Green Brick Commentary

[mara_dienne459]

Start of the war part 2, different perspective, and yet the narrative ends up being a companion to the previous chapter at a certain point. Let's see what's going on today...

Chapter Sixty-Three: The Storm Breaks

 

And we’ve got a lovely perspective change. Who are we with? I’ll give you a hint: who else besides Eragon gets enormous amounts of screen time?

 

So this chapter opens with someone saying “sir, it’s time.” and then this happens:

 

Roran opened his eyes and nodded at the boy with a lantern who had stuck his head into the tent. The boy hurried off, and Roran leaned over and kissed Katrina on the cheek; she kissed him back. Neither of them had slept. 

 

I hope this kid knocked first, otherwise he just got an eyeful of Roran stark ass naked. Katrina, too. And the reason I say this is because, aside from the fact Roran is opening his eyes, you find out in the next line that they’re in a state of undress. This indicates that either they were doing some rather vigorous activity before the boy stuck his head in, or they were enjoying some post-coitus snuggles. Hey, pregnant ladies can get some too. In fact, in some cases, it’s recommended. But still, the fact that the text doesn’t indicate whether the boy knocked first is kind of disturbing. Either he did and the narrator just isn’t saying so, or he didn’t, in which case he’s violating Roran’s privacy and apparently has a death wish, because the last time someone entered Roran’s tent uninvited, it was an assassin, and Roran suffers PTSD from that event. What? What do you mean he doesn’t have PTSD from someone sneaking into his tent and trying to kill him? That happened, right? Of course it happened, but instead of Roran having any believable, or indeed suffering from, consequences to the things he’s seen and done, Roran just acts like nothing happened. Which is how robots work. Not people.

 

As I mentioned above in blue, the narration now states that the pair of them get out of bed and get dressed. Katrina finishes dressing first, because Roran has to put on his armor and weapons, of course. As Roran pulls on his gloves, Katrina gives him some bread, cheese, and tea. Roran ignores the bread, takes one bite of cheese, and downs the whole cup of tea in one go. Then they hold each other for a while before Roran tells Katrina to name their child something fierce if it’s a girl. (Does he consider “Ismira” fierce?) Katrina asks what if it’s a boy, so Roran says pick something fierce too and you’ve got to be strong to survive in the world.

 

Or just have miles of Plot Armor.

 

Katrina promises she’ll do as he asks and they finally let each other go. She looks him in the eye and tells him to fight well. He nods and leaves or else he’ll lose his composure. So Roran said. I don’t believe him. Roran goes to join his men, which are assembling by the north entrance to the camp. The only light they have is from the sky and the torches lining the outer defenses. Roran says the soldiers look like “shuffling beasts” in the dark. Among them are a bunch of Urgals, including some Kull. Roran tells us his battalion contains a greater number of them than most (Roran calls them “creatures” again, so I see the racism hasn’t gone away, nor does Roran seem to have any respect for these people) and this is because Nasuada decided the Urgals would be more likely to do what Roran tells them to do over anyone else. The Urgals also carry siege ladders, and these ladders will be used to climb over the wall into the city. There’s also a small number of elves among the men. We’re told most of them are going to be out fighting on their own and doing whatever they want to do, but Queen Izzy basically voluntold a few of the elves to serve with the Varden to protect the non-magic fodder from Galby’s men.

 

Roran says he welcomes the elves and takes the time to learn their names. He says the elves answer him politely, but he doesn’t think they like him very much. He decides that’s okay, because he doesn’t like them much either and he doesn’t trust them. They’re just too aloof, too “well practiced”, whatever the hell that means, and of course, they are gasp DIFFERENT. The Urgals and dwarves, oh, Roran understands them, of course. Not sure how, but he just does. However, the elves, he doesn’t get them. He doesn’t understand them. He can’t tell what they’re thinking, and he doesn’t like that.

