Black/Gold Brick Commentary

[mara_dienne459]

I feel like I'm watching an over-the-top telenovela with this chapter... complete with terrible acting and barely-there plot. 

Chapter Forty-Six: Two Lovers Doomed

 

Eragon is so shocked that all he can do is stare at Glaedr and ask:

 

“But how?” he exclaimed. Before either Glaedr or Oromis could respond, Eragon whirled toward Saphira and, with both his mind and his voice, he said, “You knew? You knew, and yet you let me believe Morzan was my father this whole time, even though it . . . even though I—I . . .” His chest heaving, Eragon stuttered and trailed off, unable to speak coherently. Unbidden, memories of Brom flooded through him, washing away his other thoughts. He reconsidered the meaning of Brom’s every word and expression, and in that instant, a sense of rightness settled over Eragon. He still wanted explanations, but he did not need them in order to determine the veracity of Glaedr’s claim, for in his bones, Eragon felt the truth of what Glaedr had said. 

 

Yeah, most people don’t react like this when they’re told who their daddy is. And I understand that this isn’t a time of paternity tests and things like that, but Eragon flips his belief system so readily that he’d probably believe that Vrael was his father, if, you know, elves did that sort of thing with humans. Besides that, Brom never once treated Eragon like a son. Brom didn’t do much in the way of child-rearing, even when they were traveling together and Brom was “training” him. There’s absolutely no contextual reason why Eragon would readily believe this. Unless we’re supposed to believe that Brom “intending” for Eragon to have his ring was a sign? But then, Brom never really indicated himself that it was to go to his son. Ajihad suggested “Brom would have wanted” Eragon to have it, and then Izzy told Eragon he shouldn’t have worn it because it wasn’t “meant for him”, but then turned around and gave it to him anyway. This really is so far out of left field that it doesn’t make much sense if you go back and look at the behavior of the characters.

 

Eragon’s still in shock and jumps when Oromis touches him on the shoulder. Oromis again tells Eragon he needs to calm down and tells him exactly how to wrangle his emotions into submission, and now I’m really starting to think that Oromis just can’t deal with children having emotional outbursts and tells them to calm the fuck down because he doesn’t know how to handle them. And that really makes a scary sort of sense when you realize how fast both Arya and Oromis forced Eragon to mature as rapidly as possible throughout this story, more or less ignoring any and all of his emotional outbursts and telling him to quit being emotional. Which makes even more sense when you realize that Oromis tells us he is the one who made the final decision on Galby’s chance of getting another dragon - Galby was in a bad emotional place, not acting rational or thinking rational, and Oromis just couldn’t handle a broken-hearted child (because Galby was nineteen or maybe twenty, and thus literally a child to Oromis’s hundred-plus years) crying about his pain.

 

Little wonder Oromis always shoved these “calm yourself” lines at Eragon every time Eragon started to have an emotional outburst. Little wonder why Oromis didn’t treat Eragon with any sort of compassion or caring when Eragon didn’t do what Oromis wanted.

 

Oromis is a sociopathic, narcissistic control freak.

 

Anyway, Oromis tells Eragon to get his shit together and calm the fuck down, and once Eragon does so, he turns on Saphira and asks if she knew, too. And we all know the answer to that.

 

Saphira lifted her head from the ground. Oh, Eragon, I wanted to tell you. It pained me to see how Murtagh’s words tormented you and yet to be unable to help you. I tried to help—I tried so many times—but like Oromis and Glaedr, I too swore in the ancient language to keep Brom’s identity a secret from you, and I could not break my oath. 

 

Pray tell, Saphira, when exactly did you try to do any of what you just said? All those times you reassured Eragon that Brom was a good person? That what he did, he did to protect him? Or that time when Eragon was waxing existential about his father being Garrow and not Morzan because Garrow taught him to live honorably and blah blah blah? Which is hilarious that I remember this now after Eragon just gone done baby-screaming about how Garrow “didn’t want” him. If Garrow didn’t want him, Garrow wouldn’t have spent so much time and energy on the brat. And how exactly did Murtagh’s words torment him? Eragon basically brushed that off with all the flair of an emotionless robot. He ultimately decided that he didn’t care, that he was going to consider Garrow his father, end of story, and now all of a sudden that just gets ignored so we can have this big reveal that everybody saw coming and nobody cares about. 

 

Eragon asks Saphira when Brom told her the truth, and the narrator makes a point of telling us that Eragon is still “so agitated” that he can’t speak to Saphira with his mind, so he has to talk out loud. Saphira says it was the day after the Urgals attacked the party outside Teirm, while he was still slowly dying because he was stupid. Eragon asks if that was also when Brom told her how to contact the Varden at Gil’ead. Saphira replies:

 

Yes. Before I knew what Brom wished to say, he had me swear to never speak of this with you unless you found out on your own. To my regret, I agreed. 

 

You know, Brom’s actions here remind me of an abuser. He makes Saphira swear to never tell Eragon the secret before he actually tells her what that secret is. Alarm bells should be going off in her head. This guy wants her to swear an oath of secrecy against her own Rider. Like come on, Saphira! I need your brain cells to all hold hands right now. Did nothing about that seen hinky to you? Did nothing about that make you go “eeeh, how ‘bout no?” You’re so adamant about protecting him all the time that you didn’t stop to consider that maybe what Brom was going to make you promise would actually put Eragon in danger? That it would hurt him? As it obviously did? Partner my ass.

 

Eragon gets angry again and demands to know if Brom told Saphira anything else, like any other secrets, like Murtagh isn’t his only sibling, or how to defeat Galby. One of those things is not like the other here. In fact, neither of those things are on the same planet. Saphira replies that Brom basically gave her his entire life story so she could recount it to Eragon in the event Eragon ever learned of their relationship and I guess in the event Brom wasn’t around to tell Eragon himself. Gee, never got that vibe from Brom at all. Seemed to me that Brom wanted to go through life without ever acknowledging Eragon as his. Saphira also tells Eragon that Brom also gave her a gift to give Eragon. Eragon is confused by that, so Saphira explains that it’s a memory of Brom speaking to Eragon as his father, and not whatever Eragon actually knew him as.

