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Tony Makarios
The head of Jordan College. He's an old man in his 70s with a raven dæmon. The Master is kind and protective of Lyra, though Lyra struggles to see how true this is when she secretly witnesses the Master try to poison Lord Asriel. He, however, tells the Librarian in private that protecting Lyra from Lord Asriel is extremely important. This is, in part, because the Master is aware of the prophecy concerning Lyra. It appears to pain him that he can't impart much information to Lyra because of the parameters set out in the prophecy.
The Master Quotes in The Golden Compass
The The Golden Compass quotes below are all either spoken by The Master or refer to The Master. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter One Quotes
"I didn't have anything in mind, and well you know it," she snapped quietly. "But now I've seen what the Master did, I haven't got any choice. You're supposed to know about conscience, aren't you? How can I just go and sit in the library or somewhere and twiddle my thumbs, knowing what's going to happen? I don't intend to do that, I promise you."
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Once Lyra and Pan find themselves stuck in the Retiring Room and witness the Master poison wine intended for Lord Asriel, Lyra insists that they have a responsibility to save Lord Asriel. The way that Lyra chastises Pan sheds light on the role that a dæmon is supposed to play for people in Lyra's world. As her dæmon, he's supposed to function as her conscience and, under most circumstances, she'd expect her conscience to take issue with poisoning someone. However, the fact that Pan positions himself as opposing Lyra in this situation suggests that due to their age, Pan is Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium r
Chapter Two Quotes
Ever since Pope John Calvin had moved the seat of the Papacy to Geneva and set up the Consistorial Court of Discipline, the Church's power over every aspect of life had been absolute. The Papacy itself had been abolished after Calvin's death, and a tangle of courts, colleges, and councils, collectively known as the Magisterium, had grown up in its place.
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Following his failed assassination attempt of Lord Asriel, the Master and the Librarian drink and discuss the trouble brewing in the world. The Librarian here is considering how the Magisterium came to power. It's telling that he believes that the Magisterium's control is absolute, as this suggests that Lyra's world is one that's run by an organization that has little to push back on its power. The fact that it has so many entities under its jurisdiction also means that its power can probably be detected in every corner of the world, since it appears easy enough to install a Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollit
"Yes. Lyra has a part to play in all this, and a major one. The irony is that she must do it all without realizing what she's doing. She can be helped, though, and if my plan with the Tokay had succeeded, she would have been safe for a little longer."
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The Master tells the Librarian about the prophecy concerning Lyra. Structurally, telling the reader that Lyra's life has been dictated by prophecy first establishes that destiny exists in this world, and then it positions the reader in a state of not fully following Lyra on her journey of discovery while withholding other pertinent information. In this sense, the reader assumes a sort of adolescence, just like Lyra: they know some things about how her world works before she does, and in that way get to exist like the Master and the Librarian, while not knowing about the panserbjørne, for example, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui
Chapter Four Quotes
The Master sighed. In his black suit and black tie he looked as much like his dæmon as anyone could, and suddenly Lyra thought that one day, quite soon, he would be buried in the crypt under the oratory, and an artist would engrave a picture of his dæmon on the brass plate for his coffin, and her name would share the space with his.
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When the Master speaks to Lyra before she leaves with Mrs. Coulter, Lyra flashes on the fact that the Master is old and soon will die. This shows that Lyra is starting to mature, come of age, and think more critically about the people around her—and importantly, recognize that the adults in her life are mortal and won't always be there for her. This realization more broadly fits in with the way that, throughout the novel, Lyra gradually sees bits and pieces of wider politics become personal and, as this happens, she starts to figure out how she fits into Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut
Chapter Seven Quotes
"And the Church in recent times, Lyra, it's been getting more commanding. There's councils for this and councils for that; there's talk of reviving the Office of Inquisition, God forbid. And the Master has to tread warily between all these powers. He has to keep Jordan College on the right side of the Church, or it won't survive."
