Goodbye to Iorek

Iorek is mending the knife. To do this he needs Will to concentrate and focus his mind, as only this process can truly weld the pieces back together.

Iorek asks Will what he plans to do with the knife now it is mended. Will says he is full of doubts and worried about his mother and what is the right thing to do. Iorek advises him to clear his mind of emotions and focus on the task; if Will’s mind is divided and confused the knife will break again.

Iorek is not impressed that the children plan to go to the land of the dead. As Will washes the knife in the stream, Iorek tells Lyra that his respect for Will has grown and that he is a strong companion for Lyra. Iorek explains that he cannot go on with Lyra but that he will see her at the battle for the end of the world, if she is lucky enough to return from the land of the dead. Iorek leaves them.

Lyra and Will prepare to cut a window to the land of the dead. Pantalaimon doesn’t like this idea at all. He asks ‘Do you need to be dead to go the land of the dead?’ and ‘What happens to your daemon when you are there?’. They decide they will be like ghosts when they are there.

Tialys and Salmakia appear. They try to stop Will and Lyra from going. There is a struggle and Will cuts a number of windows that don’t work, but then one does. They escape.