Written by CS Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia books are beloved around the world but many are only now discovering the real ending of the franchise.
*WARNING: Spoilers ahead for The Chronicles of Narnia books* — The Chronicles of Narnia are some of the most beloved children’s books ever written and Disney’s film adaptations helped to bring the series to a whole new audience in the mid-to-late 2000s, but recent TikTok videos that have been circulating online have revealed the real ending of the Narnia books to fans who may not have read to the end and it’s completely changed the view some have of the franchise.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle
In total, there are seven books in The Chronicles of Narnia series, the final entry of which is The Last Battle, published by author CS Lewis in 1956.
The plot of The Last Battle is kicked into gear when a greedy and scheming ape named Shift tries to obtain power within Narnia by persuading a naïve donkey called Puzzle to wear a lion’s skin and masquerade as Aslan.
This allows Shift to impose his influence on the people of Narnia which results in him becoming increasingly rich after tricking the Narnians to cut down their trees for lumber.
Shift’s increasing wealth leads to an alliance with the Calormenes, the people of a county that borders Narnia, and its power-hungry ruler, Rishda, which eventually catches the attention of Narnia’s current king, Tirian.
The real ending of The Chronicles of Narnia books
After finally learning of Shift’s deception, Tirian calls upon the real Aslan for help. Not long later, Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair books arrive in Narnia, although they are confused as to how they got there as they had been riding a train on Earth and felt a violent jolt before their sudden appearance.
During the story’s climactic battle, which takes place surrounding a stable where the false Aslan had supposedly been based, Tirian comes to realize that Shift and Rishda’s evil scheme has led to a far more dangerous threat arriving in Narnia, a demonic deity known as Tash which has been devouring Narnian soldiers who have been sacrificed to him.
Tirian manages to overpower Shift which leaves the greedy ape to be consumed by Tash who then sets his sights on Tirian himself.
Thankfully, Tirian is saved when the ‘Friends of Narnia’ arrive, who include Peter, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie as well as Professor Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer from across the various novels in the series. Together, the Friends manage to banish Tash back to his own realm.
Aslan then appears before the Friends who then ask him to repair the damage done to Narnia but the regal lion refuses, saying it’s impossible to remove the darkness that has been spread throughout the land.
Instead, Aslan brings about the total destruction of Narnia with the help of Father Time, leaving the once-majestic landscape a desolate and frozen wasteland. Meanwhile, Aslan invites all of the beings who remained faithful to him into a new world he calls his country, somewhere he describes as the “true” Narnia as it has not been tainted by evil.
Aslan also offers to take Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Jill, Eustace, Digory and Polly into this new Narnia and makes the most shocking of revelations. He explains to the Friends that the reason why they arrived in Narnia is because they were all killed in a train crash on Earth – an incident that may take inspiration from the real Sutton Coldfield rail crash of 1955.
After seeing Tirian’s plea for help in a vision, the Friends of Narnia agreed to meet up so that they could use Professor Kirke’s magical rings to travel to Narnia.
But the train they intended to travel on pulled into the station too quickly and derailed, killing those aboard and many of those who were waiting on the platform.
The reason why Sunan, the fourth Pevensie sibling, wasn’t present among the group is because she no longer believed in Narnia as she had grown into an adult and convinced herself that her adventures in the magical land were memories of childhood games and so decided not to travel with her brothers and sister.
And finally, if you have not yet realized, The Chronicles of Narnia is an allegory for Christianity. Aslan is the equivalent of Jesus within the story and the new country he invites the Friends to after Narnia’s apocalyptic fate is a version of Heaven.
Fans react to discovering the real ending
It’s safe to say that the revelation of the real Narnia ending has been a huge surprise to many who may not have reached the end of the book series and many have taken to social media to offer their thoughts.
One fan on X (formerly Twitter) said: “Finding out the real ending of Narnia this morning was not a good start to my day.”
While another added: “Just found out what the actual ending of Narnia is in the books and I want to sob.”
“I just learned about the ‘true’ ending of the Narnia series and I literally am so sick and sad and devastated and dying all at the same time!!,” wrote this fan. “I’m not even religious and I’m still in disbelief.”
This fan commented: “I just found out the ending to the Narnia books and I’m totally lost for words. Like what the heck CS Lewis?!”
And finally, this commenter wrote: “Nothing ruined my trust more as a child than the ending of the Narnia books.”
The Chronicles of Narnia films are currently available to stream on Disney+ while Netflix is currently in the process of rebooting the franchise with Barbie director Greta Gerwig set to helm two films in the franchise.
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