Possible Island Order on Narnia.com?

[icarus]

Last week Narnia.com updated its Island Map to included new "Coming Soon" messages for 5 of the islands on the map, as well as 1 for Aslan's Country. At the time i felt this was perhaps a very big indication as to the possible final 5 islands in the movie, due to the fact that any additional content that is to be "Coming Soon" for each of those islands will almost certainly be movie based content (e.g. perhaps in a similar style to what we had on the Prince Caspian website where you could explore various movie based locations and find hidden characters). It could surely also not be a coincidence that it was 5 islands they picked out, given that we already know they had "consolidated seven islands into five".

Now however, i believe Narnia.com has now given an even bigger clue as to the order of those islands. If you go to the map page now, when you now click on the map to search for treasure, the spin wheel now has all the icons activated. The 6 icons that were once inactive now allow you to zoom to the aforementioned 5 islands and Aslan's Country in a single click. However, the islands on the wheel are NOT listed in the order in which they appear on the map (the map itself being almost completley based on the books), they are instead listed in a completely different order. Given that its unlikely that they would just stick them up in a totally random order, and given that the order matches up with quite a lot of the other evidence we already have with regard to the island order, i would have to believe that this will probably be the order of the final 5 islands as in the book. To start with....

1. Narrowhaven, The Lone Islands - Pretty obvious really. I couldn't really see them ever changing that as there is pretty much no way you could tell the story without it being first. And of course we already had a quote from Producer Mark Johnson in one of the behind-the-scenes TV reports from the Narrowhaven Wharf set where he said that this was the first location they visit on their voyage, so no issues here...

2. Magician's Island - Narnia.com has this island second on its list. Had you told me this a year ago i would of failed to believe it, but given everything we have learnt in the past few months from the Biola screening and even the trailer, it seems fairly obvious that this was going to be very early in the movie (though not before the Lone Islands) as Coriakin seems to be providing the characters with lots of exposition as to the journey that awaits them, showing them maps of the journey ahead, and of course warning the characters that they are all about to be tested, which wouldn't make sense if they had already visited deathwater, dragon island etc. Also the fact that they have given the island the name "Magician's Island" seems to suggest to me that this will be the "Official Movie Name" for the island, as it is not a name which appears in the book (The chapter title refers to it as "The Island of the Voices" whilst the Pauline Baynes map refers to it as "Land of the Duffers")

3. Goldwater - Again, another island name which clearly has an "Official Movie Name". Its probably for the best really, since the name "Goldwater" does come first in the book, and it is marginally less spoilery than the final name of "Deathwater" as given to the island by Reepicheep. I would also be fairly confident in saying that Dragon Island has been merged into Goldwater as it does not appear on this list, and we have the prior evidence that they were at one point considering merging these two islands in the Video Game Adaptation. Also its worth mentioning that when we first heard the "we've consolidated seven islands into five" quote, most people's gut reaction was to suggest that Dragon Island and Deathwater would get merged (with Burnt Island dropping out completely). I personally thought at the time that such a combination would prove to be too many curses for one island to sustain, especially since both "curses" operated in completely different manners and that it would be overly confusing. However i've since come to accept that it is by far the most logical combination. Its also not surprising to see a Deathwater/Dragon Island come in right in the middle, as most people here had already pointed out that Eustace's Dragoning and Undragoning occurs far too early in the book to fit in with a typical movie 3-act character arc, where such a radical character transformation would usually occur at the end of the second act

4. Ramandu's Island - As with the big change in the positioning of Coriakin's Island, i would never have believed you if you told me a year ago that Ramandu's Island will be anything other that the final island in the movie. However, given everything we've heard about the plot recently, this does not really surprise me either. If the finding of the Seven Lords and their Seven Swords is now a crucial objective of the mission to "defeat the darkness", then it means that all Seven Lords and their respective Swords have to be found at or before the next island, in order for the entire concept of that plot line to work...

5. Dark Island - Narnia.com's selector wheel has this island listed as the last island before Aslan's Country. Again however, this is not really a suprise given that this fits in exactly with what we have been hearing over the last few months about the Dark Island being the principle threat of the movie. It seems very much that defeating the Dark Island is the key objective of the voyage, that finding the Seven Swords will somehow help them in this objective, and that the fate of the missing Narnian Slaves that Gael and Rhince and presumably everyone else is searching for, is somehow tied into the Dark Island plot. Therefore it is very easy to see why this The Dark Island will be the finale of the movie. For all intents and purposes it seems to be the "villain" of the movie, and defeating it will provide the story with a "final battle" that the movie makers so obviously feel the book lacks.

