Rilian

In C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia fictional series, Rilian (2325-?) is the son of King Caspian and the grandson of Ramandu the star. Rilian appears in two of the seven books, The Silver Chair and The Last Battle.

Biographical Summary

In The Silver Chair

When Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole arrive in Narnia in The Silver Chair, Prince Rilian (the only son of the now elderly King Caspian) has been missing for ten years. After his mother was bitten and killed by a green serpent, the prince had become obsessed with killing it to avenge his mother; but whilst searching, he encountered the Lady of the Green Kirtle and was bewitched. As a result he no longer remembers anything from before his imprisonment.

Eustace, Jill and Puddleglum first meet Rilian on the road north, as the silent companion of the Lady of the Green Kirtle, who advises them to visit Harfang. They eventually find the enchanted Rilian again underground in the Shallow Lands, where the Lady of the Green Kirtle rules. Though he is revealed to be the silent black knight who rode with the Lady on the road to Harfang, they do not at first realise that he is the missing prince. He tells the three that he suffers from nightly psychotic episodes and therefore must be bound every night to a silver chair. If he is released, he warns, he will kill everyone within sight, and immediately turn into a deadly green serpent.

Once Rilian is tied to the enchanted chair, he regains his memory and sanity. He orders the companions to untie him and makes increasingly violent threats. Eventually he begs them to release him in the name of Aslan. The children recognise this as the sign: they had promised to obey the request of one who asks in Aslan's name; and so reluctantly they release him. Rilian then reveals his true identity and relates how the Lady had kept him prisoner underground, enchanted by day and only returning to sanity at night. He hacks the silver chair to pieces.

When the Lady returns and fails in her attempt to bewitch the companions, she transforms into a green serpent. Rilian realizes that he has been enslaved for all these years by his mother's murderer. They kill the serpent and return to Narnia, where Rilian meets his father just before the old king dies.

In The Last Battle

At the beginning of The Last Battle, which follows next chronologically, Rilian had been dead for more than 200 years. Eustace and Jill help his descendant Tirian, the last king of Narnia. Rilian appears briefly alongside his father and mother at the great reunion at the end of the book.

Portrayals

• In the 1990 television serial produced by the BBC, The Silver Chair, Prince Rilian was played by Richard Henders. Since he is shown in a flashback early in the story when the owls tell Eustace and Jill his story, he appears wearing a silver mask when the children encounter him underground, in order to conceal his identity from the viewer. His excuse for wearing the mask is that the Green Lady told him he was enchanted to look hideous and must hide his "ugly" face with a mask. After he regains his sanity, he takes off the mask to reveal his identity.

References