His Dark Materials viewers disturbed by the golden monkey's maltreatment
Mrs Coulter's daemon had a rough day and HDM fans were, generally, feeling for it.
Mrs Coulter has an odd and ambiguous relationship with her daemon, the golden monkey, in His Dark Materials but fans have been upset by the way she has mistreated her daemon.
The animal daemons in His Dark Materials are, of course, the physical manifestations of the characters' inner selves and most have a good relationship with theirs (Lyra and Pan, for example). But Mrs Coulter at best tolerates her monkey and frequently maltreats it.
On Sunday's episode she locked the monkey away, therefore metaphorically closing down communication with her inner self. Fans were destroyed.
It was a feeling shared by many in the His Dark Materials audience.
Another tweeted: "Poor baby monkey i can’t believe she just left him like that #hisdarkmaterials".
"Oh so she's NOT gonna carry the monkey in a little baby carrier. No that's okay that's fine. Alright. No I'm not crying I'm okay no that's fine I'm fine #HisDarkMaterials".
More drama came when Lyra finally encountered her mother at Boreal's home in Oxford, setting into conflict her daemon with Marisa's monkey. The fight was brutal but Pan looked to have the upper hand until beginning to lose its hold.
Just when Marisa looked to be asserting control, Will used the knife to cut back to Cittagazze.
Many viewers were disturbed and upset by the fight.
A viewer pointed out the monkey had finally been named: "I have little marks on my hands from clenching my fists there. Christ. Note: For people who aren’t watching with subtitles on, the golden monkey has been named Ozymandias."
Another posted: "can we talk about how marisa was able to stand back up even as pan was still throwing the golden monkey around and biting him? she has...an extremely high pain tolerance".
For all the intensity and evil, there's always room for some humour to lighten the mood.
His Dark Materials season two continues on BBC One on Sunday 13th December.
Check out what else is on with our TV Guide, or take a look at our new TV shows 2020 page to find out what's airing this autumn and beyond.