 

Oromis interrupts and says that, before Saphira shares this gift, he wants to tell Eragon a history lesson. Eragon realizes that Saphira spoke to everyone, not just him alone, which is how Oromis heard what Saphira had to say. Oromis then asks Eragon if he’ll sit and listen to Oromis talk a bit. Eragon hesitates, because he doesn’t know what he really wants, but he ultimately nods. So Oromis starts to talk.

 

Lifting his crystal goblet, Oromis drank of his wine, then returned the goblet to the table and said: “As you know, both Brom and Morzan were my apprentices. Brom, who was the younger by three years, held Morzan in such high esteem, he allowed Morzan to belittle him, order him about, and otherwise treat him most shamefully.” 

 

Exactly how “shamefully” was shameful? And what was it that Morzan did to Brom, anyway? Because we’re told this an awful lot, but never any examples. Did Morzan physically abuse Brom? Did he tar and feather him and parade him naked in the halls? Did he have Brom squeal like a pig (points if you get that reference plays banjo da na dee der dee der dee)? What exactly did Morzan do to Brom that was “most shamefully”? AND WHY THE FUCK DIDN’T YOU STOP IT, OROMIS?! Seriously, why doesn’t anybody ask that? Why didn’t Oromis do anything about Morzan’s behavior toward Brom? The fact that Oromis admits that it happened is proof enough that he knew about it and did nothing to stop it. Oromis is nothing but an enabler. Even if he ascribed to the “they’ll sort it out themselves” school, there still comes a point where the adult needs to step in and stop the bullying. Not wait until one of your students turns to the Dark Side and ends up becoming public enemy number one. Not wait until your other student’s dragon is murdered and he goes batshit insane. Oromis is a terrible person and a terrible teacher. 

 

Eragon says something about how it’s hard to imagine Brom allowing anyone to order him around. Oromis says something basically akin to “yeah, but, it happened”:

 

Oromis inclined his head in a quick, birdlike dip. “And yet, so it was. Brom loved Morzan as a brother, despite his behavior. It was only once Morzan betrayed the Riders to Galbatorix and the Forsworn killed Saphira, Brom’s dragon, that Brom realized the true nature of Morzan’s character. As strong as Brom’s affection for Morzan had been, it was like a candle before an inferno compared with the hatred that replaced it. Brom swore to thwart Morzan however and wherever he could, to undo his accomplishments and reduce his ambitions to bitter regrets. I cautioned Brom against a path so full of hate and violence, but he was mad with grief from the death of Saphira, and he would not listen to me. 

 

Really? Even brothers don’t tolerate this behavior from one another, not unless there’s else going on, like total hero worship, or as in my head, Brom was in love with Morzan. When we’re in love, we’re blind to a lot of behaviors that would otherwise give us warning bells. We also tolerate a lot of things because we’re convinced, either by ourselves or by our partner, that the behavior is just because they love us. It takes a lot to realize that the behaviors we experience are abusive and not being done out of love. The fact that Brom doesn’t raise any of this until Morzan betrayed the Riders and his dragon was killed is just glaringly strange to me. Did Brom have a moment of “this isn’t real” when he found out that Morzan betrayed the order? That it was all just a big joke and he could turn Morzan back to the light if he just tried a little harder? Because you’d think that if Morzan betrayed the Riders and Brom was so enamored with him, Brom would go with him. If he was that blindly devoted to him, you know? And I find it interesting that Oromis just says “the Forsworn killed Saphira”, not anyone specific, and yet Brom declares personal revenge on Morzan and everything that has to do with him, like Morzan was the one who killed Saphira. Except it isn’t specifically stated. This whole dichotomy of behavior doesn’t makes sense to me. It just feels weird.

 

Oromis goes on to say that Brom’s hatred for Morzan never changed, and he never backed down from his ultimate purpose of destroying Galby, the Forsworn, and making Morzan suffer a living nightmare until the day he died. Brom became a one man army against the Forsworn. Oromis describes him as a “nightmare” to those who followed Galby and a “beacon of hope” to those who resisted the Empire. Oromis drinks and says he’s proud of what Brom did, because it’s always “heartening for a teacher to see one of his students excel” - which, let’s face it, Brom did, but in a genocidal sort of way - and then Oromis says that twenty years ago, the Varden began to get reports from their spies about some mysterious woman known as “The Black Hand.” Eragon mutters that that Black Hand was his mommy. Oromis goes a step further and clarifies that it was Eragon and Murtagh’s mother, and then says that the Varden didn’t know jack or shit about her, except that she was extremely dangerous and that she was completely loyal to the Empire. After a lot of time and a lot of spilled blood, they figured out that she served Morzan and Morzan alone, and that Morzan had become so dependent upon her to carry out his orders. Brom’s lightbulb went off and he got the bright idea to kill the Black Hand and strike at Morzan by taking away his favorite toy.

 

Because Brom always went for the childish playground response.

 

Anyway, since the Varden couldn’t predict where Selena would show up next, Brom again got the bright idea to head off to Morzan’s castle and stare at it until he could figure out a way to get inside without being detected. Eragon asks where Morzan’s castle was, and Oromis says it still exists. Galbatorix apparently uses it for himself, not that we’ve ever seen him do it, so I firmly believe Galby was keeping it for the day Murtagh was old enough to take it over and wanted to move in, and Oromis also tells us that it’s somewhere in the foothills of the Spine, near the northwestern shore of Leona Lake, hidden where nobody can find it. Which explains why we never ever see the castle in this story. Eragon recalls that Jeod told him that Brom snuck into the castle by pretending to be a servant. Oromis corroborates this fact.