So anyway, Narnia.com is seemingly offering up that order as a possible ordering for the 5 islands in the movie, and given how well it fits in with the knowledge we already had about the movie which as i just described, i would probably assume that this will be the order of the 5 islands in the movie. Thoughts? Would people object terribly if that were the final island order? Can anyone see it panning out any differently?

[daughter of the King]

1-3 I was pretty much expecting already. Back when we first heard that some of the islands would be combined the Dragon/Deathwater combination was thrown around a lot and the general idea of moving Dufflepud Island towards the beginning to give Eustace a longer character arc was tossed in as well. 4 and 5 are a bit of a shock. It makes sense, but I guess part of me was still hoping that Ramandu's Island would be after all of the danger and intrigue and would really be the beginning of the end of the world.

Is Ramandu's Island still referred to as Ramandu's Island on Narnia.com? Since Deathwater is being referred to as Goldwater and Dufflepud Island is being referred to as Magician's Island I would think that if they had changed the name of Ramandu's Island it would be referred to by whatever name they gave it. Is this an indication that Ramandu will be in the film after all? Or at least mentioned?

[icarus]

Is Ramandu's Island still referred to as Ramandu's Island on Narnia.com?

With regard to Ramandu's Island, Narnia.com does refer to the island as "Ramandu's Island". We also saw concept art of the island on the wall of a Production Office (on Mirko Grillini's blog) that was labelled as "Ramandu's Island". Admittedly, we have zero information about whether or not Ramandu himself will be in the movie, but his island does seem to be named correctly.

With regard to Goldwater (not that you asked about it, but i remembered i forgot to mention it), in the report from the preview event that Tirian attended, he did refer to the island as "Goldwater" as well. Unless Tirian just simply happens to prefer using that name (i know i certainly have personal preferences for referring to Coriakin's Island) then i would assume that "Goldwater" was the name that was used by the presentation, and thus supporting the idea that it is seemingly the new official movie name.

[daughter of the King]

So, either the character himself will not be in it but will probably be mentioned (otherwise why would the island be called Ramandu's Island?), or they're keeping whoever they cast a secret until closer to the movie? At the moment I'm leaning towards the former. Perhaps Ramandu already grew young and returned to the sky? But, since Lilliandil is apparently a star instead of a half-star, and can fly back and forth as she pleases, the rules for Narnian stars have probably been changed.

[Liberty Hoffman]

wow! that would be cool if they are telling us ahead of time about the island order! that's so cool!

[Pattertwigs Pal]

I didn't even notice that the islands were listed in different orders on the compass. I did notice that you could click on them to go to those islands. The order kind of makes sense. Although one of the quotes says

Apparently, the writers have combined some of the episodes in the book to create a goal to defeat the “darkness” that threatens Narnia. It seems that they have to land on the dark island and follow a “blue star” to Ramandu’s island.

http://www.narniaweb.com/2010/05/narnia ... onference/, which would seem to indicate that they had to follow the star out of the darkness to get to Ramandu's island. That would be sending them backward in that case. Of course if Ramandu's Daughter appears to them early on on the journey (Lone Islands perhaps?) they could follow the star from there. If the darkness is indeed the threat they have to destroy, it would make sense that it would be close to the end of the world. I'm pretty sure the dragoning happens later in the film than it does in the book. I wonder where that island that people "disappear from" comes in. I'm guessing it is one of the Lone Islands.

[icarus]

That quote did cross my mind, and i wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Obviously there are the usual 'mistaken/misquoted' possibilities, but there would also be a few other ways in which i think it could be reconciled with the information presented here. As i theorised over in this thread here, i think its quite possible that Ramandu's Island and Dark Island will be heavily linked (possibly by the plot element of the Stone Knife/White Witch) and that the two islands could well be in close vicinity of one another, perhaps allowing for the possibility of going to and from one island to the other as part of the movie's finale.

