Lord Asriel is a character in His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. He is Lyra’s father and a brilliant aristocrat who seeks to destroy the Authority and create a Republic of Heaven. He is sometimes seen as a protagonist and sometimes as an antagonist. He is knowledgeable in experimental theology and uses this knowledge to engineer a technique for breaching the barriers between worlds. He sacrifices his life and his lover’s to destroy Metatron and pave the way for the future Republic of Heaven.
Lord Asriel is one of the main characters in the fantasy novels His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. His role is somewhat uncertain, as he is sometimes treated as a protagonist in the story, and sometimes as an antagonist, depending on Lyra’s feelings towards him.
Lord Asriel’s name is probably thought to evoke the name of the angel Asra’el, who is the Angel of Death in many Judeo-Christian traditions. Lord Asriel also resembles, in many ways, the rebel angel Lucifer.
Lord Asriel is introduced as a brilliant and powerful aristocrat in Lyra’s universe. He seems to be respected and feared by even the most powerful beings in the many universes and acts with a superb sense of self-confidence and assurance in the righteousness of his path. He is Lyra’s father, although she left her at Jordan College, Oxford to take care of her education. He is also the lover of Mrs Coulter, Lyra’s mother, although by the time the story opens they are strangers, and in fact appear to be working for very different factions.
Lord Asriel’s motivations always seem to be positive and he sees himself as a liberator of all humanity and other sentient races in the various universes. While the means Lord Asriel uses to achieve his goals, such as sacrificing a child to open a rift between worlds, are often of dubious morality, he sees them as necessary steps to bring about a greater good. Everything Lord Asriel does is aimed at destroying the Authority that rules as God in the many universes, to create a Republic of Heaven on the various Earths.
Lord Asriel is a very intelligent man who specializes in what is referred to as experimental theology in the world of Lyra. This appears to be roughly analogous to various branches of physics in our world. Lord Asriel is particularly interested in Dust and the other worlds he sees through the aurora borealis while in the far north. He uses this knowledge to engineer a technique for breaching the barriers between worlds, a feat otherwise seemingly only accomplished by the thin knife, using the immense energy released when a person is separated from their dæmon.
Once the breach has passed in the nexus world of Cittagazze, Lord Asriel wastes no time preparing to fight the Authority. He aligns with a rebel angel, Xaphania. He then he begins to recruit mighty warriors from many different worlds, to wage an even greater war than the first war against Heaven. With Lyra’s help, Lord Asriel finally succeeds in destroying the Authority. Ultimately, he sacrifices his own life, as well as his lover, Mrs. Coulter, to destroy Metatron, the true power behind the Kingdom of Heaven, paving the way for the future Republic of Heaven towards which he has spent his life working. .
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