The Last Battle | Chapter 13: How the Dwarfs Refused to Be Taken In

Chapter Summary:

Tirian looks around him, and sees that he is not inside of a stable, but in a place that appeared to be outdoors, on a beautiful summer day. The sun is shining, and there are fruit trees nearby. As Tirian and the others eat the fruit, Peter and the other Kings and Queens discuss how they had arrived. All of them arrived because they were either on the train or on the platform waiting for the train. They all remember a loud noise and a jolt. Peter remembers seeing the train moving toward the platform too quickly. 

Tirian then sees where he entered into this land. There is a door in the middle of the field, with nothing on either side of it. Looking through the crack, Tirian can see the Calormenes and the glow of the bonfire. 

Lucy describes what happened on their side of the stable. First, a Calormene solider entered and stood by the door. A cat then came in and Tash immediately appeared. The cat bolted out of the door again, and Tash disappeared. The Calormene solider stayed in place. Then, the other soldier (Emeth) was thrust into the stable. Emeth and the soldier have a quick struggle, and Emeth kills the other soldier and throws him out of the stable. Emeth has wandered around looking for Tash since then. After that, Shift was thrown in. Tash immediately appeared, and quickly disappeared with Shift. Then came about 12 dwarfs, Jill, Eustace, and finally Tirian.

The dwarfs are sitting in a tight circle nearby. Lucy and Tirian approach them, and it is quickly clear that the dwarfs believe that they are sitting inside of a dark stable, not basking in a sunlit field in an open country. Lucy and Tirian try different methods to show them where they are, but the dwarfs are too convinced that they are in a dark stable.

Aslan appears and greets everyone, and tells Tirian that he has done well. Lucy asks Aslan if he can do anything about the dwarfs. Aslan goes to the dwarfs and makes a beautiful meal appear before each of them. The dwarfs only taste bitter, nasty food--and eventually start fighting one another about whose food is better. Aslan says that the dwarfs refuse to allow themselves to be helped.

Aslan then goes to the stable door and says "Now it is time... Time!... TIME" (p. 511) and the stable door opens.

Reflection:

There are a few significant things that occur within this chapter, not all of which I can discuss yet (and some of which involve Susan, which I mentioned in the last post--this will be a subject for later on). But first, there's the plot. We finally have a resolution of the mystery of the stable. For some reason, the stable seems to have led not to a stable, but to a bright, beautiful country (guess whose country it is!)--at least for some of our characters. In truth, the stable led many places. It led to Aslan's country, it led to death, and it led, indeed, to a dark and dingy stable for some (the dwarfs). But we can be certain that the reality of the situation is that the stable unexpectedly, at some point since Puzzle was rescued, became a portal into Aslan's country. 

Of course, we now have some resolution with regard to each of the characters that enters into the stable. The mysteries are solved. There is now only one mystery left--how will it all end? The last paragraph of the chapter, which I have summarized here, is very telling, but I will leave that as a cliffhanger for tomorrow.

Let's look at an important moment in the passage--the one in which we finally know that Tirian has done as he was supposed to during the adventure that unfolds within this novel. Here's what happens when Aslan greets Tirian:

"Then he fixed his eyes upon Tirian, and Tirian came near, trembling, and flung himself at the Lion's feet, and the Lion kissed him and said, 'Well done, last of the Kings of Narnia who stood firm at the darkest hour'" (p. 510). 

Tirian is Sam Gamgee at the opening of mount doom, who keeps his faith, carries Frodo, and is inevitably the reason that the ring is finally destroyed. Sam is the real hero, and so is Tirian.

What we might not have realized until now is that Tirian has gone through some tremendous growth throughout this novel. Tirian has come a long way indeed since he and Jewel killed two Calormene soldiers without considering the consequences (and the consequences, indeed, have been tremendous). Despite where he started from, Tirian has shown that he is a person of true character, a person worthy to be called the last of the Kings of Narnia. 

And now I'm going to do something I've yet to do in this blog much--talk about the future. C.S. Lewis really does something incredible with this novel and with the TCON series--he saves the best for last. Not only is The Last Battle, in my opinion, the best novel of the series, but the last three chapters of The Last Battle are, without a doubt, the best chapters of the entire novel. This is not easy to accomplish, since there have been many wonderful chapters along the way. But like any good author (or beverage), C.S. Lewis knows how to finish strong. These last three chapters are pretty special ones in the literary world. And they are coming up next. Get ready.