I think they could safely move the order of Dragon Island without too many complications. That I don't mind. What I'm balking at is keeping Eustace a dragon after they leave Dragon Island. There's too many complications involved in doing that.

I agree Booky that if they move Eustace's transformation to later in the book, they need to reorder the islands and NOT keep him as a dragon during that time.

However, it does seem that they'll at least be sailing at some point with Eustace as a dragon if he is indeed the dragon that might possibly battle the sea serpent towards the end of the movie.

Really, the filmmakers have already made the ship itself HUGE compared to the way it's described in the book. They could potentially fit Eustace as a dragon onto the ship. I'd definitely prefer that to leaving him behind.

There are a lot of 'ifs' in this post and I have no idea how much will actually turn out that way and how much is inaccurate assumptions by myself... should be interesting to see.

If they keep Eustace as bratty until the end and then he turns into a dragon, wouldn't it make sense for his transformation into a boy again happen at the end of the world? Just a thought.

There is one problem I foresee with that theory and the reason I'm quite certain the filmmakers won't do that. Should they leave Eustace in dragon form clear to the end of the movie, there would be no way to show his transformed character. They can have him doing nice things as a dragon, but there'd be no examples as to how he'd act as Eustace-the-nice-kid. And that is very important for the development of the character for those who haven't read the books.

Oh, right! I had completely forgotten that he wouldn't have a chance to be a nice boy as well as a nice dragon. However, your comment makes me wonder how they will show Eustace as a nice boy. That is, assuming that he is the dragon near the end which fights the Sea-Serpent, what great deed will he do after that when he is a boy?

That is, assuming that he is the dragon near the end which fights the Sea-Serpent, what great deed will he do after that when he is a boy?

Fighting the sea serpent is Eustace's great deed in the book. He has absolutely no clue what he's doing and it doesn't work, but he is extremely brave and it is harder for him to do it than anybody else because I doubt he even knew what a sea serpent was before that moment. Which is why I don't want the dragon to be Eustace--it makes him less heroic, not more.

I'm okay with moving Dragon Island to the last third of the movie, but there are a few things that I am puzzling about. Dufflepud Island before Dragon Island would be fine, although it would shorten Lucy's character arc. Dark Island before Dragon Island would also be fine(actually, I kind of like the idea, I would like to see how bratty Eustace would react to his dreams coming true), except for Lord Rhoop. He'd have to be around the ship for more of the movie, which is fine, but I think that there are so many characters already he'd throw the balance off a bit. Deathwater before Dragon I don't like because bratty Eustace would take away from Edmund and Caspian. I suppose three boys arguing over gold wouldn't be too hard to do, but I would prefer it being just Edmund and Caspian. Burnt Island we already figured was either cut or combined with another one so it's not worth mentioning. What concerns me is the storm and Ramandu's Island. Eustace has to already be transformed before Ramandu's Island. The story just won't work any other way. Okay, maybe it will, but I don't want it too. The storm needs to be just before Dragon Island for the very simple reason that it gives the excuse for staying on the Island so long. Of course I'm assuming that the transformation actually occurs on Dragon Island. If it doesn't, well that's a whole new scenario.
I'm sure the filmmakers, if they have changed the story as much as we think they have, have already figured out some way around, through, beneath, or over these minor details though.

Fighting the sea serpent is Eustace's great deed in the book. He has absolutely no clue what he's doing and it doesn't work, but he is extremely brave and it is harder for him to do it than anybody else because I doubt he even knew what a sea serpent was before that moment. Which is why I don't want the dragon to be Eustace--it makes him less heroic, not more.

Great point! I really don't want the dragon to be Eustace either (I'm still hoping the dragon and the sea serpent don't fight)

I'm sure the filmmakers, if they have changed the story as much as we think they have, have already figured out some way around, through, beneath, or over these minor details though.

I love the way you put that! Of course, the could just ignore the details (including things that are spelled out in the book )

I really don't like them changing the order of things. Eustace becomes nice near middle of the story in the book. This could ruin the whole friendship that Edmund and Eustace end up on having in the book. If Eustace becomes nice where he is suppose to be in the book, Eustace and Edmund can become great friends while on this trip, and so can everyone else. But if Eustace becomes nice near the end Edmund's friendship with him will just start up at the end of the story and they will not become great friends by the end of the Voyage but only just start their friendship and come back from Narnia. I think this is important. Plus, my two favorite characters in Narnia happen to be Edmund and Eustace and so I of course want to see the friendship of Ed and Eustace. Also, I think if it(Eustace's transformation) went this long in the book, some one would have gotten tired of Eustace and tied him up by the time the end of the voyage came around or something. Also, in the Silver Chair, Caspian's friendship with Eustace wouldn't have been as great as it was and if Eustace's transformation was at the end. Anyway, I think this cuts down on the friendship theme in the book if this really does happen in the movie.

I won't be making my mind up to i see the movie, it could work or it could not.

Fighting the sea serpent is Eustace's great deed in the book. He has absolutely no clue what he's doing and it doesn't work, but he is extremely brave and it is harder for him to do it than anybody else because I doubt he even knew what a sea serpent was before that moment. Which is why I don't want the dragon to be Eustace--it makes him less heroic, not more.

That is precisely my point! If they have dragon Eustace fighting the sea serpent in the end like the speculation dictates, then I am afraid that all his nice character will come through mostly when he is a dragon. After he stops being a dragon there will be hardly any time left for him to do something heroic as a boy. Furthermore, they will have to make up a heroic thing for him to do because as you said, "Fighting the sea serpent is Eustace's great deed." Of course then, I don't like the idea. If, however, that is what they did, then it would make sense for Eustace's transformation to happen at the end of the world.

I think more will happen on Ramandu's Island then what happens in the book. I recall in Mr. Douglas's interview mentioning something about a banquet at a forest glade. He then went on to suggest that Reepicheep was not present at this banquet. That leads me to believe that he was up to something else. So what would that something else be? Something else must be happening in the story at the same time.

Could it have something to do with Eustace's transformation?

The one concern I have about this potential change is... will it be extremely annoying to have Eustace as a bratty kid throughout the whole movie?

Actually I think Eustace is most interesting when he's a spoiled brat. All that matters to me is that he starts bad, becomes good (in the same way Aslan saved him in the book), and he has the conversation with Edmund.

I think his redemption taking place near the end of the film makes more sense actually. Cause really once Eustace becomes good, he doesnt really do anything. He is just...there.

The only things people - generally - seem to want a redeemed Eustace to definitely do is to have The Conversation with Edmund and fail epically in fighting the Sea Serpent.

I feel like they could certainly still keep the Eustace/Edmund conversation in if the transformation were to be at the end-ish of the film. I imagine it'd be a nice sort of end note or summary of Eustace's story (and, I suppose, Edmund's, as we aren't going to see him again for a while).

I don't know at all about the sea serpent scene now. I'm too horrifically confused. I'm just going hope it turns out peachy.

I can imagine that the transformation would be at the end of the film, to kind of bring a celebration to the end (maybe getting to Aslan's Country isn't quite good enough to celebrate(!)) in a 'Yeay! Eustace is back - and he's nice' form!

I think it's a good idea to leave his transformation in to a dragon and in to a kid to later in the movie. The audience needs to get to know Eustace before he changes.

I think it will be annoying to have him be bratty for longer.....depending on how they do it.