Blue Brick Commentary
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antishurtugal_rebornChapter Twenty-Five: An Old Friend
The herbalist’s shop had a cheery sign and was easy to find. A short, curly-haired woman sat by the door. She was holding a frog in one hand and writing with the other. Eragon assumed that she was Angela, the herbalist. On either side of the store was a house. “Which one do you think is his?” he asked.
Good assumption kid. We only spoke about the herbalist’s shop a little over a minute ago, and the herbalist was named Angela. Stands to reason that a woman sitting in front of the shop just might be the exact person just mentioned. Okay, just another pause, because I need to get this out. I hate Angela. She’s an annoying, insipid, deus ex machina of a character. She’s too perfect, too knowledgeable, too everything that she shouldn’t be, and she contributes nothing important to the story, ever. You could remove her and nothing about the story would change.
Brom deliberated, then said, “Let’s find out.” He approached the woman and asked politely, “Could you tell us which house Jeod lives in?”
“I could.” She continued writing.
“Will you tell us?”
“Yes.” She fell silent, but her pen scribbled faster than ever. The frog on her hand croaked and looked at them with baleful eyes. Brom and Eragon waited uncomfortably, but she said no more. Eragon was about to blurt something out when Angela looked up. “Of course I’ll tell you! All you have to do is ask. Your first question was whether or not I could tell you, and the second was if I would tell you. But you never actually put the question to me.”
This is not funny. It’s never been funny. It’s pedantic and it makes people feel stupid. It’s like the “can-I-may-I” thing, where you’d ask your teacher “Can I go to the bathroom?” and she wouldn’t let you go until you said “May I”, or, worse, she’d say, “I don’t know. Can you?” It’s never been funny in any kind of use, especially when you have to have the characters explain themselves after using the joke. It’s like telling your audience the punchline of the joke before you’ve ever told them the joke in the first place.
“Then let me ask properly,” said Brom with a smile. “Which house is Jeod’s? And why are you holding a frog?”
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” she bantered. “Jeod is on the right. And as for the frog, he’s actually a toad. I’m trying to prove that toads don’t exist—that there are only frogs.”
Bantered is not a speech tag! And they’re not bantering, anyway. Angela’s being a bitch and Brom’s two seconds away from slugging her. And what kind of science experiment is that? Toads and frogs are of the same family tree. Toads are, actually, a classification of frogs. That means toads and frogs are essentially the same creature, just with a few differences.
“How can toads not exist if you have one on your hand right now?” interrupted Eragon. “Besides, what good will it do, proving that there are only frogs?”
The woman shook her head vigorously, dark curls bouncing. “No, no, you don’t understand. If I prove toads don’t exist, then this is a frog and never was a toad. Therefore, the toad you see now doesn’t exist. And,” she raised a small finger, “if I can prove there are only frogs, then toads won’t be able to do anything bad—like make teeth fall out, cause warts, and poison or kill people. Also, witches won’t be able to use any of their evil spells because, of course, there won’t be any toads around.”
This doesn’t make much sense, because what’s to stop someone from having a brilliant idea and changing everything evil that toads are apparently responsible for to frogs or some other kind of animal? People who wanna do bad things always find some kind of justification to do those bad things.
Brom tries to be polite and leaves Angela to her task, steering Eragon to Jeod’s house. Eragon says Angela’s crazy, which she is, among other things. Brom somewhat agrees with him, but admonishes Eragon by saying she might discover something useful, so don’t criticize her. They then reach Jeod’s house and get a description of the doorway. Brom knocks three times but doesn’t get an answer. Eragon gets fidgety and says they should try another house, but Brom ignores him and pounds on the door again, this time harder. Again, no one answers, and Eragon gets irritated and turns away, but then hears someone running to the door. A young woman opens it, and we’re told she’s got a pale complexion, light blond hair, and she’s been crying because her eyes are puffy. She asks what they want. Brom asks if Jeod lives here. The woman says, yes, he does, he’s my husband. Brom wants to talk with him, but the woman says he’s very busy. Brom won’t let it go, and the woman still refuses to let them into her house. Brom gets angry at her, and then asks her to deliver a message. He tells her to tell Jeod that a friend from Gil’ead is waiting outside. The woman slams the door in their faces and walks off. Eragon grumbles that “it wasn’t very polite” and I don’t know if he meant the door slamming or Brom’s assholeishness. My headcanon wants to go with Eragon calling Brom out on his behavior, especially because directly after Eragon makes this comment, Brom snaps at him to shut up and let him do the talking.
The door soon opens again, and this time on the other side is a tall man. We get a description of him, and he’s startled to see Brom and Eragon standing there. I suppose anyone would react the same way to seeing someone on their doorstep they thought dead for years. Jeod then says Brom’s real name. Bad Jeod, bad. Brom quickly rectifies the situation by saying it’s good to see him very loudly and then tells him not to use that name. Jeod says he thought Brom was dead, and Brom replies everything will be explained with time. Does he have anywhere they can talk safely? Jeod says they can’t talk here, at his house, but he knows somewhere they can.
