r/Eragon

Greetings.

I have a theory to discuss with you guys.

We have little to no knowledge about Galbatorix's lineage and I'm hoping to learn more about his past in the upcoming books.

But I refuse to believe that in his long years of ruling Alagaësia, Galbatorix didn't have any children. We know he has no queen so his children would be bastards who don't carry his royalty.

My theory is that there are at least one son of Galbatorix if not multiple, and we will see that son in the upcoming books as an antagonist.

I don't know if this topic was ever discussed so feel free to enlighten me if it was.

If you became a rider, did you need to travel around and help everyone or could you just decide to do it like tenga life some where, where nobody else is and do your own stuff?

I mean with magic can you gain traits of dragons ? (like scales, more power or something like that)

Elves can modify their body so i'm wondering if anyone thought of this before.

So first it was said that he destroyed the riders because he went mad over his first. dragon death but in the fourth book depending on the way he was talking it is obvious that he already had some other problem with the riders other than not being given a new dragon why because he never talked about his first dragon so i always had the headcanon that he was already plotting to end the riders before losing his dragon because his name itself sounds unusual and we know nothing about his life before joining the riders as a kid anyhow this is just a guess..

Hey all. I've just tried to access an audio book channel that went by rachel reads. Not read with rachel. It was a small channel (30k subs) and it's been terminated, another channel that read the inheritance cycle was also terminated (i forgot the name). Does anyone have any idea why or what's going on?

So in the books eragon who is son of brom become saphara rider then murtagh son of morzan became thorns rider and firnin egg hatched for arya and since elf were also dragon riders it makes sense .... And if galbatorix had children then i guess they might be riders too .....so does this mean that anyone related to riders will be selected by the dragon eggs..

I love these characters. They have been apart of my every day for the last several weeks as I listened on audible as often as I could between home and work and at work. I knew from the first few chapters it would hurt to listen to this story end, however it would. I had read the first two books as a child and have remembered loving them for most my life until I finally decided to give them another visit, and boy am I thankful I did. I am so sad to have to part ways with them and admittedly cried listening to it on my drive home from work today. Roran yelling on the riverbank got me hard. I know Murtagh has been released and that is the next book in my list and it is setting up for more stories in the world, but it seems a big question mark as of now that we will see the gang back together in the same capacity as the Inheritance Cycle. I just wanted to share with you all how I’m feeling. Thank you Christopher for such an incredible series. I can’t wait to see what the future of Alagaësia holds for us to enjoy.

I picked up the second and third book from a thrift store. I can’t really afford to buy the first book but I do know the second book has a synopsis. Is it ok to just start reading the second one?

I know this sounds ridiculous at first, but hear me out: Brom wasn't just lying low in Palancar Valley waiting for Saphira's egg to hatch. He was there because he was the chairman of the local Society for the Protection of Urgals.

The more you think about it, the more it actually fits. Brom knows way too much about Urgals for someone who's supposedly spent decades avoiding everyone. Even before Eragon meets one that isn't trying to kill him, Brom keeps pushing back against the idea that they're just mindless beasts. That's a pretty weird stance for a guy whose entire village would happily tell you the only good Urgal is a dead one. Then you've got all his unexplained trips into the Spine. Everyone assumes he's off doing mysterious Rider stuff, but what if he was actually checking in with Urgal communities, documenting human encroachment, and trying to keep the peace? Being the village's weird old storyteller was the perfect cover. Nobody questions where the eccentric old guy disappears to for a few days. Looking back after Inheritance, when the Varden finally recognize the Urgals as allies, it really feels like Brom was just decades ahead of everyone else. The books never come out and say it directly, but honestly I think Paolini left enough clues that it's hard to read it any other way.

I wonder if in the next book featuring Eragon and Arya, we will ever see Eragon slightly push back against Arya and Fiernen. She not only touched the eggs without anyone's permission or supervision, but she also trained in secret without telling anyone. I know the new Rider structure is more open, but that was a bit of a blow to Eragon's authority. Having a Queen as Rider creates a lot of headaches for Eragon. He didn't even say anything when it was revealed to him, he just went along with it because of his massive crush on her.

