Huzzah! This chapter is obnoxious for a whole lot of reasons, and one of the chief ones is how inconsistent it is. Not just in the sense that it has a lot of whacking great continuity problems, but because it keeps see-sawing between Eragon being "noble" and trying to avoid killing people, and Eragon going out of his way to kill people unnecessarily.
Like when he stabs the soldier through his shield. The guy was doing nothing more threatening than walking slowly toward him. He posed literally NO threat. All Eragon would have had to do is disarm him and maybe knock him over. Hell, if he did it impressively that might have led the rest of them to have a change of heart and surrender. But nope. He kills the guy in cold blood simply for being rude to him. Because at the end of the day the only thing that has ever mattered to Eragon is his ever-expanding ego, which must be protected at all costs. Hell, what the soldier guy said to him about how he's killing people just because he wants fame and glory wasn't even an insult - it was the unvarnished truth. Remember how Eragon reacted when Saphira first hatched in book one? He reacted by immediately thinking "if I raise this dragon I can become a Rider and be counted among the heroic myths!", or words to that effect. He doesn't think about how the dragon is cute and innocent and he wants to protect it, nor is there any affection toward her involved. He sees her as nothing but a means to become famous and important.
Basically, in this chapter Ergs comes across as a bloodthirsty psychopath who occasionally pretends to be good and merciful because he wants people to like him. And it's not working.
(Note how the "hovels" were set on fire BY THE VARDEN because they were in the way, and our hero has absolutely no reaction to this).
no subject
This chapter is obnoxious for a whole lot of reasons, and one of the chief ones is how inconsistent it is. Not just in the sense that it has a lot of whacking great continuity problems, but because it keeps see-sawing between Eragon being "noble" and trying to avoid killing people, and Eragon going out of his way to kill people unnecessarily.
Like when he stabs the soldier through his shield. The guy was doing nothing more threatening than walking slowly toward him. He posed literally NO threat. All Eragon would have had to do is disarm him and maybe knock him over. Hell, if he did it impressively that might have led the rest of them to have a change of heart and surrender. But nope. He kills the guy in cold blood simply for being rude to him. Because at the end of the day the only thing that has ever mattered to Eragon is his ever-expanding ego, which must be protected at all costs. Hell, what the soldier guy said to him about how he's killing people just because he wants fame and glory wasn't even an insult - it was the unvarnished truth. Remember how Eragon reacted when Saphira first hatched in book one? He reacted by immediately thinking "if I raise this dragon I can become a Rider and be counted among the heroic myths!", or words to that effect. He doesn't think about how the dragon is cute and innocent and he wants to protect it, nor is there any affection toward her involved. He sees her as nothing but a means to become famous and important.
Basically, in this chapter Ergs comes across as a bloodthirsty psychopath who occasionally pretends to be good and merciful because he wants people to like him. And it's not working.
(Note how the "hovels" were set on fire BY THE VARDEN because they were in the way, and our hero has absolutely no reaction to this).