Re-ordering Narnia’s “Prince Caspian”

After encountering multiple references in my casual reading/learning, I’ve delved properly into C.S. Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia” series, for the first time as an adult, since childhood. There’s been a lot of new insights across all the entries, and random characters finally clicking in my head. For now, I want to engage with The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

There’s been enough adaptations of Prince Caspian already, but if occasion rises for a new adaptation comes out (besides Netflix’s — a theatre stage play?), I think there is an interesting way to re-frame the story of Prince Caspian.

TL;DR: halfway through the Q1 (first quarter) of the narrative, the book does a flashback to the past. I propose we tell the story completely-linearly. This makes the audience join the Narnians in waiting for the Pevensies to show up on stage, partaking in the initial disappointment, and eventual appearance.

It was only after writing this and fleshing out this re-ordering in my head, that I took a second look at the 2008 theatrical film — and actually it has already tightened the narrative in many places. And the film has already adapted the book in the direction of my idea to re-order the events, though half-the-distance of what I had in mind. I’d like to pitch a version that goes all the way.

The Pevensies’ absence can be turned from a bug into a feature

The film already engages with the backstory pacing problem

Of the 15 total chapters, chapters 4-7 are used as flashback/backstory. That is, after the Inciting Incident, all that plot momentum is effectively halted, because of exposition for the next 1/4 (27%) of the narrative. This may still work in a book, but stagnates a film’s pacing.

I thought this was an original big brain play. But then I found out that the 2008 film actually had already recognised this:

We had some difficulty figuring out how to make Caspian work as a film. In the book, the children arrive in Narnia, and they all sit down around the campfire and Trumpkin tells them the story of Prince Caspian—which means that the four Pevensie children vanish for half of the book.

If you made it into a movie that way, your protagonists wouldn’t be in half of the film. And that just doesn’t work as a movie.

Interviewer: But Trumpkin’s story makes for a thrilling flashback. Are you saying you didn’t want to leave the Pevensie children while telling Caspian’s backstory?

The problem would be that you would have two entirely separate storylines going on, in separate timescales. You’d wind up with half a movie that’s Prince Caspian’s story, and all of a sudden you’ve got the Pevensie kids crashing back into the film. We had to find some way of integrating the Pevensies and Caspian together in a way that works for the story, and I think our scriptwriters did a wonderful job managing to do that.

Douglas Gresham, co-producer (and C.S. Lewis’ stepson)^[quote]

[quote]: Mark Moring (April 8, 2008). “A Poorer Story, but a Better Movie” ↗. Christianity Today. Archived from the original on July 9, 2008. Retrieved April 9, 2008.

I found my intuition to match with the filmmakers. They had taken those 4 chapters’ worth of backstory, and moved it to the beginning of the film. Everything flowed in linear chronology. This kept the plot momentum building consistently.

But in the film, the rich backstory got shrunk

However, as mentioned in the quote, the filmmakers saw the Pevensies as the protagonists, and gave them more presence in the narrative. So besides moving the backstory to the front, another story treatment was to condense the flashback segment that didn’t have “the protagonists”.

The backstory segment went from 27% (1/4), to (I’m eyeballing/estimating the reduction) about 13% (1/8). That screentime is half of the amount of the book’s proportional word count. So entire segments were omitted, summarised, combined, etc.

Reviewing, the film made two major changes:

1. Move the backstory (Chapters 4-7 of the book), to the start of the film
2. Condense the time spent on the book’s backstory into a runtime of about half of what it originally had (about 27% to 13%)

While “cutting out irrelevant segments” is the correct storyteller’s solution for having more protagonist screen time… I think we can actually get the best mileage by recognising, perhaps, we may not have the most accurate diagnosis of the issue at hand.

There’s actually a lot of thematic richness to be found in the backstory segment, of Caspian X’s upbringing built on censored history, and how every single character wrestles with (or, seizes opportunity of) the dissonance between the promised myths of the past, vs. the raw reality of the present.

In the beginning of the chronological sequence-of-events (that is, book Chapters 4-7), the common thread and core throughline that unites every character, is this: “Is there really an Aslan coming, to overpower the Telmarinian oppressors?”

The antagonistic force of doubt is best expressed by Trumpkin himself:

“He’d be a pretty elderly lion by now, if he’s one you knew when you were here before! And if it could be the same one, what’s to prevent him from having gone wild and witless like so many others?”