“Fine,” said Brom. Jeod nodded and vanished behind the door. I hope I can learn something of Brom’s past, thought Eragon.
You hope, but it ain’t gonna happen, otherwise we’d lose all the mystery surrounding Brom.
Jeod soon returns with a rapier, an embroidered jacket, and a plumed hat. Brom stare-shames Jeod for his clothing choice, and Jeod just shrugs. He then takes them on a field trip through Teirm toward the citadel. He expositions about how the lord of Teirm, Risthart, has made a rule where all business owners in Teirm must have their headquarters in the castle. Despite the fact most merchants conduct their business elsewhere, they’re still forced to rent rooms in the castle. They don’t like it, but they do so to keep the guy calm. But, on the bright side, they’ll be free of eavesdroppers because the walls are thick. Right.
They went through the fortress’s main gate and into the keep. Jeod strode to a side door and pointed to an iron ring. “You can tie the horses there. No one will bother them.” When Snowfire and Cadoc were safely tethered, he opened the door with an iron key and let them inside.
And the gate guard just lets them inside? Without stopping to check their identities or create a log of who comes and goes? You have to have offices here, but no one bothers to check who’s using them? That’s stupid.
They go through the castle to get to Jeod’s office, which is surprisingly nice for someone who doesn’t use it. There’s a bearskin rug and bookshelves filled with books and everything. There’s even wood ready in the fireplace. They get settled, and Jeod tells Brom that he has a lot of explaining to do. Brom makes an off-color joke about Jeod’s hair being grey and decomposing off his head. Jeod retorts by saying Brom looks the same as he did twenty years ago, and something about being stuck as a crotchety old man. Jeod then demands Brom get on with the telling, which Brom does, after he gets settled in a chair and pulls out his pipe. He asks if Jeod remembers what they were doing in Gil’ead. Jeod, of course, remembers, because whatever they were doing is extremely hard to forget.
“An understatement, but true nevertheless,” said Brom dryly. “When we were . . . separated, I couldn’t find you. In the midst of the turmoil I stumbled into a small room. There wasn’t anything extraordinary in it—just crates and boxes—but out of curiosity, I rummaged around anyway. Fortune smiled on me that hour, for I found what we had been searching for.” An expression of shock ran over Jeod’s face. “Once it was in my hands, I couldn’t wait for you. At any second I might have been discovered, and all lost.
Yes... super important dragon’s egg just hidden among crates and boxes that mean nothing and just by chance Brom’s curious enough to go, “Huh, I got nothing better to do! Let’s look in these crates!” That’s too super convenient, let alone weird, because Morzan stole the egg back from the original thief and killed that guy, so you’d think Morzan would be smart enough to either keep the egg on his person or hide it somewhere no one would think to look and/or accidentally stumble across it. But I guess all the bad guys in this book make up for brain power with brute force.
"Disguising myself as best I could, I fled the city and ran to the . . .” Brom hesitated and glanced at Eragon, then said, “ran to our friends. They stored it in a vault, for safekeeping, and made me promise to care for whomever received it. Until the day when my skills would be needed, I had to disappear. No one could know that I was alive—not even you—though it grieved me to pain you unnecessarily. So I went north and hid in Carvahall.”
Eragon clenched his jaw, infuriated that Brom was deliberately keeping him in the dark. Jeod frowned and asked, “Then our . . . friends knew that you were alive all along?”
Eragon, dude, he’s been keeping you in the dark since day one. There’s no point in you being pissy about it now.
Brom agrees that their “friends” knew he was alive all along, and Jeod gets a little put out about that, and laments that he wishes he’d been told. Finally Jeod notices that Eragon exists, and then asks Brom if Eragon’s presence means he’s (Brom) fulfilling his duty. Brom lies right to Jeod’s face and says no, and that it isn’t that simple. The McGuffin was stolen a while ago, or he thinks so, because he never received word from their friends. He suspects the messengers were intercepted, so he decided to leave on his own and find out what he could. Eragon “just happened” to be going in the same direction, so they decided to stick together.
Jeod looked puzzled. “But if they haven’t sent any messages, how could you know that it was—”
Don’t worry, Jeod, I’m just as puzzled. It doesn’t make any sense that Brom would lie to Jeod here, and then turn around and tell him the truth once Eragon’s been sent out of the room. Jeod was there, he knows what they were looking for. He can assume that Brom is doing exactly what he says he isn’t doing.
