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Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Jadis (Tilda Swinton)

Site Rating: 64%
(ratings: 7)
Writeup Rating: 100%
(ratings: 3)
Film: Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Deceased Character: Jadis (Tilda Swinton)
Archetype: Baddy (Major)
Killed by: Aslan (Liam Neeson (voice))
Killed with: Teeth


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'Unsatisfying' icon 'Offscreen Killer' icon 'Vanishing Corpse' icon 'Animal' icon 'Wrath of the Gods' icon
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Written by Old Bluffer 15th Apr 2006

Original writeup kindly submitted by Pyro

(please read Aslan's death before reading this writeup)

The White Witch is filled with triumph after executing Aslan, and immediately moves to regain her position as Narnia's sole superpower.
She does this by rallying her armies and attacking the ragtag group of rebels, led by the prepubescent Peter, son of Adam.

As it typical in these kinds of climactic battles betwixt Good and Evil, her forces seem to have an overwhelming advantage, and Jadis herself hacks a fair few innocent woodland creatures into chunks with her magic sword.


Tilda Swinton goes "Conan" on an unlucky griffon.


Unbeknownst to the White Witch though, Aslan has been reborn, and is presently heading towards the battlefield with a fresh army comprised of all the creatures she turned to stone over the years (he turns them back to life first of course, otherwise it would be a bit silly, unless he needed stone ammunition for some catapults that is).
[This is a good lesson for any young girls that hope to grow up to become an Evil Witch - if you enjoy turning your enemies to stone, resist the temptation to use the resulting statues to decorate your courtyards, and make sure you smash them into dust instead!]

Meanwhile, Peter's brother Edmund, an unlikeable snotty nosed urchin, spies her across the battlefield and rashly charges towards her. He somehow manages to shatter her magical wand but gets poked with a blade in a satisfyingly painful manner for his efforts.
Peter sees this happen and charges valiantly to avenge this violence, and there is a short exchange of swordplay, none of which is in any way convincing, mainly because Peter is obviously just a wee young kiddie, and it is completely unbelievable that his feeble slashes are in any way dangerous. However, Tilda Swinton looks hot swinging her blades around, so the scene isn't a total waste.
All too soon, Jadis has her blade at Peter's throat, and is about to execute the coup de grace when...


Jadis is interrupted whilst schooling a young teen in the finer arts of sword fighting.


...Aslan gives a Roar of Disapproval and savages her.
We don't actually see any blood from this killing, and it's unclear whether he actually eats her. I'm inclined to think he doesn't, as the kids don't seem especially freaked out and they're standing right in front of the carnage.

I've classed this death as Unsatisfying, mainly because upon the moment of her death all of her forces conveniently disappear in a blur of CGI. This type of deus ex machina device is always a cop out.


This is why Narnia Safari parks ask that for your own safety, you stay in your wagon.



5 categories : Unsatisfying, Offscreen Killer, Vanishing Corpse, Animal, Wrath of the Gods

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Other Death Reviews for Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

Aslan (Liam Neeson (voice))
Jadis (Tilda Swinton)

Last Updated: 2nd Jun 2008
Number of views for this review since 30th May 2008: 9340
This review has 12 comments. Reply to the comments
Comment 1 by 'old bluffer' (reply to this comment)
Does Aslan really eat the delectable Ms. Swinton?
Comment 2 by 'Mr. Briggs Inc.' (reply to this comment)
You mean Jada's? (as the spell-check so kindly puts it) I don't think cannibalism exactly represents Christianity!
Comment 3 by 'old bluffer' (reply to this comment)
Don't Christians regularly devour Christ during Communion / Eucharist? winking smiley
Comment 4 by 'mike' (reply to this comment)
Guess so!
Comment 5 by 'old bluffer' (reply to this comment)
Apologies to Pyro, but I have completely rewritten this review. I just grabbed the screenshots and didn't realise it had already been added (my memory is shocking, as I'd even written some comments above!). Once I compared the two writeups I didn't feel the original one was quite scathing enough for what is rather a weak killing (and film) smiling smiley.
Comment 6 by 'Matt' (reply to this comment)
Maybe have 'Kindly suggested by Pyro' to state that he did previously submit it.
Comment 7 by 'old bluffer' (reply to this comment)
Good idea!
Comment 8 by 'Keith' (reply to this comment)
Um, I don't think her forces disappear in a blaze of CGI (and I've seen the movie twice). They lose the battle without it being shown in great detail, but they don't waft away on the wind like some Evil Minion Armies do, which was the implication I got from the writeup.
Comment 9 by 'Pyro' (reply to this comment)
Yeah, they didn't disappear, the fight just carried on around them(the movie just sorta fast-forwards to "some time later") and eventually finished. Otherwise her dwarf lackey would have vanished too, but he didn't.
Comment 10 by 'old bluffer' (reply to this comment)
:
Yeah, they didn't disappear, the fight just carried on around them(the movie just sorta fast-forwards to "some time later") and eventually finished.
OK, I watched the scene for another few minutes, and from your comment above I'm not even sure we're watching the same film!
As soon as Aslan kills Jadis, Peter and the other sprogs stand calmly while Jadis' army blurs away around them, and then Aslan says "It is finished".
At no point is there any more fighting - because there is no one left to fight!

Except...
:
Otherwise her dwarf lackey would have vanished too, but he didn't.
This ugly dwarf is obviously made of sterner stuff than the rest of Jadis' minions, as he sticks around and tries to kill Edmund.
From a dramatic point of view though, this is solely to allow Susan to slay him with one well placed arrow.
Note that Aslan doesn't receive any recriminations for neglecting to tell them that there was one enemy left!

In conclusion, I stand by this comment in my review:
:
I've classed this death as Unsatisfying, mainly because upon the moment of her death all of her forces conveniently disappear in a blur of CGI. This type of deus ex machina device is always a cop out.
Comment 11 by 'KelleyA' (reply to this comment)
Actually, her name is Jadus, but the White Witch suits better.
Comment 12 by 'Brian' (reply to this comment)
Melee for goodness sake.