Lord Asriel Puns

When the angles first see what Lord Asriel has built and the army he has assembled they say it must have taken thousands of years to build.

I also feel like if Asriel was immortal it would explain his behaviour towards lyra, his unintended mortal child. But equally why lyra is able to accomplish such great things. Its only a theory but its definitely curious how he was able to build so much.

>! I feel like their climactic demise is rather underrepresented in the following chapters of TAS: They did not just sacrifice their life for the greater good of Lyra and essentially all consent beings, but voluntarily entered an eternal state of conscious falling. I know it is a great sign of redemption and they weren't particularily great people, but this is a hell much worse then the land of the dead. They don't get anything out of their great victory, and Lyra, nor anyone really, acknowledges that. !<

When I first read Golden Compass as a kid, I automatically assumed that Asriel was a white Brit, and he has been portrayed as such in the both the movie and tv adaptation. However, upon rereading the trilogy once I was older, I actually found myself imagining Asriel as brown! Levantine specifically (I'm leaning towards Palestinian). My reasoning for this was:

1. He was described as having a dark face in TGC (it could've just been a non-literal adjective to describe his facial expressions, but it could also be a literal description) with dark eyes (TAS) and black hair (LBS).

2. His name Asriel is Middle Eastern in origin (yes I know Biblical names are common in Europe, but Asriel isn't one of those names).

3. He was one of the only aristocrats that was friends with the gyptians and helped them. Maybe he felt solidarity with them since he was also a non-white Brit?

4. It would just be kinda fitting, y'know? The guy leading a rebellion against God being from the region God designated as the Chosen Land for the Chosen People would be like poetic justice.

Of course, none of these characteristics are exclusive to any one ethnicity, but to me Lord Asriel will always be a Levantine man. Do you guys have any ethnicity headcanons for Asriel or any other characters? (I definitely see Scoresby as Navajo since his mother was mentioned to have given him a Navajo ring, and Chinese Mrs Coulter or Indian Mrs Coulter is dear to my heart).

Can someone tell me exactly in which book (and chapter/page number/general location if possible) Lord Asriels army is described? Preferably the part where they describe the different forces who flocked to his banner and all that.

So I guess I am wondering if she ever really loved him? I felt like I had read something in the book about her loving him... but I can’t remember exactly

I hope the season doesn't feel uncompleted, but it seems they cut off Asriel due to the pandemic and he won't be featured in Season 2. There was supposed to be an Asriel centered episode but I thought he shot some scenes. I'm wondering at what point of the story are they going to introduce this episode. What are your thoughts about this?

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-07-23/his-dark-materials-axed-special/

I have red whole trilogy of His dark materials and although I liked how it ended, beatiful bitersweet ending, the way how Pullman wrapped up whole war and Lyra´s parents left lot to be desired. My main grasp with The Amber Spyglass it did not have strong antagonist. After Coultor turn into anti-hero at the start, we were left with MacPhail, father Gomez, Metatron and Authority as opposing force. Which left me wondering if actually was this final confrontation planned all along like that.

My favourite book is first one, because set ups and paid-offs in that book was incredible. And particulary Asriel plot twist is one of the best I had pleasure to meet. It seems obvious in retrospective, yet it was still suprising. I mean what sane father would try to break his daughters arm after she broke bottle.

And at the end it feels weird. Asriel betrays Lyra, kills her best friend and supposedly plans to destroy the Dust. And here is what it feels weird. Last time when we saw Lyra and Asriel together was at the end of first book and after that nothing. And although saving Roger is big plot point in third book, weridly Lyra does not mention it to Tialys and Salmakie to explain why she doesn´t trust her father, so we don´t get any reactions from them on the matter. And Asriel didn´t felt any consequences from that act. Considergin that Roger´s death is basically Ned Stark plot point of HDM its weird how much it was kind downplayed in other two books (one of the reason why I sometimes feel like first book and other two sequels are different series.)

I believe that Asriel was supposed to be main antagonist (morally grey not cartoonishly evil) for whole trilogy. Reasons are following

1. He killed Roger so for Lyra it becames personal
2. Asriel is obviously reference to the god of death angel Azrael. So he has threatening and menaingful name
3. He and Lyra are quite similiar in certain aspects.
4. Dads are quite often wonderful antagonists.

Another thing is weird change we got for Asriel´s character, at the end of Golden Compass/Norther Lights he says this.

No? You And I could take the universe to pieces and put it together again, Marisa! We could find the source of Dust and stifle it forever!

Yet at the end of the A

I've finished reading "Northern Lights" yesterday and there's one thing that I wish had been done differently. At the end of the book, Asriel not only asks Mrs. Coulter to come with him but he also says that if she doesn't he'll never give her "a second's thought". In my opinion, this gives us important information about how lord Asriel functions. So I think this should have been included in the show, also because these words change the relationship dynamic between Lyra's parents. What do you guys think?

So I'm working on an essay right now about the ideological links between the trilogy and the biblical fall of man. I am kind of confused about Lord Asriel's relationship to Dust. I know he basically wants to destroy the Authority and take down the Magisterium, but does this include Dust for him? I feel like he would be the type to celebrate Dust as original sin/consciousness, but he also says at the end of TGC that he wants to destroy Dust. What do you guys think?

I like both HP and HDM and I've been thinking lately into which houses the main characters would be sorted. And then I started thinking about Lord Asriel in particular. I think it's important to keep in mind that one can possess the virtues of multiple houses. Then, the house you are sorted into is the main driving force behind your actions. So here's my line of thought for Lord Asriel:

1. He's definitely not a Hufflepuff (I mean that's obvious, right?) because he killed Roger.
2. He's not a Gryffindor because he didn't attack the Kingdom of Heaven. A Gryffindor would generally value bravery over brains.
3. That leaves Ravenclaw and Slytherin. He's really into knowledge and freedom, but is it imaginable that if the whole Dust/Magisterium/Authority thing didn't come along, Lord Asriel would have settled for being an average scholar, or an average anything for that matter? I don't think so. And that only leaves Slytherin!

