Fear

[epistler]

Wow, this place has really gone dead lately. Rest assured, though, that the next chapter spork should be posted soon! Promise!

Meanwhile something has occurred to me, which is that at some point during Eldest, Eragon stops ever feeling any sort of (believable, shown on the page) fear. I think the last time it ever happens is when he tells Saphira he's scared because he doesn't know when he's going to have another back scar pain attack and doesn't know what to do about it. 

From pretty much that point onward he acts like a goddamn robot in dangerous situations. He doesn't panic, he doesn't get sweaty palms or a racing heartbeat - but rather more relevantly, his decisions and behaviour don't ever change as a result of feeling fear. He doesn't irrationally lash out or make stupid decisions because he's afraid. He doesn't freeze up or retreat or even say something stupid because he's afraid. In fact the only time Paolini really bothers to give him some token show of fear or trepidation, it's when he has to... give a speech. Not when he has to, oh, face off against the ultimate evil king of evilness (let's pretend) and his dragon who's the size of a goddamn castle. Nope. Cool as a cucumber. He's calm and clear-headed all the way through.

And it's both unsympathetic and fucking ridiculous.

Comments

[oblakom]

I think he also kind of panics in that chapter where Saphira tries to ra--ahem tries to seduce Glaedr and then attacks him and Glaedr puts her back in her place. He doesn't know how to reach her and has a panic moment (that Oromis immediately solves by telling his to use the Sue-Horse).

[epistler]

He doesn't in the English version. In fact he's incredibly blasé about it. "Oh no I can't contact Saphira. Well that's annoying I guess."

Hell, I'll quote it for you.

Saphira! cried Eragon. He reached for her with his mind and, to his bewilderment, was deflected by impenetrable barriers that she had erected around herself. He could barely feel her. It was as if he were trying to grasp an orb of polished granite coated with oil. She kept slipping away from him. He looked at Oromis. “Something’s happened to them, hasn’t it?”

[snip]

Eragon joined him, thinking of everything — probable and improbable — that might have befallen Saphira. The two dragons had left at noon, flying north to a place called the Stone of Broken Eggs, where the wild dragons had nested in ages past. It was an easy trip. It couldn’t be Urgals; the elves don’t allow them into Du Weldenvarden, he told himself.

[snip]

“What about Saphira, though? I still can’t contact her.”
“You must go to her,” said Oromis. “She is hurt, in more ways than one. Glaedr said little of what transpired, but I have guessed much, and you would do well to hurry.”
Eragon glanced about for any means of transportation and groaned with anguish when he confirmed that none existed. “How can I reach her? It’s too far to run, there’s no trail, and I can’t—”
“Calm thyself, Eragon. What was the name of the steed who bore you hence from Sílthrim?”
It took Eragon a moment to recall. “Folkvír.”
“Then summon him with your skill at gramarye. Name him and your need in this, the most powerful of languages, and he will come to your assistance.”
Letting the magic suffuse his voice, Eragon cried out for Folkvír, sending his plea echoing over the forested hills toward Ellesméra with all the urgency he could muster.
Oromis nodded, satisfied. “Well done.”

He's so unemotional about it that they might as well be talking about a trip to the shops to buy some milk.

[oblakom]

In Italian it has a bit more emotions. I don't know what is it? Maybe the translators tried to help a bit XD

But it's a pity, really, because the way people face fear is one of the differences between heroes and villains in many stories.

[epistler]

Maybe the translators tried to help a bit XD

It definitely wouldn't be the first time.

But it's a pity, really, because the way people face fear is one of the differences between heroes and villains in many stories.

It really is.

[rhyson]

Yoda never freaks out. I get the sense he's been tempered by age, is past the point of caring about the small worries like other people's opinions, and knows by now that panic doesn't help.

Oromis never freaks out. I get the sense that he just doesn't care. The sooner he gets Eragon out of his hair, the sooner he can get back to staring at a wall. Oh, but he has to make it a teaching moment so he can pretend he did his job.