THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN 2008 | dir. Andrew Adamson

finishing off the childhood nostalgia quadrangle w some narnia babies

Crying about the idea of Rilian gaining consciousness for one hour a night and swearing that his father will find him. His captor laughing at his nativity from the shadows as Rilian pulls at his bonds and demands to be let free. He’s so sure Caspian will find him, his father who has sailed to the ends of the earth and who has taken down far worse foes than the woman in green. He screams and yells until his voice goes hoarse and raw and until he will not be able to speak come the morning. And his faith in his father never waivers.

Until the day it does. Until Rilian returns to himself for the hundredth time, the three hundredth, until years have passed and Rilian no longer screams. He no longer yells. He no longer demands that he be set free under threat of Caspian the tenth’s wrath. No, instead his eyes will sharpen as they escape the enchantment only to dull over once more when he realizes no one is going to come for him.

And he sits, and sits, and sits. Until overtime he starts to forget the sound of his father’s voice, the shape of his eyes, the feeling of his arms around Rilian in a warm embrace. He forgets little by little, and his hope goes with the memories, until Rilian begins to doubt that there was ever really any Caspian the tenth at all.

Maybe he has always been here, trapped in this silver chair, with wrists rubbed raw from the rope that bites at his skin. Maybe he has always been watched from the shadows like a rabid beast, mocked and laughed at when he dares believe there was any chance of rescue. Maybe his father is a myth, and maybe Rilian really is mad. He does not demand to be let free, not when the decree will fall on deaf ears. He stops deluding himself into hoping, because hope is for naive children who believe in the fairytale of their father coming to rescue them and Rilian is alone. After all, his father had only explored Narnia’s surface and Rilian is trapped far below that.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia (Movies), Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Glozelle & Prunaprismia Characters: Glozelle (Narnia), Prunaprismia, Prunaprismia’s son Additional Tags: Glozelle and Prunaprismia are siblings, because I adore that headcanon, Miscarriage mention, important matters are discussed re: naming Summary:

Glozelle and Prunaprismia rekindle their relationship.

You know who we don’t talk about enough? Prunaprismia. 

I mean, not so much book!Prunaprismia, but I love what they did with her in the movie. And somehow I hear people talking about Glozelle’s character arc, but never hers. We don’t know a lot about Prunaprismia in the book, except that she has red hair, and she dislikes Caspian. That’s about her only character trait: that she dislikes her nephew. But in the movie, if she were still to be summed up in one trait, that trait would be mother. 

After all, a mother is many things: gentle and nurturing and fierce and protective. To be a mother is to be confused and growing and chaotic and determined and lost, but always learning, and embracing the mess. 

And in her, we see that. Queen Prunaprismia is fiercely loyal to her family. Remember when Caspian enters their room during the raid on the castle, how Miraz wakes her up, and she immediately goes for the crossbow? She is willing and ready to protect her family. BUT what we also see in that scene is that this loyalty is rooted more in her son than it is in her husband, and perhaps for good reason. Have you noticed in the opening scene, when the midwife hands her the baby, she immediately checks to see if its a boy or a girl, and upon seeing its a son there’s almost a look of… relief on her face? Like she knew Miraz expected this of her? Like she was scared to let him down?

And when Caspian says that Miraz murdered his father, Prunaprismia hesitates. She lowers the crossbow. “You said your brother died in his sleep,” she says to her husband. She doubts Miraz. But what does Miraz say that truly influences her to pull the trigger? “Or do you want our son to grow up like Caspian, here: fatherless?” 

It’s her son she is protecting in this scene. It’s not about Miraz. She has a passing loyalty to him through their marriage, but she is devoted to her son.

In the end, she takes the same offer that Glozelle does. She will go on, through the door, into the land that waits for them. She will provide a better life for her son. Far from conquerors and usurpers and fratricide and war. Her son will not be of that Telmarine line; it will be forgotten. 

And she grows through it all, too. Because she is a mother. Because she loves her son. Because her life is completely changed, and because a new life is waiting. And that’s so good to me.

Actually I love being fickle because someone will be like “actually in the books, Edmund is blond and Peter has dark hair” and I’m like, “according to WHOM? PAULINE!?” But also when someone says “actually in the books, Caspian is blond,” I’m like, “according to WHOM? Clive!?”

About Caspian.