 

Nar Garzhvog reappears in the scene and greets Roran, stating they’re about to win much glory and lots of hot Urgal booty.

 

Just kidding. I added the part about the hot Urgal booty.

 

Anyway, Roran agrees with him and keeps moving. We’re told the men are nervous and some of the younger men look like they might barf, and indeed some do ralph all over their boots. Apparently this is to be expected? I would think they’d be used to fighting by now and not get sick, but then again, they are about to go knocking on Galby’s front door, so maybe it’s a whole ‘nother ballgame. The older men, though, seem tense and angry, or they’re overly talkative or they’re withdrawn. Roran decides the cause is Shruikan’s appearance last night, and decides there’s little he can do to help them other than hide his own fears and hope the men don’t lose courage. There’s a sense of anticipation now, rather than what we were just told last paragraph about the men being sick or angry or despondent, and this sense of anticipation is dreadful. We’re told that there was much sacrifice to reach this point, and it’s not just their lives at risk, but the safety and lives of their families and descendants and the future of the land itself.

 

What sacrifices? The fact they murdered people that didn’t want their help? That they stole, burned, looted, and otherwise for all intents and purposes raped across the land? Oh no, they faced starvation despite having literal killing fields where TENTS were set up for all the cooks the army had to slaughter their animals so they had literal sides of roast beef! How awful!

 

Anyway, what Roran’s little monologue boils down to is the fact that after today, there won’t be any more fighting with the Empire, or really at all.

 

At least until someone writes a spitefic (or some kind of continuation) with what happens after Nasuada’s fully ruling.

 

Anyway, Roran tells us that it “hardly feels real”, that this is the final battle. They would never have another chance to kill Galby after today, and while talking about confronting Galby seemed awesome, the fact that they’re actually about to do it now makes the actual prospect absolutely terrifying. Well, we’re done thinking about any sort of feelings, because Roran goes to find Horst and everyone else from Carvahall, and they all form up into a singular group within this battalion. Birgit makes another cameo appearance, and we’re told she’s there clutching a freshly-sharpened ax. Roran acknowledges her with a shield tilt, equating this move to toasting a mug of ale. Birgit performs the exact same gesture back at him and Roran smiles. Birgit now disappears out of the story for a bit, and we’re told the warriors muffle their feet with rags and then stand around to wait for orders to start the charge.

 

It soon arrived, and they marched out of the camp, doing their best to keep their arms and armor from making noise. Roran led his warriors across the fields to their place before the front gate of Urû’baen, where they joined two other battalions, one led by his old commander Martland Redbeard and one led by Jörmundur. 

 

I guess you can lead a battalion with one hand? But doesn’t that require sitting a horse? Riding on one? Making that horse move? According to Nasuada, Redbeard couldn’t do anything like that because he was missing his hand. And didn’t he become an advisor to her? Since when did he become a battalion leader? Who made that decision? None of this makes much sense, but then, this story stopped making sense somewhere around Book Two. I just have to wonder how Redbeard is doing these things Nasuada told Roran it was impossible for Redbeard to do with only one hand. Unless this guy is just hanging back. Hanging way back. Which is possible, but considering the language Roran’s using as narrator, I doubt it.

 

Well, the alarm goes up in the city soon after this, so the warriors pull off their rags and get ready to actually attack. A few minutes later, the Varden sound their own horns and everyone starts running toward the wall.

 

Roran took a place at the forefront of the charge. It was the fastest way to get himself killed, but the men needed to see him braving the same dangers they faced. It would, he hoped, stiffen their spines and keep them from breaking rank at the first sign of serious opposition. For whatever happened, Urû’baen would not be easy to take. Of that, he was sure. 

