His Dark Materials (2019) s02e05 Episode Script

The Scholar

(GRUNTS SOFTLY)
(CAR DOOR OPENS)
Best coffee in Oxford.
No daemons.
Seems barbaric, doesn't it?
They have the appearance of freedom,
but the government's far more corrupt
than the Magisterium.
Twice as many shopping arcades,
half as many places of worship.
There's a culture of consumerism,
not faith.
Prepare yourself, Marisa.
(GASPS)
Argh!
OK, so his house
was set back from the street,
and it had a driveway like this.
- Hmm. What's that?
- The window.
LYRA: The window's really close
to Latrom's house -
that can't be a coincidence.
WILL: Then we shouldn't use it.
It's too risky.
You'll have to cut a new window.
If the worlds match up,
we can get even closer.
I bought this shortly after I sold
my first Muscovite collection.
Shall we?
We know where the window is
in both worlds.
LYRA: So that'll help us find
where to cut through to Latrom's house.
And then, when we're in,
we should start by looking in the room
with all of the glass cabinets.
The alethiometer must be there.
That's assuming
I can definitely cut a window.
(BEEPING)
(DOOR LOCKS)
Let me show you around.
So this is your big secret?
Must have taken you years
to build this collection.
This item brings me particular pleasure.
I picked it up in Nova Zembla
- for the price of a bread roll.
- Hmm.
Here, it's worth more than half the vaults
ofJordan College.
- Ah!
- (GASPS)
(LAUGHS PLAYFULLY)
(LAUGHS NERVOUSLY)
This is a piece of wall
that split the city of Berlin
Delightful as this all is
how does it connect Lyra?
(KEYPAD BEEPS)
(DOOR UNLOCKS)
Lyra will come here to do the exchange.
But as you can see,
my home is fully monitored.
Real-time moving images.
When she arrives,
we can trade what I want
for what she wants.
When I found her,
she was trying to read it.
So you stole it from her?
In the knowledge
that it would draw her to me
here.
Hmm.
- WILL: I'm not sure I can cut a window.
- LYRA: You can.
It's like Giacomo said -
become the tip of the knife.
Come on, you can do it. I know you can.
(WHISPERS) Is this your Oxford, Will?
It is.
Why are we whispering?
- I don't know.
- (GIGGLES)
Come on, let's do another one.
Will, you left the window open.
Wait, I know this street -
it's near the window in the park.
He's getting good at this.
He is.
Come on.
Lyra Lyra, come and look at this.
Look, Pan was right.
The worlds do match up.
So that means if we cut a window
by the tower
Then we cut into his house.
LYRA: The alethiometer's right there.
WILL: And so is Latrom.
We should wait until it's dark
before trying anything near the tower.
Will, we can't let him have
the alethiometer.
I know.
We will get it back.
(MUSIC STARTS)
The sound quality from these speakers
is quite something.
I can see why you like it here.
You'd like it here, too.
I was considering
investing in a research project
that would certainly suit you
concerning elementary particles.
What do they know of that in this world?
Enough to interest your daughter.
Sorry?
Carlo, can you make that stop?
- (MUSIC STOPS)
- Explain what you mean.
Lyra visited a woman called Malone.
She runs a small department
in a college.
What do you mean,
she runs a department?
Academia works a little differently here.
She's investigating
the properties of dark matter.
Dust.
How far is the college from here?
- You can't be thinking of going.
- Carlo,
Lyra hides things from me instinctively,
and as her mother,
all I want to do is to keep her safe,
and the only way I can do that
is to know what she is doing.
I need to know what strange ideas
her mind is being filled with.
Fine.
But you're far too conspicuous like that.
Hmm.
I didn't know
what your preference would be.
Thank you, Carlo.
Would you mind?
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
- (DOOR CLOSES)
- (SIGHS)
It is fundamental that the people retain
the purity of their faith
in the Magisterium.
I can assure you, Your Eminence,
that though there are
some mutinous dissidents
advocating Asriel's preposterous notions,
those men and, heaven help us
women
have been arrested
and are under the control
of the Magisterium.
All except Mrs Coulter,
a former ally to Asriel,
who hasn't been seen
since your inauguration, Cardinal.
