The Horse and His Boy Broke the Lore

[@ruthiegwm]

Don't forgot one of the best quotes in the book: "In Calormen, story-telling is a thing you're taught, just as English boys and girls are taught essay-writing. The difference is that people want to hear the stories, whereas I never heard of anyone who wanted to read the essays."

[@spazzyshortgirl23]

Lewis sass is my favorite

[@edisonlima4647]

Oh, Lewis, you beast!

[@jjtomecek1623]

Even better knowing Lewis was a professor and was the one to read the essays

[@Nortarachanges]

I just quoted this moment in another thread! I adore that one XD

[@becauseimafan]

😂😂

[@LORDOFDORKNESS42]

Honestly, it hasn't aged well, but I still have a soft spot for A Horse & His Boy for letting the 'cute magic animal companion' be the clear boss of the duo. The one that calls all the important shots, and using the human as basically a piece of saddle camouflage. Even all these years later, that dynamic is really unique and fun, and I wish it got copied more often!

[@tskmaster3837]

I'd say Harlan Ellison copied it or rather improved it for a Boy and his Dog but that may be in poor taste. Ba da da bum. OH. I never connected the two before today, one's a fantasy book written more for kids, the other's an adult science fiction story but it's hard not to see Ellison's ending as a direct refutation of Lewis' ending.

[@mandisaw]

The horse-like Companions of the Valdemar books scratch that itch quite well, for the most part. It's most apparent in the books featuring young protagonists first becoming a Herald, but all of the series tend to make Companions as integral to the story as the humans. I heard that someone is doing a TV adaptation of the Last-Herald Mage trilogy, so here's hoping we get another vid if/when it happens :)

[@SabrinaRina]

​@@tskmaster3837 Yeah, an ex always referenced that film scarred him.

[@Terminalsanity]

I rather liked it just because the relatively small cast allowed them to get more characterization. That and the way Aravis and Cor/Shasta bonded over beinga bit passive aggressive about Aslan only telling them what he felt was part of their story and being needlessly cryptic was exceedingly relatable.

[@allanolley4874]

@@tskmaster3837 The phrase "a boy and his dog" has a long history before Harlan Ellison used it that has nothing to do with Lewis. For example just doing a quick search there was an 1890 novel "Finding Blodgett the story of a boy and his dog". They are two things that go great together or get mentioned a lot together like peanut butter and jam in a sandwich. Likewise I think the phrase "a boy loves his dog" or some variation on it was common, expressing a sort of wholesome bond and the story plays on that in a dark Ellison way. Lewis may have been playing on "A boy and his dog" and reversing it so the animal has a boy. There does not seem to have been a phrase "A boy and his horse" to play on, but there is "a man and his horse". So the basic structure of a human animal pairing is usually "the human and their animal" (like I can find instances of "a lady and her cat") and Lewis pretty clearly deliberately subverts that by having the animal be the one who has a human. Another example of this jokey subversion would be the genius dog Mr. Peabody who has a boy Sherman apparently the first ever Peabody and Sherman story was titled "A dog and his boy."

[@JulianGreystoke]

I laughed way too hard at "quiet, human! Horses are talking" As a horse owner that was too real 😂

[@Dominic-Noble]

Tempted to put that on a shirt ^^

[@dajoka97k.70]

@@Dominic-Noble DO IT!!!

[@mercycunningham2813]

​@@Dominic-Noble Yes, do it.

[@Eric_1991]

YES!!!

[@dragon1130]

@@Dominic-Noble I'd buy it.

[@Elanel]

The impression I got with Susan was that some of the characters looked down on her social life, but that wasn't why she didn't return to Narnia, it was because she didn't believe in it anymore. That she rejected Narnia rather than the other way around. C.S.Lewis also said something like Susan found her way back to Narnia, he just didn't write that book because it would be too adult (her grieving her siblings, etc)

[@whatchyagonnado]

That was my understanding as well. Kind of like the concept in The Polar Express, where adults can't hear the bells jingling because they stop believing in Santa.

[@matttully3178]

Not only that, but her character is so much more complex, to me at least. See there is no way that she could actually believe that it was just games. Instead, Susan pretends they are because doing so is easier than realizing that she never gets to go back. Believing that it was just a game or dream is better than realizing that all her wonderful adventures and times are over and done. That has always struck me right in the feels, because it’s a feeling that I connect with deeply.

[@Celebwen21]

I heard a theory that after losing her family, Susan would have been given the magic rings that her brothers had on them, meaning she could have had an after-Narnia adventure.

[@glitterspray]

I did not know this (or believe it) so I went to Wikipedia for confirmation. I’m feeling cranky with Lewis because for years I dreamed I was LIVING the 8th Chronicle. Now I’m finding out it was so close to reality? Damn you, Clive! 😂❤

[@anthonyvillanueva5226]

Yeah always came off to me as her being more materialistic than feminine

[@ComboSmooth]

The horse and his boy was a very stand alone tale, which made it pretty interesting.

[@yudeok413]

Certainly a good thing since horse shit tends to spread about

[@TheBc99]

Racist orientalism aside, it was always my favourite. Aravis was always my favourite character in Narnia.

[@autumbreeze1129]

It's one of my favourites, since I never actually read the book itself, only listened to the BBC Radio 4 Dramatisation and so missed a lot of the negative things other people noticed while reading. And, since I had over 2 decades without the exposure to even the idea of the racism in the book, I don't think of it

[@RodericGurrola]

@@TheBc99 well um didn’t Shasta marry a calmorene girl. And there was one in Aslans country and including others. I think Lewis was showing the cultural difference between the two, and showing something that happens in real life. And in history. I think he was trying to show realistically how to different cultures like each other remember in the horse and his boy in the first chapter a soldier who was a calmorene said to Shasta adopted father he can’t be her kid look at his skin. It’s white like those barbarians in the north. At the same time Narnians said the same thing. But not all thought the calmorens were like that in the books.📕

[@JoshuaDHSW]

I honestly didn’t remember much about this Narnia book (even though I read all of them). However, I have always remembered the ending, where Shaster was like “Oh no, I’m sorry I’m taking your throne!” And Corin was like “dude, that’s awesome! Being King is lame! I’d rather just be prince fightsalot”

[@teabearchurchill5600]

"Everybody knows princes have all the fun," was specifically what Corin told Shasta.

[@Gr3nadgr3gory]

​@@teabearchurchill5600 ironically enough those who care so little for the crown are often the ones most well suited for it.

[@teabearchurchill5600]

@@Gr3nadgr3gory While I don't disagree, it really doesn't have anything to do with my comment.

[@CaptainPeregrin]

The Horse and His Boy was heavily inspired by the Book of Esther in the Bible, which is notable for never explicitly mentioning God. It's basically a story about how "ordinary people" perceive Aslan. It is also notable as a step-up for Lewis' portrayal of females (I'm counting Hwin here) as actual characters with interesting development. It's a shame that none of the movies have ever incorporated elements of Susan's characterization in this book when depicting her in other stories (mainly Prince Caspian).