 

You know, there’s a lot of talk about how the men of the Varden are scared and talking and desertion and whatnot, and how Roran has to be brave and make an example of himself to show the men some solidarity or whatever, but it doesn’t mean anything. The author simply won’t let them desert at this point. This is just thinly veiled bullshit to highlight how Awesome and Brave and Manly (capitals intended) Roran is. Roran’s not brave; he’s sociopathic, and he wants to kill. So of course he’s going to lead the charge. And he’s protected by miles of Plot Armor, so he isn’t going to get killed. Beyond that, this isn’t a fucking siege at all. This isn’t how a siege works. I’m also pretty sure that you’re supposed to get your siege weapons into place before you mount an attack, and I’m also fairly sure you try to breach the walls by the easiest point of entry, which would be the gates, or you utilize sappers to weaken the integrity of the wall. This is really what I don’t understand about the Varden’s chosen tactics. They have the firepower via the elves to just blast the walls down with magic. And the dwarves have the mining technology to logically be able to tunnel the walls or figure out the weak points and use their available weapons to attack those points. But they don’t do any of this. Instead, they just go full tilt as a distraction - A DISTRACTION - for Eragon. That’s it. These people’s lives are being thrown away needlessly solely to benefit Eragon. It’s disgusting.

 

They run past the siege towers, and we’re told the wheels are over twenty feet high for some unfathomable reason, and now they’re on open ground being shot at with arrows and javelins from on high. The elves shout in the ancient language and Roran sees a lot of the arrows and spears turn away from the Varden and bury themselves in the dirt. A lot, but not all. A man behind Roran is killed, or so we assume based on the fact Roran says he hears the guy scream and everyone’s jumping aside, but Roran doesn’t actually turn his head and look to see if the guy is truly dead or just got an arrow to the knee. Nope, Roran just keeps running headlong toward the wall and doesn’t bother looking around him. Then an arrow hits Roran’s shield, but he just ignores it because he apparently doesn’t feel the impact. They get to the wall and Roran starts screaming for the ladders. The men step aside for the Urgals who have the ladders, and we’re told the ladders are so long that the Kull actually have to use poles made of flippin’ trees tied together to push the ladders upright. Once the ladders are up, they start to sag under their own weight and sway from side to side and play at the idea of falling.

 

Roran elbows his own men so he can get to some elf and grab her. She glowers at him but Roran ignores the look. He orders her to keep the ladders still and not to let the soldiers push them away, so she just nods and starts talking in the ancient language, as do the rest of the Borg - I mean - elves.

 

Roran heads back for the wall where one guy is already starting to climb the ladder, but Roran grabs the guy by the belt and yanks him off the ladder. Roran goes first. Roran always goes first. To me, the fact that Roran has to be the first one up, the first one to do anything, just smacks of his insatiable desire to murder. So Roran starts the climb up and we’re suddenly told he was never a big fan of heights, and he starts having an anxiety attack as he gets higher and higher. Eventually he gets to the section of the ladder that’s flat against the wall and he can’t wrap his hands all the way around the rungs or get a foothold. So he has to be extra careful so he doesn’t fall. A spear whizzes past his head close enough he can feel the wind from its passing. He swears and keeps going, and then he’s less than three feet from the top of the wall when a soldier with blue eyes (why this is important, I have no idea, it’s just there) looks over the edge and locks eyes with him. Roran shouts “Bah!” at him, which apparently makes the soldier flinch and step back rather than stab Roran in the eye with a dagger or arrow, and the guy is just too slow to recover from this jumpscare and allows Roran to get up and over the wall to stand on the walkway. We’re told the soldier Roran yelled at like a kindergartener is standing several feet in front of him holding an archer’s short sword. The man isn’t paying attention to the threat in front of him, but rather looking over his shoulder and shouting to a group of his buddies further down the wall.

