So the important part was that he now WANTED Aslan... otherwise even as a boy he would have been BAD. So the un-dragoning wouldn't have mattered.

What I mean is, Aslan had to save Eustace, and then the un-dragoning was a mercy on top of that, so that he could be a boy again. I mean, he would have been fine as a dragon as long as Aslan saved him...but is the un-dragoning symbolic?

If you understand me, I know it's confusing the way I said that...

No the important part is that Aslan came to him first, not because he did anything, not because he changed, not because he believed. Aslan just came because that was his time and because he chose to undragon him. Eustace did nothing that caused Aslan to come. Eustace was still lost and didn't know what would become of himself and Aslan chose in that moment to come to him. It was all Aslan.

Thats not true. Eustace did want to change. Remember he had to let Aslan help him?

Also the Chrisitan faith (of which Lewis based this on) does require that a person is willing to change and accepts Christ. People can't just say "I'm going to just keep doing bad things and hope I somehow have a drastic change of heart"

Wow this is hard to figure out...!

No he changed because Aslan told him what to do and Aslan changed him. It isn't you that changes yourself. That is the whole point.

I'm going to have to agree with decarus; The whole point behind Eustace's transformation/undragoning was that could not do it himself. Only Aslan could do it. It was one of many of Lewis's 'suppositions' in Narnia, saying that it isn't our works that save us, but the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. We cannot, in our sin, say 'yes' without the aid of the Holy Spirit. Neither can Eustace take off his skin without the aid of Aslan.

One other thing that bothers me: I have not seen the film yet, but am I right in thinking there is no water involved in his undragoning? This, too, takes away from the symbolism, I think, as this was Eustace's 'baptism.' Such a shame, really; though I so suppose one could argue the use of fire as a tempering metaphor... Ah well.

No Eustace didnt change himself but he was willing to change.

No Eustace didnt change himself but he was willing to change.

He had no idea what Aslan wanted of him when He told the dragon to follow him. He didn't even know why he was getting 'undressed' to get into the pool. He was simply doing as he was told. Remember, from the book:

“Well, anyway, I looked up and saw the very last thing I expected: a huge lion coming slowly towards me. And one queer thing was that there was no moon last night, but there was moonlight where the lion was. So it came nearer and nearer. I was terribly afraid of it. You may think that, being a dragon, I could have knocked any lion out easily enough. But it wasn’t that kind of fear. I wasn’t afraid of it eating me, I was just afraid of it — if you can understand. Well, it came close up to me and looked straight into my eyes. And I shut my eyes tight. But that wasn’t any good because it told me to follow it.”

“You mean it spoke?”

“I don’t know. Now that you mention it, I don’t think it did. But it told me all the same. And I knew I’d have to do what it told me, so I got up and followed it."

Nowhere in that exchange between Eustace and Edmond is there a revelation of what Aslan is intending to do; simply that Eustace was compelled to do as told. The undragoning was a unexpected result as realized once he got into the water.

That is right. There is no willingness on Eustace part. It is all Aslan. There may be the realization that you are a mess and don't know what will become of you, but faith, belief, change, all from God, none of that is you. You do nothing. God comes to us. God changes us. That is the whole point. The point is that there is nothing that Eustace could do, nothing, he was upset and didn't know what would become of himself and then he looked up to see Aslan coming to him. It was all Aslan.

If Eustace obeyed Aslan it shows he was willing to change. Yes he didnt know what Aslan would do to him or that Aslan would even turn him into a boy again. But the fact that he obeyed did show a a willingness to change.

After all, Eustace could have not followed Aslan and remain a dragon.

God/Jesus does change us but we have to accept Him. If God just came to people and forced them to change EVERYONE on the planet would be Christinas. Obviously there is a large majority of people who arent Christians because they chose not to accept God. And this applies to Eustace. He did accept Jesus (Aslan) and thats why he was changed. Had he not followed Aslan or had he not let Aslan undragon him he would not have been changed.

This transformation was my favourite scene in the original book. It awakened me to the spiritual reality of dying to oneself daily to become more like Christ. It still reminds me of my baptism. Redemption! This scene was pivotal to the movie. They should've got it right. I was very disappointed with the final product. I didn't feel Eustace had earned his undragoning (thank God!) but why did it take place on a sand bar? That's both incorrect and visually uninteresting. More importantly, there should've been water and a pool/well involved (the one in the garden atop the mountain - from The Magician's Nephew presumeably?). Also, I know the undragoning couldn't be done as in the book due to the movie having a PG rating, but come on! Their take on it was creative but much less powerful and interesting. This scene in the book is one the key spiritual lessons of the whole series and it was reduced to an afterthought and a glowing dragon? Please. Lame! This message is so important. Dying to oneself is horribly painful at times. PG-ifying such a crucial truth is (inadvertently) making a mockery of said truth.
I did enjoy the movie very much (in parts) but some parts were not well-done or well thought-out. This was one of them. 7/10 for whole movie. 4/10 for this scene.

*snippity*

With no disrespect intended, Josh, I think you're misunderstanding what Lewis was intending to convey with the scene. The doctrinal notion of salvation is an interesting one, for sure, and one I don't mind discussing or debating (though I would like to refrain from doing so here in fear of going too far off topic as we seem to be heading in that direction).

Regardless, take another quote concerning the nature of Aslan, this time from The Silver Chair: "You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you," said the Lion.

Similarly, in his book Mere Christianity: When you come to knowing God, the initiative lies on His side. If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him.

What is Lewis saying? He's saying that we don't approach Aslan/Christ for redemption; He first approaches us. What your or I or we believe in terms of salvation and redemption is rather irrelevant in this case. Instead, in keeping with Narnian canon, we must hold to what Lewis intended to convey and not put words in his mouth (or take words away).

This scene would be forgettable if it wasn't so bad. When I realized that Eustace was going to rise in the air and explode in light ("Beauty and the Beast" style) I literally said "no....please no....."

And you don't get the sense at all that Eustace felt pain, or the sense that he tried to undragon himself and had to let Aslan do it. We are simply told about this later in dialogue, because it would not have come through any other way.

THey could have filmed it like the book and kept it PG had they shown no blood and cut away from a few shots. Honestly I thought the whole "It would have made it PG-13" was an excuse the filmakers/Walden made so the fans wouldnt get angry when they butchered one of the best scenes in the series.

When I realized that Eustace was going to rise in the air and explode in light ("Beauty and the Beast" style) I literally said "no....please no....."

WHAT???