In the grey world, Lyra lies asleep, dreaming of Roger in the warehouse again, in the land of the dead.

Lyra wakes up beside the sleeping Will and stares at him. Pan asks her what's wrong. Lyra walks away, saying she has slept enough.

Father Gomez returns to Geneva.

Pan asks about Lyra's nightmare. She needs to go to the land of the dead. Pan assures her that they'll always be together.

Gomez has to explain to MacPhail that dark forces surrounded the girl, and she disappeared into thin air.

At base camp, Asriel visits his prisoner, Mrs. Coulter, and her monkey. He brings her into his bunker and replaces her shackles with rope. She says he's still the same man she ever was. He reminds her he gave her the choice to stand beside him, but she turned him down.

Mrs. Coulter expresses concern for Lyra's safety, as the Magisterium is after Lyra because of who she is (which Asriel doesn't believe). Asriel assures her that he has an agent with Lyra, and she will bring Lyra to them when she is needed.

Asriel and Stelmaria leave, with an armed guard watching Mrs. Coulter.

Will wakes. Lyra appears with water, and Will drinks. She notes he seems different, and he says the same about her. Lyra thanks him for coming.

Salmakia shows herself, saying she is here for Lyra, Will, and the knife. Lyra and Will want to talk in private, but Salmakia doesn't want to let them escape. Will sets the knife beside Salmakia, and he and Lyra talk privately.

Will tells Lyra the knife is broken -- when Mrs. Coulter made him think of his mother, it broke. It left a window open, but now he thinks they're stuck.

Will gives her back her alethiometer. Lyra asks what happened to him. Will says he had to leave because he finally knew where his father was. Will found his father, and then he was gone -- shot by a soldier.

Dr. Mary leaves the two soldiers, who give her survival supplies. She assures them she will be careful and sets back out again.

Lyra suggests they go back through the window and find Iorek, as he knows metal and may be able to repair the knife. Will tells her that the knife is needed in a war, and his father told him to take the knife to Asriel.

Lyra tells him that Asriel killed Roger and that Will shouldn't help destroy the Authority if it means standing alongside a murderer. Lyra says she has been dreaming of the land of the dead and thinks they should go there.

Will tells her he is doing this for his father, saying he is the bearer, not her.

Salmakia relays this information to Asriel, saying Lyra is pushing Will to do things he doesn't want to do. Salmakia explains that she keeps the knife when they go off without her. Ogunwe tells Salmakia to send coordinates once she knows what world she's in.

Ruta appears, mad at Asriel for bringing Mrs. Coulter, but Asriel says she is intelligent and seems to be on their side. Asriel doesn't trust Mrs. Coulter -- he needs a second opinion and wants to put her before the council. Ruta reminds him that witches were tortured at killed at Mrs. Coulter's command.

MacPhail prays, unable to hear or sense god. His daemon tells him not to doubt himself.

At night, Will examines the pieces of the knife. Pan urges Lyra to apologize to Will, and she does. He apologizes, too, assuring her he doesn't want to argue.

Will and Lyra sit by the fire. She says she checked with the alethiometer -- and Iorek is still near the window. They can get the knife repaired, and then Will can decide what to do.

Lyra expresses gratitude for him coming to get her before going to Asriel. Will says he can't take her to the land of the dead. Lyra tells him that she and Pan will find their own way. Will asks how she'll get back. She tells him not to trust Asriel.

Salmakia attacks Will, angry that the knife is broken. Lyra realizes it's just Will that Asriel wants. She asks Salmakia to tell him that Will escaped and that Mrs. Coulter broke the knife, not Will. They vow to be there when they are needed.

Salmakia asks if they can repair the knife. Lyra says they can't do it with Salmakia there, as they don't trust her. She tells them to be quick and flies off.

At the base camp, guards free Mrs. Coulter of her ropes and give her a change of clothes.

Mrs. Coulter appears on trial before Asriel, Ogunwe, Roke, and Ruta. Ogunwe asks what use she can be. Mrs. Coulter says she was the first woman in her world to achieve her status and has studied dust to the same extent as Asriel.

Ruta accuses her of killing witches. Mrs. Coulter admits it, also that she has experimented on children and behaved terribly.

Mrs. Coulter tells them to ask the important question -- why would she help them? She tells them it's because they can help protect Lyra. 

Mrs. Coulter was once ashamed of their daughter and didn't always think of her, but she saved her from the oblation board. Asriel reminds her that the oblation blade was her invention.

Mrs. Coulter says Asriel must do more to protect Lyra, as the Magisterium intends to kill her. She says if they save Lyra, she will do anything for them because she loves her daughter.

Will, Lyra, and Pan head to the open window, back into Lyra's world. They find the stone chapel where she was kept. They hear Iorek's roar outside.

Ogunwe expresses concern about Mrs. Coulter's power over Asriel. However, he agrees she can stay for now. Roke concurs. Ruta agrees, for Lyra's sake, but asks that if Mrs. Coulter betrays them, Ruta should be the one to kill her.

Asriel informs Mrs. Coulter that she can stay, but she mustn't try to leave, or she'll be killed. He tells her that Salmakia is with Lyra, who is traveling with a boy who has a knife.

Mrs. Coulter tells them the boy's name is Will, and he considers himself a hero. She says she doesn't care for him, and she heard nothing of a knife.

Lyra greets Iorek with a hug. They ask him to repair the knife, saying she wants to go to the land of the dead. He says that knife should not exist, and if he helps fix it, they must not use it to take her to that place. He says the knife broke because Will doubted himself.

