The GenNEXUS of NERD (formerly The Amber Spycast)

After hitting a dead-end, Will and Lyra separate to pursue their own interests while in Oxford. Will finds that much of what he needs to know about his father is a matter of public record. He writes a short postcard to his mother, then heads to the library to do some research. Meanwhile, Lyra looks for a quiet place to consult the alethiometer. She ends up in a museum where she discovers an exhibit containing the exact furs and sledge from her kidnapping in the North, along with a photo of the same Samoyed hunters who took her to Bolvangar! Close by is another exhibit showcasing a number of human skulls, all of which have holes bored into them. The alethiometer reveals a strange truth about the skulls that Lyra doesn’t fully understand. Shortly after, she is approached by an older, grey-haired man in a linen suit, who was quietly watching her from the upper level of the museum. He tries to get Lyra to come with him but she declines. After consulting the alethiometer again, Lyra finds a physicist named Dr. Mary Malone, a former nun who researches dark matter and something she calls Shadows. Dr. Malone explains to Lyra that Shadows are conscious and they cluster around humans. Lyra realizes they are the same thing as Dust, and convinces Mary that she can talk to Shadows. Will learns more about the Arctic expedition his father was on just before he vanished. Back in Cittagazze, he reads his father’s letters and finds out that just before he disappeared, his father was looking for the same kind of hole into another universe that Will fell through. In Lyra’s world, Lee Scoresby searches for Stanislau Grumman and accidentally kills an agent of the Church. Serafina and her witches enter the world of Ci’gazze and learn about the Specters and the bene elim, angels who are able to pass between worlds. Ruta Skadi leaves the witches to follow a flight of angels as they make their way North. As they approach a large mountain range, Ruta hears the clanging and pounding of the “fortress Lord Asriel was building at the end of the world”.

The Subtle Knife opens in our world, where a young boy named Will Parry is bringing his ill mother to an elderly neighbor, Mrs. Cooper, who reluctantly agrees to take care of Mrs. Parry. After leaving his mother, Will returns to his house and frantically searches for a green leather writing case filled with letters from the adventure-seeking father he’s never met. Strange men have been coming to the house asking questions and looking for the case, and Will wants to find it before they do. Just as Will finds the letters, the men break into the house and one of them makes his way upstairs. Will rushes through the doorway, accidentally pushing the man down the stairs and killing him. On the run, Will makes his way to Oxford where he hopes to have his questions about his father answered. Late in the evening as Will walks along a tree-lined street, he notices a cat acting strangely. Upon investigating more closely, he is surprised to see a barely-visible opening in the air leading into another world. Will decides to cross through the opening from one world to another. He finds himself on a strange, deserted street and seeks refuge in a small house, where he encounters a feral-looking Lyra Silvertongue. Elsewhere, Serafina Pekkala witnesses Mrs. Coulter torturing a witch for information about Lyra and kills her to prevent her from telling Mrs. Coulter what she knows. Serafina goes to Svalbard to speak with Lord Asriel’s servant Thorold, who tells her that Lord Asriel means to start a war with God. She flies back to her clan, where Lee Scoresby and Ruta Skadi, the queen of the Latvian witches, has joined them. Lee Scoresby says that he is going to look for the scientist and explorer named Stanislaus Grumman. Serafina and her witches decide that they need to summon other witch clans to fight on Lord Asriel’s side and protect Lyra. Ruta Skadi will go to Lord Asriel to see what he is really doing. Back in the new world, Lyra and Will meet two children who tell them that the city they are in is called Cittàgazze. They say that it is filled with specters, which are wraiths that feed on adults but do not harm children. After speaking with them, Lyra and Will agree to go back to Will’s world so Lyra can find a physicist who can tell her about Dust. Once there, it is clear to Lyra that this is not her Oxford and her mission might take longer than expected.

New Line had great success with a fantasy epic in The Lord of the Rings, but could they strike gold again adapting Pullman's masterpiece? Part TWO of our review will close out the film and get us in the right mindset for the series (November 4!).

Flying high above the frozen tundra, Lyra sleeps peacefully as Lee Scoresby and Serafina Pekkala discuss the girl’s destiny and what it might mean for all involved. When she awakens, Lyra and Serafina talk for a long time about the nature of witches, her relationship with Farder Coram, the Church’s connection to Dust, and daemons. Serafina tells her that she doesn’t know why humans have daemons but she knows it is what separates humans from animals. Lyra muses about Iorek and his armor; she learns that although he is exiled, Iorek is the rightful king of the panserbjorne and the new king, named Iofur Raknison, is clever in a human way. Flying past mountains covered by a thick fog, the balloon is suddenly attacked by cliff ghasts, causing it to lerch and drop violently. Lyra is thrown from the balloon and lands in a large snow-drift, where she is discovered by armored bears. The bears bring her to Svalbard, once grand and majestic but now filthy and appalling, and throw her in the dungeon. Here she meets an old professor from Gloucester. He tells Lyra that Iofur Raknison is infatuated with Mrs. Coulter and would do anything for her, but that he is playing both sides of the game: isolating Lord Asriel to please Mrs. Coulter while still providing him with all the equipment he needs to continue his work. Lyra wants to force Iofur to fight Iorek so he can reclaim his kingdom. But Iofur won’t fight Iorek because it would be undignified for the king to fight an exile. In the dungeon, Lyra remembers hearing that Iofur Raknison wanted a daemon, just like a human. Lyra manipulates the guards into getting her a private audience with the king. Using the alethiometer, Lyra convinces Iofur that she is Iorek’s daemon. She says that if Iofur fights Iorek and wins, Lyra would become Iofur’s daemon instead. Iofur agrees; in an effort to protect Iorek, Lyra suggests Iofur tell the bears that he called Iorek back to fight so they do not kill him on the spot when he enters Svalbard. With Iorek only four hours away, the bears prepare the battle grounds while Lyra waits for him to rescue her.

Please look for us on Facebook and Instagram! Can't wait for you all to hear us talk about more stuff!