisa. But unlike with Asriel, where she can compartmentalise and calmly manipulate, (i.e: 1x04 where he’s no more than a tool to bend the Magisterium’s arm), she can’t shut down her emotions where Lyra is concerned.
And so on some level, she seems to accept it. This girl matters. Fine. She’ll still be her twisted and cold self. This won’t break her. It’s just that now, Lyra has become one of the main considerations of her machinations.
And I can’t wait to see what she does next. What will happen when Lyra finds out what her mother is doing. What will happen when she and Lyra will meet again. And her reactions to Asriel, because if you’ve been following my blog you know I’ve become complete Masriel trash.
So in episode 6 there are 3 magisterium aircrafts after John Parry and Lee. Joparry can control the weather. He lights one aircraft on fire (with lightning, I think?). To the second, he sends a swarm of birds that somehow make the aircraft explode??? Like??? Okay pretty random but if that's your aesthetic go for it I guess. But then, oh, for the third aircraft, Joparry can't do anything.
Even though, you know, he totally could have.
Why didn't he send lightning to all three aircrafts? Boom, easy, done no problem. Or, if he has to stick to his Aesthetic™ then send the birds again. Why the fuck was he unable to deal with the third aircraft? He managed to neutralise the first one in a second.
Maybe, just maybe, if he'd been less of a drama queen and hadn't wasted time with the birds then this could all have been avoided. And then, you know, Lee wouldn't have had to fucking DIE, and without even seeing his daughter Lyra again.
Lyra, you know, the person Lee's dying words were about. Lyra, who for his dying request, he reminded Joparry to protect.
John Parry meets the Knife Bearer. Surprise surprise, it's his son. Heartwarming. As the audience, we know that Will is ride or die for Lyra and so of course he's going to protect her. BUT JOHN PARRY DOESN'T FUCKING KNOW THAT.
AND HE DOESN'T EVEN MENTION LYRA LIKE JESUS FUCKING CHRIST HE JUST LEFT LEE SCORESBY TO DIE AND HE CAN'T EVEN HONOUR HIS LAST REQUEST LIKE GTFO
Let round two of the Marisa-Lee custody battle begin!
John Parry then dies in Will's arms from the magisterium soldier who wouldn't have been an issue if Joparry wasn't a drama queen with an obsession with birds
Now, Lee's entire thing this season is that he needs to find John Parry so he can help Lyra. Will's entire thing this season has been that he absolutely has to find his father. Serafina put off getting her sisters so safety from the spectors so they could help Lyra help Will find his father because this is something that is absolutely CRUCIAL. Even the alethiometer said so. But like??? What exactly did John Parry say??? That was such a game-changer??? Will needs to find Asriel and join the fight? Wow, it's not as if Will and Lyra have spent the last couple days with witches who are anyways planning on joining Asriel’s war. That would be insane. No, the only plausible way for Will to join the fight is for his father to tell him to, before dying in his arms like the overdramatic walking cliché that he is.
...WHAT THE FUCK???
Marisa has the spectres at her beck and call, right? Then why the hell couldn't they have had her use them to attack Lyra, Will and the witches? Yes, the spectres are scared of the knife, but Marisa's will is so strong I’d be shocked to find out she can’t get them to overide their self preservation WE STAN. Will would be the ultimate defence, yes? He'd be the one protecting the witches from the spectres. Then, within all the chaos and the really fucking badass sequence this could have been Lyra would get separated and Marisa would take her.
We'd have Lyra kidnapped by her mother. CHECK.
We'd also have Will with the witches.
The witches - most of them already rallying to Asriel’s cause and would probably quickly realise that they need Will and his knife and convince him to join the fight. Or, if in this version of events, Joparry isn't such a dumbass Joparry and Lee could tell Will that themselves.
The witches- one of whom being Serafina Pekkala- who's about as obsessed with Lyra as Marisa is, which is a *feat and who will likely be ready to team up with Lee to rescue Lyra from her insane mother.
Will would be conflicted what to choose- go after Lyra or go after Asriel.
You know. Just as he'll probably be next season ANYWAY. So... CHECK AND CHECK.
