Journey through Narnia - Prince Caspian Part 11: Return of the... White Witch?

"Peter dear... I've missed you."

Yeah, I'll bet. When you've been frozen for the past 13 centuries, I'll bet you miss even your old enemies.

Nikabrik has a suggestion for Caspian, and at this point, Caspian is willing to hear him out. At first. Until a Hag and a Werewolf appear. They're what make this scene unsuitable for young viewers - my younger siblings covered at this point.

Caspian and Nikabrik in the heart of Aslan's How

When the Hag uses the broken wand to summon the White Witch, a wall of ice springs up, hiding our view of the wall behind. One drop of human blood will free her. Jadis quickly hypnotizes a frightened Caspian, and Peter comes charging in with Trumpkin, Edmund, and Lucy. While Peter tries to stop Caspian, the others fight Nikabrik, the Hag, and the Werewolf. We finally get to see Lucy use her knife.

"Peter dear… I have missed you. Come, just one drop. You know you can't do this alone."

Yeah, I'd say that Jadis is pretty desperate, wouldn't you say? Wouldn't you be desperate, too? I mean, come on - 1300 years!

The wall of ice shatters.

But then she begins to dissolve, and the ice shatters and falls. Behind is none other than... Edmund. He finally defeats the White Witch! At this point, I felt like cheering him on!

Edmund's only words are very dry, referencing to Peter's earlier fight in the station: "I know. You had it sorted."

And behind Edmund, once again visible is the wall. And the carving of Aslan on it.

Coming Next: Returning to what you used to believe in.

Journey through Narnia - Prince Caspian Part 10: Aftermath

Peter's guilt

Lucy: What happened?

Peter: Ask him.

Susan: Peter.

Caspian: Me? You could have called it off. There was still time.

Peter: No there wasn't thanks to you. If you'd kept to the plan, those soldiers might be alive right now.

Caspian: And, if you'd just stayed here like I suggested, they definitely would be!

Peter: You called us, remember?

Caspian: My first mistake.

Peter: No. Your first mistake was thinking you could lead these people.

Caspian: Hey! I am not the one who abandoned Narnia.

Peter: You invaded Narnia. You have no more right to it than Miraz does! You, him, your father… Narnia's better off without the lot of you!

Peter feels the full weight of his guilt, and tries to take it out on Caspian. Edmund stops the two from going literally at each other's throats.

Lucy then heals Trumpkin with her cordial.

Trumpkin: Thank you, my dear little friend.

At one point, Glenstorm's wife looks at him with a questioning face, and he gives her a sad look. The lady centaur lowers her head.

Peter's grief, guilt, and anger... Caspian's anger and indignation... the grief of all the Narnians...

This scene continues the poignant sorrow of the last scene's ending with the deaths of the trapped Narnians.


Thanks to NarniaWeb for making a transcript available. It's not completely accurate, but I'll be referencing it from now on. Also, all the images I post here all come from NarniaWeb's Prince Caspian gallery.

Coming Next: Grief + Mistakes = The White Witch?

Journey through Narnia - Prince Caspian Part 9: The Night Raid

Warning: Major Spoilers!!

And the description at the end may not be for younger readers.

Watch to see part of the raid at the beginning! (Note: this trailer has Japanese subtitles.)

Edmund is the signalman for the night raid on the Telmarine castle. The signal-light? His flashlight, of course! A bit of modern warfare inserted into Narnia in a rather humorous way... But more on that later.

He, Peter, Susan, Caspian, and Trumpkin all fly in on gryphons. Peter, Susan, and Caspian get into the castle through Dr. Cornelius's window. Caspian breaks the doctor out of jail, and Cornelius makes the mistake of hinting that Miraz killed Caspian's father. Almost from the very beginning, things go wrong, and it is only the beginning.

Caspian bursts into Miraz's bedroom, demanding to know the truth about his father's death.

Prunaprismia: I thought you said he died in his sleep.
Miraz: Well, that part was true.

While Caspian holds his sword to Miraz's throat, Prunaprismia aims a crossbow at the prince. Then Peter and Susan burst in.

Miraz: This used to be a private room.

Susan aims for Prunaprismia, who aims for Caspian, who points his sword at Miraz! Miraz more or less admits that he killed his own brother, and offers Caspian a choice: kill him and be a "true Telmarine king" (my words, not his), or leave and be a coward. Prunaprismia and Susan shoot at the same time: Prunaprismia's arrow grazes Caspian's arm, and Miraz escapes.