[@wasd____]

The bigger shame (in the books themselves no less) is that Susan gets developed as a person... only for her being a _real person_ with a life and mind of her own instead of an almost brainwashed kind of slavish mental devotion to Aslan to result in the ultimate punishment by being banned from the good ending everyone else got. Lewis's Christianity was real shitty that way. :(

[@razorednight]

Interesting, I didn't know Aslan was in the Bible..m

[@Barakon]

To be honest, a movie about Ester would be more interesting than any Narnia 2 for me.

[@Barakon]

@@razorednight Aslan is the christian’s prophet in animal form.

[@camerondalton1495]

To be fair, it's possible she still got in later on and that will take time for her to understand what's more important. Still bittersweet though.

[@alenazwiep2996]

Strangely, the only parts of this book I really remembered were 1) where Asian is herding them, and they say it’s either two lions or one very fast lion, and 2) at the end where it says they got married to argue and make up more comfortably. I don’t know why, but 8-yr-old me thought the marriage line was hilarious, and it’s always stuck with me

[@alanpennie8013]

Lewis had a great turn of phrase in throw away lines like this one.

[@cam4636]

14:12 No, no, _Corin_ becomes famous for bare-knuckle boxing a bear. His major character trait is how much he punches everyone. This was my favorite book as a kid, then I tried to re-read it as an adult...yeahhh, the racism is a LOT. I think the reason I liked it so much as a kid was because it expanded the world and presented just relatively normal people who lived in it (I mean, one's a secret prince, but like, they grew up in the world and consider most of what's going on to be normal).

[@dajoka97k.70]

You're right. It's been over a decade since I last read the book, but I thought that wasn't correct. But to be fair, with those names it's really easy to mix them up

[@merphul]

Not being king let him go around being a jackass that boxed everything as he didn't need to do things like be responsible for the land and keeping alive The best wild twin that punches a ridiculous thing until Final Fantasy 6 when Edgar Figaro becomes king and Sabin punches and then suplexes a goddamm train.

[@shytendeakatamanoir9740]

​@@merphul Except Edgar is the jerk, and Sabin is a perfect himbo in that case.

[@merphul]

@@shytendeakatamanoir9740 I don't think either twin set has a "jerk". All 4 are decent guys in their own way. But there is the twin that accepts the responsibility of leadership and the one that prefers the freedom of not being in charge. I believe Corin says something along the lines of "hooray I'd rather be a prince forever as princes have more fun."

[@hjalfi]

@@dajoka97k.70 "...his great exploit against the Lapsed Bear of Stormness, which was really a Talking Bear but had gone back to Wild Bear habits. Corin climbed up to its lair on the Narnian side of Stormness one winter day when the snow was on the hills and boxed it without a timekeeper for thirty-three rounds. And at the end it couldn't see out of its eyes and became a reformed character." So he basically punched it until it decided not to be a serial killer any more? That's... an interesting take on a justice system...

[@TwinRiver100]

13:58 it wasn't Arravis that offered herself up it was Hwin. It was mainly becasue Aslan had popped in and it looked liked he was about to eat them and do lion things. So she was scared and offering to offer herself up as a distraction to give Bree and Aravis a chance to escape. At the same time as seeing Aslan but not knowing it was him offered herself up as snack while being scared and in awe at the same time.

[@StarryEyed0590]

Hwin throughout the book is depicted as very meek and mild, but the wisest and most spiritually discerning of them all. She was reacting to a spiritual truth that didn't seem to match with the physical situation.

[@merphul]

​@StarryEyed0590 she had a religious epiphany where she found Aslan so beautifully horrifying and horrifically beautiful she was all "I can die happy now and if I'm going to die I'm totally cool with it." Lay down your life for Lion Jesus.

[@TwinRiver100]

@@merphul thank you, 💯

[@stargirl7646]

@@merphul oh wow as an ex-Christian this hits really hard now 😬

[@elhilo1972]

That wasn't it at all. She was so awestruck by Aslan that she basically stated that he could eat her, and she'd be okay with it. Weird, yes, but when you have a spiritual epiphany, things can be weird like that.

[@TerraRose21]

I always thought that the reason Aslan was so harsh on Aravis and Shasta was because they weren't raised with the same (Christian) Narnian beliefs and would not be as inclined to just listen to him. Even the horses were terrified because they had been separated from Narnia so long they had forgotten the way. Basically it's an allegory that if you aren't raised believing in God things are tough but finding your true path in His light will make things turn out all right. The Christian allegories were never my favorite part.

[@ijimenez1951]

I don’t think it’s necessarily that deep, Aravis was a privileged rich noble girl who was happy that a slave was beaten. Aslan teaches her humility by making her understand their pain.

[@autumbreeze1129]

Not thinking of it from the Christian POV, when Dom mentioned it, that was indeed my first thought too. The Pevensie kids had come from another world to Unknowingly save Narnia and children and raised in the environment, so (aside from everything to do with the white witch) were treated more gently to ease them into the new world they were calling home. Since Shasta and Aravis were born into that world themselves, they got the more firm approach, since they weren't going to be going to be returning to another world later on.

[@sojoboscribe1342]

@@ijimenez1951 There may have also been something about "conversion" with Aravis. Remember, she is a nobleman's daughter, who is ultimately descended from the Tisroc, who in turn is believed to be ultimately descended from Tash. So she is presumably a devout believer in Tash, along with the other two gods Azaroth and Xardeena. Given what Tash is like when we later meet him, and assuming Lewis had the embryo of this in his mind already, it is possible that it was also important for Aravis to see how much more powerful Aslan was and put her firmly on the "right" track, especially if Aslan has knowledge of the future (which, as Jesus, he would have) and KNOWS she is going to wind up Queen of Archenland.

[@ijimenez1951]

@@sojoboscribe1342 That's also true, Aravis would be a ''Gentile'' the term used in the Bible for the people that were not jewish. The Horse and his Boy also draws a lot of inspiration from Moses's story with Shasta being a secretly a narnian (hebrew) being raised as a calormene (egyptian). Curiously enougth is Aravis the one who has a noble background and has to learn humilty and Shasta has to learn his value and how to be a king

[@sojoboscribe1342]

@@ijimenez1951 Shasta isn't a Narnian, he's an Arkenlander. Actually, since the people of Arkenland decend from the same stock as the ORIGINAL King and Queen of Narnia (the cabbie and his wife in the Magician's Nephew) I wonder why the Pevensies were able to assume the Narnian throne so easily, (I guess if Aslan say's you are the kings and queens, you're the kings and queens, and any rival claimants know to keep their mouths shut.) Or why they didn't mount a counteroffensive when the Telmarines showed up. Also, what happened to the other two gods between this story and The Last Battle (when it sounds like Tash is now the ONLY god in Calormen.)

[@TheLadySilverMoon]

I've always liked A Horse and his boy, mainly because it takes place while the Pevensie siblings are adults in Narnia, I wish we had more stories of them while they ruled Narnia.

[@projectbelmont7177]

This one was my favorite back when I read them in Elementary school, although I'm not really sure why. I think I appreciated that this was the only one that took place purely in Narnia without any real world interference (yes, the Pevensies appear in this book, but if you didn't read the other books you wouldn't know that they're from our world, and the fact that they are is rather inconsequential).

[@timpeterjensen2364]

pretty much the same, my favorite in the series, but not really sure why, i did love the Naria books alot more as a kid than i do now as an adult though.

[@fabrisseterbrugghe8567]

I loved it, too. There are moments of orientalism that I didn't recognize as a child, but overall I found it a magnificent piece of what I would now call world-building.

[@MorriganReads]

Same! I hated the real world plot in the other books.

[@iwillworkharder]

This was also my favorite book as a kid, and I think it has to do with what Dom talks about with the characters having it harder than the other protagonists. It feels a lot more like characters figuring things out and then executing them as opposed to waiting around for literally God to hand you the solution.

[@titanuranus3095]

Mine to, it felt more mature, somehow.

[@blooddragon805]

I’m loving the fact that this was a lot of people’s favourite book ! It kind of makes sense, it’s a very interesting dynamic and the fact that Shasta was perpetually lost and confused was super relatable But two things because I’m annoying : Corin, not Cor becomes famous for beating a bear, since the whole « I’m gonna fight and punch absolutely everyone » was his thing throughout the book And it’s Hwen who says to Aslan : « you know what, I’m totally down for you eating me », not Aravis

[@benwasserman8223]

I’ll just say this, it’s always weird seeing Peter and Susan talk in Shakespearian vernacular during their royalty phase. Like were they taught to speak that way, or did it happen naturally?

[@edisonlima4647]

Maybe in dealing with the neighboring kings, queens and nobles for the next years they could have adapted to the way they spoke. "The language of diplomacy" around being formal English rather than French.

[@WannabeDancer72]

I put it down to Narnia having that affect on people if they stay there for long enough. In the Magician's Nephew, Frank and Alice went from being cockney to royal English just from being in Narnia and around Aslan.

[@blablablubb7623]

I think it was explained as them "speaking more like kings and queens as they grew into their positions" in Lion, Witch, Wardrobe

[@mandisaw]

+1 for training, but probably both - it's actually a really old fantasy & folklore trope. Popular variant is "blood will out" where someone's bearing & grace just naturally proves their inherent highborn status, no matter how poor their actual upbringing. Lewis actually tends to subvert/dismiss this one a lot - Shasta and Edmund were kind of shit at being a prince at first, Caspian was more brat than prince/king for years, ditto Lucy's constant second-guessing at being a princess. Peter & Susan I think benefitted from being older-sibs (more responsible), and may have also had some experience at the point of LW&W dealing formally with adults, perhaps also leadership activities at school due to the war. There's also the version where "visitors" purposely start shifting their language/affect to match the "other world". This one actually happens IRL - you can spot someone's accent shifting if they've lived someplace else for an extended period, particularly in childhood/adolescence.

[@Estarile]

Peter isn't even in this book.

[@kitsunebaxter6311]

“Definitely sounds like a Pokémon name” Thanks Dom, I literally only heard that name as Rapidash after you said that. It’s even a horse…

[@SilverBellYTofficial]

I see what you did there 😏

[@supervegito2277]

I wasnt paying attention for a few seconds and had a double take on that.. "Did he just say Rapidash?"

[@AzrealWings]

I will always stand by that Susan was denied "heaven" because she stopped believing and not because of boys, nylons, or lipsticks. I always wondered what would have happened if she still believed and showed up as a fierce fashionista in the end

[@rmsgrey]

A key point is that Susan wasn't so much denied entry to paradise as not offered it... yet.

[@michaelsinger4638]

The punishment was RIDICULOUSLY harsh for what she supposedly did. Overkill doesn’t even begin to describe it.

[@jsouth5577]

agree. Susan didn't get into Narnia (yet) because she stopped believing and started referring to Aslan and Narnia as 'games they played as children' (something Lewis himself did with Christianity). I don't know why people get so hung up on the 'lipstick' comment and miss ALL the rest of it. She also wasn't denied 'New Narnia' - she didn't show up in it (yet) because she hadn't DIED the way the ones that showed up in it had. Susan was Lewis' stand-in. He also knew Christianity as a child, stepped away from it as he grew up and came back to it later in life. He responded to a child's letter about Susan by saying that she wasn't denied heaven (Narnia) she was just delayed while she worked her way back to it. Lewis has a lot of hiccups in his writing (and issues with women especially when he was younger) but for some reason the one thing people latch on to instead is the one count where he was being fair and realistic with a female character and giving her the depth of his own backstory. The dwarves - now the dwarves were denied 'heaven'.

[@rmsgrey]

@@michaelsinger4638 What punishment? Not kidnapping her and forcing her to go to a "heaven" she doesn't want? How terrible!

[@SofaKingStupid]

​@@jsouth5577 What happens with the dwarves?

[@carolinegregus3406]

Lewis himself said that Susan's story required greater care that he couldn't give in the series. She represents the individual who grew up Christian, left in adulthood, to come back with a fuller understanding later- MUCH like Lewis's life.

[@RodericGurrola]

Exactly 👍🏻. But a lot of I see in the comments misinterpret this and say Lewises bad Christianity.

[@iriswings369]

This was my favorite when I originally read the series, and what prompted me to take up horseback riding as a hobby at 10. My mom and riding teacher were so surprised when I fell off my horse and got back up without crying, but that was all because of Bree's lecture to Shasta when he's learning to ride. :D

[@azara7574]

And of course anyone who has ridden a horse facepalms at Bree's 'hold on with your knees' instruction because the first thing you learn is DO NOT HOLD ON WITH YOUR KNEES! (For those curious, you stay on by keeping your weight down in the stirrups, you don't 'grip' the horse with any part of your leg XD). I was always surprised with this error, I guess Lewis never had anything to do with horses and his friends who had, didn't correct him? But good for you being inspired and brave by the story to try something! Do you still ride?

[@gokbay3057]

@@azara7574 In fairness stirrups did not always exist. I am not sure if Cor/Shasta had stirrups when riding Bree, but it is possible he didn't.

[@robertboyle2573]

Nice story.