Do you guys agree?

Edit: Also being like "I don't like the way the world is, so I'm gonna change it to fit my ideas" is the most ambitious thing imaginable.

I just finished the Amber Spyglass and I think I was so eager to finish the books that I missed some details.

After John Parry arrived in Lyra's world, he became a shaman and was able to do more things than an ordinary human; for example, his daemon could go farther away from him, he could see things and he could summon things. These last two things intrigue me. At the end of Northern Lights, Lord Asriel gets very emotional when he sees Lyra arrive, he says something like "I didn't call for you", and later it is revealed that he had the power to call for what he needed, in this case a child to power the window to another world. This power to call or summon is the same as we saw John Parry use to call on Lee, he needed someone who could fly him to the knife bearer, and Mr. Scoresby arrived. As far as I know they never mentioned how or why Lord Asriel had this same power, was he the same as Parry? Same question goes for Lee but with the seeing power, quite frankly I didn't understand how or why he was able to see the destruction of the zeppelins on Cittagazze, it was mentioned he had the sight or some seeing power that he never knew about until that moment. Are these some kind of powers latent in any human being and when you get exposed to more Dust or knowledge you can start to unlock them? I feel like I missed something big here.

Maybe it is just me but I have been worried from the previews that they are going to make him into a good guy. I know it's almost impossible with the plot of him killing Roger to be seen as all good... but the way he is shown in the trailer worries me that they won't show how much of an ass he was so Lyra. I know people hated the movie but I thought Daniel Craig nailed that part of the character. Thoughts?

I have seen several people criticize the changes made to Lord Asriel's character.

Personally, I love this version of him.

What I like in an adaptation is to rediscover the spirit of the book I read and the topics covered while having another proposal on the universe and the characters. Which is the case here.

In the books, Lord Asriel is restraint and shows no interest in Lyra (except towards the end). So it is interesting to exploit another aspect of the character. Because, deep down, Lord Asriel loves Lyra. And the series has decided to exploit more their bond and Asriel's feelings. Which is very interesting and touching in my opinion. Their particular bond is highlighted in this first episode and I think it will make the end of the season even more upsetting.

James McAvoy plays the different aspects of the character wonderfully well. I confess to having cried during the scene where Lyra talks about the death of her parents. Asriel's look of guilt, shame and regret is amazing. And the exchange of glances between him and Lyra while the airship is flying is really touching.

https://preview.redd.it/xitwkn9gwkw31.jpg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bb63edf6997aea0b9b0fb145983c2d5a0460bbea

What do you think?

There's one thing I'm wondering about which concerns Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter. What exactly happens to them when they fall into the abyss? It obviously is a way to defeat Metatron, but what exactly happens when you fall? Do you just continue falling forever or is it more like "going out" with nothing left of you?

I... know he just >!killed Roger!< in the show, but goddam is he ever just so attractive in his fierce devotion to freedom. (I don't necessarily find the actor attractive, just the character)

Am I evil for thinking this?

Obviously it's because I'm a book reader, since I hated him right alongside Lyra the first time I read it.

I could just listen to him talk about the Republic of Heaven all day.

I've completely finished all of the books except for "The Secret Commonwealth" which I started the other day, (and I'm highly enjoying!) But I was thinking back on "The Amber Spyglass" and I got a bit confused. I understand that Asriel wanted to defeat Metatron as he didn't want to be under his oppression, but what difference would it make? Asriel and Mrs Coulter say in the book that they want to defeat Metatron's army to make the world safe for Lyra but what was the overall outcome? Did killing Metatron suppress the Magisterium's rule over Lyra's world? And how did Asriel know that he had to go after Metatron? Where did he find out about The Clouded Mountain?

...A brother and sister-in-law who died in an airship accident who he uses as an excuse to explain Lyra’s existence? Or do you think said brother is a fabrication on the part of Asriel and the scholars? I want to hear what you think!

What does everyone think Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter’s thoughts are about Lyra? Do they feel any sense of responsibility towards her? Do they love her as their daughter, or as a possession? I’m torn between the two - even do they feel obliged to look after her?

Scenes in chapters 5&6 from the first novel show Mrs Coulter attempting something close to motherhood (when she takes care of Lyra in her flat, except for her monkey attacking Pan), whereas Lord Asriel acts rather cold and distant to his daughter from the beginning. Even in the ending he isn’t grateful but does show her something resembling fatherly concern.

Scenes in chapter 16/17 loosely attempt to portray Mrs Coulter in the role of the distraught mother, but we as readers know she only saves Lyra because she needs her alive and still intact to coax her into handing her aleithometer. Here I think Mrs Coulter felt obliged to perform her role as a mother when her child is hurt (bedtime, hot drink etc) but we knew Lyra wasn’t safe in the slightest, and I felt Asriel was the stronger parent of the two (despite his murder of Roger, Mrs Coulter had him kidnapped by the Gobblers regardless).

All in all I think across the tv series Lyra’s parentage looks like it will be not the throw away line it was in the film, but a more drawn out and realistic sounding revelation. What does everyone else think to the above question?

It has been more than 12 years since I read the books, so can someone tell me who exactly was fighting aside Lord Asriel's forces? I know there were angels, but I don't think angels were the only components of his armies, also beings of other worlds but what beings? humans? witches?