The Golden Compass: Chapter Two Summary & Analysis

Lyra watches the Master and his dæmon anxiously glance to where the Tokay was. Lord Asriel greets the Master and the other Scholars who enter, and the Master fries poppy heads. Lyra carefully pulls down a big fur robe to lie on and tries hard to stay awake, but the Scholars talk exclusively of boring London politics. Just as she starts to nod off, the Master calls the room to attention and introduces Lord Asriel. Lord Asriel quickly rearranges where Scholars are seated and suggests that the Master sit in the back, near the Librarian (and the hidden Lyra). As the Master takes his seat, he whispers to the Librarian that Lord Asriel knew about the wine. They vow to argue against a vote for funding.

Lord Asriel starts the projector and begins to speak. He says that he left a year ago on a diplomatic trip to Lapland, but in actuality, he went further north to try and figure out what happened to Grumman's expedition. Lord Asriel says that he also wanted to look into a natural phenomenon only seen in the North. He then introduces his first slide: a black-and-white photo that was taken at night. It shows a hut, philosophical instruments, a man in furs, and a small figure next to him. Lord Asriel explains that this photo was developed with silver nitrate emulsion. He then shows another photo, which was developed with a special emulsion. The photo is darker, but the man is lit up and seems to have glowing particles coming from his hand. Lord Asriel says that the glowing light is moving downward, not upward, and is actually Dust.

Silence follows, and Lyra feels that this Dust is different from normal dust. Scholars begin to gasp and Lord Asriel draws their attention to the figure next to the illuminated man. He says it's not the man's dæmon: it's a child. One Scholar asks if it's a "severed child," but Lord Asriel says the child is whole. He says that the Dust is coming down and lighting the man. He then puts in another slide of an aurora borealis, which impresses the Palmerian Professor. Lord Asriel says that this photo is the regular emulsion, and puts in the next slide. The Master whispers again to the Librarian that they can't let Lord Asriel force a vote. The slide shows the same scene—but in the middle of the Aurora, Lyra can make out a city.

The Scholars stir excitedly, and the Palmerian Professor asks if this is the "Barnard-Stokes business." Lord Asriel addresses a Scholar and says that Grumman was probably investigating this phenomenon, but Grumman is dead. As proof, he opens one of his boxes and explains that Grumman's expedition vanished a year and a half ago. When the crate opens, there's a moment of silence and then the Scholars babble in horror and confusion. Lord Asriel explains that this is Grumman's head; he found the body in the ice near Svalbard. He points out that Grumman's head was scalped, probably by the Tartars, and invites a Scholar to inspect it. They note that there's a hole in the skull and the Scholars discuss whether the panserbjørne were involved. Lyra doesn't know the word.

The Palmerian Professor says that the king of Svalbard, Iofur Raknison, tricked his way onto the throne, built a palace and a university, and could've learned to scalp people like the Tartars. Everyone laughs, but the Palmerian Professor says that Iofur is capable of doing something like this, but he's also susceptible to flattery and could behave differently. He says that more than anything, Iofur wants a dæmon. The scholars laugh again. Lyra has no idea what they're talking about and, bored, she falls asleep.

Lord Asriel wakes Lyra up much later. He says they voted to give him money but won't tell Lyra what Dust is. He also refuses to let her look at Grumman's head. Lyra says that the Master looked for the wine before anything else and then asks if she can return to the North with Lord Asriel. He refuses, but promises to bring her back a walrus tusk with Eskimo carvings. Lyra frowns at him, but finally she and Pan head to bed.

After Lord Asriel leaves, the Master and the Librarian sit together with drinks. They discuss that Lord Asriel thwarted the assassination attempt, and the Master says that the alethiometer is showing that there will be awful consequences of Lord Asriel's research, and "the child"—Lyra—will have to get involved. The Librarian asks if Lord Asriel is involved with the Oblation Board, and the Master says he isn't. The Oblation Board is semiprivate and run by someone who also makes the Master nervous. The Librarian thinks of how the church is organized: after a pope moved the papacy to Geneva and set up the Consistorial Court of Discipline, the papacy itself fell by the wayside. In its place, the church gained absolute power through a collection of courts, colleges, and councils known as the Magisterium. The Oblation Board is under the Magisterium's protection, and it makes the Librarian nervous.

The Librarian asks what the Palmerian Professor meant by "Barnard-Stokes." The Master says that the Church teaches that there are two worlds: theirs, and the spiritual world. Barnard and Stokes suggested that there are actually many more material worlds that are nearby but unreachable, and the Church silenced them. The Master says that there's strong evidence that there are other worlds, and the Librarian sarcastically says that they've just given money to Lord Asriel to go look for them. The Master says that he's in a tight spot and that Jordan College will look like "a hotbed of support for heresy" to the Oblation Board and the Consistorial Court. He says that "they" haven't forgotten Lyra, who will play a major part but can't know what she's doing. He hoped to keep her safe for longer by poisoning the Tokay.

The Librarian believes that Lyra wouldn't listen even if the Master were able to explain things to her, but the Master thinks that Lyra might be interested in Dust. He says that knowing about it might help her on her journey. The Master also explains that Lyra will have to betray someone, which will be terrible. He says that sharing something would help him be less anxious, but the Librarian points out that as old men, it's their job to be anxious about the young while the young scorn them for it.