Aslan Returns, Part XII: Rumours and Guesses

I know, I know. I spelled it wrong. But we are talking about a series where all the main characters are from The Big UK. Rumours and Guesses will run whenever an interesting tid-bit comes up. However, the purpose of this is NOT for A City to become a random fan site, but rather for improved analysis of information, as always.

Rumour/Guess #1: Tilda Swinton will reappear as the Lady of the Green Kirtle, as well as Jadis. Now, it has been openly mentioned by Tilda that she would be willing to come back for The Magician's Nephew, but that was after she said she had done no filming for the White Witch section of Prince Caspian and before anyone ever found out that she had done a cameo. As for the cameo, NarniaWeb noted that "According to director Andrew Adamson, Tilda Swinton and her children had another short cameo in Prince Caspian—as centaurs."

The Adamson later continues "...she's wonderful. She's just kind of this fan of the film. She said in an interview at one stage that she'd be happy to do [it]...even if it was in my garage and she had to wear a pointy hat. And when she won her Golden Globe or the Oscar, I texted her and said, 'Will you still do that movie in the garage?' And she texted me back, 'Where's my call sheet, dude?' She's great."

Since Tilda seems to have such vested interest in the series, it is not beyond the reach of possibility that she will, in fact, play both the Lady of the Green Kirtle and Jadis.

Aslan Returns, Part XI: Aslan

Young Hillary Clinton

Her majesty has just declared that she is pulling out of the presidential candidacy race and is supporting Obama.

Aslan Returns, Part X: Duel and Corresponding Battle

As this posts, I am no where near a computer, much less a computer hooked up to the internet. I've finally discovered how to set stuff up to post ahead of time! woot!

Peter, Edmund and Caspian have, by this point mostly mended their relationships. No one is angry at anyone, and no one feels above or beneath the others. It is during this time also that Susan and Lucy set out on the secret mission, only for Susan to come back with Caspian (hmmmmm....).

The duel progresses in a very different manner than in the book. In the book, Peter sprains his wrist. Here, he dislocates his shoulder (if you were wondering why Ed grabbed his arm and jerked it like that, that's why). Instead of Miraz being stabbed in the back while Peter waits for him to rise, Peter hands the sword to Caspian, and then Miraz is stabbed (with one of Susan's feathers, incidentally), and the Telmarines call foul, although this fits in the movie's storyline much better.

The Battle is very well done, and creates a whole new style of fighting. Instead of relying solely on ground and air troops, a new method is developed: underground troops. Here the Narnians literally pull the sod from beneath the Telmarine's feet. The Narnians have little need to fight. They are barely getting started when Aslan awakens the trees, and the trees and the river god take care of the rest. A much smaller battle then the battle in the first movie, and much smaller than I imagined the battle being, but actually larger then Lewis actually wrote, but it sets Aslan up to have a much more grand entrance, because, really, that's who its all about, right?

Whaddya mean, no?

Aslan Returns, Part IX: Miraz and Queen Prunaprismia

Miraz’s bid for the kingship begins before the film starts, yet he is not crowned until later, contrary to the book, where he is already king. However, he has an odd relationship with his wife, who, incidentally, stars the first about three to five minutes of the film, as the film immediately descends into Caspian’s escape from the castle and incidental discovery of the Narnians. But I digress.

Miraz and Queen Prunaprismia, who will be best remembered in my book as the person with the hardest name to type (I’ve mistyped about five times already, and we’ve only seen her name twice.), have a strange love/hate relationship, if they have a love part of the relationship at all. It is clear that Queen Prunaprismia did not marry for love—she even at some points seems to disdain Miraz. There are three key points of their relationship in the movie.

The Castle Raid
When Caspian rescues the doctor, the doctor mentions just slightly something about Miraz killing Caspian’s father, Caspian the IX. When pressed, Cornelius refuses to say anything much, so Caspian sets out (against the plan) to discover what exactly happened to his father. Thus he ends up in Miraz and Queen Prunaprismia’s bedroom, moments before Peter and Susan. With his sword at Miraz’s neck, and with the queen’s crossbow aimed at him, Caspian demands to know the truth: did Miraz really kill King Caspian the IX?

Queen Prunaprismia does not let Miraz answer.

“You told me Caspian [the tenth] died in his sleep!”

Miraz does not even look at her.

“He did die in his sleep.”

Emphasis on did.

Queen Prunaprismia is quite shaken, and not quite sure she is happy with how things are turning out. It is at this point that disdain clearly crosses her face, before firing the crossbow, and then screaming and crumpling up in a heap because she’s sure that Miraz is dead and she just killed Caspian.

Poor lady.

Miraz’s Crowning
There is nothing significant at Miraz’s crowning, unless you count those absent. Prunaprismia is not visible at the ceremony.

The Door Between the Worlds
The second person wishing to depart from Narnia, and going with Lord Sopespian is Queen Prunaprismia. Miraz is gone, and it is very clear that she wants a new life for both her and her son. It appears that her father goes with her. Aslan breathes on and blesses all three, and then they depart. She does not appear to mourn Miraz’s passing, nor does she hold a grudge against Caspian, or even Peter. She is instead clearly ready for a new life in a new place, where she can raise her son with a new hope. She is no longer poor, but is instead blessed. With her riches she found no blessing, but with her loss of the kingdom, she finds what she had been missing: blessing and hope.

Aslan Returns, Part VIII: The Trees and Lucy's Dream

I had wondered if the trees would by somewhat like the Ents in Lord of the Rings, and, while that would have been really cool, it would have seemed too much like they lifted it. So I was interested in what they would do. I was pleasantly surprised with how the trees looked, and the ability of the roots to run around all over the place.

The dance of the trees was much less detailed then Lewis had laid out in the books. It was much more mystical and strange because it occurred in Lucy's dream, which Director Andrew Adamson had noted was not necessarily a dream, but had a strange quality of a dream. Some reason that the dream was left that way because it was a promise of Aslan's arrival, not His actual arrival, whereas in the book it was the first time that Aslan's arrival was confirmed. Others will not vary from the book, asserting that it was no dream. Both of these viewpoints add some interesting thoughts to our Christian lives.

The Promise
The promise of Aslan's arrival is played out very clearly in Lucy's dream. She gets up and wanders away from the campsite, then notices the trees moving, and sees Aslan. The two converse, and then Lucy asks why Aslan didn't just come roaring in and fix everything like he had done earlier. Aslan replies that nothing happens "the same way twice," and Lucy wakes up. Later, when she does actually meet Aslan, they share the same conversation.

Many times in our Christian life we only get promises in dreams, or in some cases a dream of a dream. I think this leads many of us to doubt if it really was a promise for us, or if we were just indulging in wishful thinking. You can almost see Lucy go through this thought process. She tries to follow her path in the dream, but does not find Aslan. Peter and Susan are believing that they have to do everything on their own...so is Aslan not coming? Is Lucy holding on to an ancient myth that no one believes anymore? Or does she have a promise in her dream?

The Son of the Emperor Over The Sea in the Flesh
If, indeed, it is not a dream, but Lucy does truly speak and visit with Aslan, and we just miss out on the rest of her conversation, we have not lost much. Aslan has already asserted that he will make things right. But once again, Lucy's faith must come to the rescue. Aslan is there, living and moving, but for now only among the forest, not in and among the Narnians. However, he is doing his own work, and Lucy is revived by periodically seeing him, and more often then not, burying her face in his mane.

There is no second guessing yourself here--you can only second guess Him, but he provides strength. And strength comes from burying our faces in the mane of the Lion of Judah--or in our pillows, with our Bible beneath.