Peter is angry with Caspian for not sticking with the plan, and Susan says that they need to call the attack off, that it's too late. If only they had.



Reepicheep and two of his mice "commandoes" infiltrate, and go to the wheel that raises the portcullis (iron gate) of the castle. They see a sleeping cat and tie its legs together. A Telmarine comes in and sees the bound cat. Reepicheep dangles overhead and forestalls the observation "You are a mouse" by saying, "Yes! I'm a mouse." Reepicheep kills the guard, and the mice come to the wheel. Trumpkin joins them.

Reepicheep: We were expecting someone... taller.
Trumpkin: You're one to talk.
Reepicheep: (almost laughing) Was there supposed to be irony in that?

Trumpkin and the mice struggle to lift the portcullis, while Peter, Susan, and Caspian rush to lower the drawbridge with the Telmarine army on their backs. But both groups manage, just as...

Edmund drops his flashlight when he should be signaling the Narnians to come into the castle! A Telmarine picks it up and starts playing with the light. The Narnians see the light flashing crazily, and Nikabrik voices what they're all wondering:

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Edmund retrieves the flashlight, however, and signals for the Narnians to attack.

Susan: (to Peter, sarcastic) Who are you doing this for??
(The teens turn and charge at the Telmarines.)
Peter: FOR NARNIA!!

A marked change for Peter since the first movie, when he cries: "For Narnia, and for Aslan!"

But the Narnians no longer have their only advantage, the element of surprise. Eventually, Miraz orders his crossbowmen to fire into the melee, killing Telmarines and Narnians alike. Peter calls the retreat, and as the Telmarines lower the portcullis as the Narnians try to escape. One Minotaur holds the gate up while the other go through. Glenstorm lifts Susan up onto his back, and they, Peter, Caspian, Cornelius, Trumpkin, Nikabrik, etc. run through. But the Telmarines shoot down the Minotaur holding up the gate, and the Narnians who didn't make it out are trapped inside.

The most heartbreaking moment of the film... Peter stops and sees the Narnians crowded at the gate, unable to break out. The Narnians on the other side of the drawbridge call out to him, as the drawbridge lifts. But before Peter's horse makes the jump to the other side, he still looks and knows that the trapped Narnians are dying because of him.

Edmund is the last to leave, on the back of the gryphon he rode in on. They fly over the courtyard, where the battle had been fought. It is as deathly silent as the bodies lying there. Every last Narnian at the gate has been shot down.


Coming next: the aftermath of a massacre.

Journey through Narnia - Prince Caspian Part 8: Telmarine Intrigue

Quick note before I get started:
I've gotten sporadic in my posts, and I'm sorry. I'll try to do this at least twice a week still, but I have a lot going on right now. Summer is the busiest time of year for me. Today's post is short, but the next one is about the castle raid, and that one is going to be long. So please, just bear with me.

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS!!

Lord Sopespian isn't very happy, and you can't really blame him. Lord Miraz keeps grabbing up more and more power, and so many seats in the Telmarine Council are empty, due to Miraz's plots.

Sopespian works on bringing General Glozelle into his own conspiracy against Miraz. Glozelle is reluctant at first... until an incident at the Fords of Beruna.

Miraz has had a crew of men building a wide bridge across the Fords of Beruna to cross into Old Narnian territory. The way that you get to see the construction, and the way that the men are chopping down trees at the sight for building is reminiscent (for me) of Isengard in The Lord of the Rings films. I could almost hear the Isengard theme.

Reepicheep apparently led a night raid on the Telmarine supplies. Two regiments worth of armor and weapons gone (although my brother isn't sure that we ever even see the Narnians using the gear). On one supply wagon is a message:

You were right to fear the woods.

- X [Caspian the Tenth]

Miraz is quietly furious about the loss, and he hits Glozelle on the face with a sword hilt. It was a bad move, because Glozelle capitulates now to Sopespian's side.

Now that he can pin the Narnian "uprising" on Caspian - a "renagade" prince - Miraz takes the throne by law. The ceremony scene is subtly chilling.

The Coronation

The film has now become a shade darker.

Coming Next: A Good Plan Gone Wrong

Two Unrelated Things

That's right. Two topics for today that are totally unrelated.


1. Flowers

Here in the Midwest, it is the season for snowball bushes and irises to bloom. I've been taking loads of photos around my home of all the beautiful flowers. I've uploaded the best to my Flickr account - please check out my photostream!


