The Last Battle

When King Tirian instructs Jill and Eustace in the practice of archery and the use of the Calormene scimitar (respectively), he discovers that the children learned a lot during their earlier Narnian adventures. Tirian also is surprised that the children grow stronger and bigger after a few hours in the Narnian air. The three of them set off for “Stable Hill” at night to try to rescue Jewel. After Tirian observes that Jill is the best pathfinder, able to steer by the Narnian stars, as well as the quietest walker, he places her in front. Near the stable, Jill warns of a Calormene sentry. Tirian orders the children to wait and presses a dagger against the sentry’s neck. The frightened sentry takes Tirian to the back of the stable, where the king frees Jewel.

Tirian, Eustace, and Jewel are ready to leave when they realize that Jill has disappeared. They hear the far-off drumbeat of dwarfs. Jill arrives and reveals that she went into the stable and found the false Aslan: Puzzle wearing a lion skin. Eustace says that if she were a boy, she would be knighted, but Tirian points out that she disobeyed orders. Tirian prepares to cut off Puzzle’s head, but Jill protectively puts her arms around Puzzle’s neck, saying that he is very sorry and that it was Shift’s fault. Tirian allows Puzzle to live. Puzzle says he only did what he was told.

Tirian decides to meet the dwarfs and tell them the good news, displaying the donkey to reveal Shift’s fraud. The group sees about 30 dwarfs marching behind two armed Calormenes and followed by two more soldiers. Tirian shouts for the soldiers to stop, asking where and by whose orders they lead these Narnian dwarfs.

The two Calormene soldiers halt the dwarfs. The soldiers salute, assuming that the disguised king is a Calormene lord. Tirian asks the dwarfs if the Tisroc conquered them, considering how patiently they are going to die in the mines. The insulted dwarfs answer that Aslan sold them. Tirian shows Puzzle dressed in the lion skin to the dwarfs, telling them that Shift deceived them into thinking that Aslan had returned. Now suspicious, the soldiers demand that Tirian gives a password. Tirian draws his sword, declaring, “The light is dawning, the lie broken” (67). The king and Eustace kill the two soldiers; the dwarfs get rid of the remaining Calormenes.

Tirian expects the dwarfs to be happy that they are free of Shift’s rule and the false Aslan, but the dwarfs are unexpectedly cynical. They say that they have been fooled once and do not intend to be fooled again: They distrust any so-called Aslans and will look after themselves. Only one dwarf, Poggin, joins Aslan’s side.

At the Tower, Poggin hunts wood pigeons and gathers wild plants for a hearty breakfast. Poggin tells the king that Ginger invented a story about Tirian’s escape that made the Narnians more fearful of and obedient to Shift. Ginger and Rishda, the Calormene captain, believe that neither Aslan nor Tash exists. The cat and the captain now control Shift, who is drinking too much. Ginger and Rishda collude with “enlightened Narnians”—those who believe in nothing but their own profit and a reward from the Tisroc.

The day gets colder and cloudier, with a foul smell. Jewel points at something that causes dismay.

Tirian, Eustace, Jill, Poggin, Jewel, and Puzzle see something gray and smoke-like in “the shape of a man but [with] the head of a bird; some bird of prey with a cruel, curved beak” (76). It smells deathly, and the grass withers as it glides slowly northward, its four arms stretched as “if it want[s] to snatch all Narnia in its grip” (76). After the thing disappears into the trees, the sun comes out and everyone starts breathing again. Tirian reveals that the unknown entity was the Calormenes’ god, Tash: Tirian saw its stone image in Calormen. Shift, who does not believe in Tash’s existence, foolishly called for Tash, so the demon has come to Narnia. Puzzle never thought something like this would happen; he realizes now how bad it was to listen to Shift.

Jewel declares that if Tirian had not rescued him, he would have been executed for refusing to say he believed in the false Aslan. Although Tirian wishes he could show Puzzle to the Narnians at Stable Hill to convince them they have been deceived, he is no longer sure how they will react. The group decides to first meet Roonwit and the help he is bringing from Cair Paravel. Without Puzzle to display, Shift will at least have to deal with questions about Aslan’s absence.

As the group walks, Jill is charmed by the gentle Jewel, who describes the thousands of peaceful, happy years of Narnian history in between the children’s visits, including the reign of the beautiful Queen Swanwhite. Jewel states that all worlds eventually end except Aslan’s own country.

Farsight the eagle lands by the group and tells King Tirian terrible news: The Calormenes arrived at Cair Paravel by sea and conquered it, killing Roonwit. After a long silence, the king states that Narnia is no more.