voyage of the dawn treader dragon island

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The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – Chapter Summaries

Here we have a chapter by chapter look at  The Voyage of the Dawn Treader . It’s doesn’t cover everything from the book, but does capture the major plot points.

• The Picture in the Bedroom Edmund and Lucy have been stuck with spending the Holidays with their dreadful cousin Eustace Clarence Scrubb. One afternoon, Edmund and Lucy were talking about Narnia, when Eustace over heard them and came in to tease them. It was during this time that a very peculiar thing happened.
• On Board the Dawn Treader While Eustace was complaining every chance he got. Edmund and Lucy were given a tour of the Dawn Treader. They had only been on the ship for a few days, when Eustace had tried to swing Reepicheep around by his tail, and ended up on the bad side of Reepicheep’s sword.
• The Lone Islands After walking for a short time on Falimath, Caspian met one of the Seven Lords he was searching for. After boarding the Dawn Treader again, Caspian had some signals run up, for the rest of his fleet to assemble round the point, at Bernstead.
• What Caspian Did There After marching on the Castle of the Governor, and relieving him of his position, Caspian made the Lord Bern, Duke of the Lone Isles. Next they had the slave trade closed, and Caspian went and rescued his friends.
• The Storm and What Came of It Three weeks after landing at Narrowhaven, the Dawn Treader, once again, set sail. Lucy really enjoyed the next few days relaxing in the sun playing chess with Reepicheep. It was when the ship had started running dangerously low on fresh water, that they found land for the first time in three weeks. This was when Eustace disappeared.
• The Adventures of Eustace While the others were all feasting on game they had found on the island, Eustace had found himself in a valley with no idea where he was. The next morning after waking, Eustace found that a very strange change had come over him in the night, and that he didn’t like it too much. After he had gotten used to the change, Eustace found his way back to the others.
• How the Adventure Ended After helping to restock, and re-mast the ship, Eustace was thinking he may have to be left behind for the rest of the voyage, that was until he had a night time visitor. The day on which they left, Caspian named the Island, Dragon Isle. Then he threw Lord Octesians bracelet to where no one could reach it.
• Two Narrow Escapes After leaving Dragon Isle, the ship headed for an uninhabited Island they had seen. After exploring it, it was named Burnt Isle. On the next Island, they found the fate of one of the Lords they were searching for, and could not leave the Island fast enough.
• The Island of the Voices It was on the last day they thought they could continue eastward, that the Dawn Treader came into sight of land. But it wasn’t until Lucy had stopped to remove a stone from her shoe, that they found out they had been cut off from their ship by invisible enemies.
• The Magician’s Book After feasting and sleeping, Lucy entered the house to complete the task she had been set. When Lucy finally made it to the Last door on the left, after a few distractions. She found, inside, what she was looking for, and began.
• The Dufflepuds Made Happy After Aslan introduced Lucy to the Magician, she finally got to see what it was, she had made visible. That night, everyone feasted with the magician, and he gave them a very useful gift. The next day, after restocking, the Dawn Treader continued on her voyage.
• The Dark Island After almost two weeks of sailing, the crew thought they saw land so changed direction towards it. That was when they realized it wasn’t land at all, it was just a complete darkness. Inside was the land where dreams came true.
• The Three Sleepers They sailed for days with the wind never dying, but always growing softer, until they spotted land. This was the Island some called the Worlds end. Here Caspian, Edmund, Lucy and Eustace feasted at Aslan’s Table, and found three of the lords they were searching for.
• The Beginning of the End of the World After meeting Ramandu, he explained that to break the enchantment, they must travel as far east as possible, and leave one of their company there. After deciding who would travel with them to the end of their voyage, everyone sat, and feasted at Aslan’s Table.
• The Wonders of the Last Sea While Drinian was telling Lucy not to mention the Sea People to anyone, Reepicheep and jumped over board thinking the Kng of the Sea People had challenged him. That was when they discovered the water was sweet. Almost as if you were drinking light.
• The Very End of the World Then there came a time when Lucy, Edmund, Eustace, and Reepicheep had to leave the ship and go on alone in the boat. After days in the boat, Reepicheep had to go on by himself in his Coracle. The children then left the boat as well and waded until they came to land. Here they met Aslan who, once again, sent them home. For this story has now come to an end. But let it be noted, Eustace was a far nicer boy following is adventures in Narnia.

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A Classical Teacher's Journal

Narnia #7: the voyage of the “dawn treader”.

The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader” gave new depth to the world of Narnia. When I read it to my five- and six-year-old sons, we felt like part of the crew, searching for the end of the world right along with them. As we sailed further and further into the deep unknown, I kept asking my sons, “Should we keep going?”

Their answer was always a definitive, “Yes!”

With C.S. Lewis as our captain, I knew we were heading somewhere special. While my sons were dying to know what the end of the world would be like, I was happily absorbed in the “sights” along the way and kept questioning them about the nature of the journey itself. I’ll share some of our discussion highlights in the reflection that follows my summary of the story.  

The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader” begins about a year in our time after the adventure in Prince Caspian , and we find Edmund and Lucy staying with their cousin, Eustace Scrubb, son of Aunt Alberta and Uncle Harold. Lucy and Edmund are not particularly happy about this. Susan got to travel to America with their parents because “she was the pretty one,” and Peter was studying for a big exam with help from Professor Kirke. Edmund and Lucy don’t feel merely left out; they feel stuck. Eustace is painfully irritating and constantly trying to get them into trouble. The reasons for his sour temperament are many, but they mostly have to do with a progressive upbringing that has indoctrinated him in “all the wrong books.”

Just as Edmund and Lucy are enjoying a little time alone talking about Narnia, Eustace breaks in on them and starts making fun of them in a superior sort of way that he hardly deserves. Though he knows all sorts of information, it is readily obvious he doesn’t know much of anything actually worth knowing. In the midst of their quarrel, the three children get sucked into a painting of a ship that is hanging on the wall. Lucy and Edmund are thrilled because they immediately realize Narnia magic has hold of them, but Eustace is terrified.

They find themselves struggling to swim in a great ocean beside the very ship they had seen in the picture. With a little help from the crew, they climb on board and recognize Prince Caspian. He has embarked on an expedition to the end of the world where he hopes to find Aslan’s Country. Along the way, he hopes to recover seven lords, once loyal to his father, who had set off on a similar adventure during the false reign of Caspian’s evil Uncle Miraz.

Eustace, in utter disbelief, acts extremely ungrateful to crew for saving him and begins an incessant rant about wanting to go to the English consulate. That, of course, is impossible, so he settles into a cabin below deck and sulks for days and days.

And so begins a story that is more like a series of quests than the other Chronicles . We’ll take them each in order, though it makes for a longer summary than some of the others in this blog series.  

The Dawn Treader ’s first stop in on the Lone Islands, an archipelago Edmund and Lucy had traveled to during their reign in Narnia and that had been under Narnia’s domain since the days of the White Witch. Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, and a danger-loving, talking mouse named Reepicheep decide to paddle a boat to shore ahead of the Dawn Treader and disembark on the far side of the main port. They end up being taken prisoners by a slave trader named Pug. Luckily, a kind man named Lord Bern, who turns out to be one of the seven lords whom Caspian had set out in search of, facilitates their release. From there, Caspian storms the palace and sets things right, leaving Lord Bern to remain as his vassal in charge of the Lone Islands.