 

“He did, and it was no easy task. Morzan had impregnated his fortress with hundreds of spells designed to protect him from his enemies. He also forced everyone who served him to swear oaths of fealty, and often with their true names. However, after much experimentation, Brom managed to find a flaw in Morzan’s wards that allowed him to procure a position as a gardener on his estate, and it was in that guise he first met your mother.” 

 

Because of course he did. This seems to be a theme in these books. The bad guys have the “impenetrable fortress”, but the good guys always seem to be able to penetrate it. Do you know what “impenetrable” means? It means you can’t get through it, no matter what you do. If you succeed in getting through, then the thing wasn’t impenetrable. And it really strikes me as odd that Morzan makes everyone who works for him swear oaths of fealty, but he didn’t bother to vet Brom’s persona. Why didn’t he make this random new gardener swear oaths? Was he just not paying attention? Was he not in residence at the time? Did he not pay attention to his payroll? He just sees this unfamiliar face and thinks nothing of it? Morzan never struck me as stupid, and yet here it seems like Morzan was stuck up his own ass too far to pay attention to what was going on around him despite all these precautions that he took. Worse, he had to know that Brom was gunning for him, and him specifically, so why Morzan wouldn’t take precautions to keep Brom specifically out of his personal space, I don’t know. It’s almost like Morzan was daring Brom to come kill him. Like Morzan had a death wish or something.

 

Eragon looks at his hands and whines about how Brom seduced Selena to hurt Morzan. Which is exactly what Brom originally was going to do, because stealing his best friend’s girlfriend is always the best response when you want to get revenge. Oromis handwaves off Eragon’s whine, and says maybe that was Brom’s intention at the start, but he found Twu Wuv with Selena. Oromis continues to put words in Selena’s mouth by saying that whatever affection she had for Morzan had faded by then - something we can’t confirm because Selena is dead and cannot speak for herself and why does it seem to be a running theme in this book with the men thinking thoughts and making decisions for the women without the women’s consent? - and that it faded because of Morzan’s cruel treatment of her and Murtagh.

 

Remember what Morzan’s treatment was? It was to give Murtagh to a wet nurse and then restrict Selena’s access to Murtagh. Which sounds horrible, until you can think of a dozen possibilities as to why that was - Selena couldn’t produce milk for Murtagh, thus the wet nurse, and she was restricted from seeing Murtagh because she either a) showed no interest in her baby and Morzan still wanted to try to get her take interest in her child, b) Selena suffered from post-partum depression, or c) Selena didn’t give two shits about her child, but Morzan still wanted her to get to know the child they brought into the world. Or, you know, you could go with the in-canon explanation and that separating a newborn baby from his mother and only allowing them to see each other if Selena was on her best behavior as a way of controlling her.

 

Oromis continues on and says that at some point Brom revealed his true identity to Selena, but instead of betraying him, she began to supply the Varden with information about Galby, Morzan, and the Empire. Eragon asks how that could be, because didn’t Morzan have Selena swear oaths of fealty to him in the ancient language? How could she go against those things? Oromis smiles and reveals that she could because Morzan allowed her some freedom so she could use her brains and initiative to carry out his orders. Oromis suggests that, “in his arrogance”, Morzan thought that Selena’s love for him would ensure her loyalty better than any magic oath. Because apparently Morzan couldn’t be blind in love either? Because Morzan was so Super Evil that he couldn’t be human? Anyway, Selena also wasn’t the same woman who had bound herself to Morzan in the first place. Giving birth to a baby she seemingly didn’t give a shit about and finding Twu Wuv with Brom was enough to change her enough that her true name changed as well, thus freeing her of the oaths she had sworn. Oromis says that if Morzan had been more careful, he might’ve figured out a spell that would alert him to the moment the true name of his servants changed, and realized that he no longer had power over Selena anymore, but Morzan never looked at the bigger picture. Apparently, as Oromis tells us, this was a major problem of Morzan’s. He was too impatient. He could make all these grand plans or super spells, but they would ultimately fail because he was too hasty and overlooked some important, if minor, detail.

 

How easy this is to talk about someone who can’t defend themselves. How interesting it is that Oromis talks like this is gospel, but all it is is really gossip. Oromis isn’t a reliable narrator. We can’t trust a damn thing he says. And yet we’re forced to because we’re expected to. Screw you, Oromis.

 

Anyway, Eragon’s ultimate problem is “why didn’t my mom just leave Morzan’s ass once she had the chance?” Because it’s just that simple, right? Oromis explains:

 

“After all she had done in Morzan’s name, she felt it was her duty to help the Varden. But more importantly, she could not bring herself to abandon Murtagh to his father.” 

 

Which is hilarious to me because of the fact that Murtagh has no relationship with his mother, nor does she have a relationship with him. Oh, she could love him, but Murtagh was taken from her directly after birth and given to a wet-nurse, and then Selena was only allowed to see him for like an hour as a reward for good behavior or something like that. Murtagh would never form a child-parent bond with her. To him, she’d be just some random lady that he gets to see every now and then and while he logically would know that she’s his mom, the emotional bond just wouldn’t be there. Murtagh likely would’ve been too much trouble to rescue, because he would’ve started causing a scene which would’ve called attention to Selena trying to run. I mean, Selena already effectively abandoned him to his father because she never tried to see him beyond the times Morzan allowed her to. Selena could’ve fought to keep her child, especially with the skills that Morzan taught her. Or, worse, Selena could have performed infanticide if she was so concerned about “not abandoning” Murtagh. And before we get into an argument about abused women, Selena was never abused, according to the information in the text. Similarly, the one opportunity she had to rescue her eldest son and flee she squandered. Literally she was alone in Morzan’s castle because he’d gone off to retrieve Saphira’s egg. And instead of packing up her kid and running away, she abandoned him to ride to Carvahall, stick around for three months until she gave birth to Eragon, then went back to... well, I assume to finally get Murtagh, but for all we know it was because she needed to be back in the event Morzan returned. Or she was looking to meet Brom. It could be argued that Selena didn’t even want either of her children, though, considering how readily she gives them up. It’s a stretch, though.

