Welcome to The Authority, Slate’s deep dive into the world(s) of HBO’s His Dark Materials. Each week, Slate’s scholars of experimental theology Dan Kois and Laura Miller discuss the HBO series and Philip Pullman’s original trilogy. This week, they cover Episode 6 of Season 2, “Malice,” in which Mrs. Coulter controls Spectres, Lee loses control over his balloon, and Mary Malone spends a nice afternoon reading Let’s Go Cittàgazze. Plus: Actual daemons respond to HBO’s My Daemon app.Email: asktheauthority@slate.comPodcast production by Phil Surkis. My Daemon segment written by Marissa Martinelli.Dan Kois on Twitter: @dankoisLaura Miller on Twitter: @magiciansbook

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices