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Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Last Battle, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Belief, Deception, and False Prophets
The Value of Friendship
Redemption and Forgiveness
The End of the World
Summary
Analysis
Three weeks after Shift creates the lion costume, the King of Narnia, Tirian, is enjoying a relaxing break in his hunting lodge. Tirian is joined only by his best friend, Jewel, who is a unicorn. Tirian and Jewel have fought side by side in many battles and have saved each other’s life. At the moment, Tirian is happy because he has heard rumors that Aslan has returned to Narnia. Although Jewel thinks the news sounds too good to be true, he is also overjoyed to learn of Aslan’s return.
The juxtaposition of Shift and Puzzle’s friendship with that of Tirian and Jewel’s highlights the pernicious nature of the former. Unlike Shift and Puzzle, Tirian and Jewel have a friendship that is mutually fulfilling and beneficial. Meanwhile, the news of Aslan’s return suggests that Shift’s plan is working unless, coincidentally, the real Aslan has come back to Narnia.
Themes
A centaur named Roonwit approaches Tirian and says he does not think Aslan has returned to Narnia. Roonwit has studied the stars closely, and nothing he has seen suggests that Aslan is back. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Roonwit thinks a great evil has come to Narnia. As Tirian is discussing the issue with Roonwit, a dryad (a kind of tree spirit) approaches them begging for protection. The dryad claims that trees are being cut down all across the Lantern Waste, a nearby area of Narnia. Then, the dryad suddenly dies because someone in the Lantern Waste cuts down its home tree.
Throughout The Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan has always been a figured associated with life and goodness. However, the dryad’s death and Roonwit’s concern about a great evil all but confirms that the sightings of Aslan are actually just Shift and Puzzle. In the Book of Revelations, the final book of the New Testament, the end of the world is heralded by the arrival of three beasts, the second of which is a false prophet, who convinces people that the first beast in divine. Here, Lewis is recreating a version of the Book of Revelations; Shift and Puzzle are the great evil that Roonwit describes.
Themes
Angry, Tirian immediately springs into action. Roonwit suggests that Tirian wait for his army to come from Cair Paravel (the capital city of Narnia) for backup. Instead, Tirian orders Roonwit to fetch his army and then sets off toward the Lantern Waste with only Jewel by his side. On their way to the Lantern Waste, Tirian and Jewel see a water rat transporting logs to Calormen, a nation that borders Narnia. When Tirian asks the water rat who gave him the order, the rat claims it was Aslan.
The Calormen are also an important part of The Horse and His Boy, another Narnia novel. What is made explicit in that novel, but is less explored here, is that Calormen is a pagan society, whose values directly contradict those set out by Aslan. As such, it seems unlikely that the real Aslan is working with the Calormenes, given that they function as his antithesis elsewhere in the series.
Themes
Eventually, Tirian and Jewel come to a spot in the Lantern Waste that has been almost completely cleared out. There, they see a large group of Calormenes (natives of Calormen) chopping down trees. Although Narnia and Calormen are at peace, it is unheard of to see so many Calormenes in Narnia. At first, Tirian does not approach them aggressively, though he dislikes their general air of brutality. From afar, he notices the Calormenes have a horse that they are whipping to help them with their labor. Tirian assumes the horse is from Calormen.
In addition to their brutality, the Calormenes are also destroying the environment, something Aslan would never condone. The deforestation of the Lantern is another herald of the end times in Narnia, as the Calormenes are literally destroying the home of Narnia’s inhabitants, many of whom are talking animals. As a king, Tirian knows he needs to be careful with how he deals with the Calormenes, as he does not want to start a war.
Themes
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However, when the horse gets whipped violently, it speaks, and Tirian realizes the Calormenes are beating a Narnian horse. In Narnia, talking animals are afforded the same rights as people, and it is considered a great crime to do what the Calormenes are doing. Once Tirian sees what is going on, he and Jewel immediately spring into action and kill the Calormenes.
Although Tirian is a good ruler, he is quick to anger, and his sudden decision to attack the Calormenes spells trouble for Narnia’s future. Though he may have saved the talking horse, he may have made a permanent enemy out of Calormenes, who suddenly have an increased presence in Narnia.
Themes
