WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for His Dark Materials, Season 2, Episode 3, which aired on HBO.
There are few characters in HBO/BBC One's His Dark Materials more cunning or complicated than Marisa Delamare, who prefers to go by her married name: Mrs. Coulter. In fact, her attachment to being a "Mrs." is a perfect example of the way she quietly holds onto her power in a misogynistic world full of men who would be all too happy to throw her under the bus if it meant advancing their position within the Magisterium.
The His Dark Materials TV show has delved a little into Mrs. Coulter's backstory, revealing that she had her daughter, Lyra, out of wedlock. In Philip Pullman's original books, Marisa married the politician Edward Coulter as a way to advance her social standing and was often drawn to men of great influence and power, resulting in her affair with Lyra's father: the aristocrat Lord Asriel Belacqua. When Edward found out and tried to locate Lyra, Asriel killed him in a duel but lost his fortune and property in accordance with the Magisterium's laws, which protect husbands who seek revenge against those who engage in adultery with their wives.
Asriel's diminished stature is part of the reason Mrs. Coulter has clung to her late husband's name, despite Asriel being her only love interest on His Dark Materials. The designation also seems to afford her certain advantages that she might not have otherwise, including the Magisterium allowing her to be the rare woman who participates in its affairs at all. It also distances her from the disgraced Asriel and Lyra, who prefers to go by Lyra Silvertongue. With Asriel being branded a heretic and Lyra lying at the heart of a witch's prophecy that makes her a target for those on all sides of "The Great War," Mrs. Coulter has valid reason to avoid being associated with either of them.
Holding onto the status associated with the Coulter name may have kept Marisa in the Magisterium's good graces but it wouldn't mean anything if she didn't know how to exert that influence. Mrs. Coulter shows just how good she is at playing that game when she appeals to Father Hugh MacPhail's lust for power and convinces him to kick-off a bombing campaign against the witches, allowing him to gain the momentum he needs to become the new Cardinal after Cardinal Sturrock's death -- something they both have a hand in. By the time she points out this gives her leverage over MacPhail to do as she pleases, it is far too late for him to back out.
Ironically, the only person who's gotten the upper hand on Mrs. Coulter so far (other than Lyra, that is) is Lee Scoresby, an aeronaut with no real social standing to speak of. Lee is imprisoned in the town of Yenisei when Mrs. Coulter stops there during her hunt for Lyra, yet he doesn't buckle under the weight of her threats and even gets her to free him after breaking through her emotional defenses. Their interaction foreshadows the limitations of Mrs. Coulter's schemes and why her tactics are ineffective against those who are uninterested in seeking power and control for personal gain.
As the universe brings Lyra closer to her destiny, Marisa may come to regret keeping her title as Mr. Coulter. In fact, by firmly aligning her with the Magisterium rather than actively seeking to overthrow such a dangerous and backwards authoritarian organization, she's likely done more harm than good to both her and her daughter.
Airing on HBO on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT, His Dark Materials Season 2 stars Dafne Keen as Lyra, Amir Wilson as Will Parry, Ruth Wilson as Marisa Coulter, Lin-Manuel Miranda as Lee Scoresby and Andrew Scott as John Parry.