Question about His Dark Materials

[_Scottie]

Ok, so I just finished reading His Dark Materials. And I kept waiting for the part where Mary Malone is put into the role of tempter...that of the serpent. But I never saw where Mary put a decision before Lyra where Lyra had to choose good vs evil. Did I just miss this part?

[_Trevor]

Ok, so I just finished reading His Dark Materials. And I kept waiting for the part where Mary Malone is put into the role of tempter...that of the serpent. But I never saw where Mary put a decision before Lyra where Lyra had to choose good vs evil. Did I just miss this part?

According to my wife, who knows this series much better than I do, Mary Malone represents a transformation of the role Lucifer played in the Garden from one who presents Adam and Eve a misleading choice between obedience and knowledge to one who enlightens Lyra and Will in the matter of desire. This is playing on Medieval notions of what was behind the Fall--i.e. sexual sin. Mary tells Lyra and Will the story of her desire for another man and the role that this played in her decision not to be a nun. After hearing this story, Lyra and Will later explore each other in a sensual manner, which results in the return of the Dust into the world.

[_Scottie]

Ok, so I just finished reading His Dark Materials. And I kept waiting for the part where Mary Malone is put into the role of tempter...that of the serpent. But I never saw where Mary put a decision before Lyra where Lyra had to choose good vs evil. Did I just miss this part?

According to my wife, who knows this series much better than I do, Mary Malone represents a transformation of the role Lucifer played in the Garden from one who presents Adam and Eve a misleading choice between obedience and knowledge to one who enlightens Lyra and Will in the matter of desire. This is playing on Medieval notions of what was behind the Fall--I.e. sexual sin. Mary tells Lyra and Will the story of her desire for another man and the role that this played in her decision not to be a nun. After hearing this story, Lyra and Will later explore each other in a sensual manner, which results in the return of the Dust into the world.

So did I misread that Mary would present Lyra with a decision, on which the life and death of dust would hang? I thought that the

Or am I confusing this with Lyra's decision to leave Pan to go into the world of the dead?

Some other points of discussion that I wondered about...

1. The Golden Monkey is the only Daemon of a main character that isn't named and doesn't seem to speak with his owner, Mrs Coulter.
2. There were several hints of Mrs Coulter having a metallic smell, but this never seemed to go anywhere.
3. Lord Asriels war seemed to be very absent in the third book. A lot about the planning and preparations, but very little about the actual war.
4. The explanation for the specters seemed very weak. Why would specters only show up in Cittegazette?
5. At the end of the third book, Xaphania mentions that the Angels will take care of the specters. If Angels have the ability to do this, why hadn't they already?