Will's World

Will's World is the specific parallel universe inhabited by twelve-year-old Will Parry, originating from Oxford in our own reality. Unlike Lyra Belacqua's world, where every human has a visible dæmon that mirrors their soul, this realm operates under different metaphysical rules: humans here possess no external animal companions. This setting grounds the epic fantasy in a recognizable modern reality, featuring technology like cars and fixed-wing aircraft, which are absent in Lyra's world.

Quick Facts

Key resident: Will Parry
Primary location: Oxford, England
First appearance: The Subtle Knife (Book 2)
Significance: Source of the Subtle Knife's wielder

Lore & Background

In this world, the absence of dæmons defines the human experience; souls are entirely internalized. The narrative begins when Will Parry, seeking his missing father, stumbles through a window into Cittàgazze after killing a man to protect his ailing mother. Will becomes the bearer of the Subtle Knife, a tool forged three hundred years before in Cittàgazze by its scientists, from the same alloy used to make the guillotine in Bolvangar. One edge of this tool divides subatomic particles to create portals between worlds, while the other cuts through any matter. The world also hosts Dr. Mary Malone, a physicist researching dark matter—analogous to Dust—who eventually travels to the Mulefa's land to understand its true nature as something that is both created by and nourishes life that has become self-aware.

Reader's Guide

Will's World functions under standard physical laws, including cars and fixed-wing aircraft, distinguishing it from the zeppelin-dependent technology of Lyra's world. The central location is Oxford, where Will cared for his mother, who has mental health problems, until he accidentally killed an intruder and fled. Travel between worlds is achieved through windows such as those cut by the Subtle Knife; each window that is opened creates a new Spectre, and Dust escapes through the windows.

Unlike other universes, there are no witches, armoured bears, or visible dæmons here. The world's connection to the multiverse is first shown through the window Will stumbles on, by a row of hornbeam trees, and later through the knife. To prevent the loss of Dust, all the windows must be closed, apart from the one leading from the world of the dead; Will and Lyra return to their own worlds and the witches set about closing the windows.

Did You Know?

The Subtle Knife was forged three hundred years before the events of the trilogy by Cittàgazze's scientists.
Will's father, John Parry, lived as a shaman named Stanislaus Grumman in Lyra's world after entering through an Alaskan portal.