Eragon pt. three

[kippurbird]

Chapter Dragon Tales and Fate's Gift
Characters Eragon, Garrow, Roran, Brom, Nameless Traders of sorts.
Special shiny magical objects in Eragon's possesion One Stone and then one dragon.

Summary


So now we get a bit of background information on Eragon's family. Apparently his mother left the small village of Carvahall and then came back, pregnant. She gave birth and then left the baby in her brother, Garrow's care. Garrow and his wife were apparently of the creepy sort because they let Eragon think that they were his parents until an unspecified point. We get a bit of Eragon Angst when he thinks that he wasn't good enough for his mother to stay (probably the third arm). His father is also nameless. Here we have the basic hero set up. Apparent orphan trope, his mother missing under mysterious circumstances and an unknown father. A father that must have been rich, because his mother came back very well and expensively dressed. Perhaps she had an affair with a rich noble, became pregnant and well that would be bad. We don't know. Still, his mother and father are presumed to be alive to reappear at a later date. Perhaps at a suitably dramatic moment. We shall have to see.

In the mean time we learn that they are waiting for the traders to come through. Now, these are the most amazing sort of traders I've ever seen. They go out trading during the winter. In the Snow. Where any sensible sort would be holed up somewhere warm. After all the roads during the winter would be dangerous, what with maybe getting snowed in some where or freeze to death or something like that. The people who traveled to the West on the Oregon Trail always made sure to leave so that they wouldn't be caught in the winter storms where they wouldn't be able to move or find food for their animals. Especially in the mountain passes where they could get trapped. I don't know where these Traders go, but it sounds like they go all over they continent. It would make sense that the would go somewhere warm for the winter months and back up northernly in the summer months. But that's just logic.

Eragon and Garrow go to a trader who specializes in jewelry where we learn several interesting things about the stone: it's hollow (this is an important point), it's harder than any rock, including diamond, and it was probably shaped by magic. Do we have these points? Remember them, they're important.

In a tavern, Eragon shows how special he is because he brings up a Very Good Point against some traders where he asks them to prove that they aren't lying in regards to talk of "Urkle" momvement and troop movements. Now there's no way to prove that they are lying or that they're not. The village is in a very isolated place and would get their information from traders, they have no reason to believe what they say isn't true or not. Not only that but they're rather against the Empire. Why is this odd? It's just that the Empire has very little impact on their daily lives. They aren't pressed for troops or taxes. The emperor could have changed six times and their daily lives wouldn't have changed a whit, but still they are against the emperor... because he is supposedly evil. But from what we have been exposed to he hasn't done anything evil at all. We are just told that he is evil, but haven't been given any evidence to support this (except for the fact that he has tax collectors and doesn't help them when the years have been harsh, but then again they are a small village out in the middle of nowhere with no strategic importance). He seems to be interested in keep the Urkles down, which is supposed to be a good thing, yet he is also considered evil. I don't get it. If I were these villagers I wouldn't care one way or the other unless it had a direct effect on my daily life, which it doesn't appear to have.

Now I shall prove that Brom is Galbatorix (or Galby as I'll call him). Brom tells the origin story of Galby, which deals with the defeat of the dragonriders. Through out the story, Brom gives information as if it were first hand knowledge. He says things like, "Though his friends and their dragons were butchered and he suffered great wounds, Galbatorix slew his attackers. Tragically during the fight a stray arrow pierced his dragon's heart" (page 32) Notice Brom doesn't say, "They say that..." but instead he speaks as if he knew it were the truth. Now three people were at the event, only one survived: Galby. The rest of the story goes on like this. He knows that Galby was found by a farmer and that he slept for four days, exactly. He knows about all sorts of things that only Galby or the person who was there would have known. Now he tells us that dragonriders are immortal unless blade or poison took them, and that this story happened many, many, many, generations ago so there is no way that Brom could have researched this by himself unless he was immortal. And Galby is immortal because he has a dragon. (He's had two). Not only that Galby goes on and slays most of the other dragonriders. It makes me think that these dragonriders were pretty wimpy if the group of them were unable to destroy thirteen of their own. I mean really. So, Brom knows vital information that only Galby or a dragonrider would know. All the other dragonriders are dead. Therefor Galby is Brom.

Now we move into Fate's Gift where the Stone proves to be an egg. Several times more the idea that the egg is hollow is reinforced. It makes interesting ringing noises. Eragon has an interesting idea of what hollow means. He thinks that, "Merlock said that the stone was hollow; there could be something of value inside" (page 35). Dictionary.com defines Hollow as: "having a space or cavity inside; not solid; empty: a hollow sphere." So, if it's empty inside, how can there be something inside of it that's valuable? This would indicate that it's not hollow. And it certainly wouldn't be giving off those nice ringing notes.

Nonetheless, the hollow stone hatches. Where the dragon comes from? I don't know, it must have teleported inside. Which then begs the question, how did the dragon get out? After all the egg is made of stronger stuff than diamonds and can't be scratched. I don't think the stone suddenly got any less tougher. Yet somehow the baby dragon was able to break out of it. That's some very strong baby dragon there.

One final point. Eragon hides his knife under his mattress. What sort of moron hides his knife under the mattress. You're supposed hide your money under the mattress and your knife under your pillow.

Comments

[-youngblood-.livejournal.com]

"Now three people were at the event, only one survived: Galby."

Ah, have you forgotten how "logical" Paolini has been up until this point? I would caution you not to make conclusions based on reason, for, as we've seen already, reason doesn't necessarily rule in Eragon-land.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Just because he's being illogical doesn't mean I have to be. It makes it more fun applying logic to the illogic.

[-youngblood-.livejournal.com]

True enough. What's even more fun/infuriating is the "WTF" moment after you've applied the logic to the illogic and come upon a complete contradiction to the logic you applied. (Did that make sense? Not sure.)

[thelittlebudgie.livejournal.com]

Although it does appear that in Eldest he got his hands on my Theory of Knowledge textbook and tried to be wise or something.

[dove-cg.livejournal.com]

The name Galbatorix bugs me horribly, btw. I keep thinking of Asterix comics and going "NOOOOO!" Plus, it's just way too long, somehow. (Though honestly, the name for the whole world? Even worse. Way too long as well and disgustingly pretty.) But I imagine that I am very biased in that regard.

Oh, another thing that bothers me. I might be mistaken but I got the impression that the villagers (and thus most normal people, supposedly) had forgotten of the dragonriders' prior existence until Brom started telling his stories. Maybe I'm misinformed but it was actually something closer to a decade or two that had passed, which is way too soon for that. :P

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

It doesn't say in the book when Gally started to rule. Being that he is virtually immortal it could have been at any time, ten years or one hundred years ago as there has been no one to challenge him.

As for the forgetting of the dragonrider's stories it sounded like that they were often told, but the ones dealing with how they were defeated by Gally weren't looked upon well.

[thelittlebudgie.livejournal.com]

"You're supposed hide your money under the mattress and your knife under your pillow." Maybe he's hoping that it'll accidentally cut his third arm off?

Eggs do not make ringing sounds, even if they're really hard. They either go 'tap-tap' or 'shmuck' if you hit them too hard. Paolini appears to have been too busy discovering the 'insert symbol' option on Word to find out such plebain things as that, though.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

This is right. Eggs do not make ringing sounds. Rocks, also, do not make ringing sounds. Eggs are not hollow. Paolini seems to have a very tentative grasp of reality and how things ... um... act in circumstances.

[the7bells.livejournal.com]

This story makes no sense to me. Really.

This has all the subtlty of a ton of bricks, doesn't it? Especially Brom's story.

How do eggs ring? I mean, I don't get it...*hurts brain trying to figure it out*

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Brom: I'm going to tell you all a story, especially you Eragon, that has DEEP MEANING... but doesn't really because it's just a story.

Eggs do not ring. Neither do rocks. Therefor that was neither an egg or a rock. I don't know what it was. But it was neither a rock nor an egg.

[anolinde.livejournal.com]

Lmfao, I love this. I hate the book, but love your overview of it.

Hell, maybe I should get something published, if this is the standard nowadays.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Well apparently Paolini got lucky since his parents owned a publishing company. Us real authors actually have to work hard to get published.

[phorcys.livejournal.com]

I am glad I checked deletritus. Eragon is a worry. If this is what is expected to sell and what publishers are now going to look to make them the 'big money.' What can we hope to expect to be turning up in the future, being praised as the next kids fiction hit?

I am sure they have the monkey's ready now to tap out the next half/dragon elf magic war hidden destiny prophecy inspired work.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

There's a hidden destiny prophecy in this? ooooh Exciting!

[epicfurious.livejournal.com]

You have a master's degree and you can't spell "humorous"? Intelligent my ass.

The fact that you feel the need to give an in-depth analysis of a horrible children's book makes me very sad. I mean, I know you're essentially unemployable, but this is just pathetic.

Still. "Intelligently humerous." I'm going to go cry now. Maybe by the time I'm done you'll have taken a course in basic English.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

There is such a thing as spelling mistakes. And a Master's Degree in English Lit means that I know how to analyze literature, not necessarily spell.

I feel the need to do it because I thought it would be something interesting to do. Yes, it is a horrid children's book, and now I'm proving it. People do get paid money for doing these things, look at all the books that analyze why Harry Potter is so great. It's basically a review of the book.

You enjoy your cry and I've already taken my courses in basic English.

[randomsome1.livejournal.com]

You're making me happy I haven't read this book.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

[vanity-lost.livejournal.com]

How has your brain not already shut down from the overload of Lord Obvious and The Anvil-Sized Plot Points of Doom? Not to mention the lead Marty Stu... The 3rd arm would be an improvement, though.

Good sporking, and do keep it up! It makes me feel better about the time I slogged through it to make a then-boyfriend happy.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

I have a very high tolerance for bad fiction, be it fan or published. It serves me well.

[prototypical]

Do you mind if I friend you to make reading the sporking easier, or are you going to say something in deleterius every time you update this humor?

It's making me glad I never decided to read the book.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to say something every time I update at Deleterius because then I'd just be spamming the Com. You can friend me if you want. I hope to make daily updates. If you happen to get lost along the way, I'm tagging them all under Eragon.

[geekondisplay.livejournal.com]

This is great stuff. Eventually, you're going to figure out that "Eragon" is basically the answer to the question nobody was dying to ask, "What if Star Wars happened in a LotR world with some Anne McCaffrey elements?"

I wrote an essay comparing Eragon with Star Wars for a fan site... I don't think they noticed that it basically ripped the book's integrity... *mwahaha*

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

The book has integrity?

[shikomekidomi.livejournal.com]

So the main bad guy has nothing better to do with his time than to pose as a trader, though I supppose his massive magical power could help there... kind of defeats the purpose of disguise.
Obviously the fate's gift is neither egg nor rock but a baby dragon summoning device that self-destructs when it activates, I guess, maybe, if we're lucky and the universe suddenly makes more sense.