Deplorable Word

"That was the secret of secrets. It had long been known to the great kings of our race that there was a word which, if spoken with the proper ceremonies, would destroy all living things except the one who spoke it."

- Jadis

The Deplorable Word was an evil incantation from the world Charn, a magical word which, when spoken, would destroy all life except the person who uttered it. This 'ultimate weapon' was used by Queen Jadis, then Empress of Charn, when she lost a civil war with her sister, destroying the population of Charn and turning the planet into a sterile wasteland.

The existence of the Deplorable Word was a closely guarded secret passed down through generations of the magically adept ruling family of Charn, but they had bound themselves with oaths never even to seek knowlege of it. Jadis, more power hungry than her ancestors, including her recent ones, "searched long for it and paid a terrible price to learn it".

The war with her sister, an extremely bloody world war, was apparently just a power struggle between the two, which the sister won. Jadis waited to use the word until her victorious sister was within eyesight, so that she could gloat and watch her death. Then, "I spoke the Deplorable Word. A moment later I was the only living thing under the sun." The spell may have made living things disappear rather than just killing them, since there were no signs of bodies or skeletons around the Palace of Charn. Jadis's use of this weapon may be partially understood since she was facing capture by her bloodthirsty sister, who would undoubtedly have tortured, if not then killed her. But her willingness to destroy a planet full of people rather than lose to her sister was in accord with her character; she regarded all other people as tools for her own use. Afterward, Jadis showed noremorse, and narcissistically blamed her sister for her act; "Her greed has destroyed the whole world!" Apparently it was used, largely to destroy her sister and her entire army. Besides killing Aslan on the Stone Table, this was Jadis's most evil act (that we know about).

It is not known why Jadis didn't use the Deplorable Word to destroy Narnia when she was defeated at the Battle of Beruna, before she was killed by Aslan. It may be that the Deplorable Word, along with many of her other magical powers, only worked in the world of Charn. Alternatively, she may not have had time to use it before she was killed by Aslan, since his attack was a surprise, and the use of the word required certain ceremonies. Or it may be that Aslan had powers against the Deplorable Word.

The Deplorable Word should not be confused with a lesser spell, also involving a magic word, which Jadis used to destroy the gates of the entry and exit of the palace of Charn.