2. Across the Stars

Today, I set up a second blog: this one is for my Star Wars fan fiction only. It's an Alternate Universe story that retells the saga with a lot of twists, including several Original Characters (one in particular). I also created a video preview of the "series" for YouTube. My AU is called Across the Stars, after Anakin's and Padme's theme. I'm posting the prologue and character list of the pilot story today. Please check it out!

Journey through Narnia - Prince Caspian Part 7: The Kings and Queens of Old

Okay, I'd meant to post sooner than this, but real-life caught up with me. This post has turned out to be long as a result of having catch-up! Lol!

(Quick note: in a couple of the dialogue quotes today, there are a couple phrases that are not said in my home, but I'm just sticking to the script. Don't worry - if there were any real bad words, I would be using asterisks.)

Today, I'm going to open this with a Bible verse, and I might started doing this often. (All Scripture quotes are from the King James Version, or Authorized Version, unless otherwise stated.)

Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

- Zechariah 4:6b

I chose this verse to tie in with the end, and it... oh, I was just about to give away the end of this post! You'll find out soon enough. Now, to return to the good old warning...

MAJOR SPOILERS!!

Right about now in the film's progression is when you'll probably start to get annoyed with Peter. I know I did! He acts like a know-it-all when he's trying to get his group to Aslan's How.

Edmund, on the other hand, is satisfyingly penitent about his mistakes during their last stay in Narnia, and stands up for Lucy when she sees Aslan. Trumpkin isn't so annoyingly disbelieving, but he does say: "I'm not going to follow a lion I can't see."

We start to get into the spiritual aspects of the film - bear with me, because from here on out, I'll be doing it often. Trumpkin said that he wouldn't follow a lion he couldn't see. Aren't there people who say the same thing about God here on Earth (as opposed to about Aslan in Narnia)? "I'm not going to follow a God I can't see. How do I know He's even real?"

But more on that later.

I like the way that they changed Lucy's first meeting with Aslan into a real dream, and in the morning, no less. There's still an ethereal quality about it - the filtered golden sunlight in the beautiful patch of forest. And Aslan does look bigger.

It's funny that the way that Caspian and Peter meet is with their swords! Hmm, talk about a foreshadowing of what's to come!

Trumpkin and the rest of the Pevensies enter, and Reepicheep soon follows...

Lucy: (whispering to Susan) "Oh my gosh, he is so cute!"
Reepicheep: (angry, drawing his sword and looking around) "Who said that??"
Lucy: (slightly guilty) "Sorry."
Reepicheep: (penitent) "Oh, uh, Your Majesty. With the greatest respect - (bows) - I do believe courageous, courteous, or chivalrous might more befit a Knight of Narnia." (Twirls his sword as he puts it away.)

Another Weekend in Narnia video on YouTube has a slightly cut clip of this scene (don't forget: it's at the end). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5dU84VDDaw

Caspian takes the Pevensies to Aslan's How. The cavern containing the Stone Table is a beautiful place, telling the story of the Pevensies and Aslan as we know it in Wardrobe. At the center of the wall on the far side of the entrance is a carving of a huge Lion. And on the way in is carving of a Faun with an umbrella by a lamppost - and we hear a short strain of Mr. Tumnus's lullaby.



Peter suggests a raid on Miraz's castle. Edmund points out that though the How may be defensible, the Telmarines can starve them out.

Pattertwig: "We can collect nuts!"
Reepicheep: (sarcastic) "Right! And throw them at the Telmarines!" (annoyed) "Shut up."

(Is saying "shut up" an English thing? Because they sure say it enough in the movie! :P)

Lucy tries to be a voice of caution at the "council of war"...

Lucy: "No, Peter, you're not listening. Or have you forgotten who really defeated the White Witch?"
Peter: "I think we've waited for Aslan long enough."

If you've already seen the movie, did you hear the warning alarm at this point? I sure did! I was just cringing and thinking, "Oh, Peter, that is just a stupid thing to say!"

Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit...

And yet, Peter thinks that he's waited long enough for Aslan. Lucy was right: Peter had truly forgotten. He thought that he could do it on his own, and he had forgotten that the last time he tried that, he failed. It was only by Aslan's intervention that Peter survived and that the Battle of Beruna was won.

But we can be like that, too. We think that we can go it alone, but, in truth, we can't. Alone, we'll fail - miserably, too. Our good victories come only through God. Without Him, we fail. We always will.

Don't go alone; don't tire of waiting for God. Wait for Him; follow Him. Our victory is by His Spirit.

It's a lesson that Peter learns in a heartbreakingly hard way. Don't make the same mistake.