They continue Eastward into the unknown for the next several days, and the story begins to focus on Eustace. More bitter than ever about his predicament, he refuses to leave his cabin and journals about his miseries, albeit from a very shallow perspective. When they finally sight land, he wants to get away from everyone in order to avoid helping—the ship needs to be repaired and the supplies replenished. Eustace ends up taking a nap far from the crew and wakes up in the presence of a dragon. Luckily, the dragon dies before his very eyes. But a storm hits, and he seeks shelter in the dragon’s cave. He is amazed to find it full of treasure and puts on a golden bracelet, which had belonged to another of the seven lords—Lord Octesian. He drifts back to sleep only to awaken as a dragon himself.

His miserable existence has gotten that much worse, but he manages to find the crew and convey in his dragon way that he is Eustace. In his new form, Eustace begins to see the world differently and even makes friends with Reepicheep, whom he had previously deplored. Aslan eventually peels off all Eustace’s dragon skin to reveal his human form once more. The crew leaves the island, now dubbed Dragon Island, and presumes the dead dragon was in fact Lord Octesian.

After narrowly escaping a sea serpent, their next stop is on another unchartered island. Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, and Reepicheep set off by themselves to explore it and discover Narnian armor by a water bank. They rightly guess it was one of the seven lords, but they have no idea at first what could have happened to him. Next, they discover a life-size statue of a human made of gold at the bottom of a pool. When they try to fish it out, they realize that the water itself can turn things into gold. The statue must have been a person.

No sooner do they realize how dangerous the water is, than they also realize how valuable it is. Caspian and Edmund fight over who has the right to the pool, but then Aslan appears and they come to their senses. Reepicheep aptly names the island Deathwater, and the crew leaves with all haste.

On the next island, they encounter invisible creatures. According to their Chief Voice, a terrible magician has made them ugly, and, since they couldn’t stand the sight of themselves, they found another of his spells and make themselves invisible. The creatures no longer want to be invisible but are now too scared to seek out the magic book because they have not seen the magician in all that time. They worry he is also invisible and could sneak up on them at any minute.

The Chief Voice threatens to kill Caspian’s crew if Lucy doesn’t find the spell for them. She accepts the task and, after a strange dinner with the invisible creatures, makes her way through the magician’s house and into his study. She finds the magic book and becomes absorbed with several spells. She nearly recites one that would make her the most beautiful woman in the world—even more beautiful than Susan—but a small picture of Aslan suddenly appears in the book. His image helps her overcome that temptation and most of the others, and she eventually finds the one to make things visible again. When she does, she sees Aslan in the room with her. He was there all along, but He, too, had been invisible.

Next, she meets the magician, who turns out to be a kind man in the service of Aslan. They look upon the once invisible creatures and see that they are funny looking monopods. Lucy does not think they are ugly at all! Happy at last, the creatures, which are called Dufflepuds, bid Caspian’s crew a fond farewell.

Their voyage takes them next to the Dark Island, which haunts the crew with their worst nightmares. They stay only long enough to rescue a man who had been stranded on the island and terrorized by its darkness for years upon years. His name is Lord Rhoop, and he is another of the seven lords. Sadly, he is but a shell of his former self.

The next stop is an island on which they find an exquisite banquet set before three sleeping men, whom Caspian determines to be the last of the seven lords. Their names are Lords Revilian, Argoz, and Mavramorn. A beautiful maiden appears and explains that the three men had arrived there seven years prior and gotten into a fight about whether to continue their voyage or return home. One of them grabbed a knife, which was the very Knife of Stone the White Witch had once used to kill Aslan, and thus the three men fell asleep.

After the maiden tells this story, her father, a retired star named Ramandu who bears the shape of a human, tells Caspian’s crew that the only way to wake the sleepers is for someone to offer his life in their stead by going to the End of the World and never coming back. Reepicheek is quick to accept this adventure, and Caspian arranges to have Lord Rhoop rest in a peaceful slumber beside his former comrades and so find healing from his nightmares.

The ship travels further East, and the world around them changes. The Sun grows bigger and brighter, and they are able to see far into the distance. The water also becomes clearer, and Reepicheek discovers that it tastes delicious. The crew begins drinking it to sustain them. It has a magical property that fills them so completely they neither thirst nor hunger for anything else. Eventually, the ship is unable to go farther because the ocean is covered with flowers like lilies.

Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, and Reepicheek form a smaller party and continue first by boat and eventually on foot. They finally come to the “end” which is marked by a wall of water. There, they must bid farewell to Reepicheek, and they watch him paddle up the wall of water and out of sight. The brave mouse has a smile on his face and knows that he has arrived in Aslan’s Country at last.

Moments later, they see a Lamb and join Him in a simple meal. Then, the Lamb turns into a Lion, and they recognize Him as Aslan. Aslan explains that He has many forms, and He appeared to them as a Lamb just then so they might better recognize Him in their own world, to which they must now return. Aslan tells Lucy and Edmund that they will not be able to return to Narnia again. Like Peter and Susan, they have grown too old. But He comforts them with the knowledge that He will still be with them and lead them into His country. He opens a door in the sky, and Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace walk through and find themselves back in the bedroom from which they had originally departed.

Caspian returns to his crew, marries Ramandu’s daughter, and lives out his days as King. As we’ll see in the next story in The Chronicles of Narnia , his adventures are not quite done.

C.S. Lewis used lots of spatial imagery in The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader” to reveal the infinite nature of Aslan, which is to say God. After I pointed out the imagery to my sons the first few times, they started recognizing it on their own and trying to explain it to me. Though they are little, Lewis’s beautiful images made it relatively simple for them to understand that Aslan’s ways are further and deeper and higher than ours.

The first motif, distance, was fairly easy to visualize as the “Dawn Treader” traveled farther and farther away from Narnia into the unknown. (The map at the beginning of our edition of the book was especially helpful.) As an adult who had read the story before, I still found myself feeling a little nervous every time the ship would shove off from an island. Like the crew, my sons and I continually wondered how much farther it would take to reach the end of the world. After some particularly difficult adventures along their voyage, we questioned if they had not already gone far enough. Prince Caspian was particularly sensitive to this feeling among his crew and offered them points of return. But thanks to his leadership and the inspiring valor of Reepicheep, they refused to stop short of their destination.

Behind this motif of distance is both the reality of God’s infinite nature and our calling to pursue it without end. This brings us to another question: Did Prince Caspian and his crew reach the end of the world?

The answer, though simple in literal terms is more complex figuratively. Lucy, Edmund, Eustace, Prince Caspian, and Reepicheep did reach the end of Narnia, but as we know from reading The Magician’s Nephew , Narnia is one world among many. Moreover, as we’ll learn from reading The Last Battle , Narnia is only a reflection of Aslan’s Country, which is a world without limits, like Heaven . So in that sense, none of them—not even Reepicheep—reach the end of the True World. Instead, they are merely continuing their journey further and further toward (or into, in the case of Reepeicheep) Aslan’s Country.

The second motif is depth . It captured our imagination most in relation to Eustace’s dragon-days. As we know, he was brought up so poorly that he knew nothing of dragons, let alone their very existence. That is a little ridiculous on face value, but it is meant to be symbolic.

Since dragons symbolize evil, what Eustace really knows nothing about is evil. Literally, his ignorance of dragons is what lets him get “caught” by one. But figuratively, his ignorance of evil is what makes him so rotten all the time. He had always been like a dragon on the inside, so his physical transformation was merely the final expression of his true character. Luckily, it was also his chance to discover just how real evil is and how it had crept into his very being.

That’s where Aslan comes in. He alone was capable of peeling away all the layers of badness that had built up on Eustace because He alone could see into the depth of Eustace’s heart. Aslan purified Eustace by restoring him to his innermost self, the boy he was made to be at his birth.

Our final motif of height centers on Reepicheep, who reportedly was one of C.S. Lewis’s favorite characters. Small in stature, he is nonetheless larger than life. He was the bravest and most adventurous of the crew. While everyone else was scared to be left behind at the end of the world, he readily volunteered, knowing it to be his destiny.

In his final moments, we saw him paddling up a wall of water that marked the outermost limit of the Narnian world. Not only was that an awesome image for my sons and me to visualize, but it also lifted our thoughts toward the resurrection of the body. Reepicheep literally went up to Aslan’s Country, showing that his steadfast loyalty to the Lion, most especially in the face of danger, was worth it. Better still, he went up with a smile, making himself a model for the small crew who stood by as witnesses. All of them—even Eustace—want to follow after Reepicheep because his destiny is so spectacular.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Reading The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader” was an incredible adventure in itself. It allowed my sons and me to contemplate the Eternal in a way that inspired wonder and awe without the worry and fear that might otherwise accompany it.

Likewise, C.S. Lewis affirmed yet again that God will always be there to help us through the trials of the world and lead us to Heaven if we accept Him as our Captain . With this beautiful understanding in mind, we eagerly looked forward to starting his next book, The Silver Chair .

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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

• Lucy and Edmund Pevensie return to Narnia with their cousin Eustace where they meet up with Prince Caspian for a trip across the sea aboard the royal ship The Dawn Treader. Along the way they encounter dragons, dwarves, merfolk, and a band of lost warriors before reaching the edge of the world.
• Lucy and Edmund Pevensie are stranded in Cambridge, living in the house of their obnoxious cousin Eustace, while the grown-ups Susan and Peter are living in the USA with their parents. When a painting of a ship sailing on the sea of Narnia overflows water in their room, Lucy, Edmund and Eustace are transported to the ocean of Narnia and rescued by King Caspian and the crew of the ship The Dawn Treader. Caspian explains that Narnia has been in peace for three years but before he took his throne back, his uncle tried to kill the seven lords of Telmar, who were the closest and most loyal friends of his father. They fled to The Lone Island and no one has ever heard anything about them. Now Caspian is seeking out the lords of Telmar with his Captain Drinian, the talking mouse Reepicheep and his loyal men. Soon, they discover that an evil form of green mist is threatening Narnia and the siblings and their cousin join Caspian in a quest to retrieve the seven swords of the seven lords of Telmar to save Narnia from evil. — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Along with a cousin, two of the four siblings return to Narnia to fight a new kind of threat. Reuniting with friends, they must seek a way to defeat the threat that can destroy Narnia. Along the way, they all learn multiple things about life and survival. — RECB3
• Edmund Pevensie (Skandar Keynes), almost but not quite an adult, envies adult men. He tries to enlist in His Majesty's Army, but the recruiter, of course, catches him out with his fake I.D., especially when his sister Lucy (Georgie Henley) reminds him that he was supposed to help her with grocery shopping. Lucy envies any girl whom she thinks is prettier than she. The problem is that her only standards of beauty are her older sister Susan (Anna Popplewell), now in America, and any other girl who is hanging on the arm of a young man. Edmund and Lucy have another problem. Because the war still rages, they are evacuated once again. Only while Peter (William Moseley) and Susan are evaculated all the way to America, Edmund and Lucy are evacuated, not to Professor Digory Kirke's country estate (see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), but to the home of their obnoxious cousin, Eustace Clarence Scrubb (Will Poulter). Eustace has no social graces whatsoever and would like nothing better than to treat Edmund and Lucy as he would treat any of the arthropods in his considerable, and repulsive, collection. One afternoon, Lucy and Edmund are alone in the room that Edmund has to share with Eustace. They notice a painting on a wall--a painting of a ship on an ocean, a ship that looks very much like one of the ships they once sailed in the world of Narnia, where once they had reigned as a king and a queen. Only as they stare at the painting, the water seems to move, and the ship seems to come right at them. Eustace enters, and makes fun of them for indulging, as he sees it, in a flight of fancy. But then the seawater starts to *spill into the room.* Eustace, panicked, tears the painting off the wall, but that does no good. In the next instant, the room is full of water, rising until they are swimming in it. Soon they are underwater, and rising up to the surface of a real ocean. And there comes the ship, big as life! The crew of that ship pick them up at once. Edmund and Lucy discover, to their delight, that the ship is actually Narnian. The distinguished passenger on board is none other than King Caspian (Ben Barnes), with whom they had fought a successful war three years before (in Narnian time; see Prince Caspian). Eustace is thoroughly affronted, especially with a Talking Mouse (Simon Pegg) who protests that he was only trying to resuscitate him! To make matters worse, a walking, talking Minotaur (Shane Rangi) tells him that he is aboard the Dawn Treader, "the finest ship in the Narnian Navy!" Caspian welcomes Edmund and Lucy on board as honored guests. Then, after outfitting them both in Narnian clothing, he gives Lucy her dagger and medicinal cordial (and Susan's bow and arrows), and offers Edmund his old electric torch, which he had left behind. Now Caspian reveals his mission. He is looking for the Seven Lost Lords of Narnia, friends of his father's whom Lord Protector Miraz had driven into exile. They had fled to the Lone Islands, and no one has heard from them since. Caspian's mission: to rescue or recover them. Reepicheep the Talking Mouse has a mission of his own: he wants to travel to the literal end of the world, and find the country of Aslan (Liam Neeson), the lion-shaped God-King of the world of Narnia. Lucy thoroughly enjoys the sights and sounds of Narnia. Edmund and Caspian entertain the crew with a fencing match. Eustace stubbornly insists that he "never lost" his "sea legs." Eustace boasts that he will find the British Consulate, as if Britain even *has* a consulate in this world. But all this idle talk stops, as the Dawn Treader comes within sight of land: Narrowhaven, capital city on the largest of the Lone Islands, their immediate destination. Tavros the Minotaur, who obviously serves as boatswain on board, orders two longboats fitted out. In them, Caspian leads a landing party ashore. Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, and Reepicheep are all part of it. They find Narrowhaven deserted, and Caspian and the children go further inland to investigate. Inside an empty hall, they find ledgers showing purchases and sales--of slaves. Just then, the slavers rappel down ropes and attack. Lucy, Edmund, and Caspian handily fight off the attackers, but Eustace is easily seized, and used as leverage to capture all four of them. In the dungeon into which the slavers throw them, they find Lord Bern (Terry Norris), first of the Seven Lords, who has been a prisoner for many years. Bern recognizes Caspian as his king and tells him what has befallen Narrowhaven. Then they watch as the slavers take a cartload of very frightened slaves, load them into a longboat, and shove it out to sea--where an animated green mist suddenly appears, washes over them, and then disappears--with the slaves. Lord Bern tells Caspian that his six companions set out to find the source of the mist, and never returned. Bern has reproached himself ever since for not going with them. The next day, the slavers try to sell the children at auction. An apparent buyer shows up--who is actually Lord Drinian (Gary Sweet), captain of Dawn Treader, and enough men-at-arms to take over the town and set all the slaves at liberty. Eustace tries to steal away in a longboat, but succeeds only in decking another slaver who tries to kill him before the other Narnians show up. A distraught man of Narrowhaven name Rhince (Arthur Angel), seeking to find his wife Helaine (Rachel Blakely), who was on the last longboat devoured by the mists, signs on with Dawn Treader's crew. Lord Bern then retrieves a sword he has kept all this time, one of seven swords that Aslan gave to the Seven Lords. Bern gives this to Caspian, who then gives it to Edmund to use while he is in Narnia. Dawn Treader sets sail to go further east. Eustace keeps a diary, always assuming that everything around him is an illusion. And then on his first full night on board, he tries to steal water and food from the ship's rations. Reepicheep catches him at it, and the two fight a quick duel, Reepicheep with his sword, and Eustace with the first weapon he finds handy: a galley knife. The fight is almost one-sided, except that Reepicheep is trying more to train Eustace in swordfighting than to do him any real harm. Then Eustace falls over a bundle--that turns out to be a little girl, Gael (Arabella Morton), Rhince and Helaine's daughter, who desperately wants to find her mother. Captain Drinian says nothing about the attempted ration theft, and simply welcomes the little girl as "an extra crewmember." Lucy takes to Gael quickly and acts as her protector. Dawn Treader next fetches up at another apparently uninhabited island. Only this island *is* inhabited, by invisible men who hop about on one foot each--but are quite capable of abducting someone. They abduct Lucy and bring her into the garden of a mansion several yards inland (a mansion that is also invisible, and by the same means: a magic spell). They want her to go into this mansion, find a book of spells, and recite a spell to render them visible once again. Lucy reluctantly does so, especially after the voices tell her that they can neither read nor write. Caspian finds Lucy missing and awakens Edmund and the other members of the landing party (except Eustace, who sleeps on). Inside the mansion, Lucy finds the spell book, which she cannot open until she breathes upon it. She finds all sorts of spells inside, including a spell to make snow (she tries it, with success), and a spell to make one beautiful. She tears that page out, and then an angry lion's voice roars at her, rustling the pages. Then she hears Aslan's voice calling her name, after she looks into a mirror and sees her sister Susan's face. Now Lucy returns to the business at hand: she finds the spell to make things visible and says it. Just in time, too, for the inhabitants have captured Caspian and the landing party. When they become visible again, they let their guard down and tell all. Lucy reappears, and introduces