Bromus Interruptus quickly says that Eragon’s uncle was murdered by the Ra’zac, and they destroyed everything, so Eragon wants revenge, he wants to help, but they need direction. Jeod seems to finally get that Brom doesn’t want to tell Eragon shit, or at least that’s how it reads, and he asks why they’ve come to Teirm. He doesn’t know where the Ra’zac are, and those who would won’t be helpful and tell them. Brom then pulls out the flask and tosses it to Jeod, saying there’s magic acid oil in there, and that the Ra’zac were carrying it. They want to see the shipping records so they can trace the Empire’s purchases of the oil (because it really will be that obvious) and by doing so, they’ll be able to track down the Ra’zac. I’m surprised that Jeod doesn’t burst out laughing. Instead he points to all the books and says those are all the records from his business. Just his business. He says this is a project that could take months. Worse, only Brand, the administrator of trade, can see the records on a regular basis. Normal people aren’t allowed to touch them, because apparently the Empire is afraid they’ll falsify documents and cheat on their taxes. Brom says he can deal with it when the time comes, but he wants to take a couple days off and rest. Jeod says “I got you, bro” and basically gives them an open-ended invitation to stay at his house. Without consulting his wife first. Because she doesn’t matter. He then asks if they’ve got some fake names to use.
“Yes,” said Brom, “I’m Neal, and the boy is Evan.”
See, this is a better time to use fake names than earlier when they were discussing it. Brom’s already established that Jeod shouldn’t use his real name, and by default, obviously, not to use Eragon’s.
“Eragon,” said Jeod thoughtfully. “You have a unique name. Few have ever been named after the first Rider. In my life I’ve read about only three people who were called such.” Eragon was startled that Jeod knew the origin of his name.
Three has to be a typo, because we only hear about the First Rider Eragon and this numbnuts of a main character. I’m getting my math right, yes? Jeod says there’s three he’s read about. One is the First Rider, so there’s an Eragon after him, and an Eragon after the second, and then the main character of this story, right? The two in between are never spoken about, talked about, or brought up again, and no one’s ever curious about what thing this second Eragon and third Eragon did. The name is supposed to be noble and of great renown, and yet, no one seems to have a clue about these two.
Brom then tells Eragon to go away by asking him to go check on the horses.
They’re trying to hide something from me. The moment I leave they’re going to talk about it. Eragon shoved himself out of the chair and left the room, slamming the door shut. Snowfire had not moved; the knot that held him was fine. Scratching the horses’ necks, Eragon leaned sullenly against the castle wall.
No shit, Sherlock. Brom’s been keeping secrets from you from the get-go, and while he doesn’t have to tell you everything or answer every question you ask about his past, it’s pretty shitty of him to leave you in the dark about very important shit that’s gonna end up affecting your life. Brom’s a shitty person, get over it.
Eragon then complains that it’s not fair, and that he wants to know what’s being said. Then he gets a bright idea and remembers that Brom taught him a spell that would enhance his hearing. So his intention with the spell is to be able to hear all the way through however many hundreds of feet of thick stone to Jeod’s office so he can spy on them without being caught at it.
He concentrated intensely and reached for his power. Once it was within his grasp, he said, “Thverr stenr un atra eka hórna!” and imbued the words with his will. As the power rushed out of him, he heard a faint whisper in his ears, but nothing more. Disappointed, he sank back, then started as Jeod said, “—and I’ve been doing that for almost eight years now.”
I like how he instantly knows it’s Jeod and not Brom, especially when he enters the conversation midsentence.
Eragon looked around. No one was there except for a few guards standing against the far wall of the keep. Grinning, he sat on the courtyard and closed his eyes.
Yes, because those guards aren’t going to take interest in some peasant kid sitting around some really healthy and expensive looking horses. Are you freaking serious right now? If the guards don’t think this kid’s a thief, then they’re gonna go looking for his master. These guards are incompetent and stupid.
Eavesdropping, Eragon is able to hear Brom tell Jeod that he didn’t expect the guy to become a merchant. He expected Jeod to become a librarian or Alagaesia’s Indiana Jones or something like that, I guess. We’re told Jeod found a passageway to somewhere, but that’s all the information we get for now, and then Brom asks why Jeod took up trading. Jeod says Gil’ead changed his mind. After that adventure, he didn’t have much taste for sitting still and reading musty tomes. So he decided to help Ajihad (name drop that means nothing right now) as best he could, but Jeod couldn’t fight his way out of a wet paper bag. His daddy was a merchant, so when he wanted to take over, his daddy helped. However, Jeod isn’t a legitimate merchant and more like a smuggler, working to get supplies into Surda. Which is very strange because Surda has to be an important trading partner with Algalag, so I don’t know why Jeod would need a front to do legitimate business. But that’s just another thing to add to the list that doesn’t make sense.
Jeod also says that none of his shipments have gone through lately and Tronjheim is low on supplies. Jeod thinks it’s the Empire, because who else would it be in this story, that’s behind the attacks because they’ve discovered which merchants are helping to support Tronjheim. However, Jeod isn’t convinced that the Empire is truly behind the attacks because there’s no proof that they are. He suggests Galby hired mercenaries to harass them. Brom asks how many merchants are helping Jeod, and he says a good number up and down the coast. But all of them have been bothered by the same misfortune as he. Jeod then suggests there’s a traitor in their midst, but he really can’t bring himself to believe it because then shit’s gonna get real. He says Brom should return to Tronjheim. Brom says he can’t do that, not yet. Not with Eragon. It’s too dangerous for him to be there right now. Maybe some time in the future. A few months or even a year from now. Brom asks Jeod to imagine how the dwarves would react, and that everyone would start trying to influence him, especially Islanzadi. Oh, Brom. Don’t worry. Eragon practically hands himself to her on a silver platter. Brom says Eragon and Saphira won’t be safe in Tronjheim until he gets them through this stage of training they’re in.
Dwarves! thought Eragon excitedly. Where is this Tronjheim? And why did he tell Jeod about Saphira? He shouldn’t have done that without asking me!
Re... Really? He shouldn’t have done that without asking you? Weren’t you in the room when he was telling Jeod the story of what happened after their adventure together? Jeod’s already figured out you’re a Rider. He was there. He knew they were looking for a dragon’s egg. Why is your skull so fucking thick that you can’t figure out the obvious?
Jeod states that “they” could use Brom’s power and wisdom. Brom finds that funny for some reason. Jeod still pushes the point. Brom says he’s not going, and they’ll just have to get along without him. What he’s doing now is far more important than going to Ajihad and helping him root out possible traitors and thus save the entire movement Brom brought into existence in the first place. Both Brom and Jeod muse about the possibility of a traitor and then Brom says he needs to send word to Ajihad and if Jeod can help him with that. Jeod says he might know a guy, but it depends on where he’d have to go. Brom doesn’t have a clue either, because he’s been in isolation for so long, everyone he knew is likely dead or have forgotten he ever existed. He asks Jeod to send the guy to whoever receives his shipments. Jeod agrees, despite the risk. So they decide to send the messenger to Gil’ead, and Jeod asks what the guy can take to convince Ajihad that the message is legit. Brom gives Jeod his ring and then tells him to tell the messenger not to lose it or he’ll tear out his liver. The ring is Important because it was given to Brom by “the queen”. Which literally could be any queen that existed over the years that Brom has been alive but actually refers to Islanzadi the elf queen. Once all that is settled, Brom says that they should leave and join Eragon because when he’s by himself he gets into all sorts of trouble. Which, to be fair, is only because Brom brings him into stupid and dangerous situations first. For some reason, Jeod asks “Are you surprised?” to which Brom replies, “Not really,” which now that I think about it could indicate that Jeod knows Eragon is Brom’s son and like father like son.
Eragon hears them getting up and ends his spell and wonders to himself what’s going on. He figures out that Jeod and others are being persecuted for helping people the Empire doesn’t like. Brom found something in Gil’ead and then went to Carvahall to hide. He wonders what could possibly by so important that Brom let his own friend believe he was dead for nearly twenty years. Then he wonders about a queen, because there’s no queen in any known kingdom (which suggests there are other countries and yet there’s no mention of international trade or anything like that) and there are dwarves, which Brom said disappeared long ago.
He wanted answers! But he would not confront Brom now and risk jeopardizing their mission. No, he would wait until they left Teirm, and then he would persist until the old man explained his secrets. Eragon’s thoughts were still whirling when the door opened.
You know... I kind of imagine this poor little hamster running in the maze of Eragon’s mind, just running and running when a good thought comes up, a good line of questioning to pursue, or where a normal reaction would be, and then that poor little hamster slams headfirst into a solid wall of a dead end. It’s rather frustrating.
“Were the horses all right?” asked Brom.
“Fine,” said Eragon. They untied the horses and left the castle.
This would be a good opportunity to show just how irritated Eragon is with Brom, but all we get is a bland “fine”, and not much else. It’s super disappointing.
They head back to Teirm proper and Brom starts in on Jeod by prodding him about his choice of a wife. Jeod doesn’t seem pleased about Brom’s compliment, because his wife, Helen, isn’t very happy right now. Brom asks why.
“The usual,” said Jeod with a resigned shrug. “A good home, happy children, food on the table, and pleasant company. The problem is that she comes from a wealthy family; her father has invested heavily in my business. If I keep suffering these losses, there won’t be enough money for her to live the way she’s used to.”
Yes, she can’t possibly be unhappy because her husband’s business is taking a swirl down the toilet. She can’t possibly be unhappy that it’s putting undue stress on her husband, and therefore, her. She can’t possibly be upset because just maybe her family is talking shit about her husband. No. She’s unhappy because she doesn’t have kids and company to keep, and she’s two steps away from being in the poorhouse. Yup, that’s why she’s upset. No other possible reason. Because women are only happy when they’re rich, comfortable, barefoot, and pregnant.