I don’t see a lot of people talk about Caspian from the books (he’s my favorite character) so I’ll do it! Lol. Now that I look back at it, I think I can come up with a couple of reasons why I liked (and still like) him so much.

Firstly, I love how Caspian’s so drawn into stories about Old Narnia. I love his innocence and child-like faith in Aslan and the Kings and Queens of old. You know that scene (the first one where Caspian has dialogue, actually) where Miraz talks to him and scolds him for believing in “nonsense”? And naive little Caspian just “babble[s] on” about Aslan. I know it happens several years before the actual story, and Caspian is still very young here, but I like how you get a glimpse of his beliefs about Aslan and Old Narnia that sticks with him throughout his entire life. I think we all know that Prince Caspian is all about faith - Caspian himself shows that message very clearly!

Also, his reactions when it comes to Old Narnia are priceless. It’s always a mixture of fear and awe. Just look at how Caspian reacts when finds out that Cornelius is a Dwarf (well, a half Dwarf) : “He’s not a real man, not a man at all, he’s a Dwarf, and he’s brought me up here to kill me… [but] There are real Dwarfs still, and I’ve seen one at last.” And when he sees that Trufflehunter is actually a Talking Badger, he almost screams with fright but at the same time he’s delighted that he’s found Old Narnians. Of course, nothing can top Caspian being the little history geek that he is who gets tongue-tied around High King Peter.

Another thing that makes me love Caspian is his humility. Everyone knows about the “If you had felt yourself sufficient, it would have been a proof that you were not” line. I also like the idea that he didn’t grow up wanting to be king. His first words in the book are “I don’t know, Uncle,” after Miraz asks how he feels about being king someday. Yes, Caspian is meant to be a king - otherwise Aslan wouldn’t have chosen him - but obviously he wouldn’t have liked to be the kind of Telmarine King he was expected to be, growing up. He reminds me a lot of Peter in that way.

Okay, but something really interesting is how much Caspian has changed when he reappears in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. You can tell that he’s older, and that he has more experience and confidence now. But he’s still the same Caspian, with lots of hope and faith, and a strong sense of duty and honor. (He’s really cheerful and optimistic too, and I’m so glad we get to see him like this, as opposed to Prince Caspian where they’re in the middle of a war and Caspian must have been under constant stress.)

Also, what kind of king just jumps off his ship when three children randomly appear in the ocean? A good Narnian king, that’s what. Thankfully, Caspian’s one of those.

But he has to deal with some things we haven’t really focused on in Prince Caspian: pride and selfishness. When they nearly reach the End of the World, Caspian calls together the men and tells them that he’s going to leave, and instructs Drinian to find another king when they come back to Narnia. They (including Lucy, Edmund, and Reepicheep) object and try to tell Caspian why this is wrong and he can’t just abandon Narnia like that. He gets angry and storms into the cabin.

The thing is, I love this scene, because I think it makes a lot of sense. Caspian grows up listening to stories about Narnia, then, the impossible happens, and Old Narnia is alive. He becomes king of that Narnia, and is even blessed by Aslan Himself. Caspian’s adventures on the Dawn Treader must have been part of the “impossible” he used to dream of, so I can see why it’d be heartbreaking to be SO CLOSE to the End of the World and not be allowed to go.

But Aslan talks to him, and Caspian understands. He marries Ramandu’s daughter and sails back to Narnia.

In The Silver Chair we see a different Caspian. He’s older, arguably wiser, and has lost all hope of ever seeing his son again (which is why he forbids anyone from attempting to find Rilian). But I love how he’s still friends with Drinian, how he never forgets his journey aboard the Dawn Treader, and how he seems to have this restless wanderlust. Everyone remembers how he wanted to go to the End of the World, and they’re afraid that this time he will. But like last time, Caspian listens to Aslan, and returns to Narnia to find his son alive. The final time we see him before The Last Battle is in Aslan’s Country, where he meets Eustace again. And he gets to visit a round world too! Honestly, that’s one of the reasons I love The Silver Chair so much. (This is unrelated, but based on Eustace’s reactions and dialogue in The Silver Chair, he and Caspian must have been good friends, even if we don’t see much of it in VDT. That makes me really happy.)

Anyway, that’s pretty much the last we see of Caspian, ignoring his brief appearance in The Last Battle. I learned quite a lot of important things from his character growing up, and I’m still learning. (That goes for any character in Narnia !! C.S. Lewis was a genius.)

watch me fangirl about caspian

Yesss. Caspian is my favorite too. (And always has been.) So good to see him finally getting some love. 