Coriakin (Bille Brown), the master of the island. Coriakin apologizes for rendering the monopods ("Dufflepuds") invisible, saying that he had to protect them from "The Evil", i.e., the force behind the Green Mist. Now Coriakin has something to reveal: an animated, interactive chart of the eastern part of the Great Ocean. He tells Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace that they must proceed to Aslan's Table, with a Blue Star to guide them, and lay upon it all of the Seven Swords of Aslan. But he also warns them: "You are all about to be tested." That applies equally to Caspian (who has always felt that he was not the king his father was) as it does to Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace. Dawn Treader then sets out again, this time sailing into a storm. Fourteen days effectively dampen everyone's spirits, except those of Reepicheep, who is hearty enough to accept anything as part of the adventure. Even Captain Drinian is reluctant, but Caspian insists on pressing on and reminds Drinian sharply that they have taken on a crewman and his daughter, who are very eager to find their loved one. During the storm, Lucy has the bad sense to try out the beauty spell. With the result that she becomes Susan, and finds herself with her brothers Peter (William Moseley) and Edmund in America. Problem: no such person as Lucy, and no Narnia, either. Now thoroughly frightened, Lucy awakes with a scream, to find herself face-to-face with Aslan. Aslan chides her for wishing herself away, and doubting her own value--for without Lucy, the Pevensies would never have found Narnia. Lucy, having learned her lesson, burns the beauty spell. The Green Mist briefly appears, and then moves out to the quarters that Edmund and Caspian share. Edmund wakes up to hear a voice he never wanted to hear again: that of his ancient temptress and cruel enemy, the White Witch of Narnia (Tilda Swinton). Then the Mist retreats when Lucy walks in on the boys to say that she could not sleep. Edmund knows why. The next day, the Dawn Treader puts ashore at yet another island. This one is uninhabited for real. Edmund, Lucy, and Caspian descend into a cave, where they find a pool of water with a golden statue at the bottom. Edmund tries to probe it with a broken-off branch--and the branch turns to gold in his hand. Then they realize that the statue is actually one of the Seven Lords, Restimar, now "aurified" and dead. They know that they must retrieve Restimar's sword--but Edmund is much taken with realizing that anything dipped into the pool turns to gold. He sees riches for himself, and Caspian sees a resource over which he, as king, should take dominion. Then the two start to argue, and only Lucy's intervention keeps the two from killing each other in a duel. And so they retrieve the sword and leave the pool alone. Eustace, meanwhile, goes off exploring on his own--and finds a rock defile filled with more treasure than he has ever seen in one place: gold, silver, and gemstones, all for the taking. He finds a skeleton (actually that of Lord Octesian) and puts on a gold bracelet that the skeleton had been wearing. That is a mistake. In the next scene, Caspian and Edmund set out to find Eustace, who they assume has strayed form camp. They find his clothing and diary, and fear the worst for him. They then recognize Octesian's remains and recover his sword. Then, out of nowhere, a winged, fire-breathing dragon swoops down from the mountains and alights on Dawn Treader's spar. Drinian leads his men-at-arms in a futile attempt to shoot the dragon off, and then Reepicheep climbs the mast and embeds his tiny sword into the dragon's talon. The dragon shrieks, jumps off, and flies back ashore--where he finds Edmund and Caspian, scoops up Edmund in his talons, and carries him inland, where Edmund reads this legend, burnt into the rocks: I AM EUSTACE. Edmund and Caspian realize the terrible truth: the dragon's treasure turned Eustace himself into a dragon. Lucy manages to relieve Eustace of Octesian's bracelet, which now hurts him terribly. Caspian observes that everyone in the world of Narnia knows that a dragon's treasure is enchanted, hence dangerous to collect or even to touch. Lucy, Edmund, Caspian, Gail, and Reepicheep agree to stay on the island overnight to keep Eustace company and decide how best to accommodate Eustace. Reepicheep actually warms to Eustace and tells him some of his favorite adventure stories. Eustace, unable to communicate, at least seems glad of the company. Reepicheep also suggests to Eustace that his transformation is a sign of an "extraordinary destiny" to come. In the next morning, the Blue Star appears to them. Dawn Treader embarks, with Eustace flying alongside. A mermaid tries to warn Lucy that they should sail no further; Lucy does not understand, and Caspian is determined to press on. Soon the ship is becalmed, and the men must fall to with their oars with grumblings from them of desiring to eat the dragon if the ship does not find land to resupply soon. However, Eustace wraps his tail around the ship's figurehead and takes it in tow. To that, the crew lets out a lusty cheer of approval upon realization that Eustace is now a valuable asset to the ship That night, Dawn Treader lands at yet another island--Rhamandu's Island, where Aslan's Table is always spread. There the crew find three more of the Lords (Revilian, Argoz, and Mavramorn), not dead but fast asleep and tangled in their own beards. At Caspian's direction, they recover the swords that the Three Lords carried. They lay these, and the swords they brought with them, on the table--but they make only six. They still must recover one more. Then the Blue Star appears to them, and takes the form of a young woman--Liliandil (Laura Brent). She encourages them to eat freely of the fruit of Aslan's Table, and assures them that the three Lords are under a sleeping spell only for their own good, to stop them from killing one another, as they almost did. Liliandil then tells them that they must sail on to one more island: the Dark Island, source of the Green Mist and of every man's nightmare. There Lord Rhoop (Bruce Spence), carrying the last sword, walks that island, mad with fear. This will be their greatest hazard, for the island will make any man's nightmare take real form. Still they sail on to the island, with all hands armed. (Caspian gives his sword, that once belonged to Peter, to Edmund; Edmund gave up his sword at Aslan's Table.) Reepicheep struggles to give Eustace a pep talk, to remind him that, as a dragon, he has much better natural armor and weapons than any other hand aboard, and so should not flinch from battle. As Dawn Treader approaches the Dark Island, the Green Mist reaches out to it, though the men do their best to ignore it. Rhince sees a vision of his missing wife. Drinian sees a thick fog, that robs him of sight. Caspian sees a vision of his father, Caspian IX (Nathaniel Parker), dressing him down. Edmund sees the White Witch, who offers him the same thing that she once offered him many years before: to make him her king. Then they hear Lord Rhoop, shouting at them to keep off. Rhoop bears the Seventh Sword, as everyone thought he would. Rhoop is reluctant to come aboard, but Eustace simply flies to the island, scoops up Rhoop, and sets him on board. Rhoop acknowledges Caspian and warns Caspian that they must put out to sea at once and not think too much. But Edmund thinks of a Great Sea Serpent, which now takes form and attacks the ship. Eustace flies into battle and attacks the Serpent with all the fire he has--but the Serpent takes Eustace in his jaws, flings him this way and that, and throws him onto the rocks. Eustace recovers and blows more fire on the Serpent. Rhoop then foolishly throws his sword at the Serpent. He misses--and the sword embeds itself in Eustace' shoulder. Eustace flies off to Rhamadu's Island and makes a hard belly landing on the sand, as the Sea Serpent wraps itself around Dawn Treader, threatening to crush her. Edmund and Caspian seek to steer Dawn Treader toward the rocks, to ram the Serpent. Edmund challenges the Serpent, using Peter's old sword, while Caspian struggles with the wheel. Caspian's strategy is successful: they manage to stun the Serpent by slamming its head into a rock. Eustace, on the sand bar, wakes up. Aslan appears to him, and with a roar, burns off Eustace' dragon skin. Eustace wakes up, finding himself back in his old form, and with the Seventh Sword nearby. He takes it in hand and realizes that he is on Rhamandu's Island and can walk into the room of Aslan's Table. So while Dawn Treader's crew continue their desperate fight with the Serpent, and Edmund must struggle again with the temptation of the White Witch, Eustace races to the table and lays the last Sword on top of the other Six. The Mist tries to stop Eustace, but he disperses it with the sword. Edmund, of course, can't see Eustace doing this. But suddenly Peter's original sword, which he is carrying, turns bright blue. He realizes at once that the sword now is far more powerful than it ever was. So, though the White Witch (or her apparition) tries to dissuade him, he impales the Serpent with it. The Serpent dies and falls to the shallow bottom. The deep darkness lifts, and Dawn Treader is in daylight again. At Aslan's Table, the Three Lords awaken--and at the Dark Island, now no longer dark, every longboat of slaves that had gone to the Green Mist now comes out to meet Dawn Treader. Rhince and Gael are reunited with Helaine. Eustace then finds himself in the water, swimming to Dawn Treader. Reepicheep jumps in to rescue Eustace--and then they realize that the water is no longer sour, but sweet. Dawn Treader has now come within sight of Aslan's Country. Caspian, Lucy, Edmund, Eustace, and Reepicheep set out alone in a longboat to Aslan's Shore--which has a permanent, stationary breaker of surf on it. Aslan joins them there and informs them that their journey is at an end. Caspian, knowing that he would never return from an adventure into Aslan's Country, decides at the last instant to turn back, and go back to Narnia to govern it properly. Reepicheep is welcomed permanently into Aslan's Country, as has always been his destiny. Edmund says it's time for him, Lucy and Eustace to return home. Lucy understands that for her and Edmund, this is their last time in Narnia; they won't be returning. Aslan tells the Pevensies that they must now learn the name that Aslan bears on Earth, and their time on Narnia was intended to help them do that. Eustace is assured that he might be needed on Narnia once more, in the future. Aslan then sends Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace back to earth, back the way they came. They find themselves back in the room in Eustace' house. Eustace hangs the fallen painting back on the wall--and in it, Dawn Treader is sailing away from them. The film ends with Eustace' last diary record: that in the days that followed, the children spoke often of Narnia, and when the Pevensies leave, as they do once the war ends, Eustace will miss them. (But in a hint of the next intended sequel, Alberta Scrubb, Eustace' mother, shouts up to Eustace that a little girl named Jill Pole has stopped in for a visit.)