Jeod says ignore all that though, because his troubles aren’t theirs, and hosts shouldn’t bother their guests with problems. His house is theirs. Brom thanks him and then asks where they could find a cheap clothier because all the riding has worn out their clothes. Jeod gets happy until he sees his house, then abruptly asks if they want to have dinner out because it would be awkward if they come in now. Brom agrees and they go out to eat in a very nice tavern. Eragon really likes the dinner, and they stay there for a while. Then they leave and Eragon says he needs to go do something. That something is going to check up on Saphira. Brom says go for it but be careful and don’t take too long.
“Wait,” said Jeod. “Are you going outside Teirm?” Eragon hesitated, then reluctantly nodded. “Make sure you’re inside the walls before dark. The gates close then, and the guards won’t let you back in until morning.”
I cannot begin to express how stupid this is. You’re trying not to draw attention to yourself, and the guards are going to take note of some non-local kid skipping out of the city with a mission. Especially if these are the same guards who stopped Eragon and Brom on their way in. This is foolish, stupid, and selfish. Besides that, he communicates with Saphira from inside the city not two chapters later. Why does he have to go out and check on her? Do you really think Saphira is so stupid that she hasn’t picked a good hiding place? Really? Stupid misogynist weasel.
Eragon says he won’t be late and then skips out of the city. He finds Saphira hiding atop a mossy cliff surrounded by maple trees. He wonders how he’s going to get up there, and Saphira says she’ll come down and get him. Eragon says no, he’ll just climb up. Saphira says it’s dangerous, and Eragon dismisses her by calling her a worrywart and he just wants to have some fun. So he starts climbing and it’s fun until it isn’t anymore. Suddenly, he finds himself stuck and demands some help from Saphira. She, quite rightly, says it’s his own fault. Eragon admits that’s true and then demands that she come get him.
If I weren’t around, you would be in a very bad situation.
Eragon rolled his eyes. You don’t have to tell me.
You’re right. After all, how can a mere dragon expect to tell a man like yourself what to do? In fact, everyone should stand in awe of your brilliance of finding the only dead end. Why, if you had started a few feet in either direction, the path to the top would have been clear. She cocked her head at him, eyes bright.
Now, I do love the times other characters call Eragon out on his assholeishness. But Eragon blows off their opinions and feelings anyway and doesn’t change. He still is the same stupid, selfish brat he’s always been.
All right! I made a mistake. Now can you please get me out of here? he pleaded. She pulled her head back from the edge of the cliff. After a moment he called, “Saphira?” Above him were only swaying trees. “Saphira! Come back!” he roared.
Yes, let’s yell with our outside voice and possibly draw the attention of every traveler and patrol in the area. And why should she rescue his ass? He got himself into this mess and he can get himself out.
Instead of leaving his ass where it is and letting him stew, Saphira comes to his rescue. She snatches him up in her talons, then takes him up to the top of the cliff.
Foolishness, said Saphira gently.
Eragon looked away, studying the landscape. The cliff provided a wonderful view of their surroundings, especially the foaming sea, as well as protection against unwelcome eyes. Only birds would see Saphira here. It was an ideal location.
And I’ll completely ignore your admonishment of me, Saphira, and treat you like an oversized Mr. Ed. Blah blah blah your needs.
They talk about what Eragon heard, and Saphira asks if Jeod is trustworthy. Too late now, he knows everything. Eragon isn’t sure himself, but there are forces at work that they aren’t aware of. He worries that they’ll never come to understand the true motives of the people around them, because they all seem to have secrets. Well, you end up letting them play you like a fiddle, so. Moot point. Saphira is confident, however, that Brom is a good person and means them no harm, so they don’t have to fear his plans. ...I’m sorry, Saphira, are you reading the same story I’m reading? Brom has physically abused your Rider. He has manipulated your Rider by withholding vital information from him until after an event happens or by saying it’s for Eragon’s own safety that he isn’t told A, B, and C. And this is okay? No, no it’s not.
Anyway, Saphira then states that their idea of trying to find the Ra’zac is weird. She then wonders about a certain type of magic that would let one see the records without actually being there. Eragon isn’t sure if such a spell exists because you’d have to combine this word with that word and blah blah blah, you know what I’ll just ask Brom. Good show. Then they lapse into silence for a while. Then:
You know, we may have to stay here awhile.
Saphira’s answer held a hard edge. And as always, I will be left to wait outside.
And she’s back to being a petulant child. Honestly, I know Saphira is almost five or six months old, but there are times she speaks with wisdom beyond her physical age, and then she acts like a child about to throw a temper tantrum to get what she wants.
