The Last Battle
Plot summary
In The Last Battle, Lewis brings The Chronicles of Narnia to an end. The book deals with the end of time in the old Narnia and sums up the series by linking the experience of the human children in Narnia with their lives in their original world.
The story is set during the reign of the last king of Narnia, King Tirian, great-grandson of the great-grandson of Rilian, son of King Caspian X. Narnia has experienced a long period of peace and prosperity begun during the reign of King Caspian X. A centaur, Roonwit, warns Tirian that strange and evil things are happening to Narnia and that the stars portend ominous developments.
An ape named Shift has persuaded a well-meaning but simple donkey called Puzzle to dress in a lion’s skin and pretend to be the Great Lion Aslan. Shift, using Puzzle as his pawn, convinces the Narnians that he speaks for Aslan. Once the Narnians are convinced that Aslan has returned, Shift orders the Narnians to work for the Calormenes, and to cut down Talking Trees for lumber. The money will be paid into “Aslan’s” treasury, held by Shift, on the pretext that it will be used for the good of the Narnians.
King Tirian and his friend Jewel the Unicorn at first believe the rumors of Aslan’s return, but realize the lie when they hear Shift telling the Narnians that Aslan and the Calormene god Tash are one and the same. When Tirian accuses the ape of lying, the Calormenes overpower the king and bind him to a tree. He calls on Aslan for help and receives a vision of Digory Kirke, Polly Plummer, Peter Pevensie, Edmund Pevensie, Eustace Scrubb, Lucy Pevensie and Jill Pole, though he does not know who they are. The people in the room also see him and, though Tirian can’t speak to them, they guess he is a messenger from Narnia. A few minutes later by Narnian time, Jill and Eustace arrive in Narnia. They release the King and rescue Jewel and Puzzle. A band of dwarfs are also rescued, but because their faith in Aslan has been shattered, they refuse to help, claiming “the dwarfs are for the dwarfs.” Only one dwarf, Poggin, is faithful to Tirian, Aslan and Narnia. Tirian and his small force prepare to fight the Calormenes.
As the battle progresses, all of the animals are killed (many by the dwarfs, who attack both sides) and Eustace, Jill and Poggin are thrown into the stable where the false Aslan was kept. Tirian, earlier on, had thrown Shift into the stable and Tash, who now haunts the stable, swallowed the ape whole. Tirian, left alone and fighting for his life, drags Rishda Tarkaan, the leader of the Calormenes, into the stable. Much to the Calormen leader’s surprise and terror, Tash appears, and snatches him up under an arm. Peter, Edmund, Eustace, Lucy, Jill, Polly, and Digory appear before them, (Susan does not appear in Narnia because she has stopped believing in it, thinking of it only as some silly childhood game) and Peter orders Tash to leave. Aslan appears, and as they watch at the stable door, all of the people and animals, including those who had previously died, gather outside the barn and are judged by Aslan. Those who have been loyal to Aslan or the morality upheld by Narnians join Aslan in Aslan’s Country. Those who have opposed or deserted him become ordinary animals and vanish to a fate unknown.
As the children watch, all the vegetation is eaten by dragons, salamanders, and giant lizards and Father Time calls the stars down from the skies into the sea, which rises to cover Narnia. The Sun expands and draws in the moon. Father Time then puts it out, freezing Narnia. Peter closes the door, and Aslan leads them to his country, telling them to go further up and further in, to a country which is revealed to be the “real” Narnia (the one the Narnians had previously inhabited was only a copy). They move up a waterfall to some gates, and are greeted by the heroic talking mouse Reepicheep. Here they meet the primary characters from the earlier novels, and the series ends with the revelation that “for them, it was only the beginning of the true story, which goes on forever, and in which every chapter is better than the one before.” It is revealed by Aslan that the Pevensie children have been involved in a train crash or railway accident that claimed their lives.
Chapters
01 – By Caldron Pool
02 – The Rashness of the King
03 – The Ape in Its Glory
04 – What Happened That Night
05 – How Help Came to the King
06 – A Good Night’s Work
07 – Mainly About Dwarfs
08 – What News the Eagle Brought
09 – The Great Meeting on Stable Hill
10 – Who Will Go Into the Stable?
