The Magician’s Nephew: Chapter 15 Summary & Analysis

Once more in the Wood between the Worlds, Aslan tells the children that they no longer need rings, because he is with them. But first he gives them both a warning and a command. He tells them that Charn has now been brought to an end, as if it had never existed. He warns them that their world is becoming more like Charn—perhaps someone will figure out a secret as evil as the Deplorable Word. And soon, their world will contain rulers who care no more for “joy and justice and mercy” than Jadis does. He also commands them to bury the magic rings so that they can never be used again.

All of a sudden, as the children gaze at Aslan’s face, they feel themselves to be in “a sea of tossing gold,” filled with “sweetness and power” that make them feel more alive than ever before. For the rest of their lives, the memory of this moment comforts them in all sadness and trouble. Then they (and Uncle Andrew, now awake) find themselves once again outside the Ketterleys’ front door

Except for the broken lamp-post and wrecked hansom cab, everything is as they have left it. A crowd is gathered around the injured policeman, who is returning to consciousness. Digory realizes that this whole adventure has taken only moments in his world’s time. Nobody takes any notice of the children, who hurriedly get Uncle Andrew inside. Polly takes charge of the magic rings while Digory goes to see his mother.

Digory sits by his mother’s bed. When he takes out the apple, its brightness overpowers everything else in the room. He peels and slices the apple for his mother, who eats it and quickly falls into a natural, smiling sleep. Digory kisses her and leaves, still doubting, but feeling hopeful whenever he recalls Aslan’s face.

That night, Digory buries the apple core in the Ketterleys’ garden. The next morning, he hears the Doctor telling Aunt Letty, “It is like a miracle.” That afternoon, he and Polly meet in the backyard to bury the magic rings, discovering that a small tree is already growing where they core had been buried. They bury the four rings at its foot.

A week later, Digory’s mother is certainly getting better, and within a month, the Ketterley house is transformed. Mabel has begun singing and playing with the children again. Within six weeks, she is quite healed. They also receive news from India—Digory’s father has received an inheritance from Great-Uncle Kirke and can retire and move back to England. He and Mabel and Digory can move to the family estate in the country.

Polly and Digory remain close friends, and Polly often visits the Kirkes in the country. Narnia enjoys harmony, with no further trouble from the Witch for hundreds of years. King Frank and Queen Helen reign happily, and their children intermarry with Narnia’s magical peoples. The Witch’s unwittingly planted lamp-post shines in the forest, appearing in a later Narnian adventure.

The tree in Digory’s backyard grew into a wonderful tree, though its apples aren’t fully magical. When Digory later became a learned professor, he inherited the Ketterleys’ house. When he was middle-aged, the tree was blown down in a storm. He had its timber made into a wardrobe, which he put in his country house.

Uncle Andrew lived with the Kirkes in their country estate, so that he wouldn’t get into any trouble and would be off of Aunt Letty’s hands. He never tried magic again, and he became nicer in his old age. But he always liked to tell stories of the “dem fine woman” he’d once taken on a tour of London.