{"id":464,"date":"2011-08-03T06:00:21","date_gmt":"2011-08-03T13:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=464"},"modified":"2011-07-30T14:44:22","modified_gmt":"2011-07-30T21:44:22","slug":"mark-reads-the-amber-spyglass-chapter-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2011\/08\/mark-reads-the-amber-spyglass-chapter-13\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘The Amber Spyglass’: Chapter 13"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the thirteenth chapter of The Amber Spyglass<\/em>, Will attempts to rescue Lyra in the midst of complete chaos, and is forced to deal with an unfortunate and horrifying reality because of it. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read The Amber Spyglass<\/em>.<\/p>\n

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: TIALYS AND SALMAKIA<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is so good to have Lyra back, and it is so good that Will has devoted himself to helping her out. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fascinating to me that here in chapter thirteen, you can see how they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve sort of switched roles in the way they behave. Will is far more coarse and brash with everyone around them. Given that Lyra has been asleep for eleven and a half chapters, I do understand why she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more serene here, but at the same time, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s neat that she has allowed herself not<\/em> to be the one primarily in charge. She still hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t given up that beautiful Lyra sass, though.<\/p>\n

Will leaps into action immediately<\/em> after the end of the last chapter by punching the golden monkey off his perch<\/em>. He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even hesitate! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what Master Will is going to do, Mrs. Coulter.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Coulter, on the other hand, is in a much worse position than I realized. As Chevalier Tialys orders Will to escape as quickly as possible, Mrs. Coulter lays on the ground, drowsy from the sting of the Gallivespian, tears in her eyes, and she cries out to Lyra. Again, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m confused by this woman, because there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a genuine terror in her voice. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know why it worries me so, especially since I still haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t forgotten what an awful person she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been in the past two books. But I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help it, and maybe I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m<\/em> now under the spell of Mrs. Coulter. I feel bad for her. As soon as the sensation popped in my heart, I wanted to CRUSH IT. But when she screams after her daughter in that tear-filled voice, something didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel right. Obviously, she has plans for Lyra that I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know about, but she framed it all as if she was begging Lyra not to leave her alone, that she might die without her daughter by her side. Was this a last minute cry of regret? Did she really fear death?<\/p>\n

Will, shocked and hurt by all of this, knows that he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let Lyra, who is now crying herself, be affected by her mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tears, and he pulls her away from Mrs. Coulter, and they run off, following Chevalier Tialys, who orders them to give themselves up to the Africans in order to get out safely. Yeah, like Will\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to do that<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, with the Gallivespians watching over them with those poisonous stingers they possess, Will pushes on. When the Swiss Guard shows up, Will cries out for Iorek Byrnison, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not enough. For some reason, Balthamos doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t possess the power to stand up to the Swiss Guard and their wolf-dog d\u00c3\u00a6mons and, sadly, he disappears off in the distance, leaving the three children behind. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pretend to know what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like to experience the grief Balthamos is feeling, but I also can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help but be disappointed that he would leave them behind. Knowing that Iorek is too far away to help, Will realizes he has but one choice left to make: He raises Mrs. Coulter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pistol and fires at one of the Swiss Guard men, killing him with a shot to the heart.<\/p>\n

Jesus christ, Will just killed another person. I know it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s necessary and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have any desire to qualify it at all, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a shocking thing to read. As the two Gallivespians sting the other two soldiers dead, Ama splits off from Will and Lyra, and Will experiences a brief pang of relief that someone else will probably avoid the damage that is sure to come.<\/p>\n

Once they are safe in the world Will opened before this all began, Will begins to retch from the horror of what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just done. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad that Pullman writes about this. Well, wait, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not glad Will killed someone<\/em>. I just mean that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good that he acknowledges the fact that a twelve-year-old boy just killed a man, and that even though he knows it was self defense, it still hold a moral weight that makes him sick to his stomach. I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interesting, too, that Pullman states that Will \u00e2\u20ac\u0153did not want <\/em>this,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important to note that Will has been sent on a journey that now has little to do with seeking out his father. Will wanted to find his father, and when he did, the man was murdered in front of his eyes. Now he just killed another man himself, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on this absurd journey to fight some battle with angels and a Lord Asriel (who he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never even met), and all of it has<\/em> to be overwhelming to the boy. How does he manage to pull this all off? I can only say that Will possesses a patience and a courage that is both rare and utterly inspiring.<\/p>\n

And poor Lyra! She has no idea what the hell is going on<\/em>. She gives Will some space to compose himself, and as the two begin to talk, a whole lot of doors are opened for possible plot points to explore in the future. Firstly, though, Lyra takes out the alethiometer to find out if it can tell Will a method to repair the subtle knife.<\/p>\n

We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t learn what reading it gives Lyra; she merely frowns at the instrument before asking Will if Iorek is nearby, telling him that the bear can do anything<\/em> with metal. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m kind of shocked I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even make that connection, and given how fascinating Iorek was by the knife, I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entirely possible that the bear will<\/em> know a way to repair the knife.<\/p>\n

