When talking about the topic of daemons in the His Dark Materials trilogy, a much darker aspect is often overlooked and forgotten, due to its relatively short (but no less powerful) appearance in the middle chapters of The Amber Spyglass. Will and Lyra make their journey to the land of the dead, unsuspecting of a companion besides their daemon.

We learn of the presence of a Death, seen in certain worlds just as the daemon is in Lyra’s, a sort of negative daemon. This is a creature who (for Lyra and Will) always remains hidden, unseen, for it knows that people fear it and what it represents. But it is there, nevertheless, always waiting and watching for the moment when its person is in such pain that Death is no longer and enemy but a welcome friend come to lead them away from the suffering of life into a supposedly more peaceful existence.

A Death is the only being capable of guiding a newly dead soul from the outskirts of the land of the dead down to the docks where the lone boatsman can sail them across Pullman’s version of the river Styx to the shore of the great plain where all the dead souls of every world and every time reside.

When this knowledge becomes known to Lyra, she is determined to find her Death and demand that he take her there so that she can do what she feels must be done. She is rather surprised when, just after making this comment, he emerges from his hiding place. After a few moments of argument, he agrees.

In the presence of Lyra’s death, Pantalaimon shrinks back in fear, for he senses that if this comes to pass, he and Lyra will be separated, and unless some miracle comes to pass, they may never see each other again. No doubt Kirjava, as of yet unknown to herself or Will, feels the same.

The daemons represent life- they are the ones who let a person know when they are in love, they are the part of a person that experiences the world in all its forms. So naturally they fear Death, a being who is also a part of Lyra, but one who marks the end of the daemon’s purpose. Once a Death takes their person across the Styx into the land of the dead, they cannot return to life, and so their daemon’s purpose vanishes.

But the point of actual death is not certain- a person can be dead before they cross the river, and others like Will and Lyra can still be alive after they have done so. The Death does not mark actual death, for this is still left as a mystery. Perhaps it occurs when the daemons vanish, for that certainly would destroy all hope, and it would make sense since Pan and Kirjava did not vanish, Lyra and Will were still alive. The Death only begins the journey, only sets you on the right path- you must choose where to go and how to get there for yourself.

But is a Death actually a part of a person, like the daemon? Or is it another being entirely, merely assigned to guiding you to your destination, but not actually yourself. It would seem that one could argue either way, but I for one shall side that the Death is indeed a part of you, for if your life and soul is physically represented, then the opposite should be as well. Very few things in life, especially those of such importance as life and death itself, exist without their opposite. One can only know good by knowing what is evil, and one can only know life by knowing that there exists and end to it. Thus, why would the death not be a part of oneself? Of course it thinks and acts or itself, but so does the daemon- it also operates under the same law that it can never be far away. Using what limited knowledge we have from the books about this aspect, it would seem that a Death is indeed just another part of yourself.

Death is always present: it can hide (says The Amber Spyglass) in a dewdrop, a gust of wind, or just around the bend. We cannot see it, in our world, since we fear it, and out of politeness it does not allow itself to be seen. But it is there, always waiting, always ready for the time when it is needed to do its task.

Return Home