The Golden Compass

While Lyra sleeps, Lee has a conversation with Serafina about his concerns around being paid, his outlook on life as more about free will and choice than any predetermined fate, and his overall goals. Although Lee just wants to make money and go back to Texas to retire, Serafina tells him that his fate is tied to Lyra’s and Iorek’s. She also reveals a bit about her thoughts, like her belief in fate, and how she and other witches differ from humans. After Lee goes to sleep, Lyra wakes up and chats with Serafina about Lord Asriel’s goal to reach another world. When Serafina confides her love for Farder Coram, Lyra encourages her to tell him and learns about their history together. Through Serafina, she learns that witches are resilient women served by men, and that they sometimes live up to 1,000 years. Serafina gives Lyra a briefing on the history of the bears and how Iorek should be king, but he killed a bear in a fight over a female bear because the other bear would not yield. Iofur is the new king of the bears and benefits from Iorek’s exile, a plot which Lyra believes was intentionally crafted by Iofur to gain power.