Podcast #103: ‘The Silver Chair’ Book Commentary (Part 3)
Due to the high number of e-mail and audio questions sent in by NarniaWebbers, we are going to need another episode to finish The Silver Chair. We are saving some of the questions that were sent in for the next episode. Big thanks to everyone for contributing! In this episode, the characters finally encounter the silver chair itself. You can e-mail audio or text questions/observations to podcast@narniaweb.com.
Chapters discussed:
10. Travels Without the Sun (1:29)
Audio question from Rose-Tree Dryad (10:57)
11. In the Dark Castle (15:47)
12a. The Queen of Underland (33:11)
Audio question from Jesus-Aslan Freak (34:02)
Podcast: Play in new window | Embed
I really hope they keep the dialogue in the scene wear Rilian is the the chair almost word for world in the movie its one of my favorite scenes in the book.
I was so waiting for this episode to come out! YES!
I had never considered the "Under Me" inscription being a description of Father Time. *mindblown*
Awesome podcast, I really enjoyed listening to this one! Glad to hear that we've got at least one more installment to The Silver Chair commentary yet to come. 😀 I loved hearing the gnome voices and Rilian's ravings in this episode. That was neat. And speaking of whoever is going to play Rilian in the film… I think we have a good candidate right here! 😉
Also, thanks for taking my comment! 😀 It's one of those things we'll probably never know for sure, but the evidence is really compelling and it's really neat to think about. There are so many layers in the Narnia series, and you never know when you'll stumble upon something new.
In the scene when the trio have just fallen down into Underland, I'm thinking they could potentially just have a very faint, ghostly beam of light coming down on them from high above where they slid through, but this only illuminates the three questers, and there's just absolute darkness beyond its meager glow. Just enough light for the audience to make out their faces, while also giving a good representation of the under pitch blackness of the place.
I especially liked the discussion about the function of the silver chair, and I thought gP's idea that the enchantment would finally be permanent after the conquest of Narnia was interesting. I've always been mystifed by the chair, and I've wondered why Rilian had to be bound to it every night at a certain hour, too… specifically laboring on the question of why the Witch wouldn't just do a permanent enchantment in the first place, lol! Rilian's theory that the effects of the silver chair might be cumulative is very intriguing; I think that could be possible.
A random thought I've had is that the Witch may have been hoping that one day Rilian would develop Stockholm Syndrome or something, and he'd just cease to resist the enchantment at all. This could potentially fit well with the idea that the enchantment would finally be permanent after attacking Narnia, too. If Prince Rilian had actually led an attack against an innocent country—his homeland—and "slain their chief man" (either Trumpkin or his own father, I'm guessing), it's possible that he'd completely lose hope of ever being able to truly "go home" and would not be able to face reality anymore because of the horror and shame of what he had done… and would instead just slip away into the Witch's world forever.
It's a lot of speculation, but since psychological manipulation and domination definitely seems to be the Green Witch's cup of tea, I don't think it's extremely unlikely, either.
I really have no idea if the White Witch and the Lady of the Green Kirtle are related at all, but if the LotGK *is* somehow the offspring of Jadis, I guess it's possible that the effects of the silver apple could be hereditary?
Anyway, thanks so much for recording these podcasts; I'm looking forward to the next one. 🙂
Yes, it was a lovely podcast. Thank you for using my comments and questions both this time and in the previous podcast. The discussion was excellent about the silver chair. Do you know, that despite my user name, and also my wondering about why Prince Rilian always needing to be bound in the chair after dinner, it never even occurred to me it might be something like a nightly reverse werewolf effect? Even though Michael Ward associates Silver Chair with the moon, thus moonlight? And even though silver, itself, is associated with the Moon?
Great podcast. I hope the new film will really be accurate to the plot of the book. I thought the old BBC version was pretty good in adhering to the original plot, and Tom Baker was great as Puddleglum. Hopefully, the new movie will be even better.
