its just like. the normal end to the children’s fantasy series is that the evil is defeated, the crisis is averted, and all the protagonists are free to live their lives happily ever after because their job - the world-saving part - is over and it’s not up to them anymore.. and it really is so crazy that philip pullman spent three books creating this huge sprawling fantasy adventure that spanned so many genres and worlds and gave all of the characters so much more joy and purpose than they had initially thought was possible and they not only changed and grew but also DID succeed at the task that was set before them and save their worlds.. and then at the end of it all lyra lost the ability to read the alethiometer and will had to break the subtle knife and they had to close up all the doors between the worlds and go back home alone without ever seeing each other again ! like philip really said you can’t stay in the fantasy forever and so your job is to go out and try to create the world that you wish you could have stayed in longer… the work that begins after the adventure is over is the most important part… if you fight and run and suffer and grow and learn you might  stay alive until the very end and your reward is to keep surviving for the rest of your life !

@mossyshadows​ exactly. exactly