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Film / The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 2010 fantasy-adventure film based on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader , the third novel in C. S. Lewis ' epic fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia (and fifth in internal chronological order). It is the third installment in The Chronicles of Narnia film series from Walden Media . This is the first film in the series to be distributed by 20th Century Fox , as Walt Disney Pictures chose not to produce the film after a budget dispute with Walden Media (but they did buy the rights to this film after they brought Fox nearly a decade later, ironically ). It is the only film in the series to be released in Digital 3D.

The film is set three Narnian years after the events of Prince Caspian. The two youngest Pevensie siblings, Edmund ( Skandar Keynes ) and Lucy ( Georgie Henley ), are transported back to Narnia along with their cousin Eustace Scrubb ( Will Poulter ). They join the new king of Narnia, Caspian (Ben Barnes), in his quest to rescue seven lost lords and to save Narnia from a corrupting evil that resides on a dark island. Each character is tested as they journey to the home of the great lion Aslan at the far end of the world.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader provides examples of:

• Action Girl : Due to being visibly older, Lucy now gets to have action scenes too.
• Caspian's worry that he won't be as good a king as his father is played up much more.
• Edmund experiences much more jealousy over having to answer to Caspian as a king than he did in the book. It's also shown that he's still haunted by Jadis seducing him.
• Lucy's jealousy of Susan's beauty is expanded. In the book, she almost reads the spell to become more beautiful than her sister but is stopped by Aslan at the last minute. Here, she steals the spell and reads it later on the boat, getting a huge nightmare sequence where she imagines that she is Susan, Lucy never existed, and her siblings never heard of Narnia because Lucy wasn't there to find the passage through the wardrobe. Aslan then appears in her dream to admonish her.
• The argument at the Deathwater Island was just a random incident in the book, and implied to be partly the result of a sinister magical influence. In the film, it's the escalation of a lot of conflict that's been building up for a while.
• Eustace has his epiphany and is turned back from being a dragon before they've even left the island. Here, he doesn't get turned back until the end.
• Ramandu's daughter only appears at Aslan's Table. Here she is foreshadowed as the Blue Star that guides the sailors to the various islands and serves to warn them about the Dark Island. She also gains a name.
• Peter Pevensie's whereabouts are unmentioned outside of Lucy referencing him and Susan being on adventures. The book explains he was staying with Professor Kirke to study for an exam, and that due to the Professor's reduced circumstances, Edmund and Lucy were unable to join him.
• Why Lord Bern stayed in the Lone Islands is never explained. In the book, he fell in love and decided to settle down there, having had enough of the sea and not wanting to return to Narnia while Miraz was in power.
• The seven Lords having swords associated with Aslan. At the time when they set sail, Aslan was known only as a myth believed by fantastical creatures and as a likely enemy to Telmarines like them.
• Averted when the Dufflepuds come to get Lucy to recite the spell to make them visible (only a female or the book's owner can cause spells to work), one of them notes that Gael is also a girl. However, the Dufflepuds then note that Lucy has a book next to her, indicating that she knows how to read, and kidnap her.
• Eustace's teasing rhyme indicates that the parents of the Pevensie children are no longer living. But this is not based on anything in the book where their parents, while never seen, are implied to both be alive and well. It is said that the Pevensie parents were visiting America during the time that Edmund and Lucy were visiting with Eustace and his parents. The movie does not indicate any alternate fate.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade : Poor Lord Bern fares rather badly here. In contrast to the book where he was Happily Married with several daughters and a handsome estate at Bernstead, the movie has him imprisoned for an unknown period of time with no mention of his family and his regret about leaving the other lords is more pronounced.
• Adaptational Context Change : In the book, Caspian's desire to travel to the end of the world is treated as grossly irresponsible with everyone calling him out for shirking his responsibilities as king. In the movie no one has a problem with it.
• In the book, Lucy finds a spell in Coriakin's house that will help her hear what her friends say about her. She uses it and then witnesses a friend being pressured into saying nasty things about her. Aslan later scolds her for this, and tells her that the friend did not mean the things she said. The book also shows her what would happen if she used another spell that would make her "beautiful beyond the lot of mortals". In the movie, this is replaced with the Susan nightmare sequence.
• Ramandu, despite being mentioned a few times, never actually appears in the movie.
• Age Lift : Lord Drinian in the book is just a few years older than Caspian, here he’s at least in his forties( his actor Gary Sweet was fifty-one during the filming).