 

Since Roran’s shield is firmly on his back in a poor imitation of Link, Roran takes his hammer and swings it at the guy’s wrist. We’re told that Roran knows that he’s going to have problems fending off the guy’s sword without his shield, but instead of just taking the opportunity to get the shield off his back so he can defend himself, he just launches in for the kill. Of course, the soldier realizes what’s up and defends himself, and then stabs Roran in the belly. Unfortunately, Roran’s got FUCKING WARDS, so he doesn’t die. Roran is surprised the sword is stopped about a quarter inch from his tummy, then grunts and knocks aside the weapon and smacks the soldier in the head three times. Roran swears again and decides this really sucks.

 

Soon Roran is joined by more of the Varden as they make it up the ladders and over the walls. But in reality, only a few actually make it to the top, because clumps of soldiers are just hanging out at the top of every ladder and reinforcements are showing up.

 

Roran is soon joined by Baldor because he used the same ladder as Roran, and together the two of them go toward a ballista and the eight soldiers around it. There’s a bit of description about the ballista and where it’s located, and then Roran sees the Fake!Saphira flying around the wall and breathing fire on it. And that’s all we get for that, for now we’re back with Roran’s immediate situation, where the narrator says the soldiers are smart because they grab their spears and start needling him and Baldor with said spears. This keeps them at a distance, and Roran tries to catch one of the spears, because that’s a smart idea, but instead the guy is too fast and Roran nearly gets a new hole in his body. He tells us any longer and the soldiers will soon win this little duel. Buuuuut then an Urgal shows up, and he just happens to be behind the soldiers. So the Urgal lowers his head, screams, and charges the soldiers while swinging his club at them.

 

The Urgal struck one man in the chest, breaking his ribs, and another on the hip, breaking his pelvis. Either injury ought to have incapacitated the soldiers, but as the Urgal bulled past them, the two men picked themselves off the stone as if nothing had happened and proceeded to stab the Urgal in the back. 

 

Okay, the guy with the broken ribs I can see picking himself up and jumping the Urgal, even if it’s kind of ridiculous given that chest trauma can cause a slew of other organs to suffer, but not the guy with the broken pelvis. You kind of need your pelvis to stand. If that whole section of bone is broken, you aren’t getting up. The best this guy could do is crawl after the Urgal and try to bite his ankles. There’s absolutely no way this guy is going to be getting to his feet any time soon. And like I said, even if I give the benefit of the doubt to the guy with the broken ribs, with how hard an Urgal can swing his blunt weapon, the devastating injury to the chest isn’t going to be just limited to the bones. The guy could have a collapsed or burst lung (or both), his heart could be forced into arrhythmia or just flat out stop, or he could have punctured lungs or a punctured heart from broken bones piercing the organs, or whatever else. Just because your dolls are magicked not to feel pain, Paolini, it doesn’t mean they’re immune to devastating traumatic injury that can kill. Physics can’t be ignored. Biology can’t be ignored. And yet in this single paragraph, Paolini manages to do both.

 

The Doom Song starts playing in Roran’s head and he announces to Baldor and Baldor alone they’ll need to bash in the soldiers’ skulls or take their heads off a la Highlander style if they’re going to have a chance to win. Roran then yells that the soldiers can’t feel pain to the rest of the Varden. We’re then yanked out of this scene to be reminded that Fake!Saphira is still in existence and this is where she crashes into the tower. Everybody but Roran stops to look, and the only reason Roran doesn’t stop to gawk is because he knows what’s up. Therefore he capitalizes on the distraction and kills a soldier. He uses his shield to shove the next guy out of his way and then he’s too close for their spears to be of use and he easily kills them with his hammer. Once he and Baldor kill the rest of the soldiers around the ballista, Baldor looks at him with Despair and asks if Roran saw what happened to Saphira. Roran says she’s fine. Baldor argues but Roran interrupts him and tells him not to worry about it because Saphira’s just fine. Baldor hesitates, but ultimately accepts what Roran’s saying without demanding any explanation, and goes with Roran to kill the next set of mooks.