 

Eragon asks the very question we were all wondering - why didn’t Selena just take Murtagh with her? Oromis says that she would have, if she had been capable. Morzan realized that having Murtagh gave him lots of power over Selena. We’re reminded that the Evil Morzan made Poor Selena give up her baby and then kept the baby from her. Which is oh so evil, right? I could get behind that as being evil... if Paolini hadn’t immediately written that DURING THE INTERVALS SELENA WAS ALLOWED TO VISIT MURTAGH, SHE ACTUALLY VISITED BROM.

 

Yup. Getting busy with Brom was far more important than spending time with her kid.

 

Oromis pauses to watch some birds flit by, whereupon Eragon stares longingly at him and compares his face to a hawk or cat. Oromis then says that not even Selena could predict where Morzan’s orders would send her and how long she would be away. So, Brom had no choice but to stay on the estate if he wanted to see her. So for three years, it went like this, just so Brom could bang Selena. Brom stayed and worked as a gardener on Morzan’s estate for three years, cuckolding Morzan the entire time. Eragon is shocked that Brom did this for three years, and wasn’t Brom afraid he’d be caught? Oromis laughs this off and says Brom was “most adept” at disguising himself and it had “been many years” since Morzan had seen Brom face to face.

 

Um. I’m pretty sure not seeing someone YOU KNOW VERY WELL for years precludes you from recognizing that person if you meet again so many years down the road. Morzan and Brom grew up together. They spent many years of their lives together. There’s no fucking way Morzan couldn’t recognize Brom no matter what disguise Brom wore. This is laughable...

 

Eragon accepts this explanation and wants the story to continue. Oromis obliges and says that one of Brom’s agents made contact with Jeod, who was claiming he wanted to join the Varden and was saying he had found a secret entrance into Uru’baen’s castle. Brom felt the discovery was super important, so he left Morzan’s castle to follow up. Eragon asks about his mom, where she was, and is told that she had left a month earlier on some errand of Morzan’s. Eragon starts mentally trying to reconcile Oromis’s story with Jeod’s story, and supposedly something Garrow probably told him about Selena, but eventually gives up and states that Brom met with Jeod and once Brom was convinced Jeod wasn’t lying out his ass, he arranged for someone to steal the three dragon eggs Galby was keeping. Oromis says this is true, but something went terribly wrong there. He name drops the thief - Hefring of Furnost - and says that the guy was only able to pinch one egg - Saphira’s - and once he had it, he fucked off to parts unknown rather than delivering the goods to the Varden like he was supposed to. So everyone decided to go hunt the poor bastard down to get the egg. The Varden apparently also decided that Hefring had betrayed them. Although nobody seems to consider why the guy would choose to betray them, only that he did.

 

Anyway, Brom was then forced to spend seven months hunting Hefring down. Eragon says that, during this time, Selena had gone to Carvahall to give birth to him five months later. Oromis says yes, and somehow creepily knows exactly when Eragon was conceived. Apparently it was before Selena set off for her last mission. So, Brom knew nothing about her condition while he was playing “find me, catch me” with Hefring. He found out only when he finally confronted Morzan in Gil’ead and Morzan asked Brom if he was the one responsible for Selena’s disappearance. Oromis says it would make sense that Morzan would suspect Brom, because Brom had arranged the deaths of several of the Forsworn. Brom, however, immediately figured out something terrible happened to Selena. Oromis says that Brom told him that it was that singular belief, that something bad had happened to his Twu Wuv, that gave him the strength and fortitude he needed to murder Morzan and Morzan’s dragon. Once the two were dead, Brom filched Saphira’s egg from Morzan’s body, because apparently Morzan had already found Hefring and relived him of the egg (we’re left to assume Morzan killed the guy, but we really don’t know what happened to Hefring), and then hid the egg again somewhere he believed the Varden would eventually find her.

 

Yeah. Nothing ever goes wrong when you do that with the important item...

 

Eragon goes “ahhh, so that’s why Jeod thought Brom was dead!” Oromis nods and says Brom was so afraid about what happened to Selena that he didn’t bother to wait around for his buddies. On the chance Selena was alive and well, Brom was absolutely terrified that Galby would decide to add Selena to his roster of servants and that she would never have a chance to be free. Or be with Brom.

 

Which is literally what this boils down to. Brom didn’t want to give up Selena. He didn’t care what Selena wanted. He wanted dat booty all to himself.

 

Eragon starts to cry and thinks that Brom must have really loved Selena if he was willing to abandon all his friends the moment he found out she was in danger.

 

To me it just sounds controlling and creepy.

 

Oromis continues talking, saying how Brom rode straight to Morzan’s place, stopping only to sleep. Still, as fast as he was, he still got there too late. When he arrived, he found out that Selena had returned two weeks before, very sick and weary. Morzan’s healers tried to save her, but she died just hours before Brom showed up. Eragon gets choked up and says Brom never saw her again? Nope, never again. Oromis says losing Selena was almost as difficult for Brom as it was to lose his dragon, and he became a lonely old man. Oromis points out that Brom didn’t give up or go mad, like he did when his dragon died, but instead decided to try and solve the mystery of Selena’s death and “punish those responsible”. Sooooo himself, for knocking her up, and Eragon for being born? Wow. Does that sound awful or what? So Brom threatens the healers to tell him about Selena’s condition and listens to the gossip of the servants, Brom guesses the truth.

 

Based on gossip and threatening a couple of women. Good man, that.

