Would the Pevensies Have Really Forgotten Our World? - A Retrospective Thought Experiment

This past December was the fifteenth anniversary of the release of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. This was a significant anniversary since according to the official Narnia timeline, the Pevensies reign over Narnia during its Golden Age from the Narnian years 1000 to 1015 (with the events of The Horse and His Boy taking place during 1014). So until December 9, 2021, we are in the fifteenth year of the reign, so to speak, and for those of us who saw the film in theaters, we have lived out the length of time portrayed in the film. It’s an anniversary year as significant as 2015 was to Back to the Future.

This creates a unique opportunity to consider the implications of their reign and ask an important question - would the Pevensies really have forgotten our world? In the book, it describes them as remembering England as a dream and the movie also implies that they retain a vague memory of it, with Lucy remembering “spare oom.” But would it be possible, magic or no magic?

I think I’m in the perfect position to reflect on this. I was eleven at the time of the film’s release, so right in between the ages of Susan and Edmund according to the Narnia timeline. I had just started middle school, and so was only starting to enter a new stage of life. While seeing the movie wasn’t my first exposure to Narnia, it was what really drew me in, making me a fan. And while I did not move or enter another world, my life changed a great deal as a result of seeing this film, to the point that was the subject of an essay about a “transformational moment” that helped get me into graduate film school. In addition, I often consider many things in my life as having occurred “pre-Narnia” and “post-Narnia.” So I’m going to take this opportunity to consider these implications.

First, there’s the question of how much they would have remembered at all. I remember quite a bit about my childhood, but it’s all fractured. Little moments here and there come to mind, but not in great detail, especially regarding the day-to-day aspects of daily life, which I often find to be the first memories to go. So while I definitely remember my life before I saw Narnia, it is rather vague and dreamlike, and I sometimes recall the pictures taken during that time period more than the era itself. The Pevensies also dealt with the traumatic experience of living through the war. While I did not go through something quite so life-changing, I do remember 9/11, which took the life of a distant family member. Like any adult, I don’t think often about my childhood, but find that I recall more memories when I’m back in my hometown. But living elsewhere now, I don’t dwell on the past often, and if I were in another world, I definitely wouldn’t think about it much. So, I believe it is quite plausible that, given time, their memories of England would feel more like a dream. But if magic was involved in helping them forget, then it wouldn’t take that much.

Granted, recalling how they became royalty in the first place, would force them to consider where they came from. Lucy and Edmund’s trips to Narnia while still living in England surely stuck in their memory quite vividly, whenever they wanted to think about it. But they might have thought of the Professor’s House in England, but not so much everything that came before. When I remember the time right before seeing the film, I don’t remember much from that semester outside of reading most of The Magician’s Nephew. They would have vivid memories of the war’s privations and difficulties, especially separation from their father. Lucy’s experience meeting Mr. Tumnus would surely have made an indelible impression on her. Edmund, however, would probably want to forget the start of his journey in Narnia, though he does mention it in The Horse and His Boy. There’s also the question of where Mr. Tumnus was living during their reign. It’s very possible that he moved a little closer to Cair Paravel so he could be with his friend, but if he lived in the same place and they visited him, surely being in the Lantern Waste would bring back memories in the same way that seeing the Lampost did.

Which leads to the big “what if” question. What if I went back in time and was suddenly in late 2005/2006? Frankly, I wouldn’t be happy, since I’m in the middle of graduate school and wouldn’t want to repeat all the things that lead me here. I certainly wouldn’t want to do middle and high school all over again, and while the Pevensies didn’t have to go through school, to return to life as a student after so many years would be difficult. Heck, returning to school part-time just three years after college graduation was an adjustment for me, and then the next year to get back to full-time, graded education took some getting used to again. The prospect of going through puberty all over again, as the Pevensies apparently had to, is an unpleasant thought. And none of their royal skills would be very applicable in our world outside of extracurricular activities. And to consider Prince Caspian, if I went back in time, lived for a year, then suddenly jumped back forward to the present, only for things to be different, I would be annoyed. Or if I jumped forward several years, I would definitely feel frustrated. It makes me appreciate Peter’s arc in Prince Caspian and Edmund and Lucy’s in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader all the more because they are so realistic. My hypothetical involved time traveling through a normal world living a normal life. Their’s involved royal lives in a world full of magic. And if we considered it from the Narnians perspective, if all of Narnia were to suddenly disappear from this world in an instant, leaving no evidence, I’d be devastated. It reflects how the Narnians must have felt to have their beloved kings and queens suddenly leave without a trace and without saying goodbye

When I first read that the length of Narnia’s Golden Age was only fifteen years, it seemed too short. Now, fifteen years later, I realize that it is a realistic time frame for them to grow into their roles and forget their old life before they found, by accident, the wardrobe once more.