Perhaps it is time
the Magisterium issued
a firm public denial of the anomaly.
No, Father Graves.
We remind the people that it is
their faith in the Magisterium
which will keep them safe
in these troubled times.
I beg your pardon, Cardinal.
Thank you.
A telegram from the North informing me
that 24 of our Magisterium soldiers
at base camp
have been killed in cold blood
by the witches.
The bombing of their lands
has led them to retaliate.
We restored order!
Not before the witches travelled
through the anomaly.
FRA PAVEL: They've gone through?
Your Eminence,
we're losing control of the North.
We need more troops
around the anomaly immediately.
The witches could return,
bringing corrupting influences
to our world.
Cardinal, a decision must be made.
We need to show strength
in the face of insurrection.
This tragedy
is not a setback.
It is a sign from the Authority.
The Authority has sensed
a lack of devotion among our ranks,
and for this treachery,
24 of our brothers
have been taken as martyrs.
Father Graves, your faith is
clearly marred with the stain of doubt,
and doubt is an insult to the Authority
which must be severely punished.
Will you escort him to the cells?
- Yes, Cardinal.
- Your Eminence
Guards!
This is absurd.
My devotion to the Magisterium
is absolute.
Cardinal
Cardinal!
Thank you.
Fra Pavel
Would you consult your alethiometer
and find out where she's gone?
Who?
Coulter!
She said she was going in search of
something valuable -
I want you to find out what it is.
I am relying on you.
(SQUEALS)
(WHINES AND WHIMPERS)
Will I do?
You look wonderful.
Thank you.
You're determined to go?
If your daughter returns, we may miss her.
And that's why you must stay.
Keys.
Your daemon
where is he?
Surely I'm not the first woman
you've witnessed capable of self-control.
Have you never encountered witches
on your travels?
(KEYS JANGLE)
I won't be long.
(SQUEALS AND GRUNTS)
(WHINES)
(WHINES)
(DOOR OPENS)
(SLOW FOOTSTEPS)
(DOOR CLOSES)
- Can I help you?
- Yes. Mrs Malone?
Doctor.
This is my private office.
Who let you in here?
Please forgive me.
I have heard all about your work,
and it sounds
absolutely fascinating.
Whichever private investor sent you,
you can read my work
when it's published.
No-one sent me.
Marisa Coulter.
I'm an experimental theologian.
I think you know my daughter Lyra.
You're Lyra's mother?
I am.
Is she all right?
She's fine.
We're staying with friends in Oxford.
I'm taking her home.
She mentioned trouble at home.
It's been a huge misunderstanding.
She told me what happened,
and that is why I'm here.
I wanted to apologise to you in person,
in case she was a nuisance.
She wasn't a nuisance in the slightest.
I loved meeting Lyra.
It was the most interesting conversation
I've had in ages.
The ideas she has
What ideas are those?
Well, about the morality of dark matter,
or, erm, what did she call it? Dust.
Her grasp on quantum physics
is astonishing.
And the compass
The alethiometer.
Yes. How she's able to understand it,
I have no idea.
It's extraordinary.
You must be so proud.
I am.
So it's experimental theology
you've been teaching her?
It's not a field of research
I'm familiar with.
Where would you say
theology comes to science?
Where does it not?
Sorry. Please sit. Tell me about
your work. I have a million questions.
What was your doctorate in?
Have you published any papers
I might recognise, or?
Sorry, I'll get you some coffee.
Hold on.
Oh, dirty cups. Sorry about that.
(FOOTSTEPS FADE)
(DOOR CLOSES)
(WHIRRING)
(BEEPING)
(STATIC INTERFERENCE)
You must play the serpent.
You have been preparing for this
as long as you have lived.
You must make a journey
which starts at hornbeam.
Hornbeam
Deceive the guardian
find the entrance.
Entrance to what?
You will be protected.
Protected from what?
Save the girl
and the boy.
Your work here is finished.
We will not speak again
(DISTORTS AND FADES)
..in this world.
We start by cutting into the cabinet room.
What if Latrom's in the cabinet room?
You can't force him
to give the alethiometer back.