This agony has more time to marinate in the book, how the Narnian creatures had genuine wrestlings with this absent Aslan-figure. There’s good stuff left out in order to meet the film’s (well-intended) objective.

“I’ll believe in anyone or anything,” said Nikabrik, “that’ll batter these cursed Telmarine barbarians to pieces or drive them out of Narnia. Anyone or anything, Aslan or the White Witch, do you understand?”

The Telmarinians actually ruled and oppressed for 1300+ years — that’s 13x longer than the White Witch’s 100-Year-Eternal-Winter.

As the audience, we have the meta benefit of knowing, for a fact, that in this story world: Aslan does exist, and long ago did raise the Pevensies to overthrow the White Witch. But the Narnians? It’s messy and foggy for them.

And for the audience, especially if they had not watched any other Narnia story prior to this? If we withhold any revelation, then we can make the audience to identify with the characters. “I started this show expecting to see the powerful lion that my friend told me about! We’re already a quarter way’s into the story — am I in the wrong show? I’ve been waiting so long — I’m just like Nikabrik frfr”

Therefore, we should expand the backstory to the whole Q1

Therefore, given another attempt, I propose we spend the entire Q1, the first 25% of the story, purely in the backstory of Caspian’s childhood, right up to when Trumpkin is captured.

The Pevensies are effectively removed from the entirety of Q1. We don’t see the main four siblings until we’re 25% in. And that’s on narrative purpose.

If the Pevensies show up, then Aslan’s gotta show up. In-universe, and meta, too. Their appearance would prematurely resolve the core tension question too quickly, whether “Is there really an Aslan coming, to overpower the Telmarinian oppressors?”

We should spend a quarter of the movie’s runtime together with Caspian and Trumpkin and Nikabrik and Trufflehunter, in their world without Aslan. The book spends a quarter of its word count, and I think to the book’s benefit.

There are two concerns, which I shall address.

ONE. This does change the nature of the story — it seems that even C.S. Lewis and the filmmakers do intend for the four Pevensie siblings to be the focal characters. But I think this story works best as with an multiple-protagonist ensemble cast and no clear “main protagonist(s)”. Like “Into The Woods”.

This does fade the Pevensie siblings into the background. Which the film purposely avoided, but I think it does a better story as a whole, allowing the other ensemble characters to shine in the spotlight. Others have really compelling arcs too, maybe even more so than the Pevensies. But I think this way, it’s profitable to allow the main ensemble of 8-or-so get to carry equal-ish narrative weights.

TWO. Introducing “main characters” at the 25% mark might seem too late, especially the Pevensie siblings. I feel like you could have a quick blink-and-you-miss-it hook at the very beginning, of them entering Narnia via the train. But I think it’d be more powerful to hold this playing-card until the last possible moment (the 25% mark).

I’d also liken the Pevensies’ arrival to successful important characters who only arrives at the 25% mark, like the Genie in Aladdin, or Maui in Moana. Their belated arrival changes everything for the Q1 characters — especially because resolving their centuries-long absence was critical pursuit of the Q1 characters (finding the lamp, sailing to island, blowing the horn, etc.).

As a final comment, in story theory, it also makes sense to spend the whole Q1 establishing the broken World in need of the Truth — the Pevensies finally show up as the Gatekeepers between the Normal World and Adventure World into Q2.

If a late arrival is so great for dramatic angst, why not go all the way and introduce them even later, at the 50% mark? Perhaps for a different kind of story; but if we want the Pevensies as characters and not just an inanimate McGuffin, then we need to give breathing space to explore Narnia in Q2, with the Pevensies but without Aslan.

Original book’s story sequence in Q1

• The four Pevensies are on a subway, when they get transported into Narnia
• They spend two whole chapters exploring the ruined castle
• They save Trumpkin from Telmarinian execution
  • this was our Inciting Incident at the 1/8th mark of the narrative
• --- Trumpkin tells this flashback ---
• In Caspian’s childhood, Dr. Cornelius (his tutor) fosters his yearning for the historical truth of the Golden Age of Narnia
• Caspian (13yo) escapes from his uncle, King Miraz, for being in the heir in the way
• The beast trio (Trumpkin, Trufflehunter, Nikabrik) find and take in young Caspian
• Prince Caspian builds an army
• Trumpkin
  • scoffs in disbelief at Aslan and all things magical
  • but also refuses to garner military from evil monsters
• Caspian intends to blow Susan’s horn — Trumpkin expresses his disbelief in it
• Nevertheless, Trumpkin accepts his commision to Cair Paravel to escort the Pevensies, should they arrive
• Trumpkin gets captured by Telmarinians, and is about to be executed
• --- Flashback over ---
• Trumpkin relates the flashback to the Pevensies
• Trumpkin begins the escort of the Pevensies back to Prince Caspian at Dancing Lawn
  • this was our First Plot Point at the 1/4 mark of the narrative

The pros of this sequencing

• The Pevensies are introduced first, and are thus set-up as the POV characters, which keeps consistent with Narnia:LWW, the previous entry
  • The audience learns about this changed Narnia world, at the same time together with the Pevensies
  • Trumpkin’s character helps slowly introduce the world, e.g. his shock that the castle at Cair Paravel is real

Proposed re-ordered story sequence in Q1

• --- We start in Narnia, in Caspian’s childhood ---
• In Caspian’s childhood:
  • his uncle King Miraz teaches him that Old Narnia was false
  • Dr. Cornelius (his tutor) fosters his yearning for the historical truth of the Golden Age of Narnia
  • lol in a musical, this could be a great parallel-duet opening-number
• Caspian (13yo) escapes from his uncle, King Miraz, for being the heir in the way
• The beast trio (Trumpkin, Trufflehunter, Nikabrik) find and take in young Caspian
• Prince Caspian builds an army
• Trumpkin
  • scoffs in disbelief at Aslan and all things magical
  • but also refuses to garner military from evil monsters
• Caspian intends to blow Susan’s horn — Trumpkin expresses his disbelief in it
• Nevertheless, Trumpkin accepts his commision to Cair Paravel to escort the Pevensies, should they arrive
  • this is our new Inciting Incident at the 1/8th mark of the narrative
• + Susan’s horn is blown, and somehow echoes throughout the land, also sounding like a train horn
• + Trumpkin hears the horn, then makes a half-circuit around Cair Paravel, finding nothing’s changed
• + Trumpkin finds a freshly abandoned Telmarinian campsite. He is tempted to bail, but decides to complete his route
• + As a result, Trumpkin is soon ambushed by those Temarinian scouts
• Trumpkin gets captured by Telmarinians, and is about to be executed
• --- Now only, the Pevensies are revealed ---
• The four Pevensies are on a subway, when they get transported into Narnia
• - They spend two whole chapters exploring the ruined castle
• The Pevensies save Trumpkin from execution
• Trumpkin begins the escort of the Pevensies back to Prince Caspian at Dancing Lawn
  • this remains our First Plot Point at the 1/4 mark of the narrative

Thematic matrix

• True + Strong + Good → Aslan
• ==False== + Strong + Good → Aslan, were he a myth, according to Trumpkin
• True + Strong + ==Bad== → White Witch
• ==False== + Strong + ==Bad== → Miraz’s Telmarinian’ myths
• True + ==Weak== + Good → The Narnian forces, before Aslan
• True + Weak + Bad → boring
• False + Weak + Good → boring
• False + Weak + Bad → boring

The failed Castle Assault added in the film adaptation was great

Peter trusted in his own strength/power, and hastily orders an assault on Miraz’s castle, which ends up failing. This mirrors Nikabrik, who trusted in the White Witch’s power to save the Narnians, and hastily tries to bring her back.

Even more, later when Nikabrik calls up the White Witch, a new condition was added so that “Adam’s blood is required”. This puts Peter in a prime position to fall into shame, and spiral downwards by using the Witch’s power to save the Narnians, avoiding facing his mistakes with the terrifying Aslan.

Peter has become exactly like Mr. Tumnus in Narnia:LWW. Mr. Tumnus had failed Aslan by working for the Witch to capture Lucy. Though Mr. Tumnus was ashamed, he ultimately did not trust in the Witch’s power, choosing to help Lucy escape, but got turned to stone for it.

Similarly, the film also puts Caspian in a position to be tempted. He also fell short in the Assault, which has the hag and werewolf, tempt him to call upon the White Witch.

I think the new Assault on Miraz’ Castle sequence is thematically rich. Yeah 10/10 all around