 

Soon after this little interlude, the real Saphira appears over the southern wall as she flies toward the citadel, receiving cheers from the Varden. Roran goes “uh-oh” and reminds us that Saphira was supposed to stay invisible the entire time, so he tries to turn himself invisible and guess what. It doesn’t fucking work. So Roran goes damn, now I can’t murder with impunity. So he decides to retreat back to the ladders and tells Baldor such, who finally asks why all the while fighting with a soldier before heaving the guy over the wall and throwing him into the city. Roran just tells him to shut up and stop asking questions. So Baldor does and they head back to the ladder, fighting their way through wave after wave of soldiers. We’re TOLD it’s “bloody and difficult”, we don’t actually get to SEE it, and Baldor is the only one of the pair who gets hurt because he doesn’t have FUCKING WARDS like Roran does.

 

We’re then reminded that the soldiers are immune to pain and therefore to stop them, they have to kill them, which is immensely difficult. Roran also can’t show mercy, and when the hell has he ever done that? We’re told that several times Roran gets the impression he’s killed a guy only to have that same guy who’s supposed to be dead get up and try to stab him in the kidney while Roran’s occupied with someone else. And there’s a lot of soldiers. So many that Roran is afraid he and Baldor won’t survive. But they eventually make it to the ladder and make their stand, and by themselves they hold off the soldiers until two more Varden can join them, then a third guy, and eventually Roran thinks they’ve got a good chance at making it through this.

 

We’re blatantly told in the next paragraph that this attack was meant to be JUST A DISTRACTION, but Roran doesn’t want to treat it as JUST A DISTRACTION. He says that if they’re going to risk their lives, they might as well get something to show for it. Because why not. Apparently they need to clear the walls anyway? Even though this whole thing is just a show? Then they hear Thorn roar and he appears in the scene heading toward the citadel. Roran spots a figure on the dragon’s back and decides that’s Murtagh and Baldor asks what does it mean, and no, he’s not talking about a double rainbow. Roran then answers that the “game is up”, which to me is unintentionally ironic because Eragon literally made this a game with people’s lives, and tells Baldor to brace himself because there’s about to be a surprise. And what a surprise it is, and it makes me wonder why the Varden didn’t just fucking lead off with this because what happens seems like a far more believable “distraction” than sending thousands of men to their deaths just so the main character and his goon squad have an easy time getting into the bad guy’s stronghold. But the elves start singing, and then we get a huge ADD moment in the narrative as we’re told Roran continues duelling with some soldiers and kills his opponent. After this, Roran then tells us he’s about to attack the next guy when he feels a miniature earthquake and he retreats until his back is pressed against the battlements. The ADD-moment continues as the narration tells us one of the soldiers takes a firm grip of the Idiot Ball and tries to rush Roran. The guy gets about halfway before the rumbling increases and the entire wall ripples like a wave and the soldier and his buddies fall flat on their faces and are basically helpless as the earthquake does it’s job.

 

And then we get to see what the elves were singing about, at long last:

 

From the other side of the wall tower that separated them from Urû’baen’s main gate came a sound like a mountain breaking. Fan-shaped jets of water sprayed into the air, and then with a great noise, the wall over the gate shuddered and began to crumble inward. 

 

And we couldn’t do this from the get go because…? Roran even admits that the whole attack was supposed to be a distraction, but that’s the most bullshit excuse I’ve ever heard. You shouldn’t treat people’s lives so callously. At least have the elves actually go and fucking be useful for once from the start, not just sit back and twiddle their thumbs while waiting for some sort of signal. You’re here to take the city. TAKE THE GODDAMN CITY. Don’t fiddle fart around waiting for something to happen, because things can go sideways really fast. War is unpredictable. You should not waste lives so needlessly. Seriously, Eragon is like Farquaad for cooking up this plan - “Some of you may die, but that is the risk I’m willing to take.”