Either way though, it seems to me that if they require the Seven Swords to in some way "defeat the darkness", then they can't find three of those swords (the ones belonging to the three sleepers) after they have visited the Dark Island, as there wouldn't then be much point in it otherwise.

[Movie Aristotle]

So, either the character himself will not be in it but will probably be mentioned (otherwise why would the island be called Ramandu's Island?), or they're keeping whoever they cast a secret until closer to the movie?

It might not be either. Maybe they never name the island in the movie but the marketing people on the website needed to call it something so they used the island's name from the book.

[Silver the Wanderer]

Wow. I didn't see the compass/island order thing on Narnia.com until you pointed it out, icarus. Your theory makes perfect sense to me, though I'm not a fan of Ramandu's Island and Dark Island getting switched around like that.

Although, I am glad that they're calling it "Ramandu's Island" instead of "Lilliandil's Island", implying that Ramandu does exist - in one way or another.

Perhaps Ramandu already grew young and returned to the sky? But, since Lilliandil is apparently a star instead of a half-star, and can fly back and forth as she pleases, the rules for Narnian stars have probably been changed.

I really hope they don't go overboard with the whole "Lilliandil the star" thing. But I have to wonder...if Lilliandil really is a star, does that make Rilian a half-star?

[daughter of the King]

It might not be either. Maybe they never name the island in the movie but the marketing people on the website needed to call it something so they used the island's name from the book.

True, but I was going under the assumption that the names on the compass are the official movie names. If they are the official names, that would imply that Ramandu at one point was on the island, but that doesn't mean he'll be in the movie.

if Lilliandil really is a star, does that make Rilian a half-star?

Yep, and in the next one they'll know who Rilian is immediately because he'll be the only one glowing in the dark.

[220chrisTian]

@icarus: I noticed the other day that there was an island order on the website's 'search for treasure' bit. But I didn't pay close attention until you mentioned it in the Narnia.com thread. I think your explanation makes sense. I still wish Ramandu's island came last. But oh well. I haven't figured out the seven swords bit or why they think it's necessary for the plot... I pointed out on the Aslan screencap near the end of the trailer that instead of there being a 'storm behind him,' that maybe it's Dark island being destroyed. What do you think?

http://www.narniaweb.com/2010/06/dawn-t ... hment/092/

[Liberty Hoffman]

^^ wow! I think your right! it looks right! wow! that would be cool!
here's why I think it would be cool: we still don't know all that they are going to do in VotDT, but if the Dark Island was an evil that Aslan was going to get rid of, maybe it's connected to what Lilliandil (RD) said: "The fate of Narnia depends on you." and mabe that comment has to do with the Pevensies, Eustace, and Caspian doing something to save Narnia!

[coracle]

Perhaps she really is a 100% star. After all we have never been told about her mother, merely that her father is a retired star. Her mother could also have been a star. Lewis didn't tell us, and thus avoided all sorts of questions about star families.

[decarus]

I think this is a good theory. I do think that it makes sense that if the seven swords are somehow needed to destroy the darkness then Ramandu's island would have to come before the dark island. They would have to have all the swords before they confront the darkness.

I am still a little unsure how the collection of seven swords somehow could stop the darkness. I think we need to know more to understand that a little better.

Also if the darkness is the big bad for the film then it also makes sense that it would be the last or climax before Aslan's country.

I am glad that we now know that it seems to be dragon island and deathwater island that are together and that they aren't considering Aslan's country an island.

I still think it seems likely that Eustace may remain a dragon from deathwater until dark island. I am a little worried about that in that they may have Eustace perform some heroic moment at the dark island and that people may see that as a connection as to why he is undragoned. I think it is very important that it be understood that Eustace was not undragoned because of anything he did, but simply because of Aslan's grace even though Eustace was unworthy. I think it could still be pulled off properly if they have some good dialogue there though they have yet to have much good dialogue surrounding Aslan.

[Trufflehunter]

I think that this is an excellent theory, and I completely agree! It all makes sense! We know there are to be 5 islands, and then there's Aslan's Country. To me, the pieces of the puzzle fit together perfectly!

[Liberty Hoffman]

^^ ditto! this is going to work out well! I think that they combined some islands to shorten some things and make it so they wouldn't have to miss anything important and I can't wait to see this! further up and further in!