Never underestimate the resilience of children. This is a central theme in the television series His Dark Materials that is embodied by the protagonist Lyra Silvertongue. In her backstory and over the course of seasons 1 and 2, Lyra endured a great deal of hardship and tragedy, much of it related to her parents Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter.

Many of the things Lyra has dealt with are things that a child should never have to experience. Despite the many challenges and cruelties that she’s faced, Lyra manages to be incredibly resilient, though that does not make the hardships she faces any less sad.

10 She Was Blamed For The Spectres Devouring Tullio’s Soul

Tullio tried to protect himself from the Spectres by taking Giacamo Paradisi captive and stealing the Subtle Knife from him. When Lyra and Will entered the Tower of Angels in Cittàgazze, Tullio attacked them. During this fight, Will became the chosen bearer of the Subtle Knife. Tullio was left defenseless and vulnerable against the Spectres who devoured his soul, leaving him as little more than an empty husk of a human being.

Because of what happened in the Tower of Angels, Angelica blamed Lyra and Will for what happened to Tullio. At one point, Angelica even riled up the other children in Cittàgazze and they tried to kill Lyra and Will. It was unfair to blame Lyra for something that would’ve happened to Tullio anyway. Lyra and Will did not deserve to have such fierce anger and blame laid at their feet.

9 She Grew Up Believing Her Parents Were Dead

While being raised at Jordan College, Lyra was led to believe that her parents died in an airship accident. The scholars at Jordan College did their best, but their expertise was in academics, and not in raising a child. Lord Asriel told Lyra he was her uncle and he would only visit Jordan College on rare occasions.

This was a difficult and lonely situation for Lyra to endure, with no one but her best friend Roger feeling like a true family. She eventually learned that Asriel was her father and Mrs. Coulter was her mother, but these revelations did not make her life any easier given the complex and sometimes cruel natures of both her parents.

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8 No One Can Tell Her The Full Truth

In order to fulfill her destiny, Lyra cannot know the full truth about the witches’ prophecy, who she is fated to be, or what she must ultimately do. No one character has all the answers, but some like the witch Serafina Pekkala do know a great deal about Lyra’s destiny, yet she cannot share most of the information with Lyra.

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This is a frustrating situation for Lyra to be in. No one wants to feel like important things are being kept from them and it is something Lyra has to constantly deal with, always feeling like the adults are never honest with her and are concealing what she really needs to know. It is a difficult situation for anyone to be in, let alone a child.

7 People Have Tried To Kill Her Since She Was A Baby

Edward Coulter was furious when he discovered that his wife had a child with Lord Asriel. Enraged, Edward Coulter wanted to kill the child–Lyra–when she was a baby. Asriel killed Edward Coulter and saved his daughter’s life.

Unfortunately, Edward Coulter was only the first of many who would try to track down and kill Lyra. The scholars at Jordan College looked after her for many years and later on, she gained some fearsome protectors like Iorek Byrnison, but regardless, no child should have their life endangered from the moment they were born.

6 Kidnapped And Put Inside A Suitcase

Season 2 ended with Mrs. Coulter kidnapping Lyra and putting her inside a suitcase. After discovering that Lyra is fated to be Eve, Mrs. Coulter became frightened by her daughter’s destiny and the role she would play in shaping the various worlds.

Mrs. Coulter might believe that she was protecting Lyra from her destiny and bringing about the downfall of humanity, but that still could never justify kidnapping a child and stuffing them inside of a suitcase.

5 Her Mother Repeatedly Gaslighted Her

When they first met at Jordan College, Mrs. Coulter appeared to be a warm, friendly, caring, and impressive individual. Lyra was happy to go to London with her, eager to learn and grateful that Mrs. Coulter helped to find the missing Roger.

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Not long after this seemingly promising start, Mrs. Coulter gaslighted Lyra on numerous occasions. She promised to help find Roger and then tried to convince Lyra to forget all about him and move on. When she physically hurt Lyra, she told Lyra that she was responsible due to her vulgar behavior. The warm and caring facade was also stripped away to reveal the cruel and manipulative woman underneath. In all these ways and more, Mrs. Coulter tried to make Lyra question her own memories, thoughts, and emotions, all in an effort to control her.

4 Her Mother Physically Abused Her

When Mrs. Coulter grew angry with Lyra, she had her golden monkey daemon attack Lyra’s daemon Pantalaimon. Whatever a daemon feels, their human feels as well. This meant that when the golden monkey attacked and physically hurt Pantalaimon, Lyra was feeling the same pain.

Mrs. Coulter was physically abusing her daughter in this instance, trying to use physical pain and intimidation to beat her daughter into obedience and submission. It is monstrous for a parent to use physical abuse as a means to try and control their children.

3 She Was Almost Severed From Her Daemon

In His Dark Materials, a daemon is far more than an animal companion; daemons are the physical manifestation of a human soul. Mrs. Coulter and the General Oblation Board were conducting horrific experiments at Bolvangar where they were severing children from their daemons.

Lyra and Pantalaimon were placed in the cages for the experiment and were nearly severed from one another at Bolvangar. Lyra almost had her soul cut away from her, which would’ve killed her or at best reduced her to nothing more than an empty shell of a human being. The only reason she was saved was that Mrs. Coulter didn’t want her daughter to be severed. Nevertheless, it was a traumatizing experience made even worse when considering that her mother was responsible for severing many other children from their daemons.

2 Her Father Murdered Her Best Friend

Lord Asriel is a man willing to do whatever is necessary to find the origin of Dust and wage war against the Authority and its oppressive minions. He was even willing to kill his daughter’s best friend Roger. When severing Roger from his daemon, Asriel captured the energy that was released and used it to create a window into another world.

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While growing up at Jordan College, Roger felt like the only family she had. After learning that Lord Asriel was her father and seemingly fighting for a noble cause, she felt hopeful and proud to have a man like him as her father. Her family was shattered through the unspeakably cruel and devastating act of Asriel murdering Roger.

1 She Blamed Herself For Her Best Friend’s Death

As if Roger’s death wasn’t traumatic enough, Lyra also blamed herself for what happened to him. She brought Roger to Lord Asriel. From her point of view, Asriel would never have killed Roger if she never brought Roger along in the first place.

Lyra was consumed with grief, guilt, anger, and self-loathing for her role in Roger’s death. Asriel was the one who killed him and the one who should be held responsible for the heinous crime. It was heartbreaking to see a child like Lyra punishing herself and bearing the burden of a tragedy for which she was not ultimately responsible.

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About The Author


Matthew Rudoy
(278 Articles Published)

Matthew Rudoy is a freelance writer who loves to write about his favorite movies and TV shows. In addition to Screen Rant, he also currently contributes to Dork Side of the Force. He has previously self-published two fantasy/sci-fi novels titled CORRUPTION and DESTRUCTION. While his favorite movies and TV shows tend to also fall in the fantasy and sci-fi genres, he enjoys and is open to anything that provides an engaging story, strong character development, and in-depth world-building. Matthew is grateful for the opportunity to write for Screen Rant and looks forward to continue contributing to the site.

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