[@jaysailsthesea]

i haven’t read this book in a while so take all things said with a grain of salt. as an AFAB person and a horse lover THAHB meant the world to me growing up. i loved the depictions of women - each different, but defined and rounded. aravis’s childhood friend was an airheaded, silly, but ultimately selfless and generous woman. hwin was gentle, wise, and spiritual. lucy was a strong archer and queen. aravis was an armour-stealing, strong-minded, steadfastedly loyal main character. a book written in the 1950’s by a middle aged white christian man depicted an asian girl wearing armour who had a character arc and was treated with respect both in the story and through the narrative. i think that’s pretty cool. i also liked the more serious take on aslan. it felt like a more grown up story - the characters had to make their own way, and live with the consequences of their actions - like what edmund went through, but slightly more serious. aravis and bree were both very changed by the narrative in a way i appreciated. aravis learning respect for those she once thought below her - like shasta and the serving girl - shown metaphorically through marks mirroring the innocent girl she harmed, is horrifying but poignant. the shared shame she and bree feel when they reflect on shasta’s bravery is a strong moment. i enjoy the bonds made between the characters. one of my favourite scenes from the book is when they’re walking through the boiling desert, and shasta is burned by the sand. and bree doesn’t even question letting shasta ride on his back to escape the pain. i’m not christian, but this book is said to be one of the more subtly spiritual ones, with the scene with aslan and shasta lost in the fog resonating with a lot of people. i think the way C.S Lewis connects to his faith in various ways through each of these books is very interesting. so, yeah. it definitely fails to meet our standards of representation, and there’s a lot of possible interpretations to aravis’s depiction in the story, but considering the time it was made and the comfort it gave me as a child, i appreciate the horse and his boy a lot.

[@ijimenez1951]

Not only only an Asian woman but Aravis is a dark skinned heroine aswell and is also in a bi racial relationship. Super progressive for the time

[@autumbreeze1129]

Never read the book myself. Only listened and still listen to the BBC Radio 4 Dramatisation of the book. Much better, honestly, since it removes all the racism by not even mentioning race at all

[@gwest3644]

@@ijimenez1951 Well… “progressive” is a strong word. In the Last Battle it’s revealed that Tash, the god the Calormenes worship, is actually Narnia’s version of the devil

[@ijimenez1951]

@@gwest3644 I know that, What does that has to do with Aravis?

[@jaysailsthesea]

@@gwest3644 that’s true, but there’s also that scene in the last battle when they’re in true narnia, where they meet that guy who worshipped Tash who was there with them in “heaven” and was accepted among them. i think it’s implied that Tash wasn’t a true version of their deity, but a being made in Tash’s name that was formed from the evil of humans, rather than actually being the god Tash. it’s also implied through this calormeme in heaven that C.S Lewis believes good people with faith, even if that faith isn’t his own, deserve a good afterlife. so he has some very backwards views because of the time period but he doesn’t have pure disrespect of people of colour, like many people of the time did.

[@lorewalkermaohao4602]

Correction: Calormen are of Earthen descent. They came from Archenland, which themselves were descendants of the two humans that remained in Narnia from the first chronological book.

[@kathycoleman4648]

Polly and Digory of The Magician's Nephew?

[@BluTaiger]

@@kathycoleman4648 King Frank and Queen Helen, the former cabbie and his wife.

[@Gr3nadgr3gory]

​@@BluTaiger love those two. They're just those random normal people who roll with the punshes. Ehh, stuck in a weird fantasy world? Ehh better found a country.

[@venilia]

They’re not stuck. Aslan offers them the job of king and queen in magic talking animal land and they prefer that to be a cabbie who worries about his poor horse’s health in the London pollution and grime, and a… iirc a laundress? I remembe Helen’s hands being all sudsy when she’s first whisked to Narnia and something about how hard she works. It’s basically a giant cottage core upgrade except also they need to teach the animals to read and write and figure out some laws for the country they’re founding

[@FoxerBoxerNaaniwa]

Idk I think it’s a bit weird for the very middle eastern coded people to be distantly descended from a British couple. Also you can’t make a whole population of people descended from just two people. All the inbreeding would be a genetic nightmare.

[@ariellakahan-harth8831]

Dom as a stoned Narnian rabbit is everything.

[@snubabubba2745]

I require a ten hour loop of "oh shit dude someone should do something about that." 😂

[@lilyme3]

Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

[@crazypurplehair5722]

See, this is exactly why I love the videos where there isn't a movie. Hollywood could never compare to this

[@alanpennie8013]

Dylan from The Magic Roundabout.

[@MariaVosa]

I'll admit this was my favourite Narnia book as a kid! It was fully immersed in the Fantasy world, no "real world" intrusion. WHile even young me realised this was quite offensive orientalism the way the Calormen were depicted, it was also somewhat nuanced and not wholly negative. The city of Tashban was amazing, and Aravis was spoiled but also brave and smart! She was complicated and I loved her. While the claw marks were cruel, it was also thought provocing to take inte consideration that the choices made by a protagonist could cause harm to an innocent bystander and that this was not ok. A revolutionary concept in many ways. Also, Lucy getting to be a Warrior Queen was awesome! I get why the book is probably impossible to adapt today, but it still breaks my heart. This and the Silver Throne are the two best in the series to me.

[@hjalfi]

I think that even as a child I was aware there was something horribly wrong with Aslan clawing Aravis' back --- later on I realised that it's completely disproportionate retribution because Aravis _wasn't_ the cause of the handmaiden's punishment: the unnamed person who ordered the punishment was. Aslan's basically dehumanising them, and as Granny Weatherwax would say, evil is when you start treating people as things...

[@astrinymris9953]

You might be able to remake it if you made both Narnia and Calormen have multiracial populations, and you changed Calormene culture to make it its own thing instead of a Middle Eastern stand-in. Mind you, a lot of conservative fans of the series would have a hissy fit if you did anything of that nature, proclaiming it "wokeness".

[@astrinymris9953]

@@hjalfi Not to mention that the reason Aravis drugged her handmaiden was to escape being sex-trafficked. You wouldn't think trying to avoid being raped is something warranting punishment, but apparently C. S. Lewis thinks it is.

[@hjalfi]

...although, I did have a thought, and looked up the text (it's been a long time since I read it). When asked what happened to the handmaid, Aravis replies: ""Doubtless she was beaten for sleeping late... But she was a tool and spy of my stepmother's. I am very glad they should beat her." So, yeah. If she _expected_ that the handmaid would be beaten, that makes her _way_ more culpable. Although I think still not mauled-by-a-lion culpable.

[@markborok4481]

@@astrinymris9953 Or just present a more balanced view of Islamic culture. In any case, you can't get away from the Christian-centric core of the books, Aslan is still Jesus and all other gods (Tash) are demons. So basically no, this book isn't getting made into a movie.

[@Matheus-ql7mn]

"The horse and his boy" was my first Narnia book and it has a special place in my heart. It was a simple story with likeable characters and with a better view at the world. Why it's so contained in itself it makes a pretty good real alone story.

[@molliethomas2585]

I remember that this one was my favorite when I read the series in elementary school. I think I just related to Shasta more than all the other protagonists, and I loved Aravis. Considering how C. S. Lewis and Tolkien were buddies, Eowyn from LOTR being a thing, and the times where they were writing, they may have influenced each other with the whole Action Woman trope.

[@butterknife1066]

I also loved Aravis! In retrospect there are elements of her character that haven’t aged well, and she REALLY got sidelined from the climax, but she’s also one of the most competent and proactive characters, especially female characters, in the Narnia books

[@stapler942]

Take this with a grain of salt as I'm not a literary scholar, but I imagine Tolkien's characters Éowyn and Lúthien are also callbacks to the Scandinavian and Germanic story traditions of the shield-maiden. (Perhaps along with other traditions and historical figures like valkyries, Jean D'Arc, etc. Plus Tolkien's wife Edith, of course.)