 

So, based on that knowledge, and somehow the magical knowledge of where Selena’s home village was (because it’s never stated that Selena told Brom about Carvahall, ever), Brom heads off to Carvahall to confirm for himself if he’s right or not. Surprise, he’s right. He comes across little baby Eragon in the care of Garrow and Marian. Immediately upon that discovery, and after assuring himself nobody knew about Selena’s sordid past and that baby Eragon also wasn’t about to bite it, he turned around and immediately abandoned his infant son to return to the Varden. Well, everyone’s shocked to see Brom alive, because they all thought he had died back in Gil’ead. Brom convinced Deynor, the leader at the moment, to keep his presence a secret from everyone but a handful of people, and then Eragon interrupts to ask why Brom pretended to be dead. Oromis replies:

 

“Brom wanted to live long enough to help instruct the new Rider, and he knew the only way he could avoid being assassinated in retaliation for killing Morzan would be if Galbatorix believed he was already dead and buried. Also, Brom hoped to avoid attracting unwarranted attention to Carvahall. He intended to settle there in order to be close to you, as indeed he did, but he was determined that the Empire should not learn of your existence as a result. 

 

Yeah, good plan. Let’s settle in the village where Morzan first acquired his Black Hand, which I’m sure Galby knew, and let’s use our real name because that’s never attracted unwanted attention. Seriously. How could Brom think this was a good idea? The fastest way to get discovered would be to use your real name while in hiding. Even Galby knew who Brom was and what his role in the demise of the Forsworn was. If he wanted to get revenge on Brom, he could’ve attacked the village and destroyed Brom without blinking. Everyone else would be collateral. Eragon was in far more danger with Brom being there than he would be if Brom chose to stay among the Varden and pretend his son didn’t exist. Brom was entirely selfish. Honestly this story probably would’ve been more interesting if Eragon and Saphira did 90% of the first book on their own, and met Brom only in the last chapter or so, where he could begin their training once they reach the Varden, or something like that. Brom could still bite it, but he could die in the second book on the way to the elves, if they were attacked by the Ra’zac then, or something. 

 

Oromis tells us what we already know - that Brom negotiated an agreement with Queen Izzy about how the elves and humans would share custody of Saphira and how the new Rider would get trained by the elves in the event of Brom’s untimely death. Brom went with Arya as she carried the egg from Farthen Dur to Ellesmera, and when he arrived he talked to Oromis and Glaedr about everything, apparently just so the truth of Eragon’s parentage wouldn’t die when Brom did. Because that’s totally how I would want my child to find out I was their parent. Treat them like they’re a burden and beat the shit out of them constantly under the guise of “training”, until I could kill myself “protecting” them, and then let total and complete strangers - strangers, mind you, who have done their best to manipulate them into absolute and total puppets - tell them all about me when I couldn’t be there to verify the information myself. Great plan, Brom. Great plan.

 

Oromis also says that it was the last time he saw Brom, because from here Brom went straight to Carvahall, where he set himself up as a bard and storyteller because reasons. I guess he didn’t want to be a productive member of society there. Oromis eventually shuts up, leaving the ground clear for Eragon to think about everything and sort his shit out, and then whine that Oromis is sure Brom is really his daddy and not Morzan? Obviously if his mother was Morzan’s consort then there’s the possibility that... Nope, no doubt. No doubt at all. Oromis is absolutely sure. Like he was there at the moment of conception sure.

 

Which is totally gross, but there ya go. Enjoy that mental image.

 

Well, with that crisis averted, Eragon starts to feel giddy and realizes that he’s been holding his breath. So, unfortunately, he starts breathing again and says some nonsense about how he understands why Brom didn’t say anything to him before he found Saphira’s egg, but he doesn’t understand why Brom didn’t say anything to him afterward. And why did Brom swear everyone to such secrecy? Eragon starts whining about how didn’t his father want him? Was he ashamed of Eragon?

 

Oromis swoops in for the emotional rescue by saying he won’t pretend to know what was going on in Brom’s mind, but he’s confident about one thing, which is telling his psycho little weapon what he wants to hear, which is that Brom wanted nothing more than to claim Eragon and raise him, but he didn’t dare reveal they were related because the big bad Empire might find out and hurt him through Eragon. AS IF LIVING IN A REMOTE VILLAGE USING HIS REAL NAME DIDN’T BRING ATTENTION TO HIM. 

 

Seriously, think about it for a second! If Galby actually did shit in this book and found out one of his enemies - the enemy that orchestrated the death of all his friends, including his best friend, and has been a bug up his ass for the last 100 years - was living in a remote village nobody really gave a shit about, a village that contributed nothing to the country’s bottom line, Galbatorix would wipe it off the face of the map in a heartbeat. Then it wouldn’t matter if Brom acknowledged Eragon as his son or not - Eragon would be dead, the village would be dead, everyone would be dead, and it would be all Brom’s fault.

 

Oromis also points out that Brom had every right to act the way he did, because, well, case in point, look at how hard Galby tried to hunt down Roran just to use him against Eragon. Um. I don’t really recall Galby or any of his minions working that hard to find Roran. The Ra’zac understudies were completely useless, the soldiers were completely useless, everyone was completely useless, and Roran succeeded at everything he did even when he shouldn’t have.

 

Eragon protests that Brom could’ve told Garrow. Surely Garrow wouldn’t have betrayed Brom to his enemies! Oromis tells Eragon to think for a minute and points out exactly what I and many sporkers before me have - if Eragon had been living with Brom and Brom’s identity got out, then they both would’ve had to flee for their lives. Brom wanted to protect Eragon from that, but look at what happened anyway. Eragon even says so. Oromis agrees and says that Brom’s mistake was that he couldn’t “bear” to keep himself away from Eragon. If Brom had been strong enough to cut out his unknown son that he had no relationship with and continued to have no relationship with for that son’s entire life, then Eragon never would’ve found Saphira, Garrow never would’ve been killed, and this entire story never would’ve happened. At least, not to Eragon. But Brom, that bastard, just wasn’t strong enough to not be selfish for once in his life.

 

Eragon then wonders why Brom didn’t bother to tell him after Saphira was on the scene, and Oromis hesitates, looks troubled for a minute, then says he’s not sure, but he thinks Brom was probably trying to protect Eragon and didn’t tell him anything for the same reason he didn’t bring Eragon to the Varden from the word start, which is that it probably would’ve been more than Eragon was ready for. Oromis speculates that Brom was probably intending to tell Eragon just before they went to the Varden - hahahahahaha, not fucking likely - but Oromis then quickly recants that by saying Brom probably was holding onto his secrets because that’s just how he was used to living. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of Eragon or anything silly like that, but because his entire life was one big secret and he hated giving them up. Oromis then says the most logical thing in this entire paragraph - that Brom likely didn’t tell Eragon because he wasn’t sure how Eragon would’ve reacted. He says that Eragon himself said that he wasn’t that well-acquainted with Brom before they left the village together...

 

Uh. Wait.

 

Doesn’t Brom’s introduction in the first book via Eragon state that they’re like... besties? Hold on...

 

Yeah. Page 35 of my pdf says that Eragon liked Brom, and that he never seemed to mind taking time for him. Which implies the exact opposite of “not being well-acquainted”. If some random little boy is always coming up to you and talking to you, and you’re spending inordinate amounts of time giving him attention, then you get to know each other pretty darn well.

 

Anyway, Oromis then suggests that Brom was afraid Eragon might hate him if he’d told him about their familial relationship. Eragon gets offended and says he wouldn’t have hated Brom, but he might not have believed him.

 

“And would you have trusted him after such a revelation?”

 

Eragon bit the inside of his cheek. No, I wouldn’t have. 

 

I mean, to be fair, Eragon never should’ve trusted Brom to begin with, or the moment Brom started laying into him about not telling him everything he needed to know to survive in the event Brom died early, which, oh look, he did. Brom kept many secrets from Eragon, even excluded him from things that he probably really ought to have known and been a part of, such as Brom’s “private” conversation with Jeod back in Teirm. Brom did nothing to earn Eragon’s trust. Brom abused him, ordered him around, yelled at him, and did everything but prove himself trustworthy. Eragon shouldn’t have trusted Brom as far as he could throw him, but for whatever reason, Eragon has no sense of self-preservation, and blindly followed Brom without question.

 

Continuing, Oromis said, “Brom did the best he could in what were incredibly trying circumstances. Before all else, it was his responsibility to keep the two of you alive and to teach and advise you, Eragon, so that you would not use your power for selfish means, as Galbatorix has done. In that, Brom acquitted himself with distinction. He may not have been the father you wished him to be, but he gave you as great an inheritance as any son has ever had.” 

 

I want whatever Oromis is smoking because whatever reality he’s in sounds so much different than what I’ve been reading. Galby started a war to try to change things, but it’s touted as he did it as revenge and because he’s Evil. Yet after he takes power, there’s only peace and prosperity. Nobody knows starvation or war, nobody is so poor that they’re constantly begging for alms and pleading for food. I mean, poor farmers live in two-story houses with private rooms for fuck’s sake! Horst’s house is described as having real glass windows! Nobody is being kidnapped and sold into slavery. Nobody has to worry about being thrown into debtor’s prison. Eragon, on the other hand, has used his power for selfish means. He’s abused people, namely Sloan. He’s hurt people just because he could, like that child soldier. Instead of deferring on the side of his inexperience, Eragon blesses Elva and screws up her life. When Eragon had his newfound elfy-powers, he sexually harassed Arya, knowing it was wrong but doing it anyway because he could. Eragon is the worst. It’s really a shame he’s construed as the hero, because he certainly never acts like it.

 

In retaliation for Oromis’s little speech there, Eragon retorts with “he’d have done that for anybody who got Saphira to hatch”. Oromis tells him that might be true, but the reality is Brom did more for Eragon by the grace of being his father than he would have for someone who wasn’t his kid. He reminds Eragon of how Brom sacrificed himself to save Eragon to know that it’s true.

 

So what Oromis is actually saying is that Brom would’ve just let someone else die if the new Rider hadn’t been his kid? Okay. Wow. We went there.

 

Eragon then changes the subject and asks if it really was an accident that Arya sent Saphira to him in the Spine. Oromis says yeah, Arya fucked up. But it wasn’t entirely a fuck up - instead of sending it to Brom, the father, she sent it to Eragon, the son. Eragon wonders how that could happen, because Arya didn’t know he existed. Oromis literally shrugs and trots out the old “I don’t know line”: 

 

“We still cannot predict or explain all of the effects of magic.”

 

In other words, Oromis doesn’t fucking know, doesn’t care to try to explain, doesn’t give a damn about any other explanation. Of course, in the next book, we discover that a bunch of dead dragons manipulated her spell to send the egg off course and have it appear before Eragon. Regardless of whether or not Eragon would be there exactly at that time, or if their magic would even hold, or if the egg would survive the journey, or, or, or. I could go on, but I won’t because this has gone on long enough and the chapter itself is still going.

 

Eragon then thinks to himself how he has a father and how he watched him die without ever knowing that guy was his dad. He then asks if his parents were ever married. Oromis says he knows why Eragon’s asking - but does he? - and says he doesn’t know if his answer will make Eragon happy. Elves don’t practice marriage, after all, and Oromis admits that the “subtleties” of marriage escape him. 

 

Uh, what subtleties? The fact that it’s a partnership? The fact that you should be loyal to that person and not fooling around on them? I didn’t think marriage had subtleties. It’s pretty much... right there in the vows the priest says to the couple. “Do you take this person to be your lawfully wedded partner, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for as long as you both shall live?” I really don’t see any subtleties there. So... Oromis just likes playing the field then? I can get behind that, sure. But... it just seems like he disapproves of humans and their behaviors and their... being human.

 

Anyway, Oromis says that nobody officially married Brom and Selena, but they considered themselves to be husband and wife. Did they? Did you ever talk to Selena, Oromis? Or do you just have Brom’s word on that? Oromis continues the conversation by telling Eragon not to worry if he’s called a bastard by the other meany humans (he never is) and instead be happy that he is the child of Brom and Selena and that both his parents died for him. Wow. Happy message there.

 

It surprised Eragon how calm he felt. His entire life he had speculated about the identity of his father. When Murtagh had claimed it was Morzan, the revelation had shocked Eragon as deeply as had the death of Garrow. Glaedr’s counterclaim that Eragon’s father was Brom had also shocked him, but the shock did not seem to have lasted, perhaps because, this time, the news was not as upsetting. Calm as he was, Eragon thought that it might be many years before he was certain of his feelings toward either of his parents. My father was a Rider and my mother was Morzan’s consort and Black Hand. 

 

What feelings? Eragon didn’t feel one way or another toward his mother, and whatever feelings he’d had toward Brom were... well. Non-existent, really. I never got the idea that Eragon cared much for Brom, aside from the fact that Brom frustrated the ever-living shit out of him and made him grumble and gripe about training and how life wasn’t fair. Anyway, this is a bald-faced lie, considering Eragon completely forgets about his mom not too long after this and only harps about Brom being his dad to everyone within earshot for a while. There’s no coming to terms with these revelations with Eragon. He immediately accepts them and forgets about it. This is not normal behavior. Most people who have an unknown parent revealed to them, an unknown parent that was right there beside them the entire time and knew they were the parent, react with disbelief, uncertainty, anger, or just general apathy because they never knew the person as a parent, just some guy they knew. They don’t typically react like Eragon does. But then, Eragon doesn’t ever react like a normal, psychologically healthy person.

 

Eragon then asks if he could tell Nasuada, which made me wonder why she was the first person who popped into his head and not Arya, which again hints toward the fact he and Nasuada are about to start some sordid affair, and Oromis is like yeah, whatever, I don’t care, tell whoever you want. You’re already in enough danger as it is, so why not scream from the rooftops you’re Brom’s kid? What’s it going to change? Eragon then says Murtagh believes they’re full brothers, and that he said so in the ancient language. Oromis says that Galby definitely believes they’re full brothers, too. He says that it was the Twins who figured out that Eragon and Murtagh shared mothers, and it was this that they told Galby. That’s all they could pass on, though, because not even they knew about Brom’s involvement. Nobody in the Varden knew about all that. Eragon looks up as some birds flit by and smiles. Oromis asks him why he’s smiling, and Eragon says he probably wouldn’t understand. Oromis agrees with that, but then also says Eragon can’t be certain of that until he tries to explain himself. So Eragon does so, saying that when he was a kid, before all this shit happened to him, he used to amuse himself by imagining his mom was so super beautiful and smart that she’d been taken in among the courts, rubbed elbows with all the rich lords and ladies and then fallen in love with a rich and powerful man. For some reason, she was forced to hide Eragon from said rich and powerful man, so she gave him to his aunt and uncle, and one day she’d come back for him and spill the truth and say she never wanted to leave him behind.

 

Oromis replies that Eragon’s daydream isn’t all that different from reality. Eragon agrees but adds that he imagined his parents were people of importance (because all Eragon really wants is fame and recognition. I really think the humble bat would break on this kid’s head) and that he was super important, too. He got all of that fame, but he didn’t get any of the happiness he thought would come with fame. Honey, I don’t think a single famous person would tell you that being famous was what made them the happiest human in the world. Eragon finally says that he was smiling at his own ignorance and the unlikeliness of everything that happened to him. A breeze comes by and shuts Eragon up for all of five seconds before asking if his mom was a good person. Oromis says he can’t say. Her life was complicated. It would be foolish of Oromis to presume anything about someone he doesn’t know anything about.

 

And yet he was talking about Selena being in love with Brom and a few other choice tidbits as if they were gospel, his personal knowledge, and not supposition.

 

Eragon, of course, doesn’t react well to that:

 

“But I need to know!” Eragon clasped his hands, pressing his fingers between the calluses on his knuckles. “When I asked Brom if he had known her, he said that she was proud and dignified and that she always helped the poor and those less fortunate than her. How could she, though? How could she be that person and also the Black Hand? Jeod told me stories about some of the things—horrible, terrible things—she did while she was in Morzan’s service. . . . Was she evil, then? Did she not care if Galbatorix ruled or not? Why did she go with Morzan in the first place?” 

 

I’m really not sure why Eragon needs to know if his mom was a good person or not. People can be good but make bad decisions. People can be bad but make good decisions. People are not inherently solely evil or good. Everyone has the ability to be both. Considering we never get to know Selena as a person - mostly because Brom didn’t bother to tell us more about her than a brief monologue in the first book and Jeod only recounted the bad things she did - we’re left to fill in the gaps based on what everyone else tells us. Was Selena a bad person? I don’t think so. I think she did what she wanted to do, and even enjoyed it, not because she fell madly in love with Morzan (which she probably did at some point) but because he offered her a chance to get out of the podunk little village in which she was born and gave her the opportunity to be more than just some farmer’s wife. She craved adventure, and he gave it to her, in exchange for her service. And since he was probably the closest person to her after that, the fact they had a physical relationship isn’t that far-fetched. Even if they didn’t love each other, they still could’ve had a physical relationship. Friends with benefits. The problem with a lot of these characters is that they’re described by others who are already biased against them, and we never get anything directly from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. Brom had every reason to paint Eragon’s mother in as bright a light as possible, so he wouldn’t tell the whole truth, if he told the truth at all. Selena was young when she met Morzan, probably not much older than Eragon, and young people don’t necessarily make the best decisions or consider all the consequences that could arise from those decisions. On the other hand, Selena could’ve been just as sadistic and sociopathic as her youngest son. After all, many of these conditions are biological. They’re inherited. So Selena could’ve enjoyed what she did under Morzan’s hand immensely, but when she met Brom, she only saw another mark that she could use, especially if she knew he was in love with her. Manipulators look for easy prey, after all.