 

And of course, the elves keep singing. Eventually the shaking stops, so Roran capitalizes on this and jumps forward to kill three guys before they can get up. The rest of the mooks turn and run away down the stairs into the city. Roran gets Baldor on his feet and shouts for everyone to chase the soldiers down. He smiles, tastes blood, and decides this isn’t such a bad way to start the day.

Comments

[redwyvernheart]

I must say I really hate Roran POV chapters and Roran’s overall arc. The whole thing with Bridget was just weird/painful to read about.
Usually I would want to find out what happened to the main characters’s loved ones/ village because that main character shouldn’t just pop out of nowhere with no friends or history. In that sense Roran’s plot would be ideal. He was Eragon’s family and we got to know most of Eragon’s village is okay though him and because of him; but it feels so disconnected and boring that even back when I started reading ‘Eldest’ as a kid I just wanted Roran’s chapters to just be over with. Seriously if he was that important he should have had POV chapters in Book 1.
Maybe the disconnect is that the villagers and Roran aren’t going to just be there for Eragon but are a bit angry with him. This differs from ‘The Dark Griffin’ series because when the main character’s friends get POV chapters it is because they care and are looking out for the main character even if they don’t understand why he did what he did. Furthermore in Consequence I felt connected to Vanora’s best friend Serrill being left behind and wanted to know he was okay. Maybe it was because she actually missed and worried about him as she was taken away to be trained by elves. Later when Jolanus another kid from her past life joined in with helping Serrill, I found myself equally connected to him.
Roran’s chapters just feel off to me. All I could think to do is just simply his plot to just saving Katrina. Despite being family Eragon and Roran miss that key connection that would make me care.
Eragon and Orik have a better connection to me because at least Orik saved Eragon cementing that bond. I can’t figure out what Roran missing that could help me care about his character but something is differently lacking. I now he is an asshole but still... some have suggested Roran’s role as a foot soldier could have been used to the fullest extent if he had died or be permanently disfigured to show a lose for Eragon. I don’t think casualty of war wasan answer but permanant injury could have been a help to his arc. He is still missing that cementing moment that makes the audience care though.

[pangolin20]

I know what you mean. It's like, his chapters could be just summarized from Eragon's or Nasuada's POV, and you wouldn't miss much. Especially those chapters in Brisingr with him doing raids. Why should I care?

I think the disconnect could be caused because he is not really that interesting in himself. You never get to know little things he likes, his childhood experiences, and he does not really have a plot apart from Eragon or Nasuada. He never really interacts with characters we haven't seen, except for Carn, and that was one of the more interesting parts.
You never see him have interests outside traveling or fighting. Eragon's and Nasuada's chapters are more varied, they are more central to the plot, and they also have interests of their own. I mean, Eragon has interesting character development at least, and Nasuada has a somewhat weird world view. That is what makes them more interesting than Roran, at least in my opinion.

And I think these chapters are still the most interesting Roran chapters, as he is at least doing something plot-relevant.

[redwyvernheart]

This Roran POV chapter is more relevant to the plot but I just can’t bring myself to connect to him.
I really wish there was something there for me.
When you simply the character down to their core I can find a connecting point for most of the characters.
*Murtagh helped Eragon get the the Varden dispite knowing that the Varden who distrust them
*Arya sacrifed herself for Saphira
*Nasuada took Murtagh books and gave him a chance
Even Carn was more likable as he was doing his best to help Roran.

I just had trouble connecting to Roran, Oromis, Gleadr, the whole village, etc.

[pangolin20]

I also had trouble connecting to almost everyone from the village. They just seem so generic. The only one I do actually like and care for is Gertrude, for some reason.
With Oromis, the only way I can connect is irritation at how condescending he is. With Glaedr, I can connect some more, just because he is more present and has a personality of his own.

And with this Roran POV chapter, I don't connect as much to Roran as I do to the people who are fighting, because they actually are interesting.

How much of the books have you read, by the way? Just so I know how much you know.

I'm interested in your Inheritance adaptation. Feel free to share ideas with me, if you want to.