The two friends begin to trade information because…shit, so much has happened since they last saw one another<\/em>. Hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it been less than a week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth of time? Maybe a week or two? Yet the entire world we had at the end of The Subtle Knife<\/em> has been gloriously uprooted. Oh god, Lyra still doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that Lee Scoresby is dead. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to read that part when it comes. Of everything the two share, though, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m most intrigued by this:<\/p>\n

\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153All that happening, and I was asleep,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she marveled. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153D\u00e2\u20ac\u2122you know, I think<\/em> she was kind to me, Will–I think she was–I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think she ever wanted to hurt me…She did such bad things, but\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
AHHHHH NONE OF THIS IS HELPING ME FIGURE OUT MRS. COULTER. See, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m willing to trust Lyra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s judgment on this, since\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.that is her mother<\/em>. But then part of me thinks, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153BUT THIS IS HOW MRS. COULTER SUCKS YOU IN! SHE TRICKS YOU INTO THINKING SHE CARES!!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d But what if she actually does?? OH GOD I CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T. This is too hard MY POOR BRAIN.<\/p>\n
But of everything in chapter thirteen, nothing makes me want to stand on my roof and shout about how everyone needs to read this series more than the land of the dead. Lyra relates the entire story of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dream\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she had, believing it to be more of a reality than just a vision, and Will asks her the greatest question ever.<\/p>\n
\n
Will said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This place where the dead are. Is it a world like this one, like mine or yours or any of the others? Is it a world I could get to with the knife?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING. IS THIS A THING THAT COULD HAPPEN. Lyra consults the alethiometer and IT CONFIRMS IT IS A REAL WORLD THAT THEY CAN TRAVEL TO. <\/em>I am so excited that I could puke. THEY ARE GOING TO TRAVEL TO THE LAND OF THE DEAD. Lyra propose the idea of rescuing<\/em> people there, which…is that even possible? I mean…they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re dead. You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bring them back to life? Unless she means their souls, right? We know that in this series, heaven is basically a lie, that souls are just dumped in this place instead. Well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s as much as I understand it, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m interested to know more about it.<\/p>\n
For the time being, though, Will concerns himself with the two Gallivespians, who haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t left Will and Lyra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s side the entire time. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s great to have sassy Lyra back, too, who promptly tells the two that she has no interest in going to see her father at all, since she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really trust him. She even laughs at the notion that these two could even force her to do this, but this offends them so much that Lady Salmaki grabs Pantalaimon<\/em>. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING. DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T TOUCH HIM!<\/p>\n
\n
But then she saw that Will had swept up the man in his right hand, holding him tightly around the legs so he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t use his spurs, and was holding him high.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Oh, Will, does your badassery know no bounds??? The answer is no. No, it does not<\/em>. For when Chevalier Tialys lectures Lyra and calls her a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153thoughtless, insolent child\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for laughing when men died to save her, Will does not act as humble as Lyra does.<\/p>\n
\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153As for you–\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he went on, turning to Will.<\/p>\n
But Will interrupted: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As for me, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not going to be spoken to like that, so don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t try. Respect goes two ways. Now listen carefully. You are not in charge here; we are. If you want to stay and help, then you do as we say. Otherwise, go back to Lord Asriel now. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no arguing about it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
MY GOD!!!! Will, what have you become? I would have expected Lyra to say something like this, but after everything this boy has been through, he realizes he cannot simply disappear anymore. So he gets the Gallivespians to agree to help them find Iorek Byrnison before heading off to meet with Lord Asriel. Though…they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not going to do that, are they? Will and Lyra have a private conversation about the two Gallivespians, and while the situation is not ideal, Lyra assures Will that at the very least, they seem trustworthy and honest, and that Iorek Byrnison will mostly likely be able to help Will with the subtle knife.<\/p>\n
The thing is…what choice do they have? Will and Lyra can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really just run away from them, especially since the knife is damaged. The future is uncertain, yes, but at least I know that Will and Lyra are together know. Even Lyra is aware that they compliment each other well:<\/p>\n
\n
He was truly fearless, and she admired that beyond measure; but he wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t good at lying and betraying and cheating, which all came to her as naturally as breathing. When she thought of that, she felt warm and virtuous, because she did it for Will, never for herself.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
I truly love this companionship, to be honest with you. I know that I would never have guessed we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have two<\/em> main characters in this series, and given how difficult their initial meeting was, I adore how close these two have grown together. If there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a way that they can make it to their goal, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m positive these two will figure it out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the thirteenth chapter of The Amber Spyglass, Will attempts to rescue Lyra in the midst of complete chaos, and is forced to deal with an unfortunate and horrifying reality because of it. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,79],"tags":[23,81,62,80],"class_list":["post-464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-his-dark-materials","category-the-amber-spyglass","tag-mark-reads","tag-mark-reads-the-amber-spyglass","tag-philip-pullman","tag-the-amber-spyglass-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}