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antishurtugal_reborn2023-08-21 08:49 pm
Eragon: Chapter Six: Tea for Two (Part II)
Kerlois: Welcome back, everyone! This time, I will continue with chapter six, after my and Scales’s little adventure in the self-published edition.
Some housekeeping before I begin:
As Epistler pointed out, the furniture in Brom’s house is severely out of place, so:
Connection Has Failed: 23
S Connection Has Failed: 28
Also, while going through this chapter, I noted that when the term “Shur’tugal” is italicised in the self-published edition, it is printed as Shur’tugal, so with an unitalicised capital letter.
S PPP: 149
And it seems that Scales reported the word counts wrong.
Chapter 1 in the self-published edition has 1258 words, which means that 413 words have been lost for a decrease of 32,83%.
Chapter 2: 5130 words, 1860 words more, a difference of 36,17%.
Chapter 3: 6843 words, 1397 words more, a difference of 20,41%.
Chapter 4: 810 words, 105 words more, a difference of 12,96%
Chapter 5: 2601 words, 383 words more, a difference of 14,73%.
Chapter 6: 1034 words, 103 words more, a difference of 9,96%
And I will assign another Connection Has Failed point for the “soundless scream of rage” in chapter 5.
Connection Has Failed: 24
S Connection Has Failed: 29
From now on, I will use the self-published edition as base, and note any changes the Knopf edition makes.
Let us begin, then.
“Now,” he glared from under his bushy eyebrows to make sure there would be no more
interruptions, “the elves were a proud race then, and strong in magic.
Brom, would it be so hard to simply ask Eragon to not interrupt you? Or do you just like to glare him into submission? It is the latter, is it not? I hate him so much.
Some Father You Are: 12
S Some Father You Are: 14
As for what he says, I do not have very much to say. I still think calling the elves a “proud race” is quite nonsensical. And I have to ask exactly which kind of magic the elves were using, though I have some suspicions.
At first they regarded dragons as mere animals.
Ah, here I have much more to talk about. First off, this “at first” took 74 years, according to Domia Abr Wyrda. Yes, that is hardly a reliable source, but it is the only time indication I have, and this book does need those.
Second, I hate the phrase “mere animals” here. What, if they were “just animals” (whatever that means), would that means that they do not deserve to be respected?
Use ‘Em As You Will: 11
S Use ‘Em As You Will: 11
Third, why did the elves, in those 74 years, never find out that the dragons were not “mere animals”? Let me run through some possibilities:
-They did not meet often enough for that.
That seems quite strange to me. After all, we will learn that the elves were living in Du Weldenvarden during at least a part of this time, and the dragons also lived there. If they met close enough to come into conflict, they should also live close enough to note each other’s behaviour.
-They could not communicate.
In what way?
1) The dragons cannot communicate with the elves.
2) The elves cannot communicate with the dragons.
3) They cannot understand each other.
Well, all of those are negated by the actual formation of the Riders, which involved an elf and a wild dragon deciding to do so. So they could understand each other perfectly well.
Of course, there is the possibility that either the elves or the dragons did not want to communicate. That makes little sense on the side of the dragons, though. Why would they not find a way to communicate with the beings who suddenly appeared in Alagaësia, if only for their own safety? That only leaves one option:
-The elves refused to adjust their opinion of the dragons.
Yes, that is the conclusion I have come to. They had ample opportunity to communicate with them, to revise their opinion of them, and to treat them with respect, but the majority apparently never did that.
And, to the best of my knowledge (which I admit is not entirely complete), this is never called out.
Look Away: 124
S Look Away: 131
RVMP: 38
S RVMP: 39
Use ‘Em As You Will: 20
S Use ‘Em As You Will: 20
What Dragons?: 24
S What Dragons?: 24
Also, because this seems to be glossed over because the elves did this, I will add this:
The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 15
S The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 15
This is because of the attitude of “the elves can do no bad”.
Fourthly, I hate the way this set-up treats the dragons like an exception, like they are “not like other animals”, and that that is why they deserve respect.
Use ‘Em As You Will: 21
S Use ‘Em As You Will: 21
From that belief rose a deadly mistake.
Note the wording here. To me, it does not imply that the belief was incorrect.
S: A brash elven youth hunted down a dragon, like a stag, and killed it.
K: A brash elven youth hunted down a dragon, as he would a stag, and killed it.
Domia Abr Wyrda explicitly notes that the youth hunted it down “as sport”. Let me add some more context to this.
According to Domia Abr Wyrda, the elves first landed at Teirm, which is at the west coast of Alagaësia. We will also see that they, in those 74 years, built Ilirea (which is now Urû’baen), and lived in Du Weldenvarden.
Um, let me gather my thoughts…
First of all, why did the elves expand their territory this fast? Did they need that large an area to house everyone in? That seems unlikely to me, as now all the elves fit in Du Weldenvarden without trouble, and I highly doubt that more elves crossed the sea than are currently alive. True, back then they were not immortal, so they might have had a large population growth, but still, why expand their territory so widely?
The best reason I can come up with is that they were colonising Alagaësia. That would also explain why they looked down on the dragons so much. Of course, one could dispute if “colonising” is the right word to use here. Given that in Eldest, the dragons are described as capable of waging war before the elves came, and that the elves had also gone into the dragons’ territory in Du Weldenvarden, I think I am not entirely unreasonable in using it.
Not that this will ever be acknowledged.
Look Away: 134
S Look Away: 141
The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 25
S The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 25
What Dragons?: 34
S What Dragons?: 34
Of course, this casts what happened here in a quite different light. The text seems to be playing it off like a tragic misunderstanding, that the elves simply did not know that the dragons actually were sentient, and that it was only a “brash youth” who decided to hunt a dragon for funsies.
The actual impression that I get is that the elves were colonising Alagaësia for whatever reason, that they actively refused to see the dragons as sentient, and that hunting them down was deliberate instead of “a mistake”.
And it is just plain horrible that any of the elves thought it acceptable to hunt dragons for sport.
Look Away: 144
S Look Away: 151
The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 35
S The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 35
What Dragons?: 44
S What Dragons?: 44
Come to think of it, I think it is time to introduce this count: Write It, And Keep It This will go for all the times that the narrative will gloss over all the disturbing elements in the backstory, or all the times that the book will try to retcon itself. Let me see… 10 for Brom’s story about Galbatorix, and 5 points each for the things I just addressed.
S Write It, And Keep It: 25
Write It, And Keep It: 25
Regarding the changes between the editions, I can see why. There is a slight ambiguity in the first version, that could mean that stags also hunt down dragons. Not that that is a very likely reading.
S: The dragons instantly knew of this, and, outraged, ambushed and slaughtered the elf.
K: Outraged, the dragons ambushed and slaughtered the elf.
Here the change does have some more significance. As for the part that has been removed from the Knopf edition: how could the dragons “instantly” know about this? Sure, they can communicate telepathically, but they do not have some kind of hive mind that would allow them to know about this!
S Continuity Fluidity: 81
The best reason I can think of that they would have been close soon is that the elf was in the dragons’ territory, which again highlights just how wrong they were being.
Also, why did they need to “ambush” the elf? That is just ridiculously inappropriate considering how much larger most dragons are than elves, and how many of them there were for one elf.
PPP: 123
S PPP: 150
That said, I do not exactly mind that the dragons did this. The elf was in the wrong, after all, and I can imagine that they were more than a little angry at the elves invading Alagaësia over the past 70 years. Other than that, it is also a quite clear signal to the elves that they would not tolerate this. And they are dragons, so judging them by the standards of another species is more than a little silly.
Unfortunately, the bloodletting did not stop there. The dragons massed together and attacked the entire elven nation.
That seems very unlikely to me. If they were planning to do this regardless, why bother to kill the offending elf separately? I did, at least, get the impression that the elves discovered the former incident before this one.
Ill Logic: 67
S Ill Logic: 71
And, to be fair, this did actually happen. They destroyed the old Ilirea, for example.
I am still suspicious of what is being said here, though. Let me set up a scenario:
The dragons kill the “brash youth” as a warning to the elves.
The elves use this to paint the dragons as “violent” and “dangerous”, and they attack with much greater force to scare the dragons into submission.
The dragons realise what the elves are planning, and they decide that the only way to get the elves to back off is by attacking them with overwhelming might.
So the dragons attack the elves with all they can.
This makes more sense than what Brom says, and I am willing to take it as canon. Let me see…
Look Away: 159
S Look Away: 166
The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 50
S The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 50
What Dragons?: 59
S What Dragons?: 59
5 points for ignoring the elves’ counter-attack that there must have been, and 10 points for shifting the blame to the dragons.
S Write It, And Keep It: 40
Write It, And Keep It: 40
15 points, as per above.
What we actually have here tries to shift the blame onto the dragons. It tries to make them look unreasonable by saying they attacked the “entire elven nation” because a “brash youth” killed one dragon by accident. At this point, this is so far removed from what actually happened that I will not even bother to give it a fair chance.
Also, the “elven nation” was of the dragons only 70 years before that.
Dismayed by the terrible misunderstanding,
WHAT IS THERE TO MISUNDERSTAND ABOUT “WE COLONISE YOUR LAND, WE THINK YOU HAVE NO MORAL WORTH, AND WE HUNT YOUR CHILDREN FOR SPORT”??! I officially hate this book.
Look Away: 164
S Look Away: 171
The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 55
S The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 55
What Dragons?: 64
S What Dragons?: 64
S Write It, And Keep It: 45
Write It, And Keep It: 45
the elves tried to end the hostilities, but couldn’t find a way to communicate with the dragons.
And how did they “try to end the hostilities”? Which terms did they want? And, if they were really that invested in preventing a war, they could have retreated or laid down their weapons or any other thing that would show the dragons that they do not want to fight, regardless of any communication issues.
Other than that, they could have communicated perfectly well, if only by doing what I said above. This is nothing but a transparent attempt at clearing the elves of blame for not doing anything to de-escalate the situation.
Look Away: 174
S Look Away: 181
The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 65
S The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 65
What Dragons?: 74
S What Dragons?: 74
S Write It, And Keep It: 55
Write It, And Keep It: 55
~~~
“Thus, to greatly abbreviate a complicated series of occurrences,
Something we will only ever hear scattered parts of.
Missing Puzzle Pieces: 117
S Missing Puzzle Pieces: 118
This just comes off like Paolini did not want to write all this out, and just had it glossed over. On another level, it also comes off to me like avoiding a nuanced account of what happened, which this series seems allergic to in general. Yes, we hear that it was complicated, but the elves are still painted as being unambiguously in the right.
S Write It, And Keep It: 60
Write It, And Keep It: 60
there was a very long and very bloody war, which both sides later regretted.
I do not doubt that it was bloody, but this same paragraph says that it took five years, which is not exactly “very long” on the timescale of wars.
Continuity Fluidity: 64
S Continuity Fluidity: 82
Other than that, though, this seems like a clumsy attempt at nuance. I see it as an attempted nod to the fact that both the elves and the dragons could have, and did, commit atrocities. The big problem with that is that, without further nuance, it flattens into “both the elves and the dragons regretted it, so they were both wrong”. Except that the elves were the colonisers, and the ones who started the war in the first place! They were simply the aggressors here, and they had more power!
But no, there are not legitimate complaints about the elves to be made.
Look Away: 179
S Look Away: 186
The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 70
S The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 70
What Dragons?: 79
S What Dragons?: 79
S Write It, And Keep It: 65
Write It, And Keep It: 65
At the beginning the elves fought only to defend themselves, for they were reluctant to escalate the fighting,
“Reluctant to escalate the fighting”. Against a group that they generally thought had no inner thoughts. Who they were colonising. That seems very unlikely to me.
S Write It, And Keep It: 70
Write It, And Keep It: 70
And, if they only fought to defend themselves, I would expect the dragons to stop attacking after some time.
but the dragons’ ferocity eventually forced them to attack for their own survival.
Oh, utter nonsense! First off, as per above, why would the dragons continue attacking like this if the elves did not fight back?
Second, is Brom actually implying that the dragons wanted to exterminate the elves? While the dragons, as we will see in Eldest, were being subjected to a genocide at the same time? I am at a loss for words here.
The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 80
S The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 80
What Dragons?: 89
S What Dragons?: 89
S Write It, And Keep It: 75
Write It, And Keep It: 75
Thirdly, I see that we have now gone to outright excusing the elves’ actions. “The dragons were just so ferocious that it was perfectly fine to kill their hatchlings.”
This Is Fine: 18
S This Is Fine: 23
Fourthly, they did not have to fight back for their survival! They could have fled Alagaësia for the lands to the north, if need be!
It is just quite clearly a narrative that has been set up to clear the elves of all blame, and, I think, the narrative the elves came up with themselves. It does make sense for Brom to say this, but it galls me that there is never an opposing viewpoint. And this here will only get more infuriating later on.
S: This lasted for five years and would have continued for much longer if an elf, Eragon, hadn’t found a dragon egg.”
K: This lasted for five years and would have continued for much longer if an elf called Eragon hadn’t found a dragon egg.”
Not much to say on the difference here. I do have notes on the content, though.
1) There is the “five years” figure. I do not exactly see that as a “very long” war.
2) Nice to see that we get absolutely nothing on these five years. Brom is not exactly telling a story, as much as relating a summary.
3) I very much doubt that the war would have continued for “much longer”. After all, the forces on both sides are finite, and if it was “very bloody”, those should have been shrinking quite fast. And neither could exactly summon up replacements that quickly. On top of that, as we will see later, the elves already had the upper hand at this point.
4) Ah yes, there is Eragon’s namesake. So, of course, we will take a little break from the story to process this. Oh, and if my analysis here may be inadequate, be certain that the NRSG will do a more thorough one in the first chapter of Inheritance.
Anyway, time to summarise a bit. Eragon “blink[s] in surprise” at hearing the name. Brom observes that Eragon did not know of his namesake. And why did Eragon not know of this? Why does he only hear this story now, when he loves to hear stories about the Riders? Yes yes, plot convenience, but why not ask Brom for his name before this? It will not turn out to mean anything, either.
Connection Has Failed: 25
S Connection Has Failed: 30
Let us take a look at this:
“No.” The tea kettle whistled stridently. Why was I named after an elf?
The Knopf edition has “teakettle” as one word here. No problems there.
What I do have a problem with is the insertion of the whistling teakettle here. We are in the middle of Eragon’s reaction here, after all, and it somewhat undercuts that. This occurs in Eldest, too, only there it is after Eragon has finished explaining something.
Connection Has Failed: 26
S Connection Has Failed: 31
Also, to answer Eragon’s question, that might be because elves were the dominant force in Alagaësia for some 2600 years, and that, consequently, many historical figures might be elves. There is nothing wrong with his question, but it might be more pertinent to ask why he was named specifically after Eragon.
Brom says that Eragon “should find [it] all the more interesting”. He hooks the kettle from the fire and pours the boiling water “into two cups”. The Knopf edition deletes the “the” before “boiling water”. I do wonder why we spend this much time on the tea. Tea is one of Paolini’s tropes, in any case.
Brom gives one cup to Eragon. He says that the leaves “don’t need to steep long”, so Eragon should better drink it quickly. Um, Brom, these cups are full of boiling water. It might just be me, but I think I would prefer drinking awful-tasting tea over possibly getting burned. Then again, I might be biased, as I would not note the awful taste anyway.
Ill Logic: 68
S Ill Logic: 72
Case in point, Eragon tries to sip it, and he promptly burns his tongue. Good going, Brom! Brom puts aside his own cup and resumes smoking his pipe. And, with that, the story resumes.
“No one knows why that egg was abandoned. Some say the parents were killed in an elven attack.
Nor will we come to know this. Also, this theory seems quite reasonable to me.
Others believe the dragons purposefully left it there.
This theory, on the other hand, seems quite unreasonable to me. Why in the world would the dragons purposefully abandon an egg to the people who were trying to kill them??
Ill Logic: 69
S Ill Logic: 73
Either way, Eragon saw the value of raising a friendly dragon.
Or, in other words, he saw the value of abducting a unhatched dragon and raising it in a completely different culture and with completely opposite values in order to use it as a weapon in war. What a great person to be named after.