[redwyvernheart]

I agree Gertrude although 100% in the background was relatable as the classic healer.
I have actually suffered through all four now five of the books and while am not an elder user of the site I have been around for the past few years.
my adaption is in preproduction hell as well as my life right now. I am hopeful after our house is paid off and we move that things will at least settle down financially. But as of right now I don’t have constant access to the internet or computer so I am sluggish on replies and there are many many typos since I must use a phone. But it was Oblakom that actually had the most breakthrough ideas. I am please with how the handled Oromis, Morgan, and Morzan’s Dragon in ‘What Are Teachers For’. Also their dragon designs greatly influenced mine and I am happy with the new results. The change in dragon designs is the only reason I am happy to be delayed this long.
I started to read your fic earlier today but I don’t know where it is headed yet. Like is Eragon is going be good or bad. (I read chapter 2 not chapter 1 yet)
Anyway directing Eragon has been a dream for me since I was a teenager so officially or unofficially I am creating my adaptation.
Changing the media is a big plus since it shortens the story and is imagery and dialogue based. With an Eragon adaptation less is more.
I am doing a fan loyal adaptation and romancinzes characters like Eragon to actually be good. (I am not going to make Galbatorix the hero even if he should be. I am going to adapt The Dark Griffin as an official nod to anti fandom.
Main issues to fix are:
*Making a dragon and their rider equal partners.
-spells on unborn dragons to force them to hatch for a partner are bad
-I am changing the term Shurtugal to refer to the pair of partnered dragons and people. Like the term couple or twins refers to both individuals equally.
-It is going be about Eragon helping Saphira with her journey to save the dragons
-etc.
Anyway you can pm me if you want. I use to have a site to organize my thoughts but it is currently down since I didn’t pay the bill. It be back up in a few months at most.

[pangolin20]

I agree Gertrude although 100% in the background was relatable as the classic healer.
She does make somwhat of an appearance when Eragon heals up Hope, the child with the cleft palate, and I thought her quite likeable there.
I have actually suffered through all four now five of the books
You've made it, at least.

Hope things settle down for you soon. It doesn't matter if you're here only sporadically. I like your comments regardless.

I have also gained some ideas from Oblakom's articles. In fact, I am going to use some of them in my own fic.

I started to read your fic earlier today but I don’t know where it is headed yet. Like is Eragon is going be good or bad. (I read chapter 2 not chapter 1 yet)
Eragon is going to be good. I basically removed the manipulation from the dead dragons and from now on he and Saphira can make their own decisions, which will firmly place them on the better side of things.

Anyway directing Eragon has been a dream for me since I was a teenager so officially or unofficially I am creating my adaptation.
Changing the media is a big plus since it shortens the story and is imagery and dialogue based. With an Eragon adaptation less is more.
Nice! Shortening the story is something every Inheritance adaptation should do.

As for the issues to fix, I'll send you some ideas.

[epistler]

He never really interacts with characters we haven't seen, except for Carn, and that was one of the more interesting parts.

Note that, rather tellingly, Roran hasn't so much as thought about the poor bastard since he died. And Carn was supposedly his friend! What an asshole.

[snarkbotanya]

Of course it happened, but instead of Roran having any believable, or indeed suffering from, consequences to the things he’s seen and done, Roran just acts like nothing happened.

Just like it was with the lashes. Roran should have suffered some massive nerve and muscle damage from that shit, but no, he gets to just walk off scot-free.

Roran tells Katrina to name their child something fierce if it’s a girl. (Does he consider “Ismira” fierce?) Katrina asks what if it’s a boy, so Roran says pick something fierce too and you’ve got to be strong to survive in the world.

And just from this exchange, I knew it would be a girl.

At least until someone writes a spitefic (or some kind of continuation) with what happens after Nasuada’s fully ruling.