Eragon tries to placate her, and then he realizes he needs to get back to town. Saphira takes him down to the ground and he sprints back to Teirm, getting inside just before the gateway is closed for the night. The guard makes an observation to which Eragon says it won’t happen again, and soon Galbatorix is there to collect Eragon and Saphira because the guard did his job and reported suspicious people. Oh, wait, no. None of that happens. Eragon instead skips on back to Jeod’s house without a care in the world. And then a butler answers the door. Where was that butler before when Helen answered the door? Was he off for the day? Was he taking a smoke break? We get a description of Jeod’s house which is rich with tapestries and rugs and gold candelabra. The butler takes him to the study, where Jeod and Brom are.
They passed scores of doorways until the butler opened one to reveal a study. Books covered the room’s walls. But unlike those in Jeod’s office, these came in every size and shape. A fireplace filled with blazing logs warmed the room. Brom and Jeod sat before an oval writing desk, talking amiably. Brom raised his pipe and said in a jovial voice, “Ah, here you are. We were getting worried about you. How was your walk?”
Apparently you’re not too worried, considering your ass is snuggled into that chair, and you’re talking “amiably” and smoking. Real concerned.
I wonder what put him in such a good mood? Why doesn’t he just come out and ask how Saphira is? “Pleasant, but the guards almost locked me outside the city. And Teirm is big. I had trouble finding this house.”
You almost couldn’t find the house? A great woodsman such as you that can identify exactly how old tracks are can’t find a house? Especially when you have a telltale landmark like the herbalist’s shop? Seriously?
Jeod finds this funny and says that when Eragon has seen a couple other cities, he won’t be easily impressed with Teirm. It’s pretty and Jeod likes living here. That’s nice. Don’t really care. And apparently Eragon doesn’t care either because he immediately turns to Brom and asks how long they’re going to be here in Teirm. Brom’s got no clue. They’ll be here as long as they need to be. Then Eragon says he won’t be able to help. Brom asks why, because there’s going to be plenty to do. Well, great scot, Eragon can’t read! Imagine that. Brom then says something incredibly weird:
Brom straightened with disbelief. “You mean Garrow never taught you?”
“He knew how to read?” asked Eragon, puzzled. Jeod watched them with interest.
“Of course he did,” snorted Brom. “The proud fool—what was he thinking? I should have realized that he wouldn’t have taught you. He probably considered it an unnecessary luxury.” Brom scowled and pulled at his beard angrily. “This sets my plans back, but not irreparably. I’ll just have to teach you how to read. It won’t take long if you put your mind to it.”
You know, at first I thought this was going to be a great representation of the time period this story is set in. Poor peasant farmer can’t read, and therefore doesn’t see the point in educating his children or learning himself. It wasn’t done. And then that’s blown straight out of the water by this little tidbit of information - Garrow can read! However, we never see an instance of Garrow reading a book, we have no confirmation that books are ever in Garrow’s house, and I don’t understand how Garrow can be “too proud” to teach his kids how to read, especially when they’re snowed in the house and have shit to do. Also, who taught Garrow to read? Brom? Gertrude? ‘Cause she’s the only one in the damn village who knows how to read, apparently. This makes absolutely no sense, especially if, remember, Brom left a letter for Roran. Roran can’t read. Unless Garrow taught Roran and just ignored Eragon.
Eragon starts to regret that he opened his mouth because Brom’s lessons are brutal and intense. And he doesn’t mean any harm, right Saphira? But he agrees to being taught. Jeod says that Eragon will enjoy it because there’s much to learn from books. He then gestures to the bookshelves and mentions that these very expensive books are his friends, and they make him laugh and cry and find meaning in life. Because apparently his wife doesn’t do it for him. There’s a tete a tete between Brom and Jeod and Jeod throws out a dictionary worthy word: bibliophile. He has to even explain that it means “one who loves books”, and then both men ignore the boy and go back to talking amongst each other. Eragon, bored, starts scanning the shelves and finds something that intrigues him. It’s a book bound in black leather and decorated with strange runes. Curious, he takes the book to Brom, who is also surprised and wonders where Jeod got his hand on the book.
Jeod strained his neck to see the book. “Ah yes, the Domia abr Wyrda. A man came through here a few years ago and tried to sell it to a trader down by the wharves. Fortunately, I happened to be there and was able to save the book, along with his neck. He didn’t have a clue what it was.”
“It’s odd, Eragon, that you should pick up this book, the Dominance of Fate, ” said Brom. “Of all the items in this house, it’s probably worth the most. It details a complete history of Alagaësia—starting long before the elves landed here and ending a few decades ago. The book is very rare and is the best of its kind. When it was written, the Empire decried it as blasphemy and burned the author, Heslant the Monk. I didn’t think any copies still existed. The lettering you asked about is from the ancient language.”