[@mandisaw]

​@@stapler942 Different names in different places, but most cultures have their traditions of women-warriors, whether defenders or conquerors. A lot of the oral histories & written records of such tended to fall prey to ideological purges over time though - the Catholic Church did its share, and then some.

[@Nortarachanges]

Yeah I love Aravis! I remember how Lewis made that joke that she was taught how to tell stories in school like English kids are taught to write essays. Except people want to hear the stories. Always made me laugh ^_^

[@Nargon46]

The Horse and His Boy has always been my favorite of the books, it feels like it would make a great movie. The characters are well developed and have proper arcs, the danger is always close, the tension is real. I recently saw a stage production of this story while in Washington D.C., with full size puppets that the actors actually rode on, battles, armor, flashbacks, the whole nine yards. I couldn't believe there was a show of it so I just had to go and check it out, and it was well worth it. The acting was amazing and it looked great. This really is such a great standalone story in the Narnia franchise.

[@helenl3193]

That show sounds amazing! Any idea of the production team/who the director was? I'll keep an eye out for any touring! :)

[@Nargon46]

@Helen L yeah I still have the program. It was the Academy of the Arts' Logos Theater, and the director was Nicole Stratton. I think they are going on tour again soon, only to a couple places, but if you can it's well worth checking out. Honestly I would road trip to see it again. You can look up the trailers on KZbin (the ones from this past year are the most updated to the current show, they first did it a few years ago and have made a lot of changes since then.)

[@StarryEyed0590]

@@Nargon46 I saw that show too! I'm enough of a book purist that some of the changes bugged me (I really don't think the prologue did the story any favors), but the production itself was fantastic.

[@helenl3193]

@@Nargon46 great, thank you! 👍

[@Nargon46]

@@StarryEyed0590 fair enough. I loved the prologue personally

[@tkalle1299]

Oh my god you got the tone of the hermit commentating the battle perfectly! One of my favorite parts of the book

[@fpedrosa2076]

I liked that the two teens who snuck into battle, despite one even being the hero of the book, don't do anything big during the battle. And, in fact, Shasta does quite poorly. Really puts into perspective that he's just a kid raised as a fisherman most of his life and out of his depth, except perhaps for his horse riding skills. Sure, Corin can punch anything down, but that's pointed out as something he's abnormally good at (and enthusiastic about).

[@Nortarachanges]

@@fpedrosa2076 yes. I also take weird comfort with the “doing a good deed is usually rewarded by needing to do another, harder good deed.” I have a bad habit of getting complacent and not following up when I do something I’m glad I did. It reminds me to try to keep taking steps forward

[@MorriganReads]

Corin fights the bear and gets super famous for it, not Cor. Cor’s a good king, but he and Aravis’s son is the most famous Archenland king. So he and Aravis mostly get remembered as “King Ram the Great’s parents”. So even with the happily ever after they get kind of a raw deal. Barely remembered except for parenting a guy.

[@Luanna801]

I imagine most parents would be incredibly proud and thrilled for their son to become their country's greatest king. Not really a raw deal IMHO.

[@galadream]

I've read this book as a child and didn't pick orientalistic nuances back then. But I loved the story most of all Narnia stories and I guess it is partly to blame for the fact that I chose Middle Eastern Studies as my major and now teach Arabic to students 😅 So, thank you C.S.Lewis. And thank you, Dominic, for another great video - I always enjoy them 😊

[@0816M3RC]

But some middle eastern countries did do what they were "stereotyped" as doing.

[@brxken_bvtterfly]

Dominic as a horse chastising a boy is something I never knew I needed

[@joseywales6168]

dominic as a stoner donkey was something i never knew i needed

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@joseywales6168isn’t that a rabbit?

[@michaelhorn6029]

Oh and of course the Last Battle is Bonkers. It's a retelling if revelations. Honestly disappointed there aren't more monsters. Please keep doing this series in exactly this tone.

[@Nightman221k]

This is my favorite book in the series, I just love Shasta and Aravis as protagonists and their odd personalities, plus seeing the Pevansies as young adult rulers was fun.

[@woobackwednesday2299]

I kinda liked this when I was younger because I was really rooting for Shasta I also proceeded to skip all of the books which had been adapted to movies and found The Magician's Nephew and The Silver Chair very weird even as young as I was

[@benjaminfitzgerald7011]

The Silver Chair actually was made into a movie, albeit a low-budget BBC production in the late 80s/early 90s. It's rather dreadful, but it is a movie.

[@Great_Olaf5]

This was my absolute favorite of the Chronicles of Narnia. I've read it over a dozen times compared to most of them which I've only read once or twice, and it stands up even as an adult. That naming tradition is only for twins, and wasn't limited to the royal family, it was all of Arkenland.

[@alanpennie8013]

Bree ranks with Reepicheep as my favourite talking beast. I was amused by having the hermit provide a kind of football commentary on the battle because of the impossibility of describing it from Shasta's pov. Battles are really hard to write.

[@charleston1789]

Was not in ANY way prepared for Il Neige’s rendition of Look At My Horse 🤣😂! Just perfect - nice to know that internet classic is having a resurgence

[@ljones3487]

Not enough people have commented on that. It was even weirder than the original. 🤣

[@becauseimafan]

I had absolutely no idea WTF that song was, I was so confused and taken aback! 😂 Thank you for your comment, it certainly cleared things up for me!! 😂

[@chesh1rek1tten]

Came looking for a comment that acknowledged this!

[@pastaman68]

Man, the song choice for the credits sure is a deep cut, I haven't thought about that video in upwards of a decade

[@broadwaystar2b]

I was legit CACKLING at the candy mountain Charlie throwback horse animated retelling of scenes 😂👏

[@timpeterjensen2364]

I grew up reading the Naria books, The Horse and His Boy was for some reason always my favorite in the series.

[@headachesandhairdye]

The Horse and His Boy was and still is my favourite Narnia book! It's one of very few looks we get into the Golden Age of Narnia as ruled by the Pevensies, and also I liked the horses.

[@tayloredwards4968]

This is by far my favorite book in the series. I really wish that Disney would have made a movie of this

[@dallasgrey4247]

How is this your favorite? I mean no shade, just how/why is this your favorite?

[@bobloblaw9679]

@@dallasgrey4247 i feel kind of similarly i vividly remember reading this when i was eleven---the mental images it created were really something.

[@agneskirsch8335]

It was my favourite as well, gut wenn I reread it as an adult I realised it would never be made because of all the racism.

[@RevanAlaire]

From what I recall, Disney had planned to adapt the books in somewhat chronological order. Saving The Magicians Nephew and The Horse and His Boy for last.

[@Kamenriderbuster2022]

I remember this being the worst book of the series no shade at your opinion

[@TwinRiver100]

6:33 I thought it was more because Corrin was a big fan of pranking and troublemaking that this didn't phase him so much rather than a concussion. And most of his life I suppose probably was filled with what he'd call boring Prince stuff. So seeing someone who looked just like him, his mind went to: heyyyy, how can I best mess with my Narnian buds and screw around with them a bit.