Like... I don't mean to tell the writers how to do their job... But DO THEM KNOW HOW TO DO THEIR JOB??????
-
FULL DISCLOSURE: I haven't read the books and so maybe there's a reasonable explanation for all this that we'll only find out next season. But like... I don't see what could justify all the fuckery that went on? Marisa Coulter was fucking incredible as always this episode that scene with the monkey jesus give this woman an Emmy already but other than that? I was disappointed.
If they needed to separate Will and Lyra, and have Marisa kidnap Lyra, THERE WERE MUCH BETTER WAYS TO GET THAT SHIT DONE
OK BUT AFTER AN ENTIRE SEASON OF THE GOBLIN MONKEY WANTING CONTACT AND AFFECTION AND MARISA BEING CRUEL TO HIM HE FINALLY GETS A LOVING TOUCH AND IT'S FROM STELMARIA I WILL BE SCREAMING ABOUT THIS FOREVER
I KNOW IT'S INCREDIBLE ESPECIALLY AFTER THE INTENSE ABUSE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE EPISODE AND I TOO WILL BE SCREAMING ABOUT THIS FOREVER
Warning: I have a lot of thoughts and feelings because Marisa and Asriel finally interacted onscreen and it was glorious.
Let’s begin.
We all know Marisa has a... let's say, complicated relationship with her daemon. At his point, it’s no surprise to see Marisa abusing him in one form or the other. But we’ve never seen it like this before. Earlier times it was as a warning to behave or a slap as a form of punishment. This? This is something new. Marisa is gripping her daemon’s skin to the point of pain, a point so painful that she is closing her eyes and wincing. There’s no pretending it doesn’t hurt her too. This is self ham at its most explicit.
What has he done to deserve such treatment? What could have driven her to this? What did we see Marisa doing in the scene we saw her last?
Marisa is bracing herself for having to kill Asriel, one of the only two people in the world she cares about. Her entire self is rebelling at the very thought.
"What did he do to you?" Macphail asks, and it might have been her asking herself that question. "What power he still exerts. I knew you. An ambitious young woman with a good marriage well on her way to quite some position, and then that man came along and you melted."
That won’t happen again. Marisa is far from that stupid girl who made the worst mistake of her life over a crush. She steels herself for what she needs to do. She is sure in her convictions and no one, least not that man, will stop her.
Below, armoured bears are readying for an attack.
Lyra is probably still with the Gyptions. There's no reason to think Lyra would be down there below. Maybe the possibility of Lyra being there doesn't even cross her mind. Except Iofer is dead. After an armoured bear helped Lyra escape Bolvanger. And now there are armoured bears readying for an attack against the Magisterium. Lyra could be down there.
"Open fire," Marisa says. It's chaos down there, it's hard to see anything. But maybe she spots one bear running away. Maybe she spots a familiar red hat on its rider and sighs in relief. Maybe she berates herself for almost hurting her daughter again.
Or maybe Lyra isn't even on her radar, too consumed with thoughts of Asriel.
Marisa knew Asriel was doing something was Dust. She understands from his work that it has something to do with an energy discharge. The penny drops, and fear takes hold of Marisa.
He wouldn't. Would he? But the numbers all add up. Marisa isn't beyond hurting children and they're the same, Asriel and her, they always have been. He'd enjoy besting Marisa at something, succeeding where she couldn't. He couldn't. But who was to say how far his convictions went? Lyra shouldn't be anywhere near there. There's no reason for her to be there.
Still, Marisa is on edge. She demands Thorold tell her what Asriel is planning, even as she seems to have grasped the basics. She tries frightening him, appealing to the faith I'm surprised he'd even have after years of working for Asriel. Thorold lowers the gun but still doesn't say anything. Marisa tries a different tactic.
"Thorold, I should throw you to the wolves. But I won't. I’ll tell them that Father Macphail is staying here to analyse what we’ve found, and then I’ll take the troops to pursue Asriel and you will leave. He’s always been so reckless. He’s never treated any of us well, you included."