 

Oromis says that love can be a “terrible curse” and it can make you overlook the biggest flaws in a person’s character. He again puts words in Selena’s mouth by saying he doubted she was fully aware of Morzan’s true nature when she joined him, and once she did realize how much of an asshole Morzan was, it would have already been too late. She was his slave, and it was only by changing her very identity, her very nature, that she was able to escape him. Eragon says that Jeod told him she enjoyed what she did as her day job. Oromis instantly turns unhappy at that - because the pretty little picture he’s trying to paint for Eragon isn’t being accepted without a fight, I guess - and says that - ahem - “ACCOUNTS OF PAST ATROCITIES ARE OFTEN EXAGGERATED AND DISTORTED.”

 

So... like this whole thing with Galby and the Forsworn? Don’t you think those accounts of the past are being exaggerated and distorted by those who survived and are angry that they lost? And therefore have to justify their loss by calling Galbatorix mad and evil and crying that life just wasn’t fair?

 

Oromis goes on to say that nobody but Selena knows exactly what she did, why she did it, or how she felt about it, and she’s not here to explain herself. So. Like Morzan. Like the Forsworn. Like Galby. Oromis is such a fucking hypocrite.

 

Eragon whines about who he should believe - Brom or Jeod? Oromis says that when Eragon asked Brom about his mom, Brom told him what he believed were her most important qualities. And he also likely didn’t want to tell Eragon his mom was a bloodthirsty monster and that Brom originally was going to make it so Eragon never would’ve been born. Oromis tells Eragon to pay more attention to Brom, in that case. And if that still doesn’t make Eragon happy, then remember that Selena ultimately sided with the Varden and she went above and beyond to protect Eragon himself. Therefore, get over yourself, asshole. Eragon watches a random spider enter the scene and then leave it, then mentions that when he met Angela for the first time, she said that it was Brom’s fate to fail at everything but one, which was killing Morzan. Oromis says sure, that might be true. Somebody else might say Brom accomplished a lot, though. It depends on how you choose to look at things. Oromis disses on fortune-tellers for a bit, saying all they do is cause misery, more or less. Then he tells Eragon to get over himself again and if he wants to be happy, forget about the shit he doesn’t have control over and think of the shit he’s actually able to do stuff about.

 

Eragon, still not willing to let it go and let the chapter end, brings up Blagden and how the stupid bird knew about Brom, too. Oromis wonders if he does, because he never spoke of Brom to Blagden. He’s an idiot and nobody likes him. Eragon explains that when he and Saphira left for the Burning Plains in Book Two, Blagden showed up and told him a riddle, and explains most of the riddle for claiming he can’t remember much of it. Eragon flat out tells us that Blagden was hinting about he and Murtagh sharing only one parent. Oromis says that it’s not impossible, seeing as Blagden was here in Ellesmera when Brom told Oromis about Eragon. He wouldn’t be surprised if Blagden was somewhere eavesdropping. Or, you know, the stupid bird really did have a moment of prophecy. Not that this is ever actually explored.

 

Anyway, Glaedr moves, Oromis looks at him, then gets up and says it’s time for something more substantial to eat than fruit, nuts, and bread. What do you know, Susie Homemaker Oromis has some soup that’s been simmering the entire time they’ve been out here talking. So he goes to deal with it and tells Eragon to just sit there and do nothing. Oromis exits the scene, Glaedr falls asleep, and the chapter mercifully ends.

Comments

[ultimate_cheetah]

This really is so far out of left field that it doesn’t make much sense if you go back and look at the behavior of the characters.

I have a feeling Paolini is telling the truth, and that he did plan it, but he's just not a good enough writer to weave it in.

And what was it that Morzan did to Brom, anyway? Because we’re told this an awful lot, but never any examples.

It's vague enough that there are many fics where Brom and Morzan were together, or Brom had a crush on Morzan. (Personally, I think the whole thing can be explained by Brom crushing on Morzan, and Morzan and Galby then having a passionate love affair, making Brom extra jealous.)

Selena was young when she met Morzan, probably not much older than Eragon, and young people don’t necessarily make the best decisions...Selena could’ve enjoyed what she did under Morzan’s hand immensely, but when she met Brom, she only saw another mark that she could use, especially if she knew he was in love with her.

Honestly, I hate that Selena is seen as this angel because of Twu Love while Morzan is seen as this monster when he probably has trauma up the wazoo. The thing is, you don't go from being a normal person to the levels of killing that Selena got to. Either she was seriously conditioned, or she already had it in her. Selena placed Brom over the safety of her child. She could've stolen Murtagh away, but she decided not to. She started a whole network of assassins for frick's sake. This leads me to believe that she was not a good person. She met Morzan, did things for him, and then moved on to Brom. Morzan and her probably had a dysfunctional relationship, but it probably wasn't Morzan's fault. And she dumped her baby on her brother with VIRTUALLY NO EXPLANATION. Just "here", and she fucked off.

I'm going to do so much with her.

Brom convinced Deynor, the leader at the moment, to keep his presence a secret from everyone but a handful of people...

So he let Jeod think he was dead for 15 years? What a grade A douche.

So... Oromis just likes playing the field then?

Well that's an image I didn't need. (I think, under elven custom, they were technically married since they had a child together.)

Even if they didn’t love each other, they still could’ve had a physical relationship. Friends with benefits.

Or, my personal theory, Morzan married Selena, with her knowledge, because he liked her, and because he wanted to keep up appearances to hide his relationship with Galby. Sorta like a beard.