• When Drinian mentions the possibility of encountering sea serpents, Edmund and Caspian scoff at him for believing in such superstitions.
• Also the Minotaur amongst the crew mocks Eustace for asking a seagull if it knows where food is.
• Also, The Island Where Dreams Come True. Originally a very scary island, but only important because a lord was there. Now, it's known as the Dark Island and is the source of the evil mist .
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership : Kings Edmund and Caspian are both extremely proficient swordsmen, and Lucy's not half-bad herself.
• Ball of Light Transformation : Lilliandil, Ramandu's daughter, falls from the sky as a blue star before taking human form. Then she rises up again in the same shape. It's implied, though, that the star is her true form and that she could take any she wish. Lilliandil: If [my beauty] is a distraction, I can change form.
• Beauty Equals Goodness : Eustace's dragon form is rather noble-looking creature, while the sea serpent is a hideous near- Eldritch Abomination .
• Edmund is still resentful of always being number 2 and he reveals his hidden envy of Peter and Caspian. He still secretly desires to have absolute power . He gets better however.
• Lucy secretly isn't happy with herself and she envies her older sister's beauty and life to the point that she wishes she had Susan's life . She gets better.
• Caspian is still broken over Susan and is borderline obsessed with the Pevensies and the world they come from, almost to the point of living between worlds. His issues with his father are also still completely unresolved. He gets better too.
• Behemoth Battle : There is a brief one between Eustace in Dragon-form and a Sea serpent.
• Berserk Button : Eustace accidentally presses Reepicheep's button when he grabs his tail. The great Aslan himself gave Reepicheep that tail, and " no one touches the tail, period, exclamation mark!"
• Bittersweet Ending : The threat of Dark Island is defeated, Eustace has become a Friend of Narnia, and Reepicheep makes it to Aslan's Country, but Edmund and Lucy can no longer return to Narnia although Aslan reassures Lucy that they will meet again. It also serves as one for the Walden Media series, providing a decent send off for the original cast but setting up a Sequel Hook for the Silver Chair that would never be followed up on.
• Bratty Half-Pint : Eustace. It's extraordinarily difficult not to hate him until his Character Development finally kicks in.
• Brick Joke : The torch Edmund lost in Narnia during Prince Caspian not only returns, but gets bumped up to Chekhov's Gun . That's right, the thing still works!
• Call My Name : Edmund and Lucy constantly call each other's name when they're separated from each other, talking to each other or if they're in danger.
• Gael Rhince’s daughter, who isn't in the book. In a sense she acts as someone for Lucy to be a big sister to, having spent two films as the baby of the group.
• The Minotaur Tavros and the faun crewmen were also created for the movie as the book had an all human crew with the exception of Reepicheep.
• Central Theme : Temptation, and how it's a better idea to not give in to some desires.
• Chewing the Scenery : Eustace's temper tantrum upon coming aboard the Dawn Treader, and arguably a few other occurrences. This didn't stop with Will Poulter's physical acting; even when lacking the ability to speak, our dragon friend manages the odd nibble.
• Color-Coded Patrician : King Caspian always wears a purple shirt or tunic. The exact shade is very close to the royal purple worn in the past by nobility.
• Goldwater Island and Dragon Island have been combined into a single volcanic isle.
• Ramandu's daughter explains everything that her father did in the book and he does not appear.
• In what could be also considered a Sequel Hook , Jill Pole, one of the protagonists of The Silver Chair , gets a brief mention at the end of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader .
• The Battle of Beruna from the first film is depicted on the border of Coriakin's map
• In the same film, as in the corresponding book, the Stone Knife from the first film/book gets a brief appearance and mention. Probably confusing for anyone who hasn't either read the books or got a very good visual memory, since it's never named as such in the first film.
• Cool Ship : The Dawn Treader , of course.
• Creative Closing Credits : As a departure from the first two films, the end credits use illustrations from the books.
• In the book, the downsides of the transformation are considered by Eustace in a way that couldn't really translate into film. The price of that power was total isolation from humanity - forever.
• Dark Is Evil : As a massive departure from the original book, the Nightmare Island is now a villain. In the novel it was a horrifying Wacky Wayside Tribe , significant mainly as a place where the characters had to confront inescapable fear.
• Dashing Hispanic : Even though he's since lost his Telmarine accent from the last movie, Caspian technically is still one.
• Dies Differently In The Adaptation : An odd case. In the books Lord Octesian's final fate was ambiguous with the characters speculating that he either was turned into the dragon Eustace saw or was devoured by it. Here his bones are found among the treasure, but how he died is never explained since no dragon is present on the island.
• Distracted by the Sexy : Invoked by the star, Ramandu's daughter. Lilliandil : If [my beauty] is a distraction, I can change form. Caspian and Edmund : NO!
• Does Not Know His Own Strength : Tavros the Minotaur; while laughing with another crew member at Eustace's expense, he pats the man on his back with enough force for him to bump against the boat.
• Don't Touch It, You Idiot! : Played with. Caspian and Edmund warn the sailors of eating the food at Aslan's Table, believing it to be a Schmuck Banquet which has already made the three remaining Lords fall into enchanted sleep. When Lilliandil arrives, however, she tells them that the food is free for the taking, and the enchanted sleep had a different origin entirely. (The novel has a similar scene but doesn't employ this trope, as nobody from the Dawn Treader is willing to touch the food until Ramandu's daughter tells them it's safe.)
• Dragon Rider : Reepicheep spends a good deal of scenes on top of Eustace's head.
• Dream Within a Dream : Lucy dreams that she is Susan and that she is in the USA with her only two siblings, Peter and Edmund. She wakes up from this dream to have Aslan appearing in a mirror and talking to her. Then she wakes up from this dream - and is now awake in Narnia.
• Early-Bird Cameo : Aunt Alberta mentions Jill Pole at the end of the film, though why she's coming to visit is uncertain, as in the book they weren't friendly to each other at all, and if given a choice likely wouldn't come over. However, it may also be an attempt to better develop Eustace for his leading role in The Last Battle , assuming the series gets that far.
• Empty Piles of Clothing : When looking for Eustace, Edmund and Caspian come across the dragon's treasure hoard, the remains of one Telmar lord, and Eustace's discarded (and slightly singed) clothing.
• Failed a Spot Check : Once again, Lucy is the only person paying attention enough to notice the Mermaid following the ship, suddenly stop in its tracks and start to silently scream "Don't go that way! TURN BACK!"
• Fire-Forged Friends : Reepicheep with Eustace, once the former takes him under his wing and especially once the latter has become a dragon .
• Foreshadowing : At various points in the film, Edmund brings up the idea of the ship running into a sea monster. So guess whose deepest fear Dark Island uses to create one?
• Furry Confusion : In-universe example — the crew laugh at Eustace for talking to some random seagull and expecting it to talk back. But Dumbass Has a Point : he's in a magic land full of talking animals, why the sudden Arbitrary Skepticism , from a minotaur no less?
• A distinct change from the book, where Eustace (due to "reading the wrong books") is subject to utter Genre Blindness .
• However, Eustace is quite ignorant of some very important basic facts about dragons.
• Two Girls to a Team : The film adaptation added a young Narnian girl named Gael who becomes Lucy's friend on the ship. Susan appears in the film as well, but only as a cameo.
• Seven Deadly Sins : The film adds a plot arc, not present in the book, where the characters must collect seven magic swords by resisting various temptations that correspond to these sins.
• The Ghost : Ramandu, who is mentioned but never appears.
• Grand Finale : Of this continuity of films, at least.
• Green-Eyed Monster : The Mist is a literal monster made manifest by this trope, sharing this colour and bringing out hidden envy in several characters, as envy is also a form of the desires it exploits.

