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Cover of The Subtle Knife
His Dark Materials · several worlds, right after book 1

The Subtle Knife

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Will Parry, a boy from our world, crosses paths with Lyra in an empty city

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Watch it: His Dark Materials · S2 →

Do you need to read it?

Yes. It's in the Main story, the list of only what moves the plot forward to the end of the saga.

Where it falls in the order

  • Main story2 of 3
  • Chronological3 of 6
  • Everything4 of 8
Spoilers for this title

Quick recap

Twelve-year-old Will Parry runs away in our world after accidentally killing a man who broke into his home. He steps through a window in the air into Cittàgazze, a city with no adults, where Spectres eat the souls of grown-ups. There he meets Lyra. In Will's Oxford, Lyra meets physicist Mary Malone, who talks to Dust, and has the alethiometer stolen by Sir Charles Latrom. Will wins the subtle knife, which opens ways between worlds, and loses two fingers. Up North, Lee Scoresby finds the shaman Stanislaus Grumman, who is John Parry, Will's father. Lee dies. John reunites with Will and is killed. Lyra disappears, taken by her mother.

No spoilersOpens once you mark the title as seen.
3 what changed on screen

What changed on screen

  1. ChangeA different death for John Parry

    In the book, John Parry is killed by an arrow from Juta Kamainen, a witch he once spurned. In the series, he turns Will around and takes a bullet meant for his son.

    source ↗
  2. ChangeLee's last stand got smaller

    In the book, Lee's last fight comes with a burning forest and a storm, and he takes down every soldier. The series stages a much smaller version.

    source ↗
  3. ChangeThe Skraeling ring is gone

    The series drops how Lee took a ring from a dead Skraeling. Without it, Hester's guilt over telling him to use the ring makes less sense.

    source ↗
No spoilersThe easter eggs give away parts of the title. They open once you mark it as seen.

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