To explain myself better, I want to pull up another trope (I think?). In that one, the (often young) protagonist finds an animal that belongs to a species that is generally reviled. The animal is, for example, young or wounded, and the protagonist takes it upon themself to raise/nurse it. In the end, the protagonist shows that the animal is not as bad as it seems, and it is allowed to live.
Though there are superficial similarities between what Eragon I did and this trope, they are fundamentally different. This sentence shows that Eragon I does not want to show everyone that the dragons are not evil, but rather that they can be raised not to be antagonistic to the elves. And, though it is not explicit, I think that this is where the elves got the idea from to form the Riders and thus enslave the dragons.
The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 90
S The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 90
What Dragons?: 99
S What Dragons?: 99
S Write It, And Keep It: 85
Write It, And Keep It: 85
And, because this is portrayed as a positive thing:
This Is Fine: 28
S This Is Fine: 33
Okay, if Eragon I had not been able to find other dragons to raise the child, I would have no problems with this. But this says that he took it to specifically create a “friendly dragon”. And I cannot take that other than the he wanted to show that young dragons could be raised to accord to the elves’ wishes. Yes, it might be that he wanted the dragon to fight along with them, but I do not think one single dragon could have done exactly much. And, also, this seems very much like the system behind the Riders, where, as we will see, the eggs were removed from the dragons, and the hatchlings were bonded to elves/humans as soon as they left the egg. So, in conclusion, I am quite certain that Eragon I inspired the Riders. What a hero.
S: He cared for it secretly, and in the custom of the ancient language, named him Bid’Daum.
K: He cared for it secretly and, in the custom of the ancient language, named him Bid’Daum.
1) The comma placement in the self-published edition is again nonsensical.
S PPP: 151
2) The name “Bid’Daum” is actually “Muad’Dib” spelled backwards, with altered capitalisation. That is one of the names of the protagonist of the novel Dune by Frank Herbert. It seems the editors did not catch this blatant case of plagiarism.
In-universe, the rip-off shows, too, as this name barely makes sense in the ancient language. First, the ancient language does not use medial capitals. Second, while it does use apostrophes sometimes, they are not used in proper names, as far as I know. And thirdly, this name does not contain any of the roots that are listed on Paolini’s website.
A Better Commando Name: 3
If I were to construct a better name, I would pick something like “peace maker”, which would be Eld Mor’ranr in the ancient language. That is somewhat unwieldy, of course, so I could see it be shortened to Eld’ranr.
3) Come to think of it, I do not believe that Eragon I would have named his dragon something so strange in his native language. And it cannot be a case of language change, as the Ancient Language cannot change (however little sense that makes). It rather seems like either a pseudonym or something from an entirely different language. That might tie into something else from Brisingr…
Connection Has Failed: 27
S Connection Has Failed: 32
4) Using both “it” and “him” to refer to Eld’ranr (which is what I will call him), is a little confusing.
Well, now for what is actually being said. It does have parallels with what the current Eragon is doing, though this Eragon, for all his faults, actually raises Saphira because he cares for her. At this point, comparing him to Eragon I is frankly insulting.
Also good to see that Eragon I named the dragon in the ancient language. He could not be allowed to retain some of his own culture, after all.
Look Away: 184
S Look Away: 191
The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 95
S The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 95
What Dragons?: 104
S What Dragons?: 104
S Write It, And Keep It: 90
Write It, And Keep It: 90
When Bid’Daum had grown to a good size, they traveled together among the dragons and convinced them to live in peace with the elves.
I very much doubt that Eld’ranr and Eragon I had such a large impact all by themselves. After all, Eld’ranr was only one dragon. Certainly, it might be demoralising, but I think it would only have made them fight harder. And even if the elves took all the hatchlings and mobilised them against the dragons, it would be quite some time before they could pose a serious threat to the dragons.
In fact, I think the fact that the elves were winning and were killing lots of dragons might have played a much larger role than Eragon I and Eld’ranr did.
And also, the very fact that the dragons allowed them to “travel among them” indicates quite clearly that the dragons were resigned to some kind of peace. Otherwise, I do not see why they did not tear Eragon I apart as soon as he came there. And yes, they might have done so for the benefit of Eld’ranr, but why did they not hold him hostage, then? The best reason I can come up with is that they did not think it would accomplish anything.
And, in that case, this was simply a formality, or rather an expression of superiority over the dragons.
Let me see…
S Write It, And Keep It: 95
Write It, And Keep It: 95
This is for trying to show Eragon I’s raising of Eld’ranr as some kind of watershed moment in the war, which it cannot have been. If Paolini was going for this, he should have written this differently.
The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 105
S The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 105
What Dragons?: 114
S What Dragons?: 114
S Write It, And Keep It: 105
Write It, And Keep It: 105
The usual points.
The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 110
S The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 110
This Is Fine: 38
S This Is Fine: 43
And these are there because the solution to the war is presented as making the dragons live in peace. Because of course they were the ones at fault, because they dared to strike back against being colonised. Because the elves are never at fault. I hate this so very much. And we do not even have the full picture yet.
Treaties were formed between the two races.
“We will get all your land, and we can take your children, and we will give you tiny bits of land where you can lead some kind of life of your own.”
Other than that, I sense a continuity error here… Let me check Eldest.
Queen Tarmunora of the elves and the dragon who had been selected to represent us, whose name[…]cannot be expressed in any language, decided that a common treaty would not suffice.
~Eldest, Chapter 46, “The Beginning of Wisdom”
The speaker here is considerably more entrenched in the Riders than Brom ever was, so I suppose this might be the result of Brom not being trained for very long. Then again, the quote could also mean that they began with a treaty and decided something more was needed. Alright, I will go with that interpretation.
To insure that war would never break out again, they decided that it was necessary to establish the Riders.
The Knopf edition has “ensure” here, which is better indeed. Not that “insure” is bad per se; it is only somewhat dated.
But regarding this claim… I do not believe this, either. If they wanted to prevent war, some kind of magical treaty could have sufficed. Or, maybe, making the elves retreat from the dragons’ territory, allowing them to establish themselves in territory that the dragons do not object to, and forbidding them from harming dragons. And then use magic to force the elves to comply with this until they do not want to colonise anymore. It would be far from an ideal solution, but it would have been far better than what actually happened.
Oh, come to think of it, it is time to update one of my counts:
Manual Patch Job: 25
S Manual Patch Job: 26
For the colonisation, for the racism toward the dragons, for the necessary elven attack, for the elves escalating the fighting, for Eragon I inspiring the Riders, and for the dragons being resigned to peace.
Anyway. I simply do not see how bonding dragon hatchlings to elves would help prevent a war. If anything, I think that it would make them more likely to rebel, because of how badly they were being treated. To me, it looks more like the Riders were there to keep the dragons under control, and to make them do the elves’ bidding.
More on that later, as there are much better opportunities to talk about that later. For now:
Manual Patch Job: 26
S Manual Patch Job: 27
S Write It, And Keep It: 110
Write It, And Keep It: 110
~~~~
S: “At first the Riders were intended merely as a means of communication.
K: “At first the Riders were intended merely as a means of communication between the elves and dragons.
No problems with the addition in the Knopf edition here.
Still, “a means of communication”??? They could communicate perfectly well! The way I take this is as “the Riders were intended as a means to make the dragons do what the elves wanted them to do and to forcibly assimilate them into elven society”.
Look Away: 194
S Look Away: 201
Manual Patch Job: 27
S Manual Patch Job: 28
The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 120
S The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 120
What Dragons?: 124
S What Dragons?: 124
S Write It, And Keep It: 120
Write It, And Keep It: 120
I do apologise for the point dumps, by the way. They should clear up quite soon.
However, as time passed, their worth was recognized and they were given ever more authority.
Um, who? Who recognised their worth and give them authority? Let me go down the options:
The dwarves. That cannot be, as Brisingr learns us that they were not interested in dealing with the Riders. Also, I fail to see what kind of authority they could give to the Riders. They did not give up their sovereignty, and they do not seem to have much authority outside of the Beors.
The Urgals. That seems quite unlikely to me, too, as they never seem to have been in a position to give much authority.
The humans. That seems like the best fit. But still, what authority would they have to give? Yes, I could see the humans having kingdoms and such, but why would they give up power to the elves? And, anyway, why would anyone need to give them power when they could easily take it from the others, especially when they had the dragons?
I think this should read something like “As time passed, they used their increased power to conquer the rest of Alagaësia”. That would indeed give them more authority.
Look Away: 204
S Look Away: 211
Manual Patch Job: 28
S Manual Patch Job: 29
The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 130
S The Perfect Sparkly Ways of Elfdom: 130
S Write It, And Keep It: 130
Write It, And Keep It: 130
And what “worth” was recognised, anyway? How good they were at oppressing people?
S: Eventually they took the island Vroengard for their home and built a city, Dorú Areaba, on it.
K: Eventually they took the island Vroengard for their home and built a city on it—Dorú Areaba.
1) Not exactly related, but this puts something from chapter 3 in my mind, where it was stated that the last battle took place “before the gates of Dorú Areaba”. Only we will see in Inheritance that the battle was fought in the city. And that is something Brom should know.
Continuity Fluidity: 65
S Continuity Fluidity: 83
2) The self-published edition definitely runs smoother here. The phrasing in the Knopf edition may be more compact, but that does not make it better.
3) It is still “Doru Araeba”.
Continuity Fluidity: 66
S Continuity Fluidity: 84
Regarding the content, this is true enough. For some context, the “eventually” took 1900 years, and this only happened after humans were added to the Riders, which created such a big rift that the Riders moved away to Vroengard.
S: Before Galbatorix overthrew them, they held more power than all the kings in Alagaësia.
K: Before Galbatorix overthrew them, the Riders held more power than all the kings in Alagaësia.
Little to say on the differences. Using “the Riders” instead of “they” is clearer, though.
Regarding the content, this is indeed true. Not that we will get much examination of what this power imbalance may have caused.
Some more points:
1) Why only “kings”, and not “kings and queens”? As we will see, there were certainly queens during the time of the Riders, so it does not make much sense not to mention them.
No-Wave Feminism: 29
S No-Wave Feminism: 35
2) Why only list Galbatorix as someone who overthrew the Riders? He certainly did not do so alone, after all. He had Shruikan, and the Forsworn, plus their dragons, which makes for at least 27 others beside him. But despite this, this series will continually ignore the Forsworn in favour of putting all the blame for the supposed bad deeds on Galbatorix. I think it is an attempt to look Galbatorix look bad, but it misfires because it is simply not true.
S Write It, And Keep It: 131
Write It, And Keep It: 131
Now I believe I have answered two of your questions.”
Yes, you have, for a certain definition of “answered”. And I think it best to cut here.
A note on this: I do not think that Paolini meant any of this. In fact, I am quite sure he meant for the text to be taken at face value. The only problem is that he evidently did not bother to look for other interpretations, which means he ended up with this mess. And for someone who wants to look deeper than the surface, like me, this is a nice way to show what the text bears out, even if it was not meant to be read that way.
Anyway, that is it for now. Join me next time, as Eragon and Brom continue to talk.
no subject
"Prideful" would be far more accurate.
Rather than taking pity on the little creature and them becoming friends.
Oh yeah, this definitely smacks of "we have to tame them out of their savage ways!". Which you may recall happens again later with the Urgals.
No he doesn't. He (barely) raises her because he wants to be famous and special and important.
no subject
"Prideful" would be far more accurate.
Kerlois: That would indeed be a better word.
Rather than taking pity on the little creature and them becoming friends.
Kerlois: This rather seems like the malicious version of that trope.
Oh yeah, this definitely smacks of "we have to tame them out of their savage ways!". Which you may recall happens again later with the Urgals.
Kerlois: Chapter 8 of Inheritance, "The Price of Power". Yes, I see Nasuada said that. Clearly, she is the leader Alagaësia needs.
No he doesn't. He (barely) raises her because he wants to be famous and special and important.
Kerlois: And because he refuses to kill her, because dragons are apparently too revered for that.
no subject
"We have to civilise them out of their savage ways" is the exact "justification" behind the real life abduction and abuse of first nations children. Take them from their parents and force them to give up their language and culture, because it's "for their own good", you know. It's absolutely disgusting that Paolini even THOUGHT of having his "good, heroic" characters act like this, let alone that his editors let him get away with it.
But not too revered to be treated like a pet/free powerful/glorified horse, apparently.