• In the scene when Lucy has Susan's body, the first person she sees is Edmund who walks with her arm in arm saying, " You're beautiful, sister ". And Peter even joins them.
• Informed Attractiveness : Lucy is jealous of Susan's beauty. Then again, this is mostly a case of sibling rivalry so it's justified either way. It's more to do with Susan being taken to America and having boys chasing her. Lucy just assumes it's because of Susan's looks.
• Instantly Proven Wrong : We first see Edmund trying to enlist in the army. Since he's underage, he's trying to pass his Aunt Alberta's identification off as Albert A. Then Lucy comes up and calls him by name.
• Irony : Meta-example. Eustace is younger than Lucy. Will Poulter is 2-1/2 years older than Georgie Henley .
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall : Eustace lives at Cambridge. Guess who else once lived there?
• Little Stowaway : Gael, a Canon Foreigner .
• Magic Pants : When Eustace is transformed into a dragon , it tears up his clothes, though he initially still has the magic armband on. When he turns back, he's fully clothed. (For what it's worth, the book says that Aslan dressed him after turning him back.)
• Mind Rape : Every interaction Edmund has with the Mist in the White Witch's form has shades of this.
• Mirror Monster : A rare heroic example; after Lucy wakes up from her nightmare, Aslan appears next to her in the reflection.
• Mr. Exposition : Coriakin helpfully explains a lot of things about their quest.
• Named by the Adaptation : Ramandu's daughter is named "Lilliandil."
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero : Just as the heroes are about to escape the Dark Island, Lord Rhoop basically tells them "Whatever you do, don't think about the thing you fear most." Though in all honesty, if he's been trapped there fearing for his life for an indeterminate amount of time, no doubt his reasoning and sanity have degraded from what they were.
• The Not-Love Interest : Edmund and Lucy become this, as they constantly look for one another and desperately call each other's name when they are separated. Edmund and Caspian have some elements of this as well as they become like brothers, but their friendship always takes a backseat to Edmund's concern and care for Lucy, when his Big Brother Instinct kicks in. Basically, Lucy is the most important person to Edmund, as his first priority is to take care of her and keep her safe. The same for Lucy, who constantly looks for her brother.
• Not Quite Dead : Eustace. Edmund and Caspian find his charred clothes and thought he died. He didn't .
• Our Mermaids Are Different : In the beginning of the film, Lucy meets a group of aquatic beings in the ocean as she did near the end of the book. However the film replaces the ivory skinned, purple haired Sea People with naiads. While naiads where mentioned in the book versions of the first two films, they were omitted almost entirely save for the River God in the second film. The film naiads are basically similar to the mermaids that appeared near the end of the first film, except instead of being made of flesh, blood, bone, and scale like traditional mermaids, they are made entirely of non-dissolving liquid. The books and classical mythology state that naiads are fresh water nymphs and salt water nymphs are nereids and oceanids. The books and mythology also NEVER state that water nymphs have fish tails. Also falls under Sadly Mythtaken .
• Our Minotaurs Are Different : There are a couple of minotaurs in the film, one of them looks more like a goat rather than a bull.
• Also obviously foreshadowing The Silver Chair .
• Pet the Dog : When Reepicheep sees dragon Eustace crying and unable to sleep, he offers to stay up with him and tell him about some of his adventures.
• Plank Gag : A variant of this old gag is used here: Eustace is attempting to set an oar in a rowboat, nearly loses his balance, and swings it about, knocking out a pirate leader who was sneaking up behind him with a knife.
• Plot Coupon : The Seven Swords belonging to the Lords Caspian seeks.
• The film's main plot, about the mist of evil and gathering the swords, has no basis in the book series at all. On the other hand, the mist and swords help to tie everything together - the original book was a series of short stories tied together by the eponymous boat, the same characters, and the fact that they were trying to find the seven Lords. With the addition of the mist, it gave the story a kind of nebulous Big Bad of a sort.
• The naiads. Naked sea people probably wouldn't fly in a family film these days.
• Eustace turning back into a human happens much later than in the book. While an internal epiphany is much more easily done in a book (that can allow us access to Eustace's thoughts and motivations), his character growth instead happens gradually across the course of the film. Also he didn't do much in the book after he turned back either.
• Ramming Always Works : The crew attempts this against the gigantic sea serpent — but actually succeeds in only making it angry .
• Red Eyes, Take Warning : The White Witch in mist form has these .
• Rousing Speech : Caspian gives one to the crew as they sail into Dark Island, and Reepicheep gives one to dragon Eustace as he tries to flee from the giant sea serpent.
• Satellite Love Interest : Liliandil does get bumped up a little from this compared to the book. In the book she doesn't even have a proper name; here she's given a role as the Blue Star that guides the protagonists to the islands, and takes on her father's role as Mr. Exposition .
• Shout-Out : The closing credits are made up of the original illustrations from the book.
• The Stoic : Drinian is played as this in the movie.
• Sword of Plot Advancement : The seven swords of the seven Lords of Narnia, which must be placed on Aslan's Table to put an end to the evil mist plaguing the area.
• Talking with Signs : I AM EUSTACE "written" in the lava that Edmund sees from being carried in the dragon's claws.
• Thought-Aversion Failure : See Nice Job Breaking It, Hero .
• Throw the Book at Them : In the melee with the slavers, there's a blink-and-you-miss-it moment when Lucy clocks two of them upside the head with their own ledger.
• His eventual reversion is still painful ("like when you pull a thorn from your foot"), but Aslan removing his dragon-skin via Full-Contact Magic is much less physically disturbing than in the book where Aslan literally peels off Eustace's dragon-form with his claws.
• Eustace (in dragon form), with the encouragement of Reepicheep overcomes his fears and beats the crap out of and even sets fire to a kaiju-sized Sea Serpent, then later saves the day by overcoming the Mist and laying the Seventh Sword on the table.
• Also Lucy, who goes from not fighting at all onscreen in the first film, to drawing her dagger with Aslan at her side in the second, to a successful close-quarters combatant on this occasion.
• Visible Invisibility : Actually, the Dufflepuds are completely invisible, even to the audience. One can tell roughly where they are, however, by the footprints they leave and the 'puff' of crystallising breath in the cold air when they speak.
• Vocal Evolution : Eustace's voice grows softer and less-irritating after he returns from being a Dragon .
• Was Once a Man : The dragon the crew of the Dawn Treader encounters on the island of enchanted gold. Better known to them as Eustace Scrubb . But Eustace himself encounters no dragon, unlike in the book.
• Weredragon : Eustace gets transformed into a dragon.
• Edmund towards Lucy, when he's tempted by evil again . He actually tries to convince her to gain power along with him.
• The White Witch's illusion does this to Edmund too.
• What the Hell, Hero? : Lucy calls Caspian and Edmund out after they they are corrupted by the mist .
• What Happened to the Mouse? : Given some Adaptation Expansion here. In the book, the fate of Lord Octesian is left unclear, although he presumably died on Dragon Island; in the film, Eustace finds his skeleton.
• Wolverine Publicity : Much like the last film, the trailer gives the impression that the White Witch is a villain in this film. (To a certain extent she is, at least as far as Edmund is concerned. And you can't help but wonder how many times Edmund has to smack her down before she gets the message and stops trying to tempt him.)
• Wrong Genre Savvy : Eustace assumes a rowboat will row itself on command, and is surprised when it doesn't.
• Xenafication : As with Susan in the other movies, and Prince Caspian especially, Lucy is now far more violent than in the book.
• You Fight Like a Cow : Reep to Eustace.
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Home > Films > C > The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader

Friday April 19th 2024

The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader | 2010

• Locations |
• Queensland ;

New Zealand

• Michael Apted
• Georgie Henley,
• Skandar Keynes,
• William Moseley,
• Anna Popplewell,
• Ben Barnes,
• Will Poulter,
• Liam Neeson,
• Simon Pegg,
• Bruce Spence,
• Tilda Swinton

Out goes Disney, out goes director Andrew Adamson , out goes Europe and out goes Prince Caspian’s Spanish accent. The third in the series allows more preachiness, with the addition of that lazy cliché of fantasy writers, the humourless rationalist whose sole function is to be constantly proved wrong.

The film was based at Warner Roadshow Studios in Oxenford , near Gold Coast on the coast of Queensland . although there seems to be a lot of travelling, all but one of the locations can be found within 30 miles. The studio itself is not open for tours, but it stands alongside the Warner Bros Movie World theme park.

Apart from ‘Dragon Island’ and the port at ‘Doorn’, the ‘Lone Islands’ visited by the Dawn Treader are no more than elaborate studio sets, augmented by digital effects.

Edmund ( Skandar Keynes ) and Lucy Pevensie ( Georgie Henley ) are staying with their priggish cousin Eustace ( Will Poulter ) when a painting of the ship, The Dawn Treader , on the bedroom wall begins to gush water. Eustace’s bedroom was a set, but a waterproof copy (replacing the wood and plaster with fibreglass) was built on a platform above the studio’s water tank, into which it was dunked to give the effect of water rising to flood the room.

The Dawn Treader itself was assembled – from 60 individual pieces – on Stage 8, then dismantled and moved to Cleveland Point , at the end of Shore Street North, Cleveland , about 30 miles to the north.

Here, it was reconstructed on motion-control mechanism called a gimbal, able to provide the necessary pitching and rolling, against open skies and a real ocean horizon.

The opening scene, of Edmund trying to sign up at ‘Cambridge’ in England, was filmed using period vehicles against a greenscreen background in the studio car park, and rendering the ‘Kings College’ gatehouse digitally.

The interior is the cafeteria of The Southport School, 2 Winchester Street in Southport , north of Gold Coast.

‘Narrowhaven Wharf’, where the slave auction is held, was built just to the north at Doug Jennings Park on the Spit , on Surfers Paradise , a strip of land running along the coast.

The volcanic island on which Eustace discovers a horde of gold which turns out to have unexpected properties, is the only location outside Queensland . The steaming, smoking rocks are Whakaari / White Island , the most active volcano in New Zealand , 30 miles off the east coast of the North Island in the Bay of Plenty . There are only second unit shots of the location, though. Eustace and the rest of the cast filmed their scenes in Stapylton Quarry, 144 Rossmanns Road, Stapylton , about 15 miles northwest of Southport.

Privately owned, White Island was declared a private scenic reserve in 1953, which means that visitors cannot land without permission, remove or disturb wildlife and must leave nothing more than footprints. However, it is accessible by authorised tourist operators. The nearest mainland towns are Whakatane and Tauranga .

Weather permitting, there’s a motor launch daily from Whakatane daily. Helicopter and plane trips are also available from Whakatane, Tauranga and Rotorua.

After the Pevensies and King Caspian ( Ben Barnes ) complete their mission to find the seven swords and defeat the sea serpent, they inevitably meet up with Aslan ( Liam Neeson ) on the brilliant white and of South Stradbroke Island , a further stretch of the strand north of Surfers Paradise , where Reepicheep ( Simon Pegg ) surfs away to the the mysterious country to the east.

Visit The Film Locations

Visit: New Zealand

Visit: Auckland

Flights: Auckland Airport , Ray Emery Drive, Auckland 2022 ( tel: 64.9.275.0789 )

Visit: Whakatane

Visit: Whakaari / White Island

Australia | Queensland

Visit: Queensland

What is “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”?

Author: BibleAsk Team

April 12, 2024

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

“The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is the third book in “The Chronicles of Narnia” series by C.S. Lewis. Published in 1952, it follows the adventures of the Pevensie siblings, Edmund and Lucy, along with their cousin Eustace Scrubb, aboard the ship Dawn Treader, led by King Caspian X. This nautical journey takes them across the Eastern Sea of Narnia and into various fanciful lands, encountering a diverse array of characters, challenges, and moral lessons along the way. Through vivid imagery, compelling storytelling, and rich allegory, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” explores themes of redemption, courage, temptation , and the search for identity.

1- Setting Sail: The story begins with Edmund and Lucy staying with their insufferable cousin Eustace in England. Suddenly, they are transported to Narnia through a fanciful painting of a ship, finding themselves aboard the Dawn Treader with King Caspian, who is on a quest to find seven lost lords and explore uncharted lands. The voyage serves as a metaphorical journey of self-discovery and spiritual growth for the characters.

2- Character Development: Throughout the voyage, each character undergoes significant growth and transformation. Edmund and Lucy demonstrate courage, wisdom , and loyalty as they face various challenges. Eustace, initially selfish and disagreeable, learns humility and compassion through his experiences as a dragon and the intervention of Aslan, the lion representing Christ.

3- Allegorical Elements: As with other books in the series, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” contains allegorical elements that reflect Christian themes and principles. Aslan’s presence and guidance symbolize divine providence and redemption, while the character of Eustace’s transformation from a dragon back to a boy represents the Christian concept of repentance and spiritual renewal.

4- Exploration and Adventure: The voyage itself is filled with fantastical adventures and encounters with mythical creatures. From the mysterious Lone Islands to the haunting beauty of the Island of Dreams , each stop on the journey offers unique challenges and lessons for the characters. The narrative is driven by a sense of exploration and discovery, evoking the spirit of classic adventure tales.

5- Themes of Redemption and Temptation : One of the central themes of the book is the journey of redemption and the struggle against temptation . Characters such as Eustace and the character of the slave trader, Governor Gumpas, grapple with their own moral failings and the allure of power and greed. Through their experiences, the novel explores the transformative power of repentance and the importance of resisting temptation.

6- Spiritual Allegory: “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is infused with spiritual allegory, drawing parallels between the characters’ journey and the Christian pilgrimage. Aslan’s presence serves as a guiding force, leading the characters toward moral enlightenment. The journey itself becomes a metaphor for the spiritual quest for truth, righteousness, and salvation.

7- Moral Lessons: Ultimately, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” concludes with the characters returning to England, their lives forever changed by their adventures in Narnia. Through their journey, they learn valuable lessons about courage, integrity, compassion, and the enduring power of faith . The novel leaves readers with a sense of inspiration, and the timeless message of hope found in the transformative power of grace and redemption.

In summary, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is a timeless classic that continues to captivate readers with its imaginative storytelling, rich allegory, and profound exploration of faith and morality. Through its colorful characters, vivid landscapes, and compelling narrative, the book invites readers on a journey of self-discovery and spiritual enlightenment, reminding us of the enduring power of God ’s redemption and the quest for truth.

In His service, BibleAsk Team

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The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

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