The Chronicles of Narnia : Voyage of the Dawn Treader

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA:

THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER

Lucy and Edmund are spending a dreary holiday with their cousin Eustace Clarence Scrubb, who is a rather dour and mean spirited little boy. They are unexpectedly drawn into Narnia when a painting of a ship on the wall of Lucy's room comes to life, and the three children fall into the ocean to be rescued by the Dawn Treader.

Once safely on board, Lucy and Edmund are greeted by their friend Caspian (now King Caspian) who has undertaken a quest to find the seven lost Lords of Narnia, as he had previously promised to Aslan. Lucy and Edmund are delighted to be back in Narnia, but Eustace is less than enthusiastic. Reepicheep is also on board, as he has vowed to find the seas of the "utter East".

They first make landfall at the Lone Islands, which is nominally Narnian territory, but has fallen into degeneracy--among other things, they participate in in the slave trade. Caspian, Lucy, Edmund, Eustace and Reepicheep are kidnapped by a slave trader to be sold. A man "buys" Caspian before they even make it to the slave market. He turns out to be the first lost lord, Lord Bern, and acknowledges Caspian as his King when Caspian reveals his identity. Before they leave the island, Caspian re-claims it for Narnia, overthrows the greedy governor, and replaces him with the Lord Bern, whom he creates Duke of the Lone Islands.

At the second island they visit, Eustace leaves the group to avoid doing any work. He hides in a dragon's cave to escape a sudden downpour. The dragon's treasure arouses his greed, and he fills his pockets with gold and jewels and puts on a large golden bracelet. He then falls asleep and wakes up as a dragon, with the bracelet badly hurting his arm; it fit his boy's arm but is far too small for his dragon's foreleg. As a dragon, he becomes aware of how bad his previous behaviour was, and uses his strength to help make amends. Aslan visits Eustace during the night and turns him back into a boy, and as a result of the visit, Eustace becomes a much nicer person. When Eustace is finally able to take off the bracelet, Caspian recognizes that it belonged to another lord, Lord Octesian; presumably the dragon killed Octesian and added the bracelet to its hoard.

In addition, they visit Burnt Island, Deathwater Island (so named for a pool of water which turns everything immersed in it into gold, including one of the missing lords), the Duffers' Island and the Island Where Dreams Come True. This last island, where nightmares become real, is never seen, but is where they find a crazed Lord Rhoop. At last, they come to the Island of the Star, where they find the three remaining lost lords in an enchanted sleep. The fallen star inhabiting the island informs them that the only way to awaken them is to sail to the edge of the world and leave one member of the crew.

The Dawn Treader continues sailing into an area where merpeople dwell and the water turns sweet rather than bitter and salty. At last the ship can go no further as the water has become too shallow. Caspian wishes to travel with Reepicheep to the end of the world, but his subjects are unwilling to let him go and remind him that he has promised the daughter of the fallen star that he would go back for her. Caspian declares that nobody will go on and descends to his cabin, here a painting of Aslan comes to life and tells Caspian that Edmund, Eustace, Lucy and Reepicheep are to go on to the end of the world, but Caspian must return to Narnia.

Lucy, Edmund, Eustace and Reepicheep venture in a small boat through an ocean of flowers until they reach a wall of water that extends into the sky. Reepicheep paddles his coracle up the waterfall, and is never again seen in Narnia. Edmund, Eustace, and Lucy walk in a strange land where they find a lamb. The lamb turns into Aslan who tells them that Edmund and Lucy will not return to Narnia and that they should learn to know him by another name in their own world. He then sends the children home.

[note: the following synopsis is based on the novel, and may differ from the film plot]