[@MarlaAndRubyT]

As a kid, my least favorite part of the Narnia books by far were always Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. As such, I really liked A Horse and his Boy. My favorite was still the Magician’s Nephew, but this was a close second.

[@fjdoucet1465]

I adored the Magician's Nephew, especially those incredible scenes on Charn.

[@nicholasdraper4722]

I wonder if the reason Aslan had to be so harsh with them is that Calormen (I think that's how it's spelt) doesn't actually worship him the way Narnia, and presumably Arcanland does, instead having their own Gods with the chief being Tash. It may be that he has less power there as it's not his 'territory' so to speak. That would also explain why Tash only appeared when he was summoned by his worshipers in the last book and his action seemed to be restircted to effecting them. Of course in this book, once they crossed the border, he was able to speak to the protagonists and interfere more blatantly when Rappidash was captured.

[@jrcooke2001]

I don't think Lewis would consider worship as affecting Aslan's power. If anything, when the characters don't worship Aslan, then Aslan is more likely to help them less.

[@Malroth00Returns]

@@jrcooke2001 Tash and Aslan had a deal, Aslan would gain power from faith and good will regardless of who performed it while Tash would eat the trechery and cruelty.

[@alanpennie8013]

Nicholas Draper. This is excellent hand - waving, though I doubt Lewis thought things through in this much detail.

[@chrismatthews2040]

You're thinking about Tash and Aslan as if they are two beings in a pantheon a la Greece or Egypt. That's definitely not the case. Aslan is the capital-G God of the Bible, Creator of Heaven and the entire Universe - a being of unlimited power and greatness. Tash is more like a little local small-g god like Zeus or Kali, a being of great power, but still very limited in comparison. Zeus may be "Lord of the Sky" but compared with the vast light-years of outer space, the nebulas, the black holes, the stars and so on; being the god of a mere 4 billion cubic kilometres of air is peanuts. So whilst Tash is indeed a little local god who can only appear when summoned by his followers, he is not in any way equivalent to Aslan, the God of the Universe. As to the point made in the Last Battle, what Aslan was saying was in effect: any cruel or evil action done in his name would not be recognised by him, and any truly kind or good actions done in the name of a false god or idol would be received by him. He wasn't indicating that there was a "deal" between himself and Tash or that he and Tash were in any sense equals.

[@miguelatkinson]

​@@chrismatthews2040 did you call kali a local god !?

[@JoshuaRastia]

I remember when reading this series for school I actually liked this book the best in the series, probably because it deviated from the “main characters” of the other books (which I always found a little boring) and just kinda went on it’s own adventure and had fun world building in the Narina universe. I always find side story’s like this interesting and always appreciate when writers have a few of them in the universe they create. Makes the worlds more interesting and alive I think

[@hjalfi]

I was never terribly interested in Narnia itself as a place. I had the wonderful Pauline Baynes map of the Narnian world on my bedroom wall as a child, and it was always the places at the _edge_ of the map which interested me. What's south of Calormen? North of Harfang? West of the Western Wilds? (Apart from the Garden.) My favourite book by far was Dawn Treader because it's an exploration of some of the totally weird shit which the Narnian world had in it; I also loved The Magician's Nephew because we got to see some of the _other_ worlds in the Narnian multiverse. I'd have loved to see more of Charn. So it's kind of strange that I didn't like Horse very much. I think it's because it's just so odd compared to the other books. Which is, of course, not a bad thing. (I always kinda got the impression that the whole Narnian world was made by Aslan as a pet project, which then immediately went off the rails when it got colonised by Daughters of Eve and Sons of Adam. And then _all the other crazy stuff_ crept in through the cracks. So most of the world, other than Narnia itself, mainly exists just as the margins. Which explains why he's so hard on Shasta and Aravis; he's pissed off that his little garden world suddenly has a huge population of people that were never meant to be there that _he_ now has to look after.)

[@AegixDrakan]

THAT ENDING SONG. I was not expecting that blast from the past! XD

[@Salamon2]

This was my favorite book in the series, largely for the back and forth relationship between Shasta and Aravis, as well as the horses and their riders. I will agree that if it were ever to be adapted, it would have to be scrubbed of its Edwardian-based racism (I say Edwardian for the era Lewis would have formulated his worldview), but the story is fun for the relationships between the main characters.

[@Salamon2]

And it could be done without changing too much. Portraying Lasaraleen in a better light, perhaps in expanding the story a bit portraying Aravis' younger brother positively in contrast to his mother could aid in scrubbing that racism by showing that there are "good" Calormen, but they are living in a society which doesn't allow them to do good often. I would likely add the servant girl that gets beaten for being drugged by Aravis, expanding her role a bit. I am tempted to expand on one of Rabadash's younger brothers and have him perhaps in the scene that Aravis overhears, and perhaps he is the one who denounces his brother's plans as folly, and he is threatening their relations with the country over a personal slight. Add in how that would be bad for trading with the Narnians, and ask how they are to hold an entire country separated from them across a vast desert without sinking a heavy occupation force that would burden the people with taxes for the folly. You know show that the younger brother would be an intelligent and fair ruler. The Tisroc then revealing that he has long suspected Rabadash's brashness might get him into trouble, and is giving Rabadash enough rope to "hang himself with" so to speak, so that he can disown him and choose his own successor from among his other more worthy sons. That's how I would handle it, and end with the brother being proclaimed the Tisroc's heir. Yeah, I would get rid of Rabadash staying heir after his transformation simply because that joke makes more sense in print than a visual medium.

[@kylepeters8690]

you know, this had never occurred to me but the Pevensies lived for decades in narnia, you'd think they would have married and had families. That could have been fascinating and existential with them being married and having kids in narnia who they can never see in our world, and the horror that they're all dead by the time of prince caspian

[@alanpennie8013]

I can see why the author didn't go there.

[@nairsheasterling9457]

Oof, I feel that.

[@tiffanywyatt5137]

The books for kids dude.

[@nairsheasterling9457]

@@tiffanywyatt5137 And? You're acting like kids' books don't feature incredibly dark, morbid, existential shit in 'em. This attitude is why kids' media sucks - it believes kids are inherently unintelligent and incapable of grappling with some truly existential questions, and not like the inexperienced, tiny humans they are.

[@tiffanywyatt5137]

@@nairsheasterling9457 imagine being mad kid media is designed for kids lol kid media sucks cause it's not meant for you!

[@Takisan111]

I was not expecting a mellow rendition of that Amazing Horse song. That song is from the earliest days of the internet. I was still so young that I didn't even catch the dirty parts at the time.

[@robertpaige4505]

Adds "Bardcore version of 'Amazing Horse'" to the list of "Things I Didn't Know I Needed In My Life Until I Found Them."

[@briannawalker4793]

Omg Il Niege bless you for the next thousand years - bardcore Look At my Horse is everything I never knew I needed 😭😭😍😍

[@locasciocarlos]

the final verses were missing from the closing theme: Get on my horse I'll take you 'round the universe And all the other places too I think you'll find that the universe Pretty much covers everything Shut up woman get on my horse!