Caspian is a fascinating character, especially in VDT, because you can see the struggle between his boyish desire for adventure and the responsibilities of kingship. The retaking of the Lone Islands? Awesome, except when you consider the chaos he blithely leaves them in. I mean, Lord Bern even ASKS him to stay and help re-establish order, and warns of the danger of war with Calormen, and but Caspian is so set on honour and his knightly quest that he refuses. On the one hand, yay for keeping your vow. On the other … a king has responsibilities to his people, and one of those responsibilities is not creating a mess and then leaving them to clean it up. And even the way he handled the retaking of the Islands. Dramatic! Bloodless! Very very impressive! Not really all that practical, and definitely not the best way to establish healthy relations between Narnia and the Islands, or endear the new Duke to his people. It was a knightly deed, but not necessarily a kingly one.

So then when we get to the End of the World, it makes sense that he wants to continue with a knightly quest, with his dreams for honour and glory, and why he needs the stern talking-to by not only his subjects, but his fellow king and queen, who were not given the choice to leave off ruling, but were called out of Narnia by Aslan when their time was at an end.

And so yes, we see a Caspian who adores the old stories and has so much hero-worship for the kings and queens of old, at least High King Peter if not Edmund and Lucy as much, and who yearns for adventure and glory, but who also has been given a heavy responsibility and has to learn how to manage the two, and in SC we see that he has achieved a sort of balance, though at a heavy cost. (VDT Caspian would have gone out hunting for his lost son himself, never mind the consequences, so he obviously learned wisdom somewhere in there.)

And so he gets his one final glorious adventure in SC, not by sailing to the World’s End as he tried to do once before, but because he heeds Aslan’s call and returns to Narnia, he is able to see his son one last time, pass the kingship peacefully to him, AND he gets to go have his adventure in our world. Thus obedience has brought him his heart’s desire in the end.

when you spend so much time contemplating the tragedy of the Pevensies and then you re-read The Silver Chair and realize the person we should all REALLY feel sorry for is Caspian

The fact that Caspian not only remembers Eustace’s throwaway comment about our world being round for his entire life but then begs Aslan to let him come see what it’s like is hilarious and says so much about where his priorities are at.

Caspian, in literal Heaven, @ Eustace: don’t be such an ass

I wanna see something. Reblog or comment on this post with your most favorite and least favorite Narnia book.

I would appreciate if you could tell me why you like/dislike them as well. Also, if you wanna do a complete ranking of the series, feel free :)

jill pole makes handmade envelopes as a form of therapy and writes letters, then seals them and adresses them and stores them somewhere safe, never to be opened.

she writes a letter to king caspian, the man she saw after he died. she asks him how the afterlife is treating him, and if he’s enjoying being young and strong again. she tucks it safe in her bookshelf, between an atlas of the seas and a poster of the caspian sea. 

she writes a letter to puddleglum and tells him all about the rainy days and the gloomy evenings. she asks him of the swamp, and if he’s had any good tea recently. she seals it and hides it under a creaky floorboard under her dinner table. 

she writes a letter to prince rilian in which she tells him about her nightmares. he’d understand, she thinks. she asks him if he’s having nightmares too. she hides the letter in the trunk under her bed. 

she writes a letter to Aslan, and it’s longer than any letter she’s written. she tells him everything: what she’s sure of, what she doubts, what she loves, what she fears, when she laughs, when she cries, when she’s happy, when she’s overcome with sadness, when it’s warm, when it’s cold, when she doesn’t know what to do. the envelope is so bulky it barely closes. she doesn’t seal it. she talks to Aslan every day.

jill pole writes a letter to eustace scrubb. she tells him everything she doesn’t have the courage to tell him in person. this is the only letter she sends, because eustace is the only recipient who lives in the same world as her. 

a couple weeks ago I messaged @catie-does-things​ and said I couldn’t remember the Rilian-Caspian reunion but I was thinking about Cinderella 2015 with Kit and his dad, since Caspian is now an old man and I had remembered he died at the end, and I just read the reunion last night and:

I am once again thinking about that scene where the Pevensies really know that all their friends are gone in Prince Caspian... the feeling of dread in your stomach... this is paralleled only by Eustace coming back to find Caspian an old man on the cusp of dying... the sick-to-your-stomach feeling.