- "Here stand I, Tirian of Narnia, in Aslan's name, to prove with my body that Tash is a foul fiend, the Ape a manifold traitor, and these Calormenes worthy of death. To my side, all true Narnians. Would you wait till your new masters have killed you all one by one?"
- ―Tirian[src]
Tirian was the last monarch of the Kingdom of Narnia and the seventh king in descent of Rilian, son of Caspian X and the main protagonist of The Last Battle. Tirian was preceded by his father Erlian.
Biography[]
Erlian was a wise, kind king, who took time to connect personally with his son, friends, and subjects. When Tirian was a little boy, he would often play with his father in the castle garden at Cair Paravel on summer evenings. At some point Erlian was killed by a Giant and Tirian became king of Narnia. He and his friend Jewel saved one another's lives multiple times in the wars.
At the outset of The Last Battle, Tirian and his companion Jewel were staying at a hunting lodge in the countryside. The two discussed the rumors that Aslan had returned. Roonwit the Centaur then arrived, riding hard, and told them that he had studied the stars, which portended a great evil hanging over Narnia, and that Aslan had in fact not returned. Just then, a dying Dryad approached them and begged Tirian for help, saying that talking trees were being felled in Lantern Waste. Before she could give more information, her tree, miles away, was cut down, and she collapsed and perished.
Tirian, overwhelmed by grief and rage, decided to go up the river with all speed and slay the villains responsible, though not before sending Roonwit to bring reinforcements from Cair Paravel. On their way, he and Jewel encountered a Water Rat who told them that the holy trees were being felled and sold to Calormenes at the command of Aslan. This revelation shocks Tirian and Jewel to the core, and they continued on, miserable, to discover the truth of the matter. Upon reaching Lantern Waste, they found the ancient forest was being cut down by a great crowd of Calormenes and animals. They witnessed a workhorse being whipped mercilessly by two Calormenes, before revealing that it a free Talking Horse of Narnia. This caused Tirian and Jewel to immediately rush down, killed the two Calormenes, and free the animals, even though they claim it was only on Aslan's order. The narrator explained that Tirian was originally so focused on the trees, he never thought that anyone would even harness a talking horse, not that he approves of whipping dumb horses either.
The two ran away, but sickened by their murder even though they were provoked, Tirian and Jewel gave themselves up to the Calormenes. The pair were brought to Stable Hill, where they witnessed Shift abusing and deceiving the local Narnians, telling them that Aslan was very angry with them, and they had to work as slaves of the Calormenes. He went on to say that there was no conflict between Aslan and the Calormenes who worship Tash, because Tash was Aslan, and Aslan was Tash. Tirian shouted that Shift was lying. He meant to go on and ask how the terrible god Tash who fed on the blood of his people could possibly be the same as the good Lion by whose blood all Narnia was saved. If he had been allowed to speak, the rule of the Ape might have ended that day; the Beasts might have seen the truth and thrown the Ape down. But before he could say another word, the Calormenes struck him down. They took Tirian and tied him to an ash tree and left him there.
When night fell, some of the woodland creatures secretly brought him food and wine and fed him. Anguished at the fate of Narnia, he called aloud on Aslan and the former Kings and Queens of Narnia for help. He was immediately plunged into a vision of men and women sitting around a table, laughing and talking. They saw him, but Tirian was unable to communicate with them, because they could not hear him. He awoke again ten minutes later to find Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole, sent by Aslan to help him in the last days of Narnia.
The trio went southward, away from the stable, toward a tower that had been built in Tirion's grandsire's day. There they restocked and equipped themselves with weapons and armor. Thus prepared, they rescued Jewel the unicorn and Puzzle the donkey from the stable. After doing so, Tirian tried to slay Puzzle because he had posed as Aslan at Shift's order. Jill stopped him, saying that it was not his fault. The group then encountered a group of Dwarfs being escorted to work by four Calormene soldiers. Tirian boldly announced the truth of the false Aslan to them, and attacked with Eustace. They each killed a Calormene, and the Dwarfs killed the other two. They were shocked, however, that the Dwarfs did not join them, for they had become disillusioned with both Narnia and Aslan. The Dwarfs tramped off, and only Poggin joined them.
The party returned to the Tower an hour before dawn and prepared a meal, during which Poggin told them about the conspiracy between Ginger and Rishda Tarkan. By the time he finished, it was sunny, but all of a sudden it became cloudy and exceedingly cold, and a foul stench wafted about. For the god Tash passed by the party, causing them intense fear and dread. Riding to Stable Hill, Farsight the Eagle joined them and informed them of the fall of Cair Paravel and the death of Roonwit. Seeing that exposing Puzzle is their last chance, the party arrived at Stable Hill and waited in hiding until night.
Many Narnians gathered before the stable. There, Tirian's party witnessed a very drunken Shift announce to the Narnians that a donkey wearing a lionskin was imitating Aslan and must be stopped. He said to deflect blame in case anyone found the recently escaped Puzzle. The Dwarfs from before, however, sneered that Shift had never had Aslan in the stable at all. Shift replied that anyone could go into the stable one at a time to see Aslan, but he was very angry with them, and might kill them. In reality, Shift and Rishda had set a Calormene soldier inside to kill any who entered. Ginger the Cat offered to go see Aslan inside the stable, but came shooting out again, terrified out of his wits, and without the ability to speak any longer. Emeth too entered, and shortly after a figure in Calormene armor reeled out of the stable, fell on its back, and lay still: the door closed behind it. The corpse was not that of Emeth, although Rishda pretended that it was.
Emerging from hiding, Tirian's party of seven at last confronted Shift the ape, hurling him into the stable. Announcing the truth to the crowd, Tirian's side was joined by a number of Narnians, notably fifteen dogs, several mice, moles, and squirrels, a bear, and a boar. Several Narnians joined the Calormene soldiers, though not many. The two forces collided and The Battle of Stable Hill began. One by one, Tirian's allies were killed around him. Eustace and Jill were thrown into the stable. Tirian killed several Calormenes and found himself dueling Rishda Tarkaan. He grabbed the man and hurled them both into the stable. As he did so, there was a deafening noise and a blinding light, and the earth shook.
As they entered the stable, they unintentionally entered into Aslan's Country, a beautiful land. Tash appeared and seized Rishda Tarkaan. However, Peter Pevensie suddenly approached and banished Tash in the name of Aslan; Tash disappeared, taking Rishda to his lair. Tirian turned and found himself in the presence of Peter, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie, Digory Kirke, Polly Plummer, and a refreshed Eustace and Jill. They then witnessed the real Aslan waking Father Time, who arose and blew his horn, causing the apocalypse of the Narnian world. The group was then joined by a great many creatures, including all their allies whom they had thought dead. There was Roonwit the Centaur and Jewel the Unicorn, and the good Boar and the good Bear and Farsight the Eagle, and the dear Dogs and the Horses, and Poggin the Dwarf. Eustace even noticed that among the rescued Narnians was one of the Dwarfs who had helped to shoot the Horses. They all ventured deeper into Aslan's country and entered an enormous golden-walled garden, where they lived on in infinite joy.
- "And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."
- ―The Last Battle[src]
Physical description[]
Tirian is between twenty and twenty-five years old. His shoulders were already broad and strong and his limbs full of hard muscle, but his beard was still scanty. He had blue eyes and a fearless, honest face. He wore a gold circlet on his head.