I see nothing wrong with shredding her back. As a noble woman she didn't even think twice about the poor handmaid who was forced to help her and then forced to get punished. Most of the time, in old literature servants and maid are completely ignored and treated as little more than furniture. And TBH, it was the same in real life as well. She did, indeed, needed to feel the pain for herself as a reminder that the handmaid was a person too and felt just like herself. About Asian cultures... the kingdom portrayed there is more Turkish/Ottoman than Asian so it kinda makes sense.

[@alex_bee_kind]

She was a child?! If you see nothing wrong with a creature thats supposed to be a literal metaphor for God shredding up the back of a child who only drugged her handmaiden because she was trying to escape being a literal bride. I hope you never have children.😬

[@velvethunder]

Aslan : "subtly" also Aslan : * scrapes girl's back *

[@falconeshield]

Christian love hurts

[@user-je4xp5hq2e]

As a kid, I thought that was so mean of Aslan to scratch Aravis's back like that. As an adult, I totally get it.

[@RodericGurrola]

@@falconeshield yea no my friend.

[@RichardWatt]

Il Neige has done a great cover of Mr Weebl's "Amazing Horse".

[@KingfisherTalkingPictures]

This was easily my favorite book in the series, and I read it whenever I was sick in bed. I always remember it as a kids vs. adults book, rather than the specificity of the cultures. As a non-christian child, I had no clue Asian was a Jesus metaphor, just another super-mega evolution of a magic animal. I always felt the story was a companion piece to Aladdin, with it’s share of evil viziers, child brides etc. rather than an anti-Muslim book. As an adult, I still remember the joy it gave me, and the adventures of the kids with the brave, intelligent horses who helped them.

[@merri-toddwebster2473]

I had a book by Andrew Lang of children's versions of some of the Arabian Nights, and The Horse and His Boy had a very similar vibe to those stories.

[@danielcopeland3544]

_The Horse and his Boy_ was written before _The Silver Chair,_ but published afterwards. There are a number of series-level timeline issues that would have worked a lot better if it had fallen in the timeline between _The Voyage of the Dawn Treader_ and _The Silver Chair._ There's even a hint in _The Voyage of the Dawn Treader_ that there's going to be a war between Narnia and Calormen and it's going to have something to do with slavery. I strongly suspect, though I cannot prove, that Lewis's original plan was to have Rabadash run off with Caspian's Queen, and then decided at some point in the drafting process that only Susan Pevensie could be his Helen of Troy. (There are better-supported scholarly reasons why we can be sure Helen of Troy was the model for Susan's part in this story.) I'm afraid you misremember a couple of minor details: Shasta doesn't run all the way to Cair Paravel himself, he passes on his warning to a Talking Stag who carries it for him; and it's Hwin the mare, not Aravis, who offers to let Aslan eat her. It is a key point for understanding Narnia that Lewis did not believe children's books should only be read by children. It is one of his hobby-horses, that returns again and again in his writings, that people of any age including children are deserving of being respected and taken seriously; doesn't quite make up for his misogyny, alas, but he did walk that back a bit in his later life, so there's that. He wrote children's books because he felt they were the right "form" for the story he had to tell.

[@TroyFullwood]

a sequel set in a unrelated country seperated from the main one by a vast desert? i see lewis had been reading Oz 😅😅

[@alanpennie8013]

Good point.

[@robertmcbride4454]

"Quite human! Horses are talking." Had me laughing so hard.

[@KoalaTulip47]

10:16 I kept replaying this part over and over because it's so hilarious

[@dragongirl7978]

It really is like that in the book 😂 He has to go through like a dozen talking animals before he finally gets a bit of sense out of some dwarves.

[@TheIceman101418]

When I listened to these books back in 2004/2005 The horse and his boy was one of my favorites. I haven't re-read it since then but I loved the more intimate nature of the small story

[@galaxa13]

The one thing that really stuck with me from this book is Susan telling the main charter he was very "naught" for running away. For some reason that made up slang just always seemed really awkward to me and I can't seem to forget it.

[@ijimenez1951]

Lmao 🤣 I remember that too I was like “what was even that?”

[@philbrisby5756]

This was always my favorite book in the series, we rarely actually get to explore the world in the Narnia books and it was cool to see the world work around our protagonists. also as an add on when Aslan shreds Aravis back you find out that Aravis has been wearing a chainmail hauberk the entire trip which he goes straight through like it isn't there (at least as far as my memory goes on this). I loved the down to earth nature of the book and find that Aslan acts the most spiritual in this book then he does in almost all the others, he actually seems like a protective deity here.

[@kaitibeeps5887]

oh gosh, i LOVED the horse and his boy as a kid! i was reallly excited to see you talk about it -- i havent read it in decades now, but i was looking forward to your perspective as an adult vs what i remember from childhood, particularly re: the racism and any other aspects that dont hold up to modern scrutiny. though i've since left it, i was raised in a strict fundamentalist household, and the kinds of media we were allowed were heavily controlled by my parents. i was OBSESSED with aravis as a kid because she seemed so unlike other female characters i'd been allowed to encounter. she seemed capable!! not meek or polite, and she never deferred to her male counterpart. and like yeah, she DID marry him which WAS disappointing to me (i didnt know what lesbians were or that i was one lmfaooo), but she WASNT a submissive wife?? it was all very wild to me at the time looking forward to your video abt the last battle 🤞DEFINITELY my least favorite book as a kid (tash gave me nightmares for years and years lmfao) but im very interested in hearing you talk about it

[@thatpersoninahat]

In the hopes it will persuade you to do the last battle, I thought I would let you know that your Narnia series is literally my comfort show. Like how some people can rewatch parks and rec over and over again, and it's just a great show to put on when you don't feel good mentally, or just can't decide what to watch. That's how I am with your Narnia series. And while I do love rewatching the videos you have so far, it would be so amazing to add another 15 to 30 minutes more content. Heck I'd love an hour long video discussion on the last battle. However I understand that's not really possible, but I digress, please have your next video be on the last battle if you can.

[@cask82]

When I read this book, the selling/buying of Cor from his captive and not being his son because of his color was always hilarious. That was always my favourite scene

[@forgetaboutme5414]

It was my favorite book in the series. I legit still know and use the line “Easily in but not easily out said the lobster in the lobster pot”

[@KarelPKerezman]

Enjoyed a hearty chuckle at "Jesus' fursona" because that bit never gets old. I somehow avoided these books when I was a child, so going into this with zero knowledge of the material (beyond that one big first movie) is kind of extra-hilarious.

[@kmart1396]

What a _throwback_ with "Look at My Horse" as the outro song!!

[@BlueMerStudios]

I always liked this book. I thought it was a nice, different tale taking place in Lewis' world. And I liked Bree! He was the first fictional character with the same nickname as me, so it felt special when I was younger.

[@wildste]

I love that this week's credits song was just a straight up cover of a classic Weebl short. Was a perfect choice and as always, Il Neige did a fantastic job.

