Cair Paravel is a location featured in the Chronicles of Narnia franchise, first introduced in the 2005 Disney/Walden Media adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Background[]
Cair Paravel was the capital of Narnia home to its kings and queens on the early years. Located on the mouth of the Great River and the coast of the Eastern Ocean, the castle was empty during Jadis' reign after putting the castle under a winter spell. However, ever since the Pevensies' arrival, the castle was restored to its formal state where the prophecy was fulfilled during the Golden Age of Narnia, making the four kings and queens.
The castle of Cair Paravel was home to the Great Hall, a throne room that is often described as the most majestic room where the kings and queens of Narnia would sit, being the place where celebrations occurred such as the Pevensies' coronation. However, since the Telmarine age of Narnia, Cair Paravel was destroyed, putting the castle in ruins ever since the Pevensies' return. Amongst one of the rooms found within the ruins is the Treasure Room, a hidden room where the Pevensies' personal items were stored in treasure chests.
Appearances[]
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe[]
During Peter, Susan, and Lucy's encounter with Aslan, the latter shows Peter the castle Cair Paravel from a distance, telling him that it is the castle with the four thrones where the Pevensies would be crowned as rulers as well as explaining to him of a deep magic so powerful that rules over Narnia.
At the end of the film, mermaids are seen leaping out of the water happily while the members of Aslan's Army are present attending the coronation of the Pevensies with the centaurs and dwarfs blowing the trumpets announcing their coronation. As Aslan takes the Pevensies to their thrones, they are happily greeted by centaurs, fauns, satyrs, cheetahs, and other creatures while Aslan presents them their thrones. Aslan then delivers a speech to the Narnians presenting the Pevensies who are about to be crowned as rulers just as Mr. Beaver and Mrs. Beaver give Tumnus the crowns for the Pevensies to wear so that they can be crowned as rulers just as they are crowned as the new kings and queens of Narnia at Cair Paravel. With the Pevensies crowned as the kings and queens of Narnia, Aslan then speaks to the other Narnians: "Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen; may your wisdom grace us until the stars rain down from the heavens." The Narnians affiliated with Aslan then cheer on the Pevensies who have been crowned as kings and queens of Narnia as a celebration.
After the coronation, Tumnus approaches Lucy who is staring at Aslan walking past the beach, telling her that Aslan has many other countries to take care of as well as telling her that he is not a tame lion, explaining that she might see him another day and some days she won't. Offscreen, Tumnus alerts the Pevensies that the White Stag was spotted across Narnia, leading the Pevensies to catch the Stag so that they would get their wishes granted, only for the four to end up at the real world.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian[]
After the Pevensies returned to Narnia while they were waiting for their train that would take them to boarding school, they discovered that their castle Cair Paravel was left in ruins years after the Pevensies became rulers. As they look around the ruins, the Pevensies became worried that the castle was destroyed. They continue exploring the ruins seeing the remains of the destroyed castle just before they encounter a hidden treasure room that is hidden deep within the castle. As they enter the room, they discover their personal items they had in the past which were placed inside treasure chests before their return such as the gifts that Father Christmas gave them in the past just before they continue exploring about what is going on, to which the Pevensies discover two Telmarine soldiers invading the kingdom, both holding Trumpkin captive, just as they rescue him from the soldiers.
Video game appearances[]
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe[]
In the console and handheld versions of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Cair Paravel only appears at the end of the game where it shows Aslan announcing the coronations of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy as kings and queens of Narnia where the Narnians celebrate their coronation, making the part a cutscene rather than a playable level.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian[]
The battle at Cair Paravel serves as the first level in the console versions of Prince Caspian where four Old Narnians - a minotaur, centaur, dwarf, and faun serve as playable characters respectively for this level while facing off the Telmarines destroying the castle. The level also serves as a tutorial level where the game provides instructions to the player in helping solve puzzles in certain areas or advising the player to collect a certain amount of keys for locked treasure chests. During the battle, the player must face a Telmarine chieftain who arms himself with a grappling hook for combat where the player must defeat him in combat. Upon defeating him, the player must ride on the gryphon to take the minotaur and faun to use ballistae to destroy the Telmarines' ships. After destroying the ships, the player must defeat a number of archers invading the castle as well as defeating another chieftain and sinking more Telmarine ships as well. Later, the next part of the level has the player having the faun and dwarf as playable characters where they must find Susan's Horn to keep it safe. Throughout the last part of the level, the player must defend the chest with Susan's Horn inside to protect it from being destroyed, to which upon doing so, the player must protect the battlements of the castle by destroying the catapults which the player must ride on a giant and use him to destroy the catapults. However, there are certain interruptions where the giant faces an obstacle such as being roped by Telmarines where the player must protect him or when he falls into a gap, leading the player to rescue him by having another giant get him out and then destroy the remaining catapults. The last part of the level involves the player in helping escape Cair Paravel where they must fight off two more chieftains and defeating more warriors just before a cutscene of the dwarf riding on a gryphon carrying Susan's Horn is triggered.
The second level "Ruins of Cair Paravel" involves the Pevensies exploring said ruins where the player must help them scale the cliffs to help them find their gifts within the area while having one of them hold a torch to keep the cockroaches away from harming the characters. After the player finds the gifts, the next part shows the player exploring the ruins of the castle to which as they explore, they notice Trumpkin being attacked by Telmarines, where the player must rescue him and then lead him to a safe path in the woods.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Cair Paravel's name is derived from the words "caer" (a Welsh word meaning "court") and "paravail" (an Old French word meaning "below"), which could be literally interpreted as "Lesser Court" if translated. This is likely a reference to Aslan being the true ruler of Narnia with the Pevensies as kings and queens ruling under him during their time at Cair Paravel.
- Scenes used for Cair Paravel - both in its castle state and later in ruins for the Chronicles of Narnia film series were filmed at Purakaunui Bay and Cathedral Cove at New Zealand respectively. Additionally, the castle of Cair Paravel was made through the use of computer-generated imagery for the clifftops of Purakaunui Bay. [1]
References[]
- ↑ "The Chronicles of Narnia Filming Locations". New Zealand.
External links[]
