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Q: It’s a fantasy trope that you can’t ever vanquish Great Evil completely: Sauron, Voldemort, the White Witch — somehow they always come back. I get that it’s a metaphor for how evil is eternal. But how does their ability to resurrect themselves work exactly? – MegaMouth, Manchester, NH
The Oracle Speaks:
This is a classic example of various authors basically starting from a philosophical “point” they want to make and working backwards from there: as you say, the point they’re making is that evil is a fundamental part of us all, and since we can’t ever deny our own natures, we can’t ever vanquish evil completely (although we can certainly reduce its influence and impact!).
But even apart from the fascinating philosophical question, the specifics are pretty interesting too: how do these powerfully evil beings always seem to survive death?
First, they find a magical means to ensure their immortality.
Voldemort, for example, created the multiple horcruxes — magical, hidden totems that stored bits of his soul, binding him to the material plane (Voldemort thought he had created six horcruxes — the only wizard ever to create more than one — but of course he had accidentally created seven, one being Harry Potter himself). But with each additional horcrux, he became less and less human.
Voldemort directed a Killing Curse at the infant Harry to prevent the prophecy that the boy was destined to kill him from coming true — but the spell rebounded, destroying Voldemort’s physical body (but not his soul, which was, of course, kept alive by the horcruxes).
Meanwhile, Sauron, who started out as an immortal anyway, created the One Ring to gain additional power and influence, forging it in secret to give him control over the other Rings of Power, but also requiring that he imbue it with much of his power and some degree of his essence. When Isildur cut the ring off Sauron’s finger in the War Against the Last Alliance, it destroyed his weakened physical body, but his soul lived on in hiding, desperate to regain the ring and the power it wielded over the other rings.
Finally, the White Witch (then known as Jadis) gained immortality by eating The Fruit of Everlasting Life shortly after Narnia’s creation. Subsequently, she somehow learned Deep Magic From the Dawn of Time, which bolstered her knowledge and power (but, alas, not Deeper Magic From Before the Dawn of Time, which ended up biting her in the ass).
But while these beings’ essences or souls were preserved from total destruction even in defeat, they eventually did need to draw at least some of the power necessary for regeneration from the evil in the hearts of their followers — reinforcing the authors’ philosophic point that evil lives on in the world because ultimately we allow it to.
Voldemort relies at first on weak-willed people like Quirrill and Peter Pettigrew — and later, he openly enlists other evil allies like Lucius Malfoy. But ultimately it’s the fear, prejudice, and lack of conviction on the part of the entire wizarding community that allows Voldemort to rise again.
Meanwhile, Sauron’s return to power, initially in the forests of Dol Guldur (part of Mirkwood Forest), is directly aided by the Nazgul, especially the Witch-King of Angmar — nine weak-willed former humans who were seduced and destroyed by the Rings of Power. Subsequently, infighting on the part of the White Council and Saruman (who hoped to gain the One Ring for himself) allowed Sauron’s hatred and evil to grow unchecked.
As for the White Witch, in Prince Caspian, she is about to be brought back to life even after Aslan killed her in a previous book through black magic on the part of her evil followers, a hag and a werewolf, and also the weak-willed dwarf Nikabrik.
Incidentally, did the destruction of the One Ring in The Return of the King finally ultimately destroy Sauron, and did Harry’s defeat of Voldemort in Deathly Hallows kill the wizard?
In both cases, the answer is probably not.
In The Return of the King, Gandalf says:
If [the Ring] is destroyed, then he will fall, and his fall will be so low that none can foresee his arising ever again. For he will lose the best part of the strength that was native to him in his beginning, and all that was made or begun with that power will crumble, and he will be maimed for ever, becoming a mere spirit of malice that gnaws itself in the shadows, but cannot again grow or take shape. And so a great evil of this world will be removed.
As for Voldemort, J.K. Rowling reportedly said in a podcast that, post-Deathly Hallows, he would be similarly diminished, living on in a form like the vision Harry has of the piece of Voldemort’s soul inside himself: a flayed naked child, whimpering and abandoned under a bench. (Truthfully, this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, but I thought a lot of Deathly Hallows was a stretch.)
As for the White Witch, some say she reappears in The Silver Chair, reincarnated as The Lady of the Green Kettle (Glimfeather the Owl says she’s “of the same crew”), but after that, she’s never heard from again.
But is she gone forever? You know the answer to that: absolutely not.
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Digression: I believe there were only seven horcruxes. Tom Riddle’s diary, the Gaunt family ring, the Hufflepuff cup, Ravenclaw’s diadem, the Slytherin locket (already destroyed by R.A.B.), Nagini, and Harry himself. No? I really enjoyed how not once did any of the characters or prose explicitly say, “Harry is a horcrux.” Though Rowling laid it all out for us, she still respected her readers enough to let us do the math, basic though it was.
You are correct, sir! A shiny penny and my hearty thanks. I’ll correct.
Speaking of which, she shouldn’t have trusted ME to do the math.
With relations to the White WItch in the books she is only seen in LWW and TMN and the resurection scene in the film version of PC was only a cinematic expansion in what was originally only a verbal based scen with the only action being the fight between Nikkabrik, the Hag and the Werewolf vs Caspian,Trumpkin and Peter and Edmund.
The lady of the Green Kirtle is also a seperate figure with no relation whatsoever apart from having the same ambiiton of dominating Narnia and both being highly seductive figures.
Remmeber Narnia is mostly based on Christian ideals and apart from Aslans resurection in LWW and the end of LB reincarnation would not happen in the series in the manner you described the connection between Jadis and the Lady of the Green Kirtle
Yes, the scene in the Prince Caspian book is definitely different — expanded — in the movie (I wasn’t trying to imply otherwise, but thanks for clarifying). As for the Lady of the Green Kettle, there ARE those who suggest they’re the same person — and I do think it’s consistent with the tone of the work even if CW Lewis might not have thought of it. :-)
umm just a small mistake but it think it is Professor Quirrell with e.
But really good point of view to look at nature of these evil forces. Maybe we can also add that these forces are not usually vanquished early when it can make a difference because of either fear or some other plot. I am mainly going with Sauron on this one though, like how Saruman persuades the council to take no action early days of Dol Guldur which in the end when they do take the necessary action it is too late to be permanent.
And all these instances there is someone close to the heart of the “good” side who betrays everything. Like Peter Pettigrew or Edmund (though he is the most innocent on this list) and of course Saruman. The interpretation of that I will leave open.