Did Thorold tell her anything off-screen? We don't know. There's nothing to suggest that they talk any more after this scene. Which means that Marisa - always in control - Coulter let her guard down, let herself seem vulnerable about Asriel, without any clear gain. This isn't a ploy to get something. This isn't her being emotional because Lyra's there. This is just her being emotional. For the first time in god knows how long, she's going to see Asriel again. And Thorold has been working with Asriel for years. He probably knew about the affair as it happened, one of the only people in the know. Both Thorold and Marisa know Asriel intimately, and there's a camaraderie to that.
I can't not mention Marisa's remarks about Asriel throughout the season.
"He's a failure of a man and a failure of a father." (1x02)
"He thought he could protect you. Another one of his ridiculous ideas. Couldn't protect a painting if it was drawn on the wall." (1x02)
"[About giving up Lyra] And Asriel had ideas on what was best." (1x06)
“And if there's one thing that man doesn't need, it's more toys to do damage with.” (1x06)
“He’s always been so reckless. He’s never treated any of us well.” (1x08)
And that’s probably barely scracthig the surface. We have no way of knowing how long it’s been since they last saw each other? Marisa told Lyra that she sometimes bumps into Asriel in the Arctic Institute, but there’s nothing to suggest that actually happened. For all we know, this could be the first time they speak since Asriel’s trial 12 years ago.
Marisa approaches him. He's sprouting out heresy like he always did, but she can't ignore it or roll her eyes or find better uses for his mouth. He's shattering her world, promising the end of everything she's worked for, everything she believes in.
Damn him, he has the audacity to smile.
This is the end of the Magisterium, that's what he said. The sun of another world. "Come,” he says.
She doesn't want to, but she can't help it. Whether it’s a miracle, an abomination; she is first and foremost a scholar, and this is extraordinary.
Something like peace settles between them, but Asriel is still saying things she does not want to hear. "Marisa, come with me," he says, like it's that easy.
Marisa's religious beliefs haven't been given much attention until now. She's played with the Magisterium, manipulating them to get what she wants and not giving a damn to what they say if when doesn't suit her. In the previous episode, she told Father Macphail the Magisterium has her devotion, but that didn't ring true. She cares about her experiments. That's her priority. Everything else is background noise.
Marisa fully believes that Dust in sin. She said it herself to Lyra in the Daemon Cages.
“Dust is not a good thing. Grown-ups are infected so deeply that it's too late for them. Condemned to a life of sin, guilt and regret. This is for a better future, a better life. [...] At the age that we call puberty, an age you'll come into very soon, darling, daemons bring all sorts of troublesome thoughts and feelings.”
She's trying to create a better world, one where humans aren't plagued with temptation and guilt. It's easy to blame this on the consequences of her affair with Asriel, and I do believe that fuels some of it. But to solely credit him for her motivations does her character a disservice. It took three-quarters of the season to touch on what drives her to these extremes, and I very much hope that they continue to delve into it in season 2.
Okay. This moment. This moment this moment this moment. This moment. Sorry, my brain loops and glitches whenever I see or think of this moment, because this moment.
This moment.
It's best with audio because then you can hear the way Ruth Wilson says Marisa’s faint protests. She's breathless, confused, torn, unsure. Everything she hasn't been up till now. Ruth Wilson is out queen our lord and saviour.
And Asriel, our favourite slut, is so thirsty for her, leaning in as she pulls away. It's been years and finally, he can kiss her again and he doesn't want to ever stop. His experiment just changed things forever, could change them forever. He and Marisa are the same, and he loved her years ago and he still loves her now, and if everything is changing then maybe finally they can get their happy ending.
Marisa was able to convince Macphail to let her come along because she knows Asriel better than anyone else. The same is true vice versa.
“Lie about whatever you want. Lie about the Oblation Board. The Magisterium. Lie about the girl. But do not lie about your ambition your work or who you truly are. You used to want to change the world. Then leave the Magisterium. Come with me, and we will change them all.”
He talks between small kisses, tempting her, teasing her, seducing her. Despite her snapping remark at Macphail, Marisa does in fact melt. This will work, they can be together again.
But there's the one thing Asriel didn't expect. The one thing that Marisa herself hadn't expected.
But I love Lyra. Where did this love come from? I don't know; it came to me like a thief in the night, and now I love her so much my heart is bursting with it.
