The preview for the latest of the Chronicles of Narina movies was recently released. I know it is unfair to judge a movie by its preview, and I for one am still hoping that despite his limited appearance in the preview they have not reduced Eustace's role in the movie. However, the lack of attention given to the arch of Eustace's conversion and repentance allows the preview to make another point. The Pevensie's question why they were summoned to Narina, for they believe that they are only called to fight its wars and so are confused as to their mission now. In response, they are told they are all about to be tested. Lucy is presented with the a vision of her deepest desires coming true and Edmund is confronted with the specter of the White Witch.
The later recalls one of the best and worst scenes from Prince Caspian--when Peter and Caspian almost bring back the White Witch and are saved at the last moment by Edmund. This scene is the culmination of a lot of angst on the part of Peter, who had been petulant through the duration of the movie believing that he somehow was owed something by his previous kinghood. He fights with people, Caspian and others, trying to reassert his authority. This is a serious misunderstanding of Lewis's conception of kingship. It is not an administrative office, especially for those filling the four thrones at Cair Paravel--it is sacramental. Throughout the books the Peter lives this, he is always described as gracious and magnanimous, the archetype of a true king.
The one virtue of this scene is in how it depicts Edmund. He does not succumb to the pettiness of the others and is the only one to react immediately and decisively against temptation--he smashes the ice wall through which the White Witch is communicating with and seducing Caspian and Peter. Just as the White Witch says he is marked as a traitor in the first book, once Aslan has bought his freedom he is marked as one redeemed and does not renege on his redemption.
Conversion, grace and redemption are the central themes of each of the Chronicles of Narnia. And while Lewis's work is not so simplistic that once a character undergoes these changes they are perfect- Lucy is tempted to read the book in the professors library in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, her sin is not a renouncement of the good and a decision to join the side of evil-- a conscious choice to join Aslan never wavers. While this make be simplistic in the real world, within Narnia once a person makes a decision to join Aslan, a real conversion, they stand strong against the White Witch.
It is precisely this grace which Hollywood does not understand--what Aslan means when he says "Once a king or queen of Narina, always a king or queen of Narnia."
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