So the foresworn were serving under galbatorix for a ton of years until brom killed all of them so galbatorix could have tried to breed their dragons and get himself more eggs instead of crying over not being able to hatch the only three eggs he had I know it is possible that all the foresworn dragons might have been male but that sounds silly to think about he could have just used magic to forcefully breed them with shruikan so what do you think on this..

Hi, howdy, hello

It's been a while since I have done a proper post on here diving into something and I thought, as I am doing my annual reread of Inheritance, that I would visit a topic that I hinted to in my Brisingr post from last year - mercy. There are several moments that rhyme quite nicely centring on this theme, and I shall break them down

The ground work:

Eragon is very compassionate. He would much sooner not kill than kill. Moreover, he prefers to kill in self defence. He would never aspire to appoint himself as judge, Judy, and executioner (Hot Fuzz reference there) and this is shown in his refusal to execute Sloan - I will get to that. Eragon, despite his great power, does not want to use that power to manipulate the political machinations of the land. He is far too responsible for that. For, after all, Alagaesia does not need another Galbatorix. I believe that Eragon states that in Eldest but he later reaffirms that in Brisingr, bringing this sentiment to a natural conclusion by ​refusing the throne when offered it in Inheritance. If he were to ascend to the throne, I imagine that he would be as benevolent as possible - though this is very hypothetical​. So, this coupled with his natural kindness lays the groundwork for the instances of mercy that I shall be analysing

The instances are as follows:

Torkenbrand

The Gryfalkon

Sloan

The soldier

Torkenbrand

So this is the first moment where this theme surfaces: Murtagh's execution of Torkenbrand. It serves as a defining moment in both his and Eragon's relationship. Eragon is shocked when Murtagh executes an injured Torkenbrand, claiming that he was no harm to them. Murtagh states that he would have been a burden otherwise, and in any case, he was a slaver and did not deserve to live. Plus, they had been seen so word could come back to the Empire. Eragon is shocked as Torkenbrand was defenceless. He was completely at their mercy and could have been left alive. Eragon's empathy here blinds him to rational thought

Now, this moment has been hotly debated - I myself have engaged in one or two in the past. And I think that this is deliberate. Let's break down the nuances of this moment.

Did Torkenbrand have to die?

Did Torkenbrand deserve to die?

I would er on yes these days. However, I agree with Eragon that the manner in which Torkenbrand died was callous. If, in normal circumstances, Torkenbrand had been captured, he would undoubtedly have been executed by the Varden as they would see slavery as repugnant as Eragon does. But, what Eragon fails to recognise is that he is not, in fact, in a normal circumstance. Pursued by Kull as they were, Torkenbrand would only slow them down. He might try to escape - where, you might ask. He might try and kill Eragon and Murtagh as they slept. He might even try and steal one of the horses. He was a loose cannon that had to be dealt with. Eragon explains his morals later to Orrin and Nasuada as he is justifying saving Sloan so I will save that for then. But, this death struck him so hard due to the callousness of it. Murtagh did it without thought or emotion. Eragon is not quite the battle-hardened warrior that we come across in later books

The gryfalkon

This is a small moment in Eldest just outside Cithrim. Eragon comes across a wounded bird in the woods and Arya shoots it with an arrow. Eragon is shocked by this as the death is so sudden. He thinks that Arya could have healed the bird. Arya argues that the bird was beyond saving. This to me is a prime example of Eragon's empathy. He despises unnecessary death, which as we find out later in Eldest, comes to encompass all animal life.

Orik describes elves as "capricious" which means 'given to sudden and unaccountable changes in behaviour'. They can turn on a dime and decide whether you are of use to them in an instant. Or even, whether someone's worth saving. The suddenness of the gryfalkon's death is shocking but the question is: was it the right thing to do?

A quandary: you are driving down a road late at night and hit an animal. The animal is beyond saving. Without your swift intervention, it will die a long and painful death. Is it more merciful to put the animal out of its misery? Yes. Yes it is. The solution to that quandary falls apart when you are living in a world where even the gravest of wounds - besides death - can be healed with magic. So what makes the bird's life less valuable than a person's? Is it that it's a bird? Is it that it is indeed better to let the bird die and ease its suffering? I'm not sure. Maybe because the bird was so weakened, it is beyond the point of healing. Or maybe Arya doesn't like birds. Who knows?

Sloan

Ah...Sloan. Sloan, the man who murdered Byrd. Sloan, the man who ratted Eragon out to the Ra'Zaac. Sloan, the man blinded by rage before he had his eyes pecked out. Why did Eragon save him?

Eragon is no executioner. To appoint himself executioner would be putting himself above people such as Orrin and Nasuada, putting himself on an equal footing to the big cheese, Galbatorix. It would set an awful precedent that would cause a quagmire (that really is a delightful word) to spread in the political sphere of the Varden. It would make Eragon a tyrant and he could not and would not allow himself to fall

Now, Eragon had also known Sloan all of his life, so intimately in fact, that he figured out Sloan's true name in a matter of minutes. That is a truly impressive feat. This gave Eragon the ultimate power over Sloan's fate. Eragon could have had him dancing to whatever tune he wanted. But he chose mercy. He chose punishment far crueller than death. But he chose mercy as to execute Sloan would be wrong. The punishment fits the crime as Sloan essentially loses everything. His fate is tragic as he brought it upon himself. He is unable to:

- See his daughter to whom he is devoted

- See his grand daughter too

It is a cruel fate as it strips Sloan of his purpose. It locks him into the knowledge that Katrina is happy - or even happier - without him. He is imprisoned in the comfortable hospitality of the elves and the bitter landscape of his thoughts

Having recently finished Inheritance, I am reminded of a moment where Eragon gives Sloan new eyes. Sloan thanks him as, in that moment, he is able to at last see Katrina happy. This is the ultimate mercy for Sloan as Eragon bringing Katrina to Ellesmera was cruel. Needlessly so. This was a wrong that needed to be righted

The soldier

Why kill the soldier when he could not kill Sloan?

Simple: the soldier was an enemy combatant whilst Sloan was a crippled old(ish) man. The soldier had sworn into Galbatorix's army in the Ancient Language, and therefore would have been compelled to find allies and tell of Eragon's whereabouts. It was a cruel death but it was also war. In that moment, Eragon had to go against his better nature and kill

I hope you enjoy reading this and I look forward to any discussions to come

Be wary of ferrets!

I’ve just read the cycle for the second time (because my brain told me I couldn’t read Murtagh until I re-read the cycle). And I was thinking: even if there may not be more books on Eragon’s story, wouldn’t it be fun to have a little novella on Eragon and Saphira raising their first clutch of dragons? I feel like it would both be lighthearted as well as informative on the subject of dragon hatchlings and their quirks. I’ve been, personally, thinking of drawing such interactions but I’ve only just begun to learn how to draw, so it’s not something I could do currently which makes me sad.

Is there a reason why people are defending Arya so much? She isn't exactly likeable and the only reason why she is relevant is due to her status and being a supporting character.

Edit: what happened to this fandom? A year ago you all used to be a bit more nuanced. Reddit get to you?

I know it's Reddit, but I didn't expect all that for having an opinion. This is getting way too toxic. I'm going to have to step away from this group. It's been a good ride, I wish all of you a good life.

I would have loved to see in the inheritance cycle itself Eragon manoeuvring the different races (humans in Nasuada’s court, the dwarves and even the elves).

That’s one thing, I wish the books had explored while finding ways to defeat Galbatorix.

So i have only read the first four books and in book 4 i was shocked that arya became a rider cause for some reason i thought it was going to be roran . but since eragon and saphara found multiple eggs do you think any of the charecters we already know will be selected by the eggs