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During a conversation with Lyra, John Faa explains the tight spot that the Master must be in, given how the Magisterium behaves and the Master's role at Jordan College. This makes it clear to Lyra and to the reader how dangerous the political climate is at this time, and how far-reaching the Magisterium's power is (the “Office of Inquisition” is presumably the equivalent of the Spanish Inquisition in our world, a dark and tyrannical time in the Church’s history). The Master found himself possibly in danger by denying Mrs. Coulter Lyra, as doing that would mean going against the Oblation Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum volup
Chapter Seventeen Quotes
"If he's got Dust and you've got Dust, and the Master of Jordan and every other grownup's got Dust, it must be all right. When I get out I'm going to tell all the kids in the world about this. Anyway, if it was so good, why'd you stop them doing it to me? If it was good, you should've let them do it. You should have been glad."
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After Mrs. Coulter saves Lyra from undergoing intercision, Lyra hysterically calls Mrs. Coulter on her hypocrisy and demands to know what's so bad about Dust. Now that Mrs. Coulter has saved Lyra, it's easier for Lyra to see that Mrs. Coulter knows that intercision isn't safe or good; she's only still experimenting with it because she has access to children that society doesn't think are important, and are therefore essentially disposable lab subjects. Lyra, however, is Mrs. Coulter's daughter as well as a highborn child—and therefore, is considered too valuable to experiment with. Lyra's suggestion that Dust must be good Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque erro
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The Master Character Timeline in The Golden Compass
The timeline below shows where the character The Master appears in The Golden Compass. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter One
...heads. Pan hisses for Lyra to hide. From behind an armchair, they watch as the Master and the Butler enter and discuss that Lord Asriel hasn't arrived yet. The Butler points...
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...Asriel is her uncle, and she both admires him and is afraid of him. The Master pulls out a folded piece of paper, takes the stopper out of the decanted wine,...
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...wrist and twists them, but lets go when Lyra spits out that she saw the Master poison the wine. Lyra explains to her furious uncle that she came in to look...
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...The servants leave, Lord Asriel shoots a searing glare at Lyra, and moments later, the Master enters.
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Chapter Two
Lyra watches the Master and his dæmon anxiously glance to where the Tokay was. Lord Asriel greets the Master...
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...says that this photo is the regular emulsion, and puts in the next slide. The Master whispers again to the Librarian that they can't let Lord Asriel force a vote. The...
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...is. He also refuses to let her look at Grumman's head. Lyra says that the Master looked for the wine before anything else and then asks if she can return to...
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After Lord Asriel leaves, the Master and the Librarian sit together with drinks. They discuss that Lord Asriel thwarted the assassination...
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The Librarian asks what the Palmerian Professor meant by "Barnard-Stokes." The Master says that the Church teaches that there are two worlds: theirs, and the spiritual world....
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The Librarian believes that Lyra wouldn't listen even if the Master were able to explain things to her, but the Master thinks that Lyra might be...
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Chapter Three
...smacks Lyra. The older woman says that Lyra is going to have dinner with the Master and his guests and forces Lyra into her best dress. Five minutes later, Lyra knocks...
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Chapter Four
As the guests leave, the Master sends Lyra to his study so they can speak. They discuss Mrs. Coulter and Lyra...
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...Lonsdale wakes Lyra before dark the next morning and sends her to knock on the Master's window before she leaves with Mrs. Coulter. The Master lets Lyra in and Lyra asks...
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...feels confused, as she promised to keep it secret, but Mrs. Coulter seems kind—while the Master tried to poison Lord Asriel.
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Chapter Seven
...Lyra is shocked. John Faa says that Mrs. Coulter must have some power over the Master. Lyra studies John Faa and Farder Coram and then tells them that she saw the...
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...alethiometer secret, but the golden monkey found it. John Faa states what they know: the Master did his best to keep Lyra safe; Mrs. Coulter got the Church to help with...
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They discuss what the Master intended in giving Lyra the alethiometer. Lyra thinks that the Master wanted her to keep...
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Chapter Seventeen
...The golden monkey paces, betraying Mrs. Coulter's impatience. Finally, Mrs. Coulter asks Lyra if the Master gave her an alethiometer. She says that it wasn't his to give, and that it...
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Chapter Twenty-One
...Then he dismisses Lyra, insisting that he doesn't need the alethiometer. Lyra wonders what the Master really wanted her to do.
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