His Dark Materials

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Fragile Do Not Bend Nov 2019 8:51am, 12 Nov 2019 5,072 posts	0 Fragile Do Not Bend I’m glad I don’t live in that world, I’d hate to have my inner self on show like that.
larkim Nov 2019 8:56am, 12 Nov 2019 9,449 posts	0 larkim The practicalities of having animals as daemons aren't worth over-thinking! But they are a nice device in that world.
Cerrertonia Nov 2019 9:00am, 12 Nov 2019 11,390 posts	0 Cerrertonia HappyG - that's obviously one of the central themes of the trilogy - not sure much more could've been made of it in the books, although it's fun to see how it translates to the screen. Quite clever how they show Pantalaimon changing from one animal to another depending on Lyra's thinking. The books do explain that people and animals recognise daemons as a separate thing, so that a bird daemon won't be seen as a bird by other birds and animals, for example. Also even in wars, soldiers don't attack each others daemons, it's considered the ultimate evil.
Flatlander Nov 2019 9:16am, 12 Nov 2019 1,527 posts	0 Flatlander This question may have been answered in the books, which I haven't read - If the journalist can be killed by the crushing of her butterfly daemon (which to me infers that what happens to a daemon also happens to its human), when Mrs Coulter hit her daemon, why didn't she feel the pain she inflicted on her daemon? (or can a human do whatever it likes to their own daemon without repercussion?)
Fragile Do Not Bend Nov 2019 9:26am, 12 Nov 2019 5,074 posts	0 Fragile Do Not Bend Maybe she does, a form of self harm?
Sharkie Nov 2019 9:30am, 12 Nov 2019 15,330 posts	0 Sharkie Mrs Coulter is a conflicted and complicated character so I agree with Frag. And I think Ruth Wilson is excellent at conveying her complex character.
Cerrertonia Nov 2019 9:31am, 12 Nov 2019 11,391 posts	0 Cerrertonia What happens to the daemon physically doesn't automatically happen to the person (there is a daemon whose leg has been amputated, for example.) It's more like one entity with two physical forms. If a person dies, their daemon fades away. If the daemon dies, the person dies too. Mrs Coulter attacking her own daemon is more of a self-hate/self-harm thing. Mrs. Coulter's relationship with her daemon is also very unusual.
Wriggling Snake Nov 2019 10:00am, 12 Nov 2019 24,580 posts	0 Wriggling Snake I don't think the Mrs Coulter character is at all complex. She is the baddie pretending not to be to the children so she can run her experiments. That is it. As for hitting her daemon, that doesn't happen in the books as gar as I can remember. That is a TV change to reinforce the fact she has somewhat separated herself from her daemon whereas most haven't. Don't over think it. It is a children's book read by adults. Like Harry Potter...not dark just a good children's book...warning you the world is not all ice cream and pie.
Vancouver Jogger Nov 2019 10:01am, 12 Nov 2019 4,134 posts	0 Vancouver Jogger I know the bear (who we have yet to be introduced to - and I can't think of his name off the top of my head) isn't a human and therefore may treat daemons differently - but he attacks and kills daemons and therefore their attached Tartar soldier dies.
Cerrertonia Nov 2019 10:18am, 12 Nov 2019 11,395 posts	0 Cerrertonia She's a good bit more than just a baddie in the last book, no? I don't think Adele (the journalist) is killed in the book either - she's asked to leave, and does so.