Exactly, moving the Islands closer together. Come to think of it, Burnt Island and Deathwater could be a cluster of two Islands together as well. Burnt Island wouldn't have any streams, just wells, and dry ones at that. So, they would have to go to Deathwater for water.

I like your idea Watz. I've never really considered Dark Island an Island anyway, so converting it into a darkness wouldn't bother me. The only problem I see is that it would be hard to believe they would have to restock with water so close to Dragon Island. I would assume that Burt Island / Deathwater would have to be close to Dragon Island (if one goes with the theory that the dragon caused the damaged).

I've never really considered Dark Island an Island anyway, so converting it into a darkness wouldn't bother me.

So Lord Rhoop just hangs out swimming for a few decades then?

No, he learned to float early on. Although that doesn't explain how he didn't die or hunger or thirst.

I've never really considered Dark Island an Island anyway, so converting it into a darkness wouldn't bother me.

So Lord Rhoop just hangs out swimming for a few decades then?

No, he learned to float early on. Although that doesn't explain how he didn't die or hunger or thirst.

Okay, Okay, I see that my perception is a little off. I never claimed it was logical. But then, floating and swimming for a few decades would certainly be nightmarish, especially without food. I wonder what type of food and water Lord Rhoop did find on Dark Island. It probably wasn't very pleasant. Maybe he was in some kind of waking sleep that didn't require food. The three sleeping lords seemed to do fine without food for many years. He could have had a small boat and been floating around in the darkness.

I suppose I've never thought of it as an island (at least not in the sense of the other islands) since they never landed on it, Lord Rhoop swam to ship, and they felt the nightmarish quality without setting foot on land. Reading back through the text, it is rather clear that there was indeed land there. I suppose I never really thought about it. It was only after LWW came out that I realized that the White Witch didn't live in Cair Paravel, so although I've been reading the books for years I'm still figuring things out.

The Dark Island/Ramandu's daughter combination probably seems the most ridiculous to you but I think I can make it work. First of all I would make the Dark Island no Island at all, but just a darkness. Remember, in the story the voyagers don't actually find land, but a darkness. Therefore, the darkness was called an Island. So, what I propose, is that the Dark Island be placed right in front of Ramandu's Island. Therefore, when Aslan leads the voyagers out of the darkness, he also leads them to his Island at the beginning of the end of the world. If it were done this way, all the events, and the spirits of the Islands, could still stay the same, but the events would be squished together a little. It would be logical to assume that when the seven lords, or who was left of the seven lords, reached the darkness that one of them went in, but the rest of them sailed around it and found Ramandu's Island. So, doing it this way wouldn't change history that much either.

True, they never land on Dark Island, but I still consider it an island. But then you never mention them finding Rhoop there, so I assume he would be on Ramandu's island. Could they go that route? I suppose, but with the casting of Bruce Spence, I doubt all he'll be doing is sleeping. I have no doubt in my mind that he'll be giving a true-to-the-book performance of Lord Rhoop.

Well, the Dark Island could still be an Island, but moved right up against Ramandu's Island. It would be kind of be like an abbreviated book in a sense. All the important events are all still there, but instead of making all the Islands spread apart they make a few of them as a group of two Islands. The Lone Islands are considered as one Island, but there are actually three of them. In reality, the Lone Islands are a single LOCATION. So, what I propose is that there be five LOCATIONS, but still seven Islands.

EDIT: Oh, as for the Burnt Island/Deathwater scene, naturally I would want to place the Islands father away from Dragon Island. Such a solution is quite possible. I think that the dragon had to be a good long distance flier (how else could he have collected all the treasure). Another possibility, and it is quite silly, is that there was another dragon who did it. However, that isn't very plausible.

First of all I would make the Dark Island no Island at all, but just a darkness. Remember, in the story the voyagers don't actually find land, but a darkness. Therefore, the darkness was called an Island.

For what its worth, i too always thought of the Dark Island as being something more of a metaphysical presence of blackness rather than an actual solid island made of earth and rocks. Not that Lord Rhoop had merely been swimming around in the ocean all that time under a dark cloud or something, but more that the darkness itself was its own sort of existential reality (if thats even the right words im looking for) in which he had been stuck.

Kind of hard to explain what i mean really - rarely does my imagination make perfect sense (or any sense for that matter).

I agree icarus, I always thought it was that way as well.

I do wish that they had kept all 7 islands (whatever those may be) but as long as the main story, and the spirit of the book, are in the film, I'll be good.

*adds a ditto to having always visualized Dark Island as something less solid then a typical island* I always imagined as more of a dark mass without taking in the logistics of Lord Rhoop's means of staying alive.

I do wonder if the different editions color one's perception. I've always read the Harper Collins British editions (still need to get my hands on an American edition). The British Edition indicates Dark Island having been destroyed and disappearing:

But they saw only bright blue sea and bright blue sky. The Dark Island and the darkness had vanished for ever.

“Why!” cried Lord Rhoop. “You have destroyed it!”

“I don’t think it was us,” said Lucy.

Whereas the American edition simply has it grow smaller as the ship sails away:

So all afternoon with great joy they sailed south-east with a fair wind, and the hump of darkness grew smaller and smaller astern.

I don't know, but to my childish imagination at least, the first one is much more viable as something a little less tangible, but frighteningly real, whilst the second one is real and due to the being seen in the light seems more. . . tame and realistic? Just my two cents, and I hope I've not steered this too far off topic.

Well, I always thought of Dark Island as an island that the Dawn Treader comes close to, close enough to for Lord Rhoop to swim from there to the ship, except the D.T. never lands on it.

I also thought Dark Island was the island where nightmares came true; whereas, if it was simply a mist of some sort, wouldn't that mean the nightmares would be more of an illusion?

But in the end, it really doesn't matter to me, I guess...at least, I hope it won't.

Hurrah! I wasn't the only one who thought of the Dark Island that way. icarus, I think I understand what you are trying to say. Let's see if I can try to explain it. Nightmares (and regular dreams for that matter) seem very real while you are in them. It would make sense if this island somehow seemed very real but yet wasn't real. The darkness was able to take the form of land without really being land. It might even change based on the person's nightmare. Maybe it is a darkness that becomes so tangible one can stand on it, but it is more located on the surface of water rather than attached to the ocean floor. Maybe like a cloud that has parts of it that are solid enough to stand on. Although Aslan could destroy it either way, it somehow seems more likely / probable if it were more of a cloud type thing. I have no idea if that makes sense to anyone or not.

The difference in the editions is significant. I have yet to read the British Editions, but when I read my German edition, I noticed it was different from the American Edition. Through comparing my German edition, my American edition, and the BBC's video version I realized there were a few more difference besides the wolf's name in LWW. (I also did some online research) Although I grew up reading the American edition, it is the BBC version that stuck in my mind and really formed the impression that this island was different. The books were my first experience with Narnia, but I saw the BBC version soon afterward so I really grew up on both.

EDIT: Oh, as for the Burnt Island/Deathwater scene, naturally I would want to place the Islands father away from Dragon Island. Such a solution is quite possible. I think that the dragon had to be a good long distance flier (how else could he have collected all the treasure). Another possibility, and it is quite silly, is that there was another dragon who did it. However, that isn't very plausible.

It makes much more sense if it is farther away. I suppose the dragons would have to fly for a distance to collect the treasure (either that or waylay pirate ships). I wonder how long a dragon could fly nonstop. It would have to go without food, water, and rest until it found land. It could also be that what happened on Burnt Island was caused by pirates (that was mentioned as a possibility in the book.
I think we might be over thinking again.

I don't think that they have been stuck on the islands for decades right? A few years maybe, but not decades. I need to do a reread.

I was always confused about whether Dark Island was actually matter or not. But I never took the time to really think about it; I was too excited to see how they would get out!

I know everyone seems to accept Deathwater and Dragon island as a logical and propitiously matched pair, but I really disagree. It really cheapens the presence of Aslan to have him appear to Caspian to smooth his quarrel with Edmund and then also later appear to Eustace on the same island. It needs to be clear that Aslan is very much watching over the voyage, but he chooses rare moments to make appearances. Putting these two together doesn't make sense.

The loss of the dark island is the least important to the plot. There isn't a lot of character development there. The only thing is that is where they find one of the lords and they can always find him somewhere else.