Rewatching the scene, you can see the moment she makes her decision. She leans her head back just enough so she can look at Asriel.
Then leans back in and closes her eyes. Lets herself bask in the moment, lets herself feel the love and safety and rightness of being with him envelop her. When she opens her eyes, when she pulls away and speaks the words that will put them on separate paths, her resolution is clear. She's resigned to her decision and its consequences.
And Asriel could have debated theology and politics until the end of time, if that's what it took to have her again. He can't argue this.
And so she leaves. And he lets her. And the two of them are just so unexpectedly soft with each other my heart can't take it.
Where's the furious fight? The cutting remarks? The bitter resentment pushed down all these years finally showing its ugly face? Where's the dysfunctional madness?
"Ah, those two. In a fight they're lethal. Around each other, they melt." - Richelle Mead, The Golden Lily.
Part of me is disappointed we missed out on that beautiful angst, the kind we'd probably see if they spent longer together, but another part of me loves it. Because they cut through the bullshit. With others maybe they'd put on an act, but it's just them. And they know each other. They'd see through the other's presences in a heartbeat. The whole scene is so intimate, so honest, they almost convince me they could be healthy. And that's the tragedy of them, I think. They're so alike, two sides of the same coin. They understand each other on such a deep level no amount of time apart makes a difference. In another life, they would work. They should work. But this is the reality they live in.
Confession time.
I have not read the books. I have no intention of reading the books, at least not the parts I haven't seen onscreen yet. The reason is that after episode 3, I picked up the first book, caught up to where I was on the show, and realised I enjoyed the show better. I'd rather experience the twists and turns first on the platform that I prefer, without having them spoiled first on a platform that just doesn't evoke the same emotional response. Please don't pelt tomatoes at me!
I vaguely knew the plot of the Golden Compass from the movie I half saw years ago, and from general knowledge. Going forth, I'm mostly blind. I know bits and pieces from Tumblr that I can't quite escape, (I.e: the quote from the books I used above that I've seen in multiple gifsets), and unfortunately, I already know Masriel's fate. The journey getting there? No clue.
Which is exciting.
I've understood that the show is delving much more into Maria's psyche than the books, and that her revelation that she loves Lyra has come earlier. I don't know what it means going forth, if there will be changes from the books or if it will stay the same for the most part. What I do know, is that I can't wait to see what happens next.
Marisa refused Asriel because of Lyra, but Lyra left their world. Next season, I'm sure Marisa will be just as ruthless and determined to get her back, that will probably result with her aligning with the Magisterium once more.
I'd love to see her find a way to once again place the blame on Asriel, but as we've seen, her bitterness and resentment tend to fade away when faced with the man himself. Maybe it'll be easier to cling onto now the novelty of seeing him again after so long has worn off. But I honestly don't know how it will go when they next see each other. The softness of this scene took me by surprise, just as each of them always does individually. One thing's for sure, their connection isn't going anywhere.
But neither is the reality they live in. The Magisterium. It'll be interesting to see just how deep her loyalties go because the show did a great job in showing me that she'll choose Lyra over practically anything, but like I said, it hasn't talked much about her religious convictions.
See, that isn't what I'd expect to hear from the truly devout. It's part of her power-play with Macphail, yes, but it doesn't scream religious fanatic.
I want next season to explore that side of her. Ruth is a fantastic actress and would portray the inner turmoil perfectly. But I need to believe there's a chance she won't choose Lyra. I need to be convinced in her conviction, to honesty fear that she's gone off the ledge. I love that Lyra is her weak spot, I love that in her own twisted way she believes she's putting Lyra first. But she's not just a mother. She's not just a scorned lover. She is Marisa fucking Coulter, cesspit of moral filth, mother of all evil, and I need to see her go dark.
Yes, darker than smiling as she attacks the daughter she loves, darker than killing a boy with her bare hands, darker than kidnapping and experimenting on children even as they continue to die. I want her to repulse me with her actions. I want her to cross every line imaginable. I want her completely unredeemable. And then have her love for her child override all those convictions.
I have high demands. I have high expectations. I have full confidence Ruth Wilson can deliver. I'm really hoping the writers and producers do too.