This is not only very strange, but also Deus ex Machina. Now, there’s never before been mention of a monastic religion in this story, never mind any religion at all, save the one for Helgrind, which we get to in a couple of chapters. Add in the fact that this book is supposed to detail everything from before the elves arrive, it’s hard to take the book as fact and not a romanticized version of what some dude thought had happened. I suppose you could compare the Dominance of Fate to the religious texts of the three major faiths. All the books claim to be the exact word of God, but all of them were written by men, so how can we take these stories as truth? (Ignoring faith, here, obviously. I’m not trying to start a religious debate.) Also, it can’t possibly be blasphemy if it’s just a history. Why would Galbatorix give two shits about a book detailing history? He’s got more pressing problems to worry about than some book half his subjects have on their shelves for posterity and the other half can’t even fucking read. Besides that, anyone who could argue its validation is either dead or locked up in their mountains or forests and refuse to interact with humanity. Therefore, Heslant the Person may have existed to write this book, but unless he was his own monastic order, he couldn’t be a monk.
Eragon’s curious about what this particular passage he found in the book says. Brom explains that it’s part of an elven poem detailing the events of the years they fought the war against the dragons. It describes one of their kings, Ceranthor, as he rides into battle. He goes on to say the elves love the poem and tell it regularly, though it takes three days to do it properly. Funny, because this poem never comes up ever again. And of course, because the elves are Better Than You, when they tell it, it’s so beautiful that it can make inanimate rocks cry. Anyway, Eragon starts thumbing through the book, marveling that a dead guy can talk to generations of the future and he wonders if it contains any information about the Ra’zac. Gee, Eragon, why don’t you ask the two morons who can read that question? But he doesn’t and instead sits there looking at pictures, I guess, until he starts to fall asleep. The butler then shows them to their rooms, and Eragon waylays Brom.
As Brom entered the room on the right, Eragon asked, “Can I talk to you?”
“You just did, but come in anyway.”
Again, this isn’t funny. It’s never been funny. It’s along the lines of “can I ask you a question” “you just did”. That shit earns you nasty looks and makes people think you’re a douchebag. Which Brom is, but that’s besides the point.
He then says that he and Saphira had an idea, for which Brom stops him and goes to pull the curtains over the window, like that’s going to stop eavesdroppers. Brom says that when Eragon goes to talk about such things, he’d do well to make sure nobody was around listening. Which is great advice, except for the part where nobody knows who the hell Saphira is, so even if they heard Eragon mention her name, they wouldn’t know who he meant. For all they know, Eragon’s a little touched in the head and is talking about his horse. Eragon apologizes and says:
“Anyway, is it possible to conjure up an image of something that you can’t see?”
Brom sat on the edge of his bed. “What you are talking about is called scrying. It is quite possible and extremely helpful in some situations, but it has a major drawback. You can only observe people, places, and things that you’ve already seen. If you were to scry the Ra’zac, you’d see them all right, but not their surroundings. There are other problems as well. Let’s say that you wanted to view a page in a book, one that you’d already seen. You could only see the page if the book were open to it. If the book were closed when you tried this, the page would appear completely black.”
Again, why fucking bother? Scrying is the equivalent to far-seeing. It’s like looking through a telescope at anywhere in the world. You’re supposed to be able to see what you’re wanting to see, not a facsimile of it, and certainly not just one focused object and nothing else. Granted, there are limitations, such as distance, lighting, clarity, etc. But the way this is done just makes it a fancy spying device so you can check your oven and make sure you didn’t leave it on by accident. It doesn’t serve any purpose otherwise. You can’t glean any information, and therefore it’s only good for checking up on people you care about.
“Why can’t you view objects that you haven’t seen?” asked Eragon. Even with those limitations, he realized, scrying could be very useful. I wonder if I could view something leagues away and use magic to affect what was happening there?
“Because,” said Brom patiently, “to scry, you have to know what you’re looking at and where to direct your power. Even if a stranger was described to you, it would still be nigh impossible to view him, not to mention the ground and whatever else might be around him. You have to know what you’re going to scry before you can scry it. Does that answer your question?”
See previous argument. Scrying used like this makes it a fancy home security device and not worth using in any other instance. Also that idea of using magic to affect things via scrying? Never is used as a device or comes up again.
There’s some more explanation about scrying, like conjuring an image into thin air takes more energy than projecting an image onto water or a mirror. Some Riders used to travel all over so they could see as much as they possibly could, because then they could spy on everyone and whatever war or calamity happened. Although I’m not sure how much war there was if the who land was considered to be in a “golden age” while the Riders “ruled”. Eragon says he wants to try it, Brom says no, not while we’re in town and scrying takes a lot of strength. He then goes on to say he’ll teach Eragon the words but Eragon has to promise not to try to spell tonight, or really, until they leave Teirm, because Brom has more to teach him. Eragon agrees. So Brom tells him the spell, Eragon repeats it, and then says he’ll scry Roran first because he’d like to know how he’s doing and he’s afraid the Ra’zac will go after him.
Future Plot Alert!
Brom says that’s a distinct possibility, because the Ra’zac probably asked questions about him, too. Although I don’t know why, because I’m not sure Sloan bothered to mention Roran at all. Maybe Garrow did break under pressure. Brom also says maybe the Ra’zac met Roran while they were in Therinsford. Why? And how? Anyway, Brom says that they’re very curious and that the king’s probably threatening them with punishment if they don’t find Eragon or find some way to get Eragon to come to them. Roran is now a target. Eragon bravely says he’ll sacrifice himself for Roran. Brom says put that fool thought out of your head, because you can’t anticipate their move or when they’ll come after you. Moreover, even if Eragon did exactly that, the Ra’zac would still go after Roran. Once Eragon does some soul searching, he realizes that Roran is a Controlling Factor - that is, if the bad guys get their hands on Roran, they can coerce Eragon into giving himself up to save his cousin’s life, and/or torture him to get information on Eragon. Brom’s proud that Eragon figured that out nicely. And quickly. Obviously Eragon’s upset by this, and Brom says:
Brom clasped his hands loosely. “The solution is quite obvious. Roran is going to have to learn how to defend himself. That may sound hard-hearted, but as you pointed out, you cannot risk meeting with him. You may not remember this—you were half delirious at the time—but when we left Carvahall, I told you that I had left a warning letter for Roran so he won’t be totally unprepared for danger. If he has any sense at all, when the Ra’zac show up in Carvahall again, he’ll take my advice and flee.”
You left a warning letter for a guy who can’t read. And it still amazes me Eragon doesn’t call Brom out on this. Did Garrow teach Roran and not Eragon, or did Brom just expect someone to read the letter to Roran, and therefore didn’t put anything important in the letter? Because if that’s the case, then that’s classic Brom. Don’t give any information until after the fact so you can beat up ignorant kids with your vast superior knowledge.
Eragon’s unhappy about the whole thing, so Brom tries to placate him by saying there’s good in the situation. Roran’s actually protected by Eragon being on the lam. Galby can’t afford to let anyone know there’s another Rider running about, one that’s not under his control at that. Before Galby tries to kill Eragon or Roran, he’ll offer them the chance to serve him. Of course, if he’s that close, Eragon might as well kiss his ass goodbye. Eragon, understandably, can’t figure out how that’s good. Brom says it’s all that’s protecting Roran at this point. As long as Galby doesn’t know what side Eragon’s chosen, he can’t risk alienating Eragon from him by harming Roran. The Ra’zac killed Garrow, which was as mistake (actually, they tortured him and he died of his wounds), says Brom, and that Galby wouldn’t have allowed such a thing to happen unless he gained something from the death. Eragon wonders how he can defy the king when he’s threatening him with death, and Brom says Galby wants him ready and willing. Without being willing to obey, Eragon’s useless to him. He says that the question isn’t whether or not Eragon will serve the king, but if he’s willing to die for what he believes in. Eragon says nothing. Brom admits that it’s a difficult question and one rarely answered until you’re forced to answer it. He then says something about people dying for their beliefs all the time, but the real courage lies in living and suffering for what you believe in. Then the chapter ends.
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Date: 2020-07-30 04:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 02:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-07-31 03:38 am (UTC)The writing of this book is awful. For example: I hope I can learn something of Brom’s past, thought Eragon. This is not a thing that people think. This is not how people think. This is a thing that readers should ask themselves. This could've been fixed if Eragon wondered how Brom knew Jeod. Here's my fix: Jeod nodded and vanished behind the door. Eragon paused for a moment. How did Brom, a poor storyteller, know Jeod, a merchant, anyway? And why was Jeod so willing to help them? It didn't make sense. Was Jeod even trustworthy? Eragon pushed away the thought. Brom trusted him , and Eragon didn't really have a choice. Eragon entered the house. I know it's longer than the original, but I find it odd that Eragon, a peasant farm boy, wasn't suspicious of Jeod at all.
Also, this sentence could be improved: Eragon clenched his jaw, infuriated that Brom was deliberately keeping him in the dark.* For one thing, it is both telling and showing. For another thing, Eragon's thoughts could be directly stated, allowing readers to connect to them. Here's my second fix: Eragon clenched his jaw. What was the point of Brom keeping him in the dark?
Maybe Garrow did break under pressure.
Ra'zac: [holding a sword to a large paper bag] Tell me everything you know or the meth gets it!
Garrow: NO! Not the meth!
Sorry. Garrow being a fantasy meth dealer will never get old.
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Date: 2020-07-31 05:08 am (UTC)Breaking Bad: Fantasy Land Edition. It even has something glittery and blue that everyone wants to get their hands on!
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Date: 2020-07-31 09:46 pm (UTC)Perfect! Ra'zac = mafia bosses
Priests of Helgrind = Mafia.
Galby = either police or kingpin.