'His Dark Materials': Mrs Coulter and her abusive relationship with her daemon laid bare
Spoilers for season 1 episode 3 and 4 of 'His Dark Materials' titled 'The Spies' and 'Armour'
There is something particularly heartbreaking about the way Mrs Coulter (Ruth Wilson) treats her daemon, the golden monkey. She chastises him, keeps him away from her and not in a way that could measure distance, brushes him aside, shows him disdain and generally treats him as, well, shit.
The golden monkey is capable of going much farther away from Mrs Coulter - as Lyra and Pantalaimon realise in episode 3 - sneaking upon them through the vents. This is not normal. In Lyra's world, only witches and shamans are capable of doing so; for it causes a lot of pain (emotional and physical) to stay away from one's daemon. How Mrs Coulter is able to stay away from her daemon is unknown yet.
Daemons almost ever only talk with their humans - sure they sometimes join in on conversations with other people but most of the time, they are only observing the other person and their daemons. But a daemon is more like an inner voice. Yet we never see Mrs Coulter's monkey talking to her; at least so far.
After Lyra (Dafne Keen) is rescued by the Gyptians, she has a noteworthy conversation with Farder Coram (James Cosmo) - about daemons.
It begins with Farder Coram unable to understand why Mrs Coulter's (Ruth Wilson) daemon would settle on a golden monkey. Lyra points out how she doesn't wish Pantalaimon to settle - how she wants him to be able to change form freely and forever.
In Lyra's world, daemons settle on one form that best defines their true nature when the child hits puberty [for a better understanding of daemons in Lyra's world, read here]. At the beginning of the series, before Ma Costa's (Anne-Marie Duff) son Billy Costa (Tyler Howitt) is kidnapped by the Gobblers, there is a ceremony celebrating her older son Tony's (Daniel Frogson) daemon settling as a hawk.
Farder Coram explains to her how when one comes of age, the shape their daemon settles in shows their true self. But what if you don't like the shape your daemon settles in? He adds that that would indicate a deep discontentment with oneself, a disconnection with the daemon.
Mrs Coulter's relationship with her daemon suggests this - she is abusive towards him because she is discontent and unhappy with herself - a self-loathing that we are yet to know the reason behind. In a chilling representation, Ruth Wilson captures contempt and emptiness. It is particularly noteworthy in the scene where she is walking on the parapet on her balcony with the monkey inside the house watching her with concern and fear. There is a wall in between them that Mrs Coulter herself built - one that she won't be breaking down.
'His Dark Materials' airs Mondays at 9 pm on HBO.