Lord Asriel
"The visitor mentioned by the Master, Lord Asriel, was her uncle, a man whom she admired and feared greatly. He was said to be involved in high politics, in secret exploration, in distant warfare… He was fierce: if he caught her in here she'd be severely punished."
Perhaps Philip Pullman's most ambitious character, Lord Asriel is a cold man seeking power and wealth. He has succeeded in every fashion in the world, but now he aims even higher. Turning his attention to science (or 'experimental-theology' as it is called in Lyra's world), Asriel opens a window through the Aurora Borealis into another world. From there he sets out to reenact Satan's rebellion against the Authority, and in place of the kingdom, Asriel intends to set up the Republic of Heaven. He gathers to his great Adamant Tower a host from every world, ranging from the tiny Gallivespian spies to angels who fought in the first rebellion.
And through all this Lyra sees Lord Asriel at first as her uncle, and then once she has been told the truth, her father. She is proud of him, and proud to be his daughter, but she is angered that he has no place for her in the great scheme of his.
When Asriel realizes that although he is able to overthrow the Authority, he cannot replace the Kingdom with a Republic, he and his lover, Lyra's mother, Mrs. Coulter, sacrifice themselves in luring and dragging Metatron into the Abyss. Asriel's dream for a Republic cannot be built as a physical world, but must instead be constructed in the hearts and minds of every living being.
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