Hehehehe *rubs hands together*

we’re told the ladders are so long that the Kull actually have to use poles made of flippin’ trees tied together to push the ladders upright

I mean, with the walls being like 300 feet tall or something, I guess it makes some sense to need ridiculously big ladders?

a soldier with blue eyes (why this is important, I have no idea, it’s just there)

It's probably thrown in there because Paolini is trying to be all ooooooh morally gray by reminding us that these soldiers are people with eye colors. Which, admittedly, could work in the hands of a better writer, but since Paolini throws in irrelevant details like this all the time, it loses its impact. As an author, you have to use your details wisely.

Baldor is the only one of the pair who gets hurt because he doesn’t have FUCKING WARDS like Roran does.

And Roran doesn't really need FUCKING WARDS, either, considering he's got the ultimate FUCKING WARD in the form of Authorial Favoritism.

And we couldn’t do this from the get go because…?

Because Paolini wanted to write Cool Fight Scenes™, actual tactics be damned. And one of the Cool Fight Scenes™ he wanted to write was Roran going up the walls and bashing heads.

He smiles, tastes blood, and decides this isn’t such a bad way to start the day.

And we end on yet another note of Roran's bloodthirst.

[epistler]

He smiles, tastes blood, and decides this isn’t such a bad way to start the day.

When your "hero" has a line from his POV that wouldn't be out of place in a novel about a serial killer, something has gone seriously wrong.

[pangolin20]

Either he did and the narrator just isn’t saying so, or he didn’t,
I'd go with the first option, as that's what has happened quite often already.

The Urgals and dwarves, oh, Roran understands them, of course. Not sure how, but he just does.
That's why he's so fucking racist with respect to the Urgals, because he "understands" them. Uh-huh.

but the safety and lives of their families and descendants and the future of the land itself.
Indeed that is it play. If the Varden win (which they do) everyone will be subjected to a far worse tyranny than before. They are destroying the entire land and they don't even realise it.

What sacrifices?
Yeah. They have sacrificed nothing. Everyone else has

At least until someone writes a spitefic (or some kind of continuation) with what happens after Nasuada’s fully ruling.
Heheh. I mean, what would you expect when there's been a hostile takeover of power? The only way no one will fight anymore is when a certain puppetmaster steps in and takes over control.

one led by his old commander Martland Redbeard
So... there's a batallion led by someone who cannot lead it? Seems like a recipe for disaster. I can only think this has happened to get more Varden troops slaughtered.

It would, he hoped, stiffen their spines and keep them from breaking rank at the first sign of serious opposition.
We never see Varden troops desert. It quite seems they're the ones who have sworn unbreakable magical vows. That, or someone is messing with their heads.

She glowers at him but Roran ignores the look.
I want to rap the main characters's knuckles every time they touch someone without consent. Like here: Othíara (that's her name) evidently doesn't like it, but he goes ahead regardless, while he could just have said it without touching her.

as do the rest of the Borg - I mean - elves.
They certainly look a lot like the Borg, what with most of them being nearly identical in everything. I mean, the only ones who have a really distinct personality are Oromis, Arya, Izzy, Rhunön and Furry Rape Elf. I have to ask, who would be the Borg Queen?

Either injury ought to have incapacitated the soldiers, but as the Urgal bulled past them, the two men picked themselves off the stone as if nothing had happened and proceeded to stab the Urgal in the back.
My idea is that most of those soldiers were supported by Shruikan. Those two soldiers got free healing, for example.

So Roran goes damn, now I can’t murder with impunity.
How utterly sad.

Fan-shaped jets of water sprayed into the air, and then with a great noise, the wall over the gate shuddered and began to crumble inward.
What is happening here? It sounds like they drew up water from the ground and forced it into the wall, after which it collapsed, because it was completely soaked. It would have been nice to have some explanation, though.


He smiles, tastes blood, and decides this isn’t such a bad way to start the day.
Like we need this reminder. We already know he's a complete sociopath.