I wasn't thinking about forcing him.
- You were.
- Oh, shut up, Pan.
I was going to say
Latrom's probably got it hidden
in a safe or something.
I could distract him
to give you more time to search.
You do the cutting, I do the talking.
(WAILING)
What's that?
Oh, Tullio, please, no!
Don't leave! Why'd you leave me?!
No, no, no, Tullio!
LYRA: The Spectres must have got him.
- Come on, come back!
- Come on!
Oh, Tullio, no, no, no!
- No!
- I'm so sorry.
You're sorry?!
So you did this.
Look, look, I've lost people, too.
- I know what it feels like.
- Shut up!
- Did you take the knife?
- I never meant to hurt him.
It's not Will's fault.
He attacked us -
he was going to kill us!
But you admit it! You did this to Tullio!
No!
Yes, you did. You did that to Tullio.
You did that!
You see what you did?
I'm so, so sorry. Please
You see what you did?
I'm sorry.
The knife was the only thing
keeping the Spectres away from him.
We will get you.
He should've been the knife bearer,
not me.
The knife chose you.
But why?
PAN: Tullio stole the knife from Giacomo,
he tied him up.
He would've killed us all.
I never wanted to fight him.
I know, Will.
You had to, though.
If we could have got it without fighting,
we would.
"Now the serpent was more crafty than
any of the wild animals"
- Crafty?
- (DOORBELL RINGS)
Not in the lab? It's a miracle.
- That's not what you think.
- I'm not judging.
You aren't going back to the convent,
are you?
- No.
- (LAUGHS) OK, good.
Um
You were right, though, about my life.
Something happened at work.
It means taking time away
from my research, so
Finally! You really need a break.
Taking some time is a great idea.
We have friends with a cottage in Devon.
Um, I was considering
somewhere a little bit further than Devon.
Abroad?
I might just see
where life takes me.
I don't know yet.
Lyra, are you ready?
It's time.
I can't see anyone.
Do you think Giacomo's still in there?
Do you think the Spectres got him?
Don't think about that now.
I don't want to hurt anyone else, Lyra,
whatever they've done.
You don't have to.
Just need to cut us in there,
get the alethiometer and cut us out.
- Hmm?
- OK.
(DOOR CLOSES)
(WARBLES)
(SQUEAKS)
Yes, you were right!
To get to the basement,
we'll have to go lower.
Giacomo's rooms.
Come on.
What do they drink in this world?
That they do rather well.
- How did you find Malone?
- Impertinent.
Intelligent.
Free.
I found her arrogant,
like many women in this world.
Do you find me arrogant?
Of course not.
Take a breath, Marisa.
You're clearly upset.
Did you know,
when I was an honorary scholar,
I achieved the highest results
in our final examination,
but because I was a woman,
I was denied a doctorate
by the Magisterium?
I've written plenty of papers.
But they're only published
if I agree to let a man
take the credit.
What did Malone say to upset you so much?
Hmm.
Do you know who I could have been
in this world?
What do you remember
about the scandal
over my affair with Asriel?
He seduced you.
And then abandoned you.
Leaving me a grieving widow.
With a child out of wedlock.
Why are we talking about Asriel?
We're not talking about Asriel,
we're talking about me!
OK, I'll cut here.
Wait, no.
We're in the middle of the room.
What if Latrom's there?
Yeah.
Come here.
We'll do it somewhere around here.
Make it pretty small.
He's in there.
He has the alethiometer.
I wish we could bash him on the head
and just take it.
I've got a better idea.
Why do you assume you're the first person
to have travelled here?
Why not?
If you found the window,
others could have.
But if you were
looking at what you've done
you wouldn't deserve to be.
That's a little unfair.
Is it?
This place is full of ideas,
ideas our world is hungry for,
and yet you
you have spent your time
trading trinkets.
Give me some credit.
You've only seen a fraction
of what I've achieved.
I've built a company,
I've made a name for myself.
Oh, and were you hoping to add me
to your little collection of treasures?
I was hoping that this might be
a life you'd want to share.
My dear Carlo
If you actually got me
you wouldn't begin to know
what to do with me.
