Pan's Fate In His Dark Materials: Dead Or Alive?

In Season 3, Episode 4 of the HBO TV series 'His Dark Materials', based on Phillip Pullman's books of the same name, Lyra Belacqua and her daemon, Pan, are forced to separate. In the show, Lyra travels to the Land of the Dead, leaving her daemon behind. This separation is particularly devastating as daemons are considered to be a manifestation of a person's soul. While Lyra and Pan do eventually reunite, their relationship is forever changed, and they experience a big falling out in the subsequent book, 'The Secret Commonwealth'.

Pan is Lyra's daemon

In the His Dark Materials series, Lyra Belacqua is the young heroine of a universe parallel to our own. Lyra, who is later known as Lyra Silvertongue, is described as having wavy dirty-blonde hair and pale-blue eyes, and is thin and short for her age. She is highly intelligent, unruly, and tomboyish, with a complete disregard for her appearance and personal hygiene, much to the exasperation of her adult carers. She is also impulsive, inquisitive, and sometimes reckless.

Lyra's daemon is Pantalaimon, whom she calls "Pan". Pan is her dearest companion and, as with daemons of all children, he can take any animal form he pleases. He first appears in the story as a dark brown moth, but he changes into many forms throughout the series, including a dragon, an eagle, a wildcat, a mouse, and a snow-white ermine. At the end of the trilogy, as Lyra is entering adulthood, Pan finds his final form when Will Parry touches him, settling as a beautiful pine marten, red-gold in colour with a patch of cream-white fur on his throat.

Pan is portrayed as a cautious and level-headed counterpoint to Lyra's impulsive, inquisitive, and sometimes reckless character. Their bond is immensely strong, but it is tested when Lyra is forced to leave Pan behind as she travels to the land of the dead. This separation is extremely painful for both of them, but it grants them the ability to move great distances from one another, a skill usually reserved for witches and shamans.

Lyra and Pan's relationship continues in Philip Pullman's subsequent books, Lyra's Oxford and The Book of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth, which are set a few years and then ten years after His Dark Materials, respectively. In these books, their dynamic has deteriorated, and they find themselves at constant odds with each other.

Lyra leaves Pan to go to the Land of the Dead

In Season 3, Episode 4 of the HBO TV series adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, titled "Lyra and Her Death", Lyra Belacqua and her daemon, Pantalaimon (Pan), are forced to separate as Lyra travels to the Land of the Dead. This separation is particularly devastating given the closeness of their relationship, with Pan being a manifestation of Lyra's soul.

Lyra is determined to reach the Land of the Dead to ostensibly rescue her friend Roger Parslow, who was killed by her father, Lord Asriel. However, the boatman who takes the deceased across the water to the Land of the Dead refuses to let Pan accompany them, insisting that it is an unbreakable rule that daemons cannot enter. This rule also applies to Will Parry, who does not have a daemon, as he too must leave his soul behind.

The reason for this rule is that, in the universe of His Dark Materials, daemons are souls or manifestations of them. When a person dies, only their ghost, or a part of them, goes to the Land of the Dead, while their corpse remains behind, and their daemon dies with them, turning to Dust.

Despite the devastating separation, Lyra and Pan are eventually reunited. Pan escapes on his own by jumping through windows and finds Lyra in the mulefa world. Although they reconcile, their relationship is not the same as before, and they experience a period of tension and arguing. In the book sequel, The Secret Commonwealth, set ten years after the events of His Dark Materials, Lyra and Pan are shown to be increasingly irritated with each other and have a significant falling out.

Pan's final form is a European pine marten

In the series finale of His Dark Materials, Pantalaimon, or Pan, the daemon of Lyra Belacqua, takes the form of a European pine marten. This is significant because it is the final form that Pan will ever take, as he has now "settled".

In the world of His Dark Materials, daemons are essentially a person's soul, taking the form of an animal or insect. These daemons are bonded to their human and change form until their human has reached puberty. However, in the case of Lyra, Pan does not "settle" but continually changes forms throughout the series.

The choice of a pine marten as Pan's final form is significant for several reasons. Firstly, it is a natural development from one of his favoured forms throughout the series, the ermine, as pine martens are of the same family. Pine martens tend to be larger and darker in colour than ermines, depicting how both Lyra and Pan changed throughout the series, developing and growing stronger while still retaining their core inquisitiveness, determination, and bravery.

Additionally, the choice of a pine marten has symbolic value. White ermines are often interpreted in folklore as symbols of purity, so much so that some stories say an ermine would rather die than soil its coat. Thus, Pan's fur colour change from white to dark brown represents Lyra's journey from innocence to adulthood, particularly in her fulfilment as the prophetic 'second Eve', whose story focuses on the loss of innocence.

The pine marten also symbolises luck, bravery, and kinship, all of which are elements that Lyra embodies throughout the series, regardless of her age. Furthermore, the pine marten is a dedicated hunter and climber, reflecting the determination and agility of both Lyra and Pan.

The shape of Lyra's soul, as represented by Pan, is a critical aspect of the story's coming-of-age narrative. Ultimately, Pan's final form as a pine marten is a strong reflection of Lyra herself, showing her growth and the things that are most important to her.

Lyra and Pan's relationship is permanently affected

In Season 3, Episode 4 of the HBO series 'His Dark Materials', Lyra Belacqua and her daemon, Pan (Pantalaimon), are forced to separate. Lyra travels to the Land of the Dead, leaving her daemon behind. This separation is particularly devastating as, in the show's universe, daemons are a manifestation of a person's soul.

The impact of their time apart is also evident in 'Lyra's Oxford', a spin-off novella set a few years after the events of 'His Dark Materials'. Although Lyra and Pan have reconnected and are on good terms, they cannot forget or move past the trauma of their separation.

Lyra and Pan's relationship is also affected by Lyra's decision-making during her journey to the Land of the Dead. Pan perceives Lyra's actions as a betrayal, and their relationship is strained as a result.

Pan escapes and reunites with Lyra

In Season 3, Episode 4 of the HBO TV series adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, titled "Lyra and Her Death", Lyra Belacqua and her daemon, Pan, are forced to separate. This is because Lyra is determined to travel to the Land of the Dead to rescue her friend Roger Parslow, who was killed by her father, Lord Asriel. The boatman who takes the deceased across the water to the Land of the Dead refuses to let Pan come aboard, insisting that it is an unbreakable rule that daemons cannot accompany humans there.

Despite their close relationship, Lyra and Pan are separated, though not permanently. After Lyra and Will free the ghosts in the Land of the Dead, Pan escapes and reunites with Lyra in the mulefa world. Pan makes his escape by jumping through windows, one after another, until he reaches Lyra. At first, he keeps his distance from her and remains out of her sight as a form of punishment. Eventually, however, they are drawn back together and their relationship is mended, though not completely.

In the series finale, Pan seems to have settled on a permanent form, that of a European pine marten. This may be a nod to the close relationship between Lyra and Pan, as these omnivores have a lifespan of 10-17 years, which is similar to that of a human.

In Philip Pullman's sequel to the His Dark Materials trilogy, The Secret Commonwealth, set ten years after the events of the first trilogy, Lyra and Pan's relationship has deteriorated and they are at constant odds with each other. Although they are not severed, there is a noticeable separation between them.

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