Where the Heart of Anti-Shurtugal Rises Again.

Yesterday I was on Impish Idea reading some articles about Eragon and Star Wars when I was struck by a curious thought. I think that Saphira might be a completely superfluous character.

This thought seemed odd to me, at first. I seem to recall a couple interviews where Paolini stated that the crux of the books was Eragon and Saphira's relationship^{[citation needed]}. He's also been on record saying that he dreams of dragons while in the shower, and I'd think that someone this obsessed with dragons would treat his dragon characters better.

The more I thought about it, the more I felt that I was on to something. I feel a bit that I'm preaching to the choir, here, but bear with me. We've often dismissed Saphira as a flying blue taxi, but even a flying blue taxi can have a sufficient excuse to exist in a plot.

However, I cannot think of a single instance in which Saphira could not easily be replaced or written out.

If Arya had sent plans to destroy the Death Star to Eragon in the woods, the Ra'zac would still have come after him and killed Uncle Garrowen and started his quest for vengeance. This is probably Saphira's most important role in the main plot, but she's not actually contributing, partially because she isn't born yet.

Saphira and Murtaugh help in rescuing Arya, but I think it would only take a few minutes to write Saphira out of the scene and just make Murtaugh slightly more bad-ass than he was before. At the end she breaks the Star Sapphire to cause a distraction, but you could easily have another character act as the Merry in this scene. Murtaugh could have shot Durza and it would have worked just as well. She could easily be written out of the first book without changing any major (or minor, even) plot points.

In Eldest, you don't even have to change around plot points. Saphira doesn't do anything important in book 2. She interferes with Eragon's flirting with Arya, but that's really about it. She acts as transportation from the dwarves to the elves. That's about as far as her influence goes.

Nothing happens in Brisingr. I guess Saphira helped with the genocide of the Ra'zac, but killing the Ra'zac was a completely unnecessary event that shouldn't have happened (I'll be honest, I think that the Ra'zac were about the only worthwhile contribution of the entire series), and I think Roran and Eragon could have handled it on their own.

Saphira probably plays her most crucial roles in Inheritance, but again, they're pretty minor and could have been played by a human or elf character. She manages to distract Thorn and keep him from hurting the Varden when they're in the city, but that's about all she does that's important. She distracts Thorn, that's it. She doesn't play any crucial or important role in defeating Galby or to any of the events leading up to that. She provides transportation and distracts Thorn. That's it in book 4.

The Eldunari don't count, and you know it.

It's just so mind-boggling to me that in the four books, Saphira is not a needed part of any plans. In 2, 3, and 4, Saphira seems to get pushed out of the plot for long periods of time where she's just flying around or lazing about because she doesn't have anything to do. Why, if you were a dragon-obsessed writer, would you write a series of books in which the dragons played no pivotal role? Saphira is an unneeded character, and very often, unwanted. She never seems to use any of her unique skills and her input is not necessary at all in the major conflict against Galbatorix.

I also feel this way about Roran, who contributes even less to the plot.