plot inconsistency

[frodosampippinmerry]

I know this is because Lewis wrote LWW first, but how do we reconcile the fact that there is a prophecy in LWW of the queen's death but in Magician's nephew Aslan says the fruit she ate will giver endless life of misery?

[Tessar]

Hmmm... it could be referring to the afterlife, which would be consistent with the other ideas of the book. i.e. Even in death she will have to endure misery for eating the fruit... the idea that after death there is a "new" life, and she has chosen to make her immortal "spirit" life full of misery.

Gwai could explain it much better.

[Earniel]

Maybe like Tolkien's Elves? They are immortal, live forever, but they can still be slain.

[Varnafindë]

I'm with Eärniel on this one.
Although Lewis isn't above some plot inconsistencies ...

[Midge]

I don't know.. I mean, he wrote the prophecy that she would die FIRST, then used her two more times after that (and as the Emerald Witch, it was long after LWW). I think Lewis knew what he was doing.

I'm also with Earniel. If there had been no battles, I doubt the Witch would have died on her own of Natural causes.

Are you talking about the prophecies the Beavers recited? because I don't think it says the witch died. I think it says, "Winter meets its death".

*goes checking*

Ah! The prophecies are as follows:

Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight.
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more.
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death.
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.

When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone
Sits at Cair Paravel in throne
The evil time will be over and done.

Mr. Beaver mentions "another prophecy" and that "it's a saying in Narnia time out of mind" that when two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve sit on those four thrones, it will be the end of the Witch, not only her reign, but of her life. However, there isn't a handy rhyme to go with this one, so Mrs. Beaver may have been mis-paraphrasing a prophecy or even just reciting a rumor that had been a hundred years growing.

And she may have really died. In Prince Caspian, the hag (which there were some still around even thousands of years after the Golden Age in Narnia) mentioned how you can always get a witch back. It's a possibility that she came back as the Emerald Witch because some stupid hag in the Western Woods decided to get freaky with the spells one day.

[Varnafindë]

Originally Posted by Midge

And she may have really died. In Prince Caspian, the hag (which there were some still around even thousands of years after the Golden Age in Narnia) mentioned how you can always get a witch back. It's a possibility that she came back as the Emerald Witch because some stupid hag in the Western Woods decided to get freaky with the spells one day.

I don't think she came back as the Emerald Witch - I think the EW was a different one of the same kind, perhaps her second cousin fifty times removed or something like that. A bit like the family relationship between Arwen and Aragorn.

[Midge]

Oh. Right. In the new version of the books, there's a character guide. It equates the White Witch and the Emerald Witch. I believe in the book itself it says the Emerald Witch was "something of the same ilk" or something.

The only thing is that I don't see where another witch would have come from - It's not like the White Witch wanted to settle down and start a family.

[Varnafindë]

Originally Posted by Midge

Oh. Right. In the new version of the books, there's a character guide. It equates the White Witch and the Emerald Witch. I believe in the book itself it says the Emerald Witch was "something of the same ilk" or something.

The only thing is that I don't see where another witch would have come from - It's not like the White Witch wanted to settle down and start a family.

The book says "the same kind".

And now they all saw what it meant; how a wicked Witch (doubtless the same kind as that White Witch who had brought the Great Winter on Narnia long ago) had contrived the whole thing, first killing Rilian's mother and enchanting Rilian himself. And they saw how she had dug right under Narnia and was going to break out and rule it through Rilian: and how he had never dreamed that the country of which she would make him king (king in name, but really her slave) was his own country. And from the children's part of the story they saw how she was in league and friendship with the dangerous giants of Harfang. "And the lesson of it all is, your Highness," said the oldest Dwarf, "that those Northern Witches always mean the same thing, but in every age they have a different plan for getting it."
Silver Chair, THE DISAPPEARANCE OF JILL

I certainly don't see her as a descendant of the White Witch - there was indeed no indication of starting a family. But Jadis was said to descend from Lilith and from giants and from the Jinns, so there might have been other Northern Witches who had the same descent. Whether or not they were connected to Charn.

Douglas Gresham says that if they make the Silver Chair movie, they will not cast Tilda Swinton as the Emerald Witch, as they don't see the two as the same person. But over on NarniaWeb some people say that they don't trust the movie makers to stick to that statement ...

[Midge]

Honestly, that would be a lesser of two weevils.

I shudder to think how they're going to change and "refurbish" an exciting adventure story of a trip to free a MIA prince. Of course, I couldn't imagine how they would change the previous stories, either. Oh, well. I'll just make a movie in my head and watch it over and over again. It'll be good.