Lyra must travel north, towards the Arctic, to find her friend and Uncle. She begins this journey by joining up with gyptians from Oxford. The dangers of the road include Gobblers, Tartars, turks, Mrs. Coulter s group, and, of course, the panserbjorne, the great white armored bears. As Lyra learns more about her heritage and special talents, she becomes smarter, braver and stronger. Every human, and witch, has a daemon which is named and assumes various forms until the human is mature, at which time the daemon matures too.
Daemons respond specifically to their human s emotional state of being.
While they seem independent at times, they always reflect their human s soul. The emotional struggle of wills between Lyra and Pantalaimon, when they are searching for Iorek Byrnison to help him retrieve his armor, his soul, captures the happiness and sadness you risk as you learn to make an independent life, to make decisions for yourself which, good or bad, affect your life forever. The possibility of separation causes them to feel as if they are ripping apart from each other. As they began to work together again, they each recognize their need for each other. The device is glorious.