11 – The Pace Quickens
12 – Through the Stable Door
13 – How the Dwarfs Refused to Be Taken In
14 – Night Fall on Narnia
15 – Further Up and Further In
16 – Farewell to Shadowlands
References
Caughey, Shanna (2004), Revisiting Narnia: Fantasy, Myth and Religion in C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles, Benbella Books, ISBN 1932100636
Further reading
Downing, David C. (2005). Into the Wardrobe: C. S. Lewis and the Narnia Chronicles. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ISBN 0-7879-7890-6.
External links
Narnia portal
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Last Battle
The Last Battle publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Awards
Preceded by
The Little Bookroom
Carnegie Medal recipient
1956
Succeeded by
A Grass Rope
v d e
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeFilm Game Soundtrack
Prince CaspianFilm Game Soundtrack
The Voyage of the Dawn TreaderFilm Game
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magician’s Nephew
The Last Battle
Main characters
Aslan Peter Susan Edmund Lucy White Witch Caspian Reepicheep Eustace Jill Rilian Puddleglum Green Lady Shasta Aravis Bree Hwin Digory Polly Shift Puzzle All characters All creatures
Locations
Narnia Archenland Cair Paravel Calormen Charn Lone Islands Telmar Wood between the Worlds Aslan’s How Aslan’s Country Underland Lantern Waste All places
Other
BBC serial Film series Cast list Timeline House of Telmar First Battle of Beruna Second Battle of Beruna
Narnia Portal
v d e
Works by C. S. Lewis
Poetry
Spirits in Bondage (1919) Dymer (1926) Narrative Poems (1969) The Collected Poems of C. S. Lewis (1994)
Fiction
The Pilgrim’s Regress (1933) The Screwtape Letters (1942) The Great Divorce (1945) Till We Have Faces (1956) Screwtape Proposes a Toast (1959) Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (1964) Boxen (1985)
Space Trilogy
Out of the Silent Planet (1938) Perelandra (1943) That Hideous Strength (1946) The Dark Tower (manuscript) (1977)
The Chronicles
of Narnia
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) Prince Caspian (1951) The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952) The Silver Chair (1953) The Horse and His Boy (1954) The Magician’s Nephew (1955) The Last Battle (1956)
Non-fiction
1930s
The Allegory of Love (1936) Rehabilitations and other essays (1939) The Personal Heresy (1939)
1940s
The Problem of Pain (1940) A Preface to Paradise Lost (1942) The Abolition of Man (1943) Beyond Personality (1944) Miracles (1947) Arthurian Torso (1948)
1950s
Mere Christianity (1952) English Literature in the Sixteenth Century Excluding Drama (1954) Major British Writers, Vol I (1954) De Descriptione Temporum. An Inaugural Lecture (1955) Surprised by Joy (1955) Reflections on the Psalms (1958)
1960s
The Four Loves (1960) Studies in Words (1960) An Experiment in Criticism (1961) A Grief Observed (1961) They Asked for a Paper: Papers and Addresses (1962) Selections from Layamon’s Brut (1963) The Discarded Image (1964) Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature (1966) Of Other Worlds (1966) Spenser’s Images of Life (1967) Letters to an American Lady (1967) Christian Reflections (1967) Selected Literary Essays (1969)
1970s
God in the Dock (2 volumes) (1970-1971)
1980s
The Business Of Heaven (1984) Present Concerns (1986)
1990s
All My Road Before Me: The Diary of C. S. Lewis 192227 (1993)
2000s
Essay Collection: Literature, Philosophy and Short Stories (2000) Essay Collection: Faith, Christianity and the Church (2000) Collected Letters (Volume I: Family Letters 19051931 (2000) Volume II: Books, Broadcasts and War 19311949 (2004) Volume III: Narnia, Cambridge and Joy 19501963 (2007))
Categories: 1956 novels | Christian fiction and allegory | The Chronicles of Narnia books | Sequel novels | British children’s novelsHidden categories: Articles needing additional references from January 2008 | All articles needing additional references | Articles that may contain original research from September 2008 | All articles that may contain original research
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