Lyra notes that Iorek once doubted himself, as he used to be a drunk when she met him. She says it is the best people who doubt. He tells her to read the alethiometer and ask it if she should go to the land of the dead.

Lyra asks. The alethiometer is confused, but it says yes. Iorek agrees to repair the knife but isn't happy about it.

Dr. Mary steps through a window into a new world. She walks across a plain with rangy low mountains.

Dr. Cooper is brought to Father President MacPhail. He is curious about her severing technology, as Asriel seems to have used it at Svalbard.

Dr. Cooper tells him that her team observed a release of energy during daemon severance. MacPhail asks if they could harness the energy into a weapon. He tells her she should work on this task, but she is reluctant to do anything that would blow a hole in the sky.

MacPhail says he is fighting for a new Eden on earth, that this is the task ordained to him, and she should do what is asked of her.

Mrs. Coulter and her monkey look over the schematics of the intention craft. Ruta shows up, suspicious that she's looking so thoroughly at them.

Mrs. Coulter says she's just trying to understand what Asriel has done. Mrs. Coulter understands that the daemon powers it and the rider's intention controls it. She asks where she can see it. Ruta laughs.

Roke relays information from Salmakia to Asriel -- the knife is broken and currently unusable. Asriel asks how, and Roke tells him that Lyra's mother broke it when she tried to take it from Will. Asriel asks Roke to order Salmakia back. Roke notes that Mrs. Coulter is already lying.

Mrs. Coulter examines the intention craft. Asriel finds her and tells her that Roke is mad at her, as she lied about the knife. He asks why she lied. Mrs. Coulter says she didn't think it would help her cause.

Asriel says he will have to return her to her cell. She accuses him of wanting the throne of Heaven for himself. Asriel tells her he has called off the search for Lyra and bid his agent return -- as the knife is broken, he has no use for Lyra.

They argue, with Mrs. Coulter insisting that Lyra is important. Asriel reminds her of her despicable behavior and that he cannot give up this fight for their daughter.

Asriel mocks Mrs. Coulter for loving Lyra. She spits in his face, and he puts his hands around her neck, then pulls away, both of them in tears.

Asriel sits. Mrs. Coulter remains still. Asriel tells her that the power of the Authority is a lie -- he is not a creator, and Heaven is ruled by a regent called Metatron. Mrs. Coulter laughs, unbelieving. Asriel says everything Mrs. Coulter has done has been in the name of a lie. He asks her to come with him.

Will, Lyra, and Iorek build a fire and lay the knife on two stones. Iorek tells Will it will be up to him to repair the knife, as much as it is for Iorek. He urges Will to focus.

Will thinks of his father. The knife begins to reassemble, then shatters again. Iorek encourages him to think of what matters. Will focuses on Lyra. The knife reassembles. Will faints.

Lyra and Iorek wake Will. Iorek has repaired the knife.

Iorek bids them goodbye, saying if Lyra and Will do not find the way out of the land of the dead, they will never meet again. However, if they do, they will always be welcome at Svalbard.

Asriel takes Mrs. Coulter to the intercision chamber and shows her Alarbus. She asks how this is possible, struck by the archangel's beauty. Asriel tells her Alarbus just fell out of the sky and into his lap. Alarbus does not speak.

Will examines the knife. Lyra asks him how it feels. He says different. He tells her he saw things as the knife was being forged -- her.

Balthamos appears. He apologizes, but he has been watching over them. Will tells Lyra Balthamos is an angel. Lyra introduces herself.

Balthamos asks if Will is ready to go to Lord Asriel. Will says he is going to the land of the dead with Lyra. Balthamos encourages them. Will says Balthamos should come. Balthamos tells him that angels cannot go to the land of the dead, but he will never be far.

Balthamos flies away. Will tells Lyra that his mother always told him to help a friend if they needed it. Lyra hugs him.

Sergi returns, saying the worlds are rippling with angelic activities -- Xaphania's rebels.

Ogunwe asks Ruta if she trusts Asriel completely. She says it's foolish to think that angels would follow a human against one of their own.

Ogunwe suggests that the angels might turn on them because of Alarbus's imprisonment. Ruta says it depends on what Asriel does to him.

In the intercision chamber room, Asriel tells Alarbus they will use their severing technology to cut him to pieces and send him back to his master. Asriel asks Mrs. Coulter to close the door. She does so, letting the golden monkey out.

Asriel turns on the machine. Alarbus begins to split. Asriel turns up the machine. Alarbus continues to scream. Asriel tells Alarbus that his message to Metatron is, "I am here!"

Asriel turns up the machine, and Alarbus disappears, shattered into pieces.

Mrs. Coulter has escaped the chamber. She gets into the intention craft with her golden monkey and lifts off. Asriel, Ogunwe, and other soldiers go after her. Asriel tells Roke to get into the flying machine.

All have their guns drawn on the craft as Mrs. Coulter takes off. She gives them one last look and, using her intention, makes the craft vanish.

Asriel tells the others that Mrs. Coulter is going after Lyra, and she is inconsequential. Asriel and Stelmaria stare out into the sky as Ogunwe returns to the camp with his soldiers.

Will asks what he should be looking for. Lyra tries to describe the land of the dead to him. He attempts to slice the air, but the knife is resistant.

Finally, it opens up to them, and they head in. It looks as it did in Lyra's dream, yellow, with numbered beams. Will and Lyra walk together and notice other people walking in one direction. Pan whines, feeling unsafe. He calls to Lyra to wait.