Eragon pt. twenty one

[kippurbird]

I think I should have made the lettering darker, what do you think?



Chapters The Ra'zac's Revenge, Murtagh, Legacy of a Rider

Summary


So, my bad, I forgot to mention that the end of the last chapter Eragon, Brom and Saphira get attacked. By the Ra'zac. They've drugged Eragon so he can't access his magic and break free. One of the Ra'zac has a horribly slashy moment with Za'roc, which is really disturbing. They tell Eragon that he will serve their master. They then try to kill Brom but he's saved in the nick of time by a hail of arrows. The Ra'zoc flee but not before chucking a dagger at Eragon. Brom nobly saves Eragon by taking the dagger for him. This, of course, the end for Brom. Say good bye Brom. But... for some reason Eragon acts like he was the one hit. And he faints.

I can't really say much about this one particular chapter (except for that one slashy bit). Nothing really happens. It's not really that tense. There's some posturing from Eragon as he declares that if he does happen to end up working for Galby he'll have the Ra'zoc killed and they're all, but we're valuable and you're not. And then he faints.

For no particular reason. I suppose because it's supposed to be dramatic. But it really doesn't serve us very well. There's no need for him to faint. He just does.

When Eragon wakes he discovers his rescuer is a young man with expensive clothes and weapons. His name is Murtagh. As we all know from Paolini's naming conventions we know that Murtagh is important. In fact since his name is so weird we must know that he's Very Important. Brom is dying, apparently the wounds from a Ra'zoc weapon are rather like that of a Ringwraith, they're nasty and magical. But Eragon and Saphira have a new skill! They can HEAL together. Like magic. They've never done this before, but now since they need to do it, they can. Just like that. He just does. I think that's the theme for this book. He just does. Unfortunately for Brom he can't heal all the way.

Murtagh makes Eragon soup. This is the first of many slashy moments between the two.

They make a litter to carry Brom to safety. Murtagh goes with them, saying that he'll get another shot at the Ra'zoc if he stays with them. They eat and try to give Brom water.

Now that I think about it, Paolini never describes what the voices sound like in Eragon's head. He can't tell the difference between who is speaking to him, be it the Serious Ass, Saphira or Brom. This seems rather odd. The only reason for this is so that we can have confusion. But the confusion doesn't do anything for the story it just makes Eragon look like a fool (not that he needs any help with that) because he can't tell who's talking to him in his head. People's spoken voices are different, why aren't the mental voices different? Why do they always sound the same? There's no reason and it just stalls the story unnecessarily.

I bring this up because Brom calls to Eragon in his sleep and Eragon doesn't recognize who it is and tells him to go away. Brom wastes precious energy to get him up. There's some tense moments and then there's a final reveal.

Brom has a gedwey ignasia.

Yes. Brom was a dragon rider.

Who here is surprised by this? Poll? Show of hands?

We also learn that Brom's dragon was named Saphira.

Again, who here is surprised? Poll? Show of hands?

Before he dies, Brom tells him seven words that he should only use in great need.

Brom dies. It is sad. Eragon puts him in a nice tomb made of stone with an inscription.

And Eragon dreams of Miss Sue again. This time she's bleeding. It's sad.

I'm so sad. That was three chapters. I'm half way through this book. And as much as I liked Brom I don't care that he died. It was sad, but I don't care. I just wasn't invested in him. Like most of these characters in this book, I'm not invested in them, I don't care if they live or die. Hell, I knew that he was going to die. It was predicted that he was going to die already, there was no suspense. No, is he or isn't he going to make it. We already knew that he wasn't going to make it so we're not shocked or surprised. There's no OHNO BROM! It's just there.

In fact, there really wasn't a reason for Brom to die, except for the fact that he had served his purpose in the story and Eragon didn't need him any more as a mentor, besides he had a new companion in Murtagh. Eragon has supposedly moved on now, from being a child and needing a mentor to a man who needs a companion and an equal. Brom can't go back home or somewhere else, he has to die, thus giving Eragon some angst. In his inscription on Brom's stone, he says that Brom was like a father to him. But, Eragon doesn't mourn for long and instead dreams of our Mystery Sue.

Comments

[votgs.livejournal.com]

....wait.

How the -hell- does he build a -stone tomb with inscription- for Brom? Aren't they on the bloody run? Don't they know how long making a tomb -takes-? It's expensive!


Or am I misreading, and it's one of those 'pile a cairn of rock' dealies? But then how do you get an incription...

And if you reply and say, "It was magic", I think I am going to cry tears of blood. :-(

[lccorp2.livejournal.com]

They magicked a diamond tomb for him. Yes. Really.

[dragonwhishes.livejournal.com]

I'll notify the Red Cross.

[karma-kalisutah.livejournal.com]

OHMYGODILOVEYOURICON.

PLEASE tell me there are more pictures of "real" pokémon where that one came from.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Didn't Anne Rice's vampires cry tears of blood? Or am I remembering wrong.

But no, Eragon magics a tomb for Brom. And then Saphira magics it into Crystal so that Brom's body will never be ravaged by time.

*hands over tissues*

[votgs.livejournal.com]

There are no words for the spiritual agony I feel at your confirmation.

And if ever your spork breaks, I will buy you another, for you battle the Evil that is The Bricks.

(and yes, they do. But mine were from my eyeballs exploding)

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry about your spiritual agony. I wish I could say it gets better, but it doesn't.

I think my spork will be broken by the end of this. It's getting dull already.



(I thought so. But your reason sounds more plausible.)

[jacedraccus.livejournal.com]

Sorry hon, he uses magic to shape and mold the stone to form... well, more of a casket made of stone. Which Saphira then uses her 'unpredictable' dragon magic to make all shiny and sparkly so Brom's dead face can be seen and stuff.

I hope the tomb is airtight, because the potential reasoning to have people viewing a decaying face scares me.

[thelittlebudgie.livejournal.com]

Murtagh makes Eragon soup.

For some reason I interpreted that as "soup made of Eragon." Pity.

As to Brom's past... OMGSHOCK!< /sarcasm>

[dove-cg.livejournal.com]

I wish it had been "soup made of Eragon." ;P

But later on, I started thinking "I really hope it wasn't chicken noodle soup. Not only does that not make a lot of sense but... cliche uber!"

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Paolini handled Brom's secret so subtly. I never would have guessed. /sarcasm

[gundamkiwi.livejournal.com]

I'm sad Brom is dead...Just look what happened to my OTP!

Oh well, I guess there's always necrophilia...

>.>

What?

Actually, though, I think it will be more fun to to be a shallow bitch like Eragon and move on without so much as batting an eye! Eragon/Murtagh - My new OