Faithful Fables
Faithful Fables is a faith-based podcast dedicated to exploring Christian themes in adult and youth fantasy stories including The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, and more! If you love fantasy stories and you’re interested in the possible Christian themes in said stories, this may just be the podcast for you!
Faithful Fables
Lost Royalty, Found Courage: The Pevensies Return to Narnia
A hidden door under the ivy. Four children stepping into the cold air of their own legend. From the treasure chamber at Care Paravel to a rescue on the shore, we follow Peter’s quiet steadiness, Susan’s precision and gentleness, Edmund’s sharpened wits, and Lucy’s clear-eyed trust. Trumpkin expects hardened warriors but meets schoolchildren instead.
We continue our dive into Prince Caspian with an in-depth look at the Pevensies. See how the lessons we learn from them can also be backed with scripture!
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He went first with the light. Then came Lucy, then Susan, and Peter brought up the rear. I've come to the top of the steps, said Edmund. Count them, said Peter. One, two, three, said Edmund, as he went cautiously down, and so up to sixteen. And this is the bottom, he shouted back. Then it really must be Care Paravel, said Lucy. There were sixteen. Nothing more was said till all four were standing in a knot together at the floor of the stairway. Then Edmund flashed his torch slowly round. Oh, said all the children at once, for now they knew that it was indeed the ancient treasure chamber of Care Paravel where they had once reigned as kings and queens of Narnia. There was a kind of path up the middle, as it might be in a greenhouse, and along each side at intervals stood rich suits of armor, like knights guarding the treasures. In between the suits of armor, and on each side of the path, were shelves covered with precious things, necklaces and arm rings, and finger rings, and golden bowls and dishes, and long tusks of ivory, brooches and coronets, and chains of gold, and heaps of unset stones laying piled anyhow as if they were marbles of potatoes, diamonds, rubies, carbuncles, emeralds, topazes, and amethysts. Under the shelves stood great chests of oaks, strengthened with iron bars and heavily padlocked. And it was bitterly cold, and so still that they could hear themselves breathing, and the treasures were so covered with dust that unless they had realized where they were and remembered most of the things, they would hardly have known that they were treasures. There was something sad and a little frightening about the place because it all seemed so forsaken and long ago. That was why nobody said anything for at least a minute. Then, of course, they began walking about and picking things up to look at. It was like meeting very old friends. If you had been there, you would have heard them saying things like Oh look, our coronation rings, do you remember first wearing this? Why, this is the little brooch we all thought was lost. I say, isn't that the armor you wore in the great tournament in the Lone Islands? Do you remember the dwarf making that for me? Do you remember drinking out of that horn? Do you remember? Do you remember? But suddenly, Edmund said, Look here, we mustn't waste the battery. Goodness knows how often we shall need it. Hadn't we better take what we want and get out again? We must take the gifts, said Peter. For long ago, at a Christmas in Narnia, he and Susan and Lucy had been given certain presents which they valued more than their whole kingdom. Edmund had had no gift because he was not with them at the time. This was his own fault, and you can read about it in the other book. They all agreed with Peter and walked up the path to the wall at the far end of the treasure chamber, and there, sure enough, the gifts were still hanging. Lucy's was the smallest for it had only been a little bottle. But the bottle was made of diamond instead of glass, and it was still more than half full of the magic cordial which would heal almost every wound and every illness. Lucy said nothing and looked very solemn as she took her gift down from its place and slung the belt over her shoulder and once more felt the bottle at her side, where it used to hang in the old days. Susan's gift had been a bow and arrows and a horn. The bow was still there and the ivory quiver full of well feathered arrows, but Oh, Susan, said Lucy, where's the horn? Oh bother, bother, bother, said Susan, after she had thought for a moment. I remember now. I took it with me the last day of all the day we went hunting the white stag. It must have got lost when we blundered back into the other place. England, I mean. Edmund whistled. It was indeed a shattering loss. This was an enchanted horn, and whenever you blew it, help was certain to come to you wherever you were. Just the sort of thing that might come in handy in a place like this, said Edmund. Never mind, said Susan, I've still got the bow. And she took it. Won't the string be perished, Sue? said Peter. But whether by some magic in the air of the treasure chamber or not, the bow was still in working order. Archery and swimming were the things that Susan was good at. In a moment, she had bent the bow and she gave one little pluck to the string. It twanged, a chirruping twang that vibrated through the whole room. And that one small noise brought back the old days to the children's minds more than anything that had happened yet. All the battles and hunts and feasts came rushing into their heads together. Then she unstringed the bow again and slung the quiver at her side. Next, Peter took down his gift, the shield with the great red line on it and the royal sword. He blew and wrapped them on the floor to get off the dust. He fitted the shield on his arm and slung the sword by his side. He was afraid at first that it might be rusty and stick to the sheath. But it was not so. With one swift motion, he drew it and held it up, shining in the torchlight. It is my sword Rindon, he said. With it I killed the wolf. There was a new tone in his voice, and the others all felt he was really Peter the High King again. Then, after a little pause, everyone remembered that they must save the battery. They climbed the stairs again and made up a good fire and laid down close together for warmth. The ground was very hard and uncomfortable, but they fell asleep in the end. We're getting there, guys. We started this in July, it's now December, and we have made something I think really, really great that I think we can just build on from here. Today, today, we are going to continue our adventure into the Book of Prince Caspian, and we will be focusing on the pevencies today. So that we're gonna have all four in one episode. I know when we covered Lion the Witch in the Wardrobe, we had an episode for each of them, and that just felt more fitting for that book, uh, because it was kind of introductory to them and all that. Now, in this one, uh, a lot of the details of what happens to them is very uh very much along the same timeline, the same lines. So I decided for Prince Caspian, we are going to lump them into one episode. But guys, before we get into it, I need to remind you guys, just wherever you're listening to this, please leave a rating, leave a comment, and that doing that will just really help to get the show in front of more people. It'll help put it in different algorithms and all of that good stuff. And so if you are on listening to this on YouTube as well, make sure you hit that like button because that will do the same thing and commenting there as well, and make sure that you're subscribed so that you get all the future episodes as well. And in the description of this episode, there is a link that says send me a message. And if you hit that link, uh basically you can send a message, which is basically like a comment, and and same goes for comments and this send a message link. If you do that, then I will read your comment in a future episode. And so we've we've yet to have somebody do that. So if you want to be the first, if you want to make history for yourself, because you no one will ever take that away from you. If you're the first to comment on anything of mine, and and if you if you're the first to hit that, send me a message link, you will make history, and I will make a big deal out of it because it will be the first one. So if you want to be that to be you, make sure you do that. Alright, so, anyways, let's get into this episode, you guys. So this we pick up Prince Caspian, and I talked about a little bit of this in the previous episode, so some of this will be repetitive, but bear with me. Uh, so this is uh when the pevencies come back to Narnia, right? So they're they start off in England. Obviously, what we read in the cold open, uh they're already in Narnia, but they do start off in England, and it is the earth year 1941. And so it's just one year after the Pevensies had gone and returned to Narnia in Lion the Witch in the Wardrobe. And so the Pevensies were waiting for a train to take them to boarding school, and uh C.S. Lewis points out that they are gloomy. Now the boys were going to a boys' school and the girls were going to a girls' school. This was Lucy's first time going to boarding school, and she had a nervous feeling in her stomach. That feeling was suddenly being replaced by a tugging sensation. She gave a sharp cry like she was being stung by a wasp, and then Edmund felt it, and then Peter felt it, and Peter actually thought that Susan was dragging him somewhere. And so they soon all felt that same sensation, and they likely felt pain because they hadn't experienced magic in over a year. So feeling it now felt uncomfortable, and in this case, they weren't the ones doing the magic, and so I don't know if any of them could do magic when they were in Narnia, but still it they they were the ones being pulled by the magic. And so it still hurt, and they couldn't control that. So even though they knew it was magic, they still wanted it to stop. And again, some of this might be repetitive from the first Prince Caspian episode I did. But we need to talk about it. And so I see some similarities to what's happening to them here to real life. You know, sometimes God is leading us somewhere, and you know that it's Him, but where He's leading you or what He's calling you to do can be uncomfortable, and we want it to stop. And we want it to stop and be replaced by something easy or something that feels good. But what we don't realize in those moments is that these things that feel uncomfortable often lead to something really great and worth it in the end if we choose to obey God's guidance. And I think the same is true for the Pevensies here. It's uncomfortable now, but this adventure will be worth it for them. And so this sensation ended up being another magical portal that opened and pulled them back into Narnia. Now they didn't know it right away that they were in Narnia, but this was also not the same Narnia that they visited a year ago. The world seemed strange now. The forests were overgrown and there were ruins of an old castle. At the same time, they had a feeling of familiarity, and we'll touch on it in a little bit, but it was a year for them, but as we know, Narnia time works differently. They did not have just one year in Narnia that had gone past. So, anyways, Lucy had asked Peter if they were back in Narnia. I guess she she kind of had this feeling right away, it's like where else would they be, right? Like you're in a magical world, like where else would you be but Narnia? And when they get through a thicket and they reach a sandy beach, Edmund says, This is better than being in a stuffy train on a way back to Latin and French and algebra. And so the kids wade in the water and they have a good time, and they found the good in their situation and were making the most of it. Which is another lesson we can learn here. Much like Paul in Philippians 4, 11, he was able to be content in all things. And I see that with the pevencies here. They're not sure where they are. I mean, they might have their suspicions that it's Narnia, but it looks so different that they don't know that. And I guess they're just realizing, like, hey, we're all together, we're alive, we're safe. Well, I mean, I guess maybe they don't know that they're safe, but we're all together. Let's go have some fun in the water, right? This is better than going to school. And so Susan acknowledges that they should come up with a plan. And see, Susan, she was always, even in Lion the Witch in the Wardrobe, she was always very motherly for her siblings. And here she's worried about them having food. And she was thinking about something practical that they didn't think about the first time they came to Narnia. And they had learned from that experience. And and this is gonna be a recurring theme of the things we're talking about. It's just that the things that they learned in Narnia the first time, and especially as they grew up into adults in Narnia, those lessons, those skills that they learned are gonna come back to them now, and it's gonna uh come in handy for them. But we'll we'll touch on that as we go. And so Peter suggested that they walk along the sea in order to find streams of fresh water. And this is another example of that where I don't think they would have known that it was I don't yeah, they wouldn't have known that it was better to drink from water further upstream the first time they were in Narnia. Even though, to be fair, the first time they were in Narnia, at least when they first got to Narnia, all the streams were frozen. Regardless. Uh I I don't think they would have had that knowledge, but they do now. And so they climb up some rocks and they realize that they are on an island. And so they find a stream and they have a drink, where Edmund, it turns out, had some sandwiches in his bag, and so Susan suggests that they save the sandwiches just in case they need them, but Edmund rightfully points out that it'll the sandwiches will go bad if they decide to leave them, and so they decide to to have them to eat. And so Peter thought that it might come to them having to eat raw eggs, but he decided to keep that thought for himself. Uh because he knew his siblings wouldn't like that and would probably and he didn't want to worry them with a thought like that. So just like in Lion the Witch in the Wardrobe, Peter is being a good big brother. And I mean he is the oldest and he naturally takes on that leadership role. Edmund has the idea of exploring a forest because hermits and knights and knights errands are able to live in the forests and survive. So Peter agrees with this, and I guess they they decide they're gonna explore. But we see here Edmund is smarter and more logical than in Lion the Witch in the Wardrobe. He may he may still be a child again, but he's using what he learned as an adult the last time. And this reminds me of a verse in the Bible in First Corinthians 13 11 that says, When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. Childish things are appropriate for children. Edmund has grown up. He's learned new gifts and skills that are appropriate at this present time. Edmund understands more of who he is and the things Aslan has been teaching him about himself.
SPEAKER_00:And so even as even the fact that he is a child currently, he has lived as an adult. And I think he carries some of that with him. I think they all do.
SPEAKER_01:Which after reading Lion the Witch in the Wardrobe, this is something that we all really hoped for. It's just that Peter and Edmund's relationship can mend, that there can be mutual respect and love between them, and we definitely see that in this book, which we'll point out more as we go. So as they're exploring, Lucy finds an apple tree. But not just one, she finds dozens of them. Susan realized that this must have been an orchard before the wood grew and the place went wild, because it it was just overgrown, right? And so there's dozens of apple trees that probably would have been an orchard. Lucy and Peter both have this odd feeling about it. So they eat a lot of apples that day. Um, and Edmund makes it clear that he would rather have school lunches than eat only raw apples. Which maybe is fair. The school lunches might not be good, but uh I guess maybe there's variety. So as they explore, they also find an old stone uh sorry, an old stone wall that was broken into pieces. And they were in a wide open space with walls all around it. I guess the broken walls all around it, and it was a bright, secret, quiet place. They also Come across something that looks like a terrace. Susan wonders what it is, and Peter gets excited and explains that it is a dace, where the king and the king and great lord sat. At this point, Peter reminds them that they were once kings and queens who sat on a dace just like this one. Lucy suggests that they pretend that they are in care paravel, and Edmund mentions that it's getting late and points out how low the shadows are, further proof of how much he's grown and he's learned things. So on the dace uh and close to a corner between two walls, the boys make a fire and the girls gather more apples to eat. Susan goes to the well to get something to drink and comes back with something in her hand. It was a solid gold chess chess knight, which had tiny little rubies for eyes, and one of the eyes was missing. Finding this made Susan sad though because it reminded her of the chess set they played with in Narnia. And to this Peter tells her to cheer up. Susan remembers playing chess with the fawns and good giants. She remembers the Myrrh people singing in the sea and her beautiful horse.
SPEAKER_00:And so, yeah, it's a the memories of Narnia are starting to come back. The logic that the professor taught.
SPEAKER_01:Now, remember, in Line the Witch in the Wardrobe, uh the professor tells Peter and Susan to use logic when it comes to thinking about, you know, Lucy and if her experience in Narnia was real or not. He gives them a lecture about that. And the lessons that he taught them are coming alive in this book. And so Peter says that it's time to start using their brains. And it was Peter who actually realized that they had returned to Narnia and that they were in the ruins of Care Paravel. Lucy points out that she had this feeling for hours. Edmund can't see it though. He can't see that they're in Care Paravel, so Peter, using his logic, points it out step by step, point by point. He gives them the facts. So the first thing, the hall is exactly the same shape and size. He says picture the roof, colored pavement instead of glass, tapestries on the walls. He's trying to paint the picture for Edmund so he can visualize it. The second point was the well that Susan went to was exactly where their well was, a little to the south of the gate, or sorry, of the great hall, and the same size and shape. The third point was the chessmen that Susan found. And the fourth was they had planted an orchard outside the North Gate. So Peter is trying he's trying trying to show Edmund, like, look, we gotta use our brains here. Here's all the facts. It lines up with what we remember. And so this next section is going to be uh, I guess, further proof for all of them to really show that they are in fact a care parallel. So yeah, Edmund is still having a hard time seeing it, and Lucy points out that there should be a door uh at the end of the days, and that their backs should actually be to it now. And she was, of course, referring to the door that leads to the treasure chamber, and this is of course part of what we read in the cold open. And so right behind them, there was a wall covered in ivy, and Peter didn't believe that that there was a door there, which is strange because he was the one that was saying, like, hey, this is Care Paravel, but I guess it was so covered in ivy he didn't believe there was a door there. And Edmund hits it with a stick a few times, and all of a sudden he hears a different noise. Now it now it sounded more hollow than before. And the boys get excited to remove the ivy, and Susan, of of course, wants to do it in the morning, and I guess she makes a good point. Uh, she wanted to wait so that they don't have an open door at their backs and a great big black hole that anything could come out of while they're asleep. And so the boys, however, and this is such a typical thing, it's like I feel like especially for for young kids their age, it's like she's being more practical, and the boys are just they're too excited to even listen to her. They're not listening to a thing she says. And they start removing the ivy, and they clear the ivy, but the door is locked. And yeah, they I mean, they they are able to unlock the door, or actually, they I think they actually ended up breaking the door down instead. It was just so rotten and and all that. Um, and so they make their way down the staircase and it had 16 steps. And Lucy is excited about this because Care Paravel had 16 steps, and this was perfect uh proof, really, that that this was in fact where they were. And so in the treasure chamber, they find the gifts that they had gotten from Father Christmas in Lion in the Lion the Witch in the wardrobe, and they decide to take the gifts with them.
SPEAKER_00:And so they grab Peter's sword and shield, uh, Lucy's cordial, and Susan's bow and arrows. The only thing missing, though, was of course Susan's magical horn.
SPEAKER_01:But if you remember in Line of the Witch in the Wardrobe, Lucy was also gifted a dagger, and that was not mentioned here. And so I don't believe that there is ever an explanation, even in any of the other books, as to where her dagger was. If there is, I haven't read that yet. Um, but I just found it interesting. Those are the only two things missing. And of course, Edmund was not there when they got the gifts because of all that went down. And if you're unfamiliar with what happened to him during that book, go back and listen to my episode on Edmund that I did earlier this season, and it'll catch you up. So Peter holds up his sword and his voice had a new tone, and they were all feeling like he was Peter the High King again. And his sword's name was Rindon, which I'm not sure if we knew in the other book. I actually forget that, but now we know. Um, we also learned from you know this book that Susan was good at archery, naturally, that makes sense, but she's also good at swimming. And we learned that a little earlier on, but it's it's going to pop up again. And so they leave the chamber, they make a fire, and they lay down and fall asleep.
SPEAKER_00:And you know, at this point now, Edmund believes. He's all in.
SPEAKER_01:He he believes it, he can see it now. He struggled with his disbelief. And it reminds me in the of in the Bible, after Jesus' resurrection, how Thomas also struggled with disbelief. Now Thomas would not believe that Christ had risen until he saw him and felt his wounds for himself. Edmund did not fully believe that they were in care paravel until he saw the treasure chamber.
SPEAKER_00:Just like Thomas, um, only believing when he saw Jesus.
SPEAKER_01:So he thought that he would have to feel the wounds, but before he does, he is already saying, My Lord and my God, he was able to believe before he understood it all. Edmund had been open-minded about this being Care Paravel. And this was likely because he already knew what it was like to be wrong. In Lying the Witch in the Wardrobe, he sided uh with the witch, and that whole experience changed his life. And so I think he's kind of remembering some lessons from the previous book, like what it what it's like to be wrong and not have an open mind. Plus, in Line the Witch in the Wardrobe, he also teased Lucy about Narnia until he went there for himself and he got humbled really quick. So I think he's kind of learned some of these things. We also learned in this book that Edmund was actually the one that figured out how it was possible that Narnia had changed so much. He he may have been the first human to devise the interdimensional loose time theory. Basically, that interdimensional time from one world, such as Narnia, uh, was not directly coupled with time from another world, which would be ours. He kinda it was probably, you know, a very rough idea, but he was the one that kind of pieced together, like, okay, who's to say that, you know, one year goes by in our world and not thousands of years go by here in Narnia? So I wanted to add that in here. Uh, just to kind of point that out, that it was Edmund. Um, he has definitely grown up a lot, and he is definitely still one of my favorite characters. I'd say he he's a smart dude, and yeah, he makes mistakes. Uh sometimes he thinks with his stomach a little bit more than he should, but don't we all do that? Especially around the holidays, you know what I'm saying? You know, you know. So they had gone to sleep, and when they wake up in the morning on the hard ground, uh they had nothing to eat but apples again. Apples for breakfast and for supper the previous night. And this reminds me actually of an experience that I had on a missions trip in Haiti, where this one this one day uh we weren't just staying around you know the mission's base. We were we were going out to different places to serve.
SPEAKER_00:And for breakfast at the compound before we left, we had we had spaghetti. Cool. The next place we went to serve, they served us spaghetti for lunch. And the next place we went to where we had supper, also spaghetti.
SPEAKER_01:Now this wasn't coordinated, obviously they were just serving us food, but I remember there being a sense of like, wow, we have to eat the same thing every day. And while some of us were getting a little annoyed with it or whatever, I it was weird. I think obviously it was just a conviction that I had, but I remember thinking, like, you know what? At least we have something to eat. It just dawned on me that, like, yes, it's the same thing every meal, but like, hey, they're serving us food.
SPEAKER_00:We're being provided for.
SPEAKER_01:Like, we're coming there to serve them, and they're serving us. How are we going to be ungrateful about this? You know what I mean? And so that just kind of dawned on me. And so when they when I read about the Pevenses having, you know, nothing but apples to eat, that just brought up that memory for me, and I wanted to share. So, anyways, Lucy, Ever the Optimist, says that it was a glorious morning, but but there was nothing else nice to say. So, they're not feeling it either. They're kind of like, I wouldn't say miserable, but like, they're like, hey, at least it's a glorious morning. And uh Edmund points out, like, look, we gotta get off this island. And so they head to a stream, and the suggestion of swimming came up. Now, this is why I mentioned Susan's good at swimming, um, because this suggestion would have only been good for Susan since, as I mentioned before, yes, she was good at swimming, but she also won awards for it in school. So she she's like a a champion swimmer here. And the thing is, they could all swim at one point in Narnia when they were grown-ups, but I imagine that, you know, because their bodies would have been grown up and different, like they would have had, you know, they would have been stronger and and whatever that that wouldn't apply to them now because physically they are different still. And uh they also remembered their father had warned them not to swim in a body of water that they don't know. And they use his advice here. They decide not to swim. And so they're exploring the area and they come across two Telmarine soldiers who were preparing to drown Trumkin, the dwarf. Trumpkin was bound and they were about to throw him into the water. Susan shoots the one's shoulder, preventing him from dropping him into the water. Both the soldiers flee, and they were actually uncertain. The soldiers, see, were uncertain if they should finish the job or not, and they chose not to do it. They ran away as soon as Susan started firing at them, and so now Susan was uncertain, she was uncertain if she should shoot to kill. When she reached for the second arrow, her face was white. She was likely uncertain of who was good and who was bad in this situation, and she didn't want anyone to think that she could miss from a close range either. Although, I personally don't think that would have been a big deal if she did miss from close range. I don't think she had necessarily been shooting a bow back in England, and so she may have been rusty, and I think that would have been okay here. Uh so yeah, they drop Trumpkin, he's still in the boat, and then I guess the soldiers jump out of the boat and they just get out of there. So Peter and Susan dive in and they bring the boat to shore. And Edmund cuts off the ropes and whatever was binding him. And so we do see throughout the book, as I mentioned before, that their knowledge, their previous knowledge is coming back to them, even if they had to relearn some of these things.
SPEAKER_00:And so we see that now Trumpin is explaining that it is now the year 2303 in Narnia, meaning that it had been over 2,000 years, give or take, um since the Pevences had been in Narnia.
SPEAKER_01:Trumpkin tells them that what the story going around is that the the woods that they're in have ghosts, and so then people would bring those they're looking to get rid of to those woods. Now, of course, this is a rumor that the Telmarines started many years ago, and because of these stories, Trumpin is now uncertain, a lot of uncertainty happening here. Trumpkin is uncertain if he is a ghost or not, and so the Pevensees have to reassure him that he is in fact alive. So Trumpkin catches and cooks them fish to eat, and the fish that he caught were pavender fish. And pavenderfish are a beautiful rainbow-colored fish that the uh the Pevensees ate at Care Paravelle in the old days. And so as they're talking with Trumpkin, he was Trumpkin was also curious about who they were, but Peter forced Trumpkin to tell them his story first before they told Trumpkin who they were. Trumpkin told them that he is a messenger of Prince Caspian. Now all four of them ask this at the same time who that is. Remember, they don't know who Caspian is at the time, and Trumpkin explains that right now he is only king of old Narnia, and that they are living in rebellion. He tells them about Caspian and that the kingdom has since been invaded by the land of Telmar. The Telmarines had driven the creatures, both talking and non-talking, into hiding.
SPEAKER_00:The Telmarine leader was known as King Miraz. King, of course. Yeah, we lose use that term loosely.
SPEAKER_01:Um Prince Caspian was putting together an army made up of old Narnians to fight back against the Telmarine regime. Caspian had blown Susan's magical horn for help, and that and that is what opened the portal for them to return. Trumpkin doesn't know that. I'm just filling in those details, but he explains that Caspian blew the horn, and he told them that the army was at Aslan's Howe, which of course is the ancient site of the stone table.
SPEAKER_00:And Trumpkin was tasked to uh bring help when he found it to the to Aslan's Howe. Trumpkin explained what Susan's horn sounded like.
SPEAKER_01:He said the whole air was full of it, loud as thunder, but far lon, cool, sweet as music over water, but strong enough to shake the woods. He also he also talked about getting taken by Merez's men. When they found Trumpkin, the Seneschal was a pompous fool and didn't end him. Realizing that it was in fact Susan's horn that summoned them back to Narnia, Lucy wonders why they wouldn't believe it. Like why they wouldn't believe that the horn is what brought them back. She even references stories like The Arabian Knights, where people were called from one place to another using magic. So Trumkin then explained to them that Caspian and the others were thinking that the horn would summon great warriors, not children. So he's a little confused. You know, um, because as I mentioned in an earlier episode, they knew that if help was to come, it would probably be in one of two places. The site of Care Paravel, where they were, or at the lamppost. And so Trumpkin came here in hopes to find these great warriors that they were all expecting, but he found these kids. And so he's a little confused. He's not like he's not thinking that they are who they should be. Um kinda actually reminds me a little bit about how in the Bible they were expecting the Messiah to be this great military leader and he would overthrow Rome and all that. Like they were expecting something very different than what they got.
SPEAKER_00:Um of course what they got was much better, but they just had that thought. And so he's a little confused.
SPEAKER_01:And Edmund tells Trumpkin about how they won the Battle of Baruna, and they would have been younger then than they were now, honestly. Uh and Edmund had that confidence that it didn't matter what Trumpkin said or what Trumpkin thought, he knew the truth of who they were, and that's all that mattered. They tried explaining to Trumpkin that they were in fact the kings and queens of old, but again, he's having a hard time thinking about uh, you know, putting that together because like how? How? You're kids, you're supposed to be warriors, how could you possibly be who you say you are? So they decide that they're going to prove to Trumpkin who they are. Meanwhile, said the dwarf, what are we to do? I suppose I'd better get back to King Caspian and tell him no hope help has come. No help, said Susan, but it has worked. And here we are. Um yes. To be sure, I see that, said the dwarf, whose pipe seemed to be blocked. At any rate, he made himself very busy cleaning it. But well, I mean But don't you see who we are? shouted Lucy. You are stupid. I suppose you are the four children out of the old stories, said Trumpkin. And I'm very glad to meet you, of course. And it's very interesting, no doubt. But no offense, he hesitated again. Do get on and say whatever you're going to say, said Edmund. Well then, no offense, said Trumpkin. But, you know, the King and Truffle Hunter and Dr. Cornelius were expecting, well, if you see what I mean, help. To put it another way, I think they'd be imagining you as great warriors. As it is, we're awfully fond of children and all that. But just at the moment, in the middle of a war, but I'm sure you understand. You mean you think we're no good, said Edmund, getting red in the face. Now pray, don't be offended, interrupted the dwarf. I assure you, my dear little friends. Little from you is really a bit too much, said Edmund, jumping up. I suppose you don't believe we won the Battle of Baruna? Well you can say what you like about me, because I know. There's no good losing our tempers, said Peter. Let's fit him out with fresh armor and fit ourselves out from the treasure chamber and have a a talk after that. I don't quite see the point, began Edmund, but Lucy whispered in his ear, hadn't we better do what Peter says? He is the High King, you know. And I think he has an idea. So Edmund agreed, and by the aid of his torch, they all, including Trumpkin, went down the steps into the dark coldness and dusty splendor of the treasure house. The dwarf's eyes glistened as he saw the wealth that lay on the shelves, though he had to stand on his tiptoes to do so. And he muttered to himself, It would never do to let Nicobrick see this. Never. They found easily enough a male shirt for him, a sword, a helmet, a shield, a bow and quiver of arrows, all dwarfish size. The helmet was of copper, set with rubies, and there was gold on the hilts of the sword. Trumpkin had never seen, much less carried, so much wealth in all his life. The children also put on mail shirts and helmets, a sword and shield were found for Edmund, and a bow for Lucy. Peter and Susan were of course already carrying their gifts. As they came back up the stairway, jingling in their mail, and already looking and feeling more like Narnians and less like schoolchildren, the two boys were behind, apparently making some plan. Lucy heard Edmund say, No, let me do it. It will be more of a sucks for him if I win, and less of a letdown for us if I fail. All right, Ed, said Peter. When they came out into the daylight, Edmund turned to the dwarf very politely and said, I've got something to ask you. Kids like us don't often have the chance of meeting a great warrior like you. Would you have a little fencing match with me? It would be frightfully decent. But lad, said Trumpkin, these swords are sharp. I know, said Edmund. But I'll never get anywhere near you, and you'll be quite clever enough to disarm me without doing me any damage. It's a dangerous game, said Trumpkin, but since you make such a point of it, I'll try a pass or two. Both swords were out in a moment, and the three others jumped off the days and stood watching. It was well worth it. It was not like the silly fighting you see with broadswords on a stage. It was not even like the rapier fighting, which you sometimes see rather better done. This was real broadsword fighting. The great thing is to slash at your enemies' legs and feet because they are the part that have no armor. And when he slashes at yours, you jump with both feet off the ground, so that his blow goes under them. This gave the dwarf an advantage, because Edmund, being much taller, had to always be stooping. I don't think Edmund would have had a chance if he had fought Trumpkin 24 hours earlier. But the heir in Narnia had been working upon him ever since they arrived on the island, and all his old battles came back to him, and his arms and fingers remembered their old skill. He was King Edmund once more. Round and round the two combatants circled, stroke after stroke they gave, and Susan, who had never learned to like this sort of thing, shouted out, Oh, do be careful! And then so quickly that no one, unless they knew as Peter did, could quite see how it happened. Edmund flashed his sword around with a peculiar twist. The dwarf's sword flew out of his grip, and Trunken was wringing his empty hands as you do after a sting from a cricket bat. Not hurt, I hope, my dear little friend, said Edmund, panting a little and returning his own sword to its chief. I see the point, said Trumpkin dryly. You know a trick I've never learned. That's quite true, put in Peter. The best swordsman in the world may be disarmed by a trick that's new to him. I think it's only fair to give Trumpkin a chance at something else. Will you have a shooting match with my sister? There are no tricks in archery, you know. Ah, you're jokers, you are, said the dwarf. I begin to see. As if I don't know how she can shoot, after what happened this morning. All the same, I'll have a try. He spoke gruffly, but his eyes brightened, for he was a famous bowman among his people. All five of them came into the courtyard. What's to be the target? asked Peter. I think that apple hanging over the wall on the branch there would do, said Susan. That'll do nicely, lass, said Trumkin. You mean the yellow one near the middle of the arch? No, not that, said Susan. The red one, up above over the battlement. The dwarf's face fell. Looks more like a cherry than an apple, he muttered. But he said nothing out loud. They tossed up the first shot, greatly to the interest of Trumpin, who had never seen a coin tossed before. And Susan lost. They were to shoot from the top of the steps that led from the hall into the courtyard. Everyone could see from the way the dwarf took his position and handled his bow that he knew what he was about. Twang went the string. It was an excellent shot. The tiny apple shook as the arrow passed, and a leaf came fluttering down. Then Susan went to the top of the steps and strung her bow. She was not enjoying her match half so much as Edmund had enjoyed his. Not because she had any doubt about hitting the apple, but because Susan was so tender-hearted that she almost hated to beat someone who had been beaten already. The dwarf watched her keenly as she drew the shaft to her ear. A moment later, with the little soft thump, which they could all hear in that quiet place, the apple fell to the grasp with Stuan's arrow in it. Oh well done, Stu, shouted the other children. It wasn't really any better than yours, said Susan to the dwarf. I think there was a tiny breath of wind as you shot. No there wasn't, said Trumpkin. Don't tell me. I know when I am fairly beaten. I won't even say that the scar of my last wound catches me a bit when I get my arm well back. Oh, are you wounded? asked Lucy. Do let me look. It is not a sight for little girls, began Trumkin. But then he suddenly checked himself. There I go talking like a fool again, he said. I suppose you're as likely to be a great surgeon as your brother was to be a great swordsman, or your sister to be a great archer. He sat down on the steps and took off his hobrick and slipped down his little shirt, showing his arm as hairy and muscular, in proportion, as a sailor's, though not much bigger than a child's. There was a clumsy bandage on the shoulder which Lucy proceeded to unroll. Underneath, the cut looked very nasty and there was a good deal of swelling. Oh, poor Trumkin, said Lucy, how horrid. Then she carefully dripped onto it a single drop of the cordial from her flask. Hello, eh? What have you done? said Trumpkin. But however he turned his head and squinted and whisked his beard to and fro, he couldn't quite see his own shoulder. Then he felt it as well as he could, getting his arms and fingers into very difficult positions, as you do when you're trying to scratch a place that is just out of reach. Then he swung his arm and raised it and tried the muscles, and finally jumped to his feet crying, Giants and Junipers, it's cured, it's as good as new. After that he burst into a great laugh and said, Well, I've made a fool of myself as ever a dwarf did. No offense, I hope. My humble duty to your majesties, all humble duty, and thanks for my life, my cure, my breakfast, and my lesson. So we see there that they needed to prove to Trumpkin who they were, since he was having a hard time believing them. And they did various things to prove themselves. And this this made the story more I guess relational, more character-driven. So Edmund challenged him to a sword fight, and Peter wanted to fight Trumpin, but Edmund convinced him that it should be him to do it. And sword fighting came back to Edmund instantly. He was King Edmund once again. And so Edmund showed more maturity. He had been hotheaded with Trumpkin before, and he was able to cool down before he proved himself. Edmund wins the sword fight, and they move on to the next challenge. A shooting contest between Trumpkin and Susan. And now it makes a point to mention that among his people, Trump was a famous bowman. So this should be a good matchup. And they made a specific apple the target, and uh Trumpkin had even said that it looked more like a cherry than an apple. I guess it was just so far away. Uh Trump missed it, but Susan hid it. And you know, Susan is um so tenderhearted here that she hated and felt bad that she beat Trumpkin, who had already been beaten once in the sword fight. Uh Lucy also proved herself to Trumpkin by healing his shoulder with her magic cordial. Now it appeared that Peter didn't need to prove himself, but perhaps he still did prove himself without even doing a challenge. Peter let Edmund fight instead of him, showing his humility and confidence in his brother. He set his own goals aside and let the others shine, which took leadership for Peter to show to let his younger siblings take the lead on these challenges. Peter also organized the challenges and smoothed the tension between Edmund and Trumkin. The High King was a position that was the unifying leader, and we see Peter doing that here. And throughout the challenges, the others looked to Peter as the leader, which showed Trumpkin that he could do that as well. Peter was not insecure. He had confidence in himself and his siblings, and therefore didn't need to prove anything, but at the same time proving himself by not proving himself. The Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. So Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one. Then Jesse made Shammah pass by, and he said, Neither has the Lord chosen this one. Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen these. And Samuel said to Jesse, Are all the young men here? Then he said, There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and bring him, for we will not sit down till he comes here. So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes and good looking, and the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is the one. And that is 1 Samuel 16, verse 6 to 12. The reason I bring that up is because the Pevences were correct about their claims of who they were, and Trumpkin knew the facts. He knew that there were four of them, that they were siblings, two girls, two boys, and they even had the right names, as the kings and queens of old. Everything was right. Lucy told Trumpkin that he was stupid because he couldn't see who they were. Now God looks at the outward appearance, as it says in Samuel there. He looks at the heart. Sorry, he doesn't look at the outward appearance. Trumpkin made this same mistake. Or sorry, he Trumpkin made that mistake. He was expecting them to be great warriors, not children. He looked at their outward appearance and made his judgment based on that. Susan ended up proving herself the most. It was her horn that brought them to Narnia. Her archery skills saved Trumpkin from the soldiers, and she also. Won the archery contest. She solidified that she is Susan the Gentle because she didn't want to beat someone who was already beaten. Now Trumpkin shows that he has great character. After all this learning who they were, he bursts out laughing and trusts them. He also had the ability and chose to be humble. Now in order to leave the island, Edmund suggested that they take Glasswater Creek. Trumpkin pointed out that none of them knew anything about Glasswater Creek. But the Pavansies did, from their previous time in Narnia. This was further proof that they were who they said they were. They knew the coast and had experience in Narnia. They set out on the creek, and the four of them reminisce on the journeys at sea on their ship, the Splendor Hylane. The five of them arrive at Glasswater. They're all tired and their spirits seem to be falling. They were wondering how a handful of d dwarfs and woodland creatures were supposed to defeat an army made up of grown up humans. Being as tired as they were, they didn't even light a fire. They ate more apples and then went to bed, huddled in the moss and dead leaves, which were between four large beech trees. Lucy was the one that did not fall asleep. She found it hard to get comfortable, and forgot all she forgot that all dwarfs snore. She saw three Narnian constellations, the ship, the hammer, and the leopard. After this, she got up quickly and walked a distance away from the others. Now Lewis makes a point to add that she doesn't know why she was doing this. There were cool, fresh, delicious smells floating around, and she hears a nightingale begin to sing. She then pleads with the trees to come alive again. She suddenly began or sorry, she suddenly became tired and went back to the others and snuggled up between Susan and Peter. The next morning, Peter guided them poorly many times and got lost along the way. The landscape had changed drastically since they were there the last time. They figured out which way to go. The boys and Trumpkins were familiar with the woods, and Susan didn't remember the directions at all. Suddenly, Trumpkin stops and says that something was following them. He and Susan had their arrows drawn, and then something came out at them. Lucy was knocked down and became winded. It was a bear, and this was not a talking beast. It was a regular bear and it wasn't friendly. This was a result of years of oppression that the animals were under. They lost the ability to talk. They managed to kill the bear, and Susan didn't want to kill it. So the boys skin it and so that they'd have food to eat that wasn't just apples. The girls didn't want to see that process and so they go to sit. Susan once again showing her gentleness. She didn't want to kill the bear or see it get skinned. She was also humble and honest about not knowing where they were. They continue on and it becomes clear that they are lost. It was then that Lucy sees Aslan on a hill in the distance. She tries to convince the others that Aslan wants them to follow. Peter dismissed Lucy's claim of seeing Aslan. They don't believe her, and they go the opposite way. Trumpkin said that if she did see a lion, it wouldn't be a friendly one, just like uh the bear that they encountered. Edmund suggests that they vote on it, giving a chance for everyone's opinion to be heard. They vote on which way to go. Peter, Susan, and Trumkin vote that they go on up the opposite way of where Lucy saw Aslan. Edmund voted going down to where she saw him because when she discovered Narnia the first time, none of them believed her, and so they ought to believe her this time. But they end up going the opposite way from Aslan, and Lucy cries bitterly. Morale was low, and they were physically and emotionally tired, leading them to act in bad faith. Lucy was the one that was spared from tiredness and was able to see Aslan clearly. Proverbs three to six says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. There is a lesson to be learned here. They were not doing things their own way, and not learning and not leaning on Aslan for guidance. They didn't trust Lucy or Aslan. Had they trusted what Lucy was saying, he would have made their paths clear, but they chose not to trust it. So why did Aslan reveal himself only to Lucy? Maybe she was the only one looking for him? Lucy, knowing that Aslan was there. Sorry, Lucy knowing that Aslan was there should have been enough for Peter and the others to believe it, but it wasn't. The same passage I mentioned earlier about Thomas and his disbelief, Jesus says, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. That's John twenty, verse twenty nine. If only they believed Aslan was there, even if they didn't see him. The direction they went was harder and more time consuming than it would have been if they went the other way. The boys wanted to cook the bear meat, but Susan wasn't into that. All she wanted was to get out of the woods. Lucy was too tired and miserable to have an opinion on the matter. So the boys realized that there was no dry wood and considered eating the meat raw, to which Trumpkin assured them that it was nasty to do. Trumpkin had the brilliant idea to cook the meat with apples, and it tasted good. And as they ate the meat, they could tell that the bear had eaten plenty of berries and honey as well. This must have made it taste much sweeter than it would have on its own. They reach a town where the fords of Baruna used to be. Peter and Edmund talk about the battle they fought there so much that they forgot their feet were tired and had heavy male shirts on their shoulders. Suddenly they were attacked by arrows. Must have been s some of the Telmarines, but uh yeah, and so they they forgot what the sound of an arrow whizzing by sounded like, but they knew they didn't like the sound of it. They tried to crawl away, but and the boys held their swords for fear that they would trip them up. Peter says I ought to have had my I ought to have my head smacked for bringing us this way at all. He was able to admit that he was wrong for leading them that way. Trumpkin blamed Edmund for wanting to go by glass water, and Edmund humbly owns up to it. That night, Aslan woke up Lucy from the deepest sleep you could imagine with the feeling that the voice she liked best in the world had been calling her name. She thought it was her father's voice. But that wasn't right. Then she thought it might be Peter's voice, but that still was not right. She followed the voice. She saw the trees dancing along the way. The night before she had wanted so desperately for the trees to come alive again, and now she was only half interested in them because she was so focused on the voice that she heard. And that's kind of reminds me of like, you know, when we are focusing on God, when he is our main focus, the other things seem to not matter anymore, or at least not as much. She then sees a huge lion and runs right to him, never doubting for a second that it was Aslan. He doesn't say much to her, but Lucy realizes that she would have gone to him she th that she should have gone to him even if the others didn't. Aslan told her to get her siblings and Trumpkin and that she saw and tell them that she saw him and they were to follow him at once. And this was kind of a test to see if the others would follow as well. Lucy buried her mane to hide from his face, but there must have been magic in his mane. She could feel lion strength going into her. Lucy was afraid of being rejected by the others again, so she was hiding from what Aslan wanted her to do. But Aslan gave her strength to keep going.
SPEAKER_00:And this reminds me of another passage from the Bible.
SPEAKER_01:Now the boy Samuel Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was rare in those days, there was no widespread revelation, and it came to pass at that time while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see, and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
SPEAKER_00:And while Samuel was laying down that the Lord called Samuel, and he answered, Here I am. So he ran to Eli and said, Here I am, you called me and he said, I did not call. Lie down again, and he went to lay down. Then the Lord called yet again, Samuel.
SPEAKER_01:So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, Here I am for you called me. He answered I did not call you, my son, lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time, so he rose and went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you did call me. Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go lie down, and it shall be, if he calls you, that you might say, Speak, Lord, for your servant hears. So Samuel went and laid down in his place. Now the Lord came and stood and call as at and and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel, and Samuel answered, Speak for your servant hears. Then the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do something in Israel, at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. That's first Samuel three one to eleven. For context, God is call going to punish Eli and his family for falling away from him. And Samuel had to deliver the really unpleasant news to Eli. This is a lot like Lucy's job here. She had to bring a message to her siblings that was going to be unwelcomed by them. She was about to hurt their pride because they still couldn't see Aslan. So why did God go to Samuel and not straight to Eli? And why did Aslan go to Lucy and not straight to the others? Wouldn't that have been easier and more beneficial to do it that way? I think one reason is because in both scenarios, the messages were in gentle hands, so it was better to come from someone gentle. She didn't know that it was Aslan calling her at first, but it became clear to her that it was him. She woke up the others. She had to work really hard at this. Peter and Susan both fell asleep again, and Edmund gets excited and while he couldn't see Aslan for himself, he chose to believe her. Her siblings were still unable to see Aslan, but this time they trusted Lucy and followed blindly into the night. Lucy told them that they had to follow even if they don't see Aslan. Edmund is the one excited to go with her. So Lucy described to them what she saw Aslan doing along the way. She told them that he was beating his paw on the ground, telling them to hurry. Peter was a little annoyed at Lucy, but he put his helmet on and continued to follow. Now this was, I think, a very real thing to happen. I mean, if most of us were woken up in the middle of the night like this, I think we would be annoyed. And Susan was being really difficult at this time, and Lucy had to bite her lip to keep from saying the things she wanted to say to Susan. All of those thoughts and feelings she had towards Susan disappeared when she fixed her eyes on Aslan. Like I mentioned before too, like when we're focused on God, suddenly all those other things disappear. Peter and the others were eventually able to see Aslan. Edmund uh started this by being able to see Aslan's shadow, and then eventually all of him. Then Peter saw something, and then he too was able to see Aslan fully. And then everyone but Susan and the dwarf could see him and until finally Susan was able to see Aslan. Now the book makes it clear that Susan would have believed if she let herself. So she wasn't willing to believe. She wasn't willing to see Aslan. And how true is that for our lives as well? If we are closed off and we've hardened our hearts, like we're not willing to see God, then we're gonna struggle to see him. Aslan speaks to them and refers to Peter as my dear son. To Edmund, he tells him, Well done. And to Susan, he says, You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you. Forget them. Are you brave again? Aslan explains that Susan had been listening to her fears instead of to him. He breathes on her and gives her strength and tells her to forget her fears. Aslan sends Peter, Edmund, and Trumpkin to Aslan's How to meet Caspian, while Susan and Lucy would remain with him. Aslan roars, and all of Narnia is affected. The trees are awakened and join in the celebration by dancing and playing games. The boys and Trumpkin make it to the entrance of the how and are greeted by two sentinel badgers that lead them inside. Inside they see the carvings on the walls and notice that they look old and that they themselves are technically even older than the carvings. They see a light coming from under a door. This was the door to the central chamber, and they heard angry voices coming from inside. Trumpkin points out that it's King Caspian's voice, and the other voice belonged to Nicobrick, and Trufflehunter, and doctor Cornelius. They learn about Nicobrick's plan to resurrect the white witch to help with the help of a hag and a werewolf. When the boys and Trumpkin entered the chamber, they hear an animal roaring and a clash of steel. Then Caspian uh they save Caspian, Cornelius, and Truffle Hunter. And this of course is I've touched on this in other episodes, and so we go into more detail, and if you want more detail on that, then go and check out those previous episodes. Trumpkin beheaded the hag, and during the fight the lights were put out, so Edmund lights a match and we see that Nicobrick is dead. And the first thing that Peter wanted to know was if Edmund was alright. Peter meets Caspian and assures him, I haven't come to take your place, you know, but to put you into it. Peter was not prideful in meeting Caspian. And the see the movie added this extra tension between Caspian and Peter, like always the one upsmanship and like who's the alpha male, all that sort of thing. And I guess for that matter, the movie also added uh a romance angle between Caspian and Susan, and both of those things we just we don't see in the books. Uh so I just wanted to point that out. So the conflict instead was getting Caspian onto the throne. Peter, Edmund, and a council of Narnians come up with a plan to defeat the Telmarines. They were determined, even though they knew they had smaller numbers in comparison. They decided, because of the smaller numbers, that they would challenge Miraz to a one-on-one duel, where Peter would represent Narnia as its champion. They wrote up a challenge and delivered it to Miraz. Peter remembers the language he used to speak and write with when he was high king before. He dictated to Dr. Cornelius what to write, and Cornelius didn't have to edit anything. The challenge was dated in the first year of King Caspian X of Narnia in the month of Green Roof. Now, I'm not sure what the months are in Narnia. One of them is obviously Green Roof, but I'm definitely curious to explore this more. Like, what are the names? How many are there? That sort of thing. Um They decided that Edmund would deliver the challenge to Miraz. And so Peter suggested that a giant goes with him, and the suggestion of also sending Repacheep came up, but Peter wanted to be taken seriously and probably a little bit uh intimidating to Miraz, uh, and he knew that Repacheep was too small to do that. Then they decide that the Centaur, Glenstorm, would also go with Edmund and the giant. Now this brings us to a sec another part uh where I want to read some scripture, and so this is first Timothy Timothy. Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Now this verse is fitting for Peter, Edmund, and Caspian, actually, because they are all still children. Now as Edmund approached Miraz, the soldiers did not recognize him, and neither would the boys at his school. Aslan had breathed on him and a kind of greatness hung about him. They never talked about how young he looked, but rather how fierce he looked. He was described as being a kinglier man than Miraz ever was. Now, in the back to 1 Timothy, Paul was reminding Timothy not to let people look down on him because of his age. He was the example to the people regardless of that. So the soldiers tell Miraz that if it is truly Edmund, that he should turn down the challenge, because if it was Edmund, Peter would be even worse. Now in his outrage with the soldiers, Miraz accepts the duel. Peter announced that giant Wimbleweather, the bulgy bear, and Glenstorm would be his marshals for the duel. Edmund asked Peter if he thinks that he could beat Maz, and Peter was honest and humble and says that's what I'm fighting to find out. Edmund and Caspian um I guess are sitting together witnessing the duel, and during the fight, Peter gets injured and can't use his shield properly, uh, since he he had a sprained wrist. And during the respite uh to address the injury, Peter says that Miraz is very tough. Again, being very honest and humble. He then tells Edmund to give his love to everyone at home in case he dies. He's also realizing here that this is a very big deal and that this is a a serious outcome. It could happen. Peter also said goodbye to the doctor and tells Edmund to say something sp uh specially nice to Trumpkin, saying he's been a brick. Now Miraz tripped and fell, and instead of capitalizing on it, Peter did the right thing and waited for him to get back to his feet. Edmund was a little annoyed at how gentlemanly Peter was, but also acknowledged that it was the right thing for him to do. And it was. The duel ended before Miraz could even get back to his feet properly. Miraz was murdered by his own men, and so the Telmarine soldiers tried to blame it on Peter, saying that he stabbed him while Miraz was down, and from this the second battle of Baruna broke out. Edmund was the first to rush in when the battle started.
SPEAKER_00:He even led the battle cry Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, the lion.
SPEAKER_01:And in this madness, Peter beheaded Sopespion, one of the soldiers. Now I just want to note, there's twice that there's a beheading in this book. The one we touched on before where uh Trunken beheaded the heg and now this. And so I don't know, I just wanted to to mention that. I it's interesting that it happens twice. The battle turned when Narnian reinforcements came in from uh came in the form of the reawakened trees. The trees trapped the Telmarines by the river of Bruna, and this allowed the Narnian army to surround them. The Narnians declare victory, but it wasn't at their own hands that they had that they had won, but it was Aslan using the trees and allowing Glosell and Sopespian to make the decisions that they made that gave that Peter's army still celebrated or are still celebrated as the victors. See you see, they were actively waiting for Aslan to work. They they knew that he was gonna do something, but they sent he sent them there to still do their part, to still do something while he while they were waiting for him to work, they were still responsible for doing something. So as I mentioned in a previous episode, while the duel is happening, uh this chapter, very, very well written, go back and listen to that episode. But while the duel is happening, Susan, Lucy, and Aslan are up to stuff as well. And so I'm gonna touch on that very briefly now. We obviously go into more detail later uh in that episode, but very briefly, Susan and Lucy are with Aslan and they're joined by an art odd pa party of guests, including Dryads, Silenus on a donkey, a group of wild girls, and Bacchus, the Lord of Revelry himself. The next morning, Lucy is woken up by Aslan again, and this time the entire group paraded into the town of Baruna. See, 'cause now where the the fords of Baruna were, the Talmarines have since made a town out of it. So Aslan frees the oppressed, he heals the sick, and he made Mary those who were sad. In Lion the Witch in the wardrobe, he restored the statues, and now he's doing all of these things, and both times it happened while a battle or a fight was taking place. So Aslan destroys the bridge and he frees the river god, and he called many school children and an old woman to drop what they were doing and follow him. Susan and Lucy were once again the lucky ones that got to see all this from Aslan's perspective. When they arrived at Aslan's How, they found the battle had already been fought, and the Telmarines had already surrendered. And something uh you know, just the whole talk about the trees being awakened and all of this reminds me of something in Isaiah fifty five, verse twelve to thirteen that says, For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees shall clap their hands. Instead of the th instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress cypress tree, and instead of the bri shall come up the myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. So the trees are clapping in Isaiah, and they're dancing in Prince Caspian. All of creation celebrates God's work, and in the book they're celebrating Aslan's work. After the battle, Lucy makes good use of her cordial and saves many lives, just like in Lion the Witch in the Wardrobe. One of these lives was of course Repacheep the Mouse. Also after the battle, Peter introduced Caspian to Aslan. Aslan commands Peter to knight Caspian, and five days later, Aslan brought the Pevences and the uh willing remaining Telmarines to a glade at the fords of Baruna, where he set up a large wooden gate which ended up being yet another portal back to our world. In a private meeting, Aslan told Peter and Susan that Edmund and Lucy would have more adventures in Narnia, but their time in Narnia had come to an end. Now before knowing this, Edmund had a feeling that he would be back in Narnia one day. A Telmarine soldier volunteers to go through the portal, and when he walks through, he vanishes, and the Telmarines think that Aslan is trying to send them to their death. They want Aslan to send one of his friends through and reap a cheap offers, but Aslan says no and that the others must lead. So Peter and Susan tell Edmund and Lucy to come on, and that their time is up. Susan makes it a point to say that they need to a change of clothes, so they don't look like fools on the platform in England. And that wasn't an issue last time they went back, so I don't know why she was worried this time. Uh so they do change their clothes, and some of the Telmarines kind of, you know, scoff at them for that and how they're looking or whatever, but it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter, they know who they are, and plus Aslan's there, so yeah. Uh but anyways, Peter tells Edmund and Lucy that he and Susan are not coming back to Narnia, and that they are getting too old. And so they say their goodbyes, and Caspian offers Susan her horn back, but he tells him or she tells him to keep it. It was odd and not very nice to take off their royal clothes and to come back into their school things, not very fresh now, into the great assembly. One or two of the nastier Telmarines jeered, but the other creatures all cheered and rose up in honor of Peter the High King and Queen Susan of the Horn and King Edmund and Queen Lucy. There were affectionate and on Lucy's part tearful farewells with all their old friends, animal kisses and hugs from bulgy bears, and hands wrung by Trumpkin, and a last trickly uh whiskerish embrace with Trufflehunter. And of course, Caspian offered the horn back to Susan, and of course, Susan told him to keep it. And then, wonderfully and terribly, it was farewell to Aslan himself, and Peter took his place with Susan's hands on his shoulder, and Edmund's on hers, and Lucy's on his, and the first of the Telmarines on Lucy's, and so on in a long line, they moved forward to the door. After that came a moment which is hard to describe, for the children seemed to be seeing three things at once. Once was the mouth of a cave opening into a large glaring green of blue and an island in the Pacific, where all the Telmarines would find themselves the moment they were through the door. The second was a glade in Narnia, the faces of dwarfs and beasts, and deep and the deep eyes of Aslan, and the white patches of a badger's cheeks. But the third, which rapidly swallowed up the other two, was the grey, gravelly surface of a platform in a country station and a seat with luggage round it, where they were all sitting as if they had never moved from it, a little flat and dreary for a moment after they had all been through, but also unexpectedly nice in its own way. What with the familiar railway smell and the English sky and the summer term before them? Well, said Peter, we have had a time. Brother, said Edmund, I've left my new torch in Narnia. Thank you everyone for listening to this episode of Faithful Fables. I really hope that you enjoyed it and that maybe you learned something new, or that maybe you can think of something in a in a new way that you haven't thought of before. But most importantly, I really hope and pray that this episode and all of these episodes really are a blessing to you. And if you would like, please leave a comment and leave a rating as well. And just really that helps show that the support, and I appreciate the support. Thank you so much. And as we go into the new year as well, I I hope that you continue to support and make faithful fables even bigger. So until the new year, until I he you hear from me again, stay faithful.
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