[@UstraMage]

Anyone else had Charlie the Unicorn going through their head everytime the horse was on screen? We're on a bridge, Charlie!

[@johnscarsandstuff]

That's what it reminded me of.

[@cam4636]

A ~magical~ liopleurodon!

[@squeethemog213]

I did not expect that song at the end. That with all the skits throughout has made this one of my favorite vids of yours 😂

[@alexandresobreiramartins9461]

Yeah, I intensely look forward to you talking about The Last Battle, AKA, when Lewis went totally batshit.

[@ironvader502]

11:00 if I recall correctly, the weird way Lewis described the Battle is kind of a homage to old Stage-theater. Since those usually couldnt afford the place (nor people) to have 50 people act out an actual fight, Battles in Theater were *usually* portrayed by one Character Watching & commenting on it from afar.

[@rachel_sj]

Hooray, it's finally time to review the Charlie the Unicorn installment of the Narnia books!!

[@DaxStrife1984]

I was not prepared for that cover of Mr. Weebl's "Amazing Horse" at the end there. I think I bruised a rib laughing.

[@wratched]

The "Susan denied entry into Heaven" thing was said by Philip Pullman but it's not true. All she did was not die in that railway accident.

[@lumpdinosaur153]

I remember trying to read these books as a kid and finding them so disjointed that I gave up so I really appreciate these videos cause I do like the world the lion the witch and the wardrobe made

[@jaycievictory8461]

"And I'm going to call you little two-legged bitch boy" 😭 I'm still laughing at this

[@CalliopePony]

I always liked this book. I think the fact that it is a smaller, more personal story is nice because in the overall series we really don't get to see much of the day-to-day life of this fantasy world. It makes the whole world feel more fleshed out to see things like marketplaces and people just going about their business. On the one hand, Lewis's portrayal of the Calormenes is very racist and Islamophobic, but on the other hand he did make Aravis a sympathetic heroine and he concluded the story with an interracial marriage, so I'm going to say that for being written by a white man in the 1950s it's not too bad. If it were adapted into a movie today it could be made significantly less offensive without needing to change too many essential points.

[@jazzy4830]

I would say Lewis' perspective on the Calormenes is likely influenced by the Ottoman empire, which he would have seen as an enemy during the Great War. The Ottomans also did take slaves and use child soldiers across much of their history. So while I'm sure Lewis engaged in a period-appropriate amount of general xenophobia, it's not like his depictions of middle eastern empires wasn't based in reality.

[@fuchsfarben]

The horses shitmouthing the kids and the stoned rabbit made me laugh way more than they probably should've 😂

[@AphroditeLee]

This was awesome! Thanks for introducing this one to me (even though I am still lost on HOW the heck I missed it in the first place) You rock!

[@blairmason5680]

I love this book and it expanded Narnia for me. I love reading about the exploits of the Adult Pevensies.

[@TheLuxVex]

Am I the only one who noticed the letters on Dom's tshirt partially getting the effect of the green screen? I don't know why, but I find it hilarious XD also, great content as always :D

[@pippastrelle]

I loved seeing the protagonists from TLWATW as monarchs

[@lisan9517]

As always, I love your dramatic reenactments! And I really got a kick out of that Star Wars reference. Took me a few minutes to remember where I'd originally heard it

[@Zahaqiel]

Technically the Calormene were first mentioned in Prince Caspian (although Staples revised their country's name from Kalormen to Calormen between the first edition and subsequent printings) and they are mentioned in Voyage of the Dawn Treader, 'cause they take slaves from the Lone Islands. It's been suggested by other writers that the Calormene may have either originated with Archenlander bandits who fled into the desert, or that there were simply other portals to Narnia from countries other than Britain that never got their stories written. Who knows what adventures Tash was summoning small children to get up to.

[@kayhaven4710]

This book, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle were my favorites out of the seven!

[@michaelsinger4638]

Lucy getting to be a badass military leader was my favorite part of this.

[@catherinelempke8451]

This was me and my sister's favourite of the series. It's weird, but it's a manageable scale and it's... I dunno. It's just fun. There's also a couple lessons I've taken with me into adulthood. For instance, when they're running across the dessert, Bree claims exhaustion, but Whin is like "Yeah but... when we had people FORCING us to go on, we definitely hit moments where we thought we couldn't keep going but we did, so shouldn't we try harder?" And also when they have Rapidash tied up, one of the Narnians starts to taunt him, but the king is like "Never mock someone who can't fight back. Save that shit for when they're on a level playing field with you and THEN run your mouth." Good stuff, honestly. Also, I appreciate the Charlie the Unicorn animation and the (perhaps unintentional) Monty Python voices. Always a treat.

[@George_with_a_J-b9b]

Wow your summaries of the scenes are so on point and the best part is they're only slightly exaggerated. It's hilarious!

[@aidanfarnan4683]

I... did you have to end this with a bardcore Verson "My Horse is amazing"? This will be stuck in my head for the next 200 years.

[@tracybartels7535]

Love the backdrops! This story was the hardest for me each time. Part probably because I had friends from the Middle East, and I didn't like the portrayal (but as a young kid, didn't really know how to process that- it gets even more problematic in TLB), part because it was split between the old crew I wanted more of and the new kids and their horses and I didn't know where to focus. I always felt this one would be hard to make into a film and, in fact, even the old (BBC?) versions stopped at Silver Chair. I always wanted to like TLB more than I did, but luckily TMN was still there as #6 at the time, and I absolutely adored that one!

[@jessicaable5095]

I remember getting the audio book from the library quite often as a kid. I loved this book 😊

[@silvercandra4275]

Aslan casually cheese grating the back of someone, then saying he's just done it to help, really shows that it's all just christianity with magic... I say this as someone who's literally been told "your father abusing you was god's plan"

[@Life_Universe_Everything]

Why I don’t like religion

[@CL-go2ji]

Hope you have a LOT of safe space between you and that shit now!

[@silvercandra4275]

@@CL-go2ji Haven't seen those people in around a decade, so I'd say so.

[@CL-go2ji]

@@silvercandra4275 A decade sounds good! Best of luck getting increasing amounts of lots of other kinds of distance.

[@geoffdewitt6845]

That "hermit scrying scene reminds me of the tower siege in Ivanhoe, where Rebecca narrates the battle for Ivanhoe from the window.

[@MeMySkirtandI]

Okay, so, this is my favorite fantasy book of all time. Yes, I acknowledge there are problems. But this is what kept me company during my crazy messed up teen age years.. So I'm going to be pedantic. There was no oasis on the gang's route north, that was the route the army took. Hwin offered herself as a snack. Shasta never made it to cair paravel, he fell asleep outside the dwarves' home. I happen to like how Lewis wrapped up Cor and Aravis' relationship, but i alas am also unmarried.

[@abig5924]

A million likes for the song at the end. I still have that damn thing memorised after over a decade. Aside from that, the horse and his boy was my one of my favourites growing up. Clearly, I need to relisten to it and reassess my opinions as an adult.