There should be a podcast about Michael Ward's "Planet Narnia" theory. It's very compelling and I think he was right. It makes sense on a lot of levels.
Awesome podcast guys! Thanks for answering my question. I get the feeling that the filmmakers will do something to add to and explore more with LOGK's origin and plot, kind of like what was done for Miraz in Prince Caspian. Oh, and I always thought that LOGK would just find a way to kill Rillian once she became queen. Love hearing these podcasts guys!
It's true about absolute darkness. I experienced that once in a cavern. It's a strange feeling, like the darkness actually presses against your eyes and face. It's hard to explain, though I'm reminded of something Rilian said in a previous podcast. "You don't see darkness, you see nothing." In that level of dark you see as much with your eyes as you do with your elbow. Of course our brains are used to seeing (even darkness) and react in a very claustrophobic way. Great podcast. I'd never thought about the inscription being for father time either. Also, interesting thoughts on the relationship between The Lady and The White Witch. For some reason I've always thought of her as being a rogue human (maybe from Telmar or somewhere) who pursued dark magic on her own. Kind of a self-taught witch.
Agreed, narnia fan 7. Much of the Silver Chair dialogue is intense and poetic without any change, including when Rilian is bound to the chair and Puddleglum's monologue to the Lady of the Green Kirtle.
I don't know why, but I've almost always thought that LotGK and the White Witch were cousins. I didn't realize till now that they weren't related by blood, according to the book.
I love these podcasts so much. The whole conversation reminds me of how brilliant C. S. Lewis was and how I should reread the books again.
Thinking about the suspense aspect, in the book you get almost all the way to the end without knowing what the heck this titular "silver chair" is, what its point is (it's a chair, how important can it be?!) and when it's going to show up. I always found that interesting.
I always thought they are different.
Personally, I always thought the business in the chair, the sane part, happened largely on account of Aslan's doing. Perhaps it was sort of a safe guard, that there would be an escape, even in this terrible state of enchantment, and chance of hope. Just my two cents.
Yup. Different.
i love narnia a lot but the only thing is i love it's movies to but i don't know when is the latest movie coming and the more quicker the more better all the narnia fans out there are waiting for the silver chair and pls tell us when it realese and don't put prince caspiar in it then the movie gets sad and people cry
try and make this movie funny #welovenarnia #aslan
After you finish your Commentary of The Silver Chair could you do a Film Analysis of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, like you did the two sequels. You never really did it for the first movie.
I'm a little late to the podcasts (just listened to all 3 Silver Chair episodes) – very well done!
Yes, Puddleglum is the hero. (But don't dis Eeyore – Eeyore is not energetic like Tigger, but is always grateful for everything that he has.) Puddleglum is actually the Tigger of the Marshwiggles. He says at one point that the other wiggles say he needs to be more serious.
About the chair itself and Rilian only being in this right mind for the hour he is strapped in it. The main reason that the witch's spell doesn't have a full hold on him is that Aslan is more powerful than she is. Aslan was also more powerful than the White Witch and more powerful than Tash. (Just as Jesus is more powerful than Satan.) And Rilian didn't choose to follow her willingly – oh, he willingly went with her – but he was still a follower of Aslan and didn't know what she was until he had already been enchanted. If Rilian had denied Aslan when he was in his right mind, I think that either the enchantment would have been permanent – or it would have been permanently broken because she would have no longer needed the spell to control him – he would have willingly joined her to overthrow the world above.
As far as the relationship between the White Witch and the Green Lady – this is were I think the BBC movies messed with our heads. Both were played by the same actress, so some people started thinking that they were the same character. But, I read the books long before I watched the films and I never thought they were the same or even that they were related. They were both just evil.
It would be nicer if the 4 pevensie siblings would be there. Is there any chance that they will be belong for the upcoming film ??
Peter,Susan,Edmund,Lucy Pevensie should be there !! Please