Narnia drabble (movieverse): "Unredeemable"

[bedlamsbard]

Title: Unredeemable
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia movieverse, circa Prince Caspian
Disclaimer: The Chronicles of Narnia and its characters belong to C.S. Lewis and descendants. Title from T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets.



The Telmarines have stories of the High King and his consorts as well. Only in these legends, Susan is Peter's wife, not his sister, and Edmund is a prince. There is no mention of Lucy at all. The legends are full of wild stories about the High King's victories over the wild creatures of Narnia -- wild stories that Caspian now hears repeated among the Old Narnians, with slight variations. Peter is High King and warlord, conquering emperor and benevolent ruler. From all that Caspian has heard, the High King Peter may well be the greatest warrior Narnia has ever seen. The man that Caspian is expecting isn't the one he finds.

Comments

[jedi-em.livejournal.com]

Niiiiiiice. I love love love the last line.

Very effective drabble.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Everyone knows how things change over time, and stories about heroes and kings and suchlike especially so. Peter and the rest of the Pevensies are not what is expected, and not just because of their age.

[realpestilence.livejournal.com]

Frankly, movie!Caspian struck me as a bit...dim. *coughs*


But it would be like meeting King Arthur or somebody, no way for *anyone* to meet the hype, and unrealistic to expect it and unfair *to* expect it. Frankly, though, I'd be thinking something like...these "kids"-that young man, in particular-grew up to do what they did, so they must have been pretty amazing, maybe I should give them a chance...


I like this piece. It's a good indication of how LONG it's been since they were on the thrones. Inconceivable to think of 1300 years and how much has changed since then, even the land has physically changed-it must have been so disorienting. In a way, they would have been better off going to another land entirely, because there would have been no expectations on anyone's part, theirs or others. *muses*

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

I don't think he was dim, I think he was just overwhelmed and way out of his depth. After all, he's -- well, he was a spoiled rich kid, to put it frankly. I don't think he was ever trained to lead; he was...um, he was like Paris Hilton, I guess? Heir to something, but never given the training to take over. (Which is, of course, Miraz's point; he would have told Caspian that he was going to become king but never given him the actual preparation for it.) And not being Narnian, he wouldn't have the same appreciation for the "legends" of the High King and Co., even if they hadn't shown up being younger than he is, and, well, he has entitlement issues, plus at that age (depending on when he's supposed to come of age, I'd guess movie!Caspian is somewhere between eighteen and twenty-one, and I generally estimate Peter to be sixteen or seventeen in PC) he's not going to think all tha thighly of anyone younger than him, the way the Pevensies are at this time (physically, at least).

I suppose the Pevensies are just lucky there still is a Narnia, and it hasn't been changed into another country entirely, like has happened so many times in our history. The sheer weight of time, and the movie did a really good job conveying that, I think (historical documents and cave paintings, enormous amounts of love). History into legend into myth...

[swift-tales.livejournal.com]

Very powerful pieces, the last line slayed me

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Thank you! The sheer hype that must have been built up around the Pevensies fascinates me.

[realpestilence.livejournal.com]

I suspect that Susan and Lucy would have been blended into one mythic "queen/consort" figure, like how many goddess myths do.


Would the Telmarines really have admired a benevolent ruler all that much, given they were a conquering people? I think they might have considered him a great king who fell due to his weakness, like Arthur or somebody. *frowns*

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

In my head, Telmarine myth says that the High King was betrayed by the Narnians; he was too young to take the throne, and they manipulated him into thinking he could trust nonhumans, and then they lured him and his family out into the woods and killed him. So -- yes, he fell due to his weakness. It came up in Constellated, I think, from the Caspian POV.