(CHUCKLES PLAYFULLY)
(DOOR ENTRY RINGS)
She's here.
Bring her down.
OK.
One, two, three, four
Lyra!
(CHUCKLES)
- Why don't you come inside?
- Where's my alethiometer?
Where's my knife?
Will's got it.
He's on his way.
Always close the window.
Why don't you come inside
and we can talk about this?
Will will be here any minute now.
(EXHALES)
- (SCREECHES)
- Agh!
(WILL GRUNTS)
Stay back. He's going to attack.
(SCREECHES)
Hello.
So you must be Lyra's new friend.
What?
Thank you.
- Will!
- Lyra!
Lyra.
No
Lyra
The door's locked.
You found it.
Don't come any closer. Stay back.
BOREAL: I thought we had a deal.
Sit down.
WILL: The deal's off.
I mean it! I'll cut this.
Just give me the knife.
Lyra!
Here. This is yours.
Take it.
And why would I trust you?
Stay back, I mean it.
Don't you dare - they're carvings
of huge historical importance.
(CARVING CLATTERS)
I heard you could read it.
I'd love you to show me.
And then I can tell you more about Dust
if you want me to,
and why Asriel did what he did
to your friend Roger.
I don't want to hurt you.
I've seen what the knife can do.
Lyra, you are special.
I know you don't believe me,
but I am only trying to protect you.
You can already read the alethiometer.
I can teach you to use that power
in other ways.
WILL: Lyra! We need to get out of here.
BOREAL: Give me the knife
and you can leave
Lyra, stay away from that boy.
Do you understand me?
He will do nothing but harm.
WILL: Lyra, grab the alethiometer!
You are so like I was.
I am
nothing like you.
(GRUNTS)
(SCREECHES)
- (GROANS)
- (SCREECHES)
What would your mother say?
What?
How is she, your mother?
Awful to think what could happen
to someone so
vulnerable.
Argh!
Agh! Agh!
Agh! Lyra!
- (GROWLS)
- (SCREECHES)
- Agh!
- (KNIFE CLATTERS)
Lyra, I've got it, come on!
Lyra, we need to go!
Lyra, quick!
(GASPS)
Lyra!
(ECHOING) Lyra!
(FOOTSTEPS)
Hey.
Made you some coffee.
Thanks.
Thank you, Will.
No problem.
Easy.
When I heard him hurting you,
I wanted to kill him.
So that was your mother?
I've never seen you like that before.
She can seem so good sometimes.
And I want to believe it, but I mustn't.
Once, she used her daemon to hurt Pan,
to hurt me.
I'm always scared something bad's
happening to my mum.
But never that she'll hurt me.
It may sound strange, but
I hope I'm not like
either of my parents.
It didn't feel good, acting like she did.
I hope I'm like
Ma Costa
or Lee Scoresby.
Lyra, you don't need to be
like anyone else.
They'd be lucky to be anything like you.
Well, now that we've got this back
I will do nothing
but help you find your father.
Promise.
You offered her the alethiometer.
Well, you failed to tell me
that they had a knife
that could cut between worlds.
They're gone.
We can't go after them.
We have to.
We can't.
The crossroad world we passed through
is for the Spectres.
Spectres?
Until recently,
the knife was guarded closely,
impossible to get to.
Now the city is deserted,
plagued by Spectres.
They consume everything
that makes us human.
So is Lyra in danger?
The Spectres ignore children.
Tell me more.
They attack and kill adults in seconds.
(SOFTLY) Dust
There's nothing to be done -
no human can survive there.
(CHUCKLES)
You're wrong, Carlo.
Once you understand something
you can master it.
And we have no choice but to try.
Or
are you going to admit defeat
and let an adolescent
take that knife from you?
Hmm?
"Deceive the guardian"
OK.
OK
This is private property.
Yes, I'm supposed to be here.
Where's your Latrom security pass?
Latrom security pass
I left it at work.
I'm sure you can make an exception.
No?
OK, uh
I'll just
I'll call Charles.
Mrs Coulter?
- Yes.
- We were told to expect you together.
He's on his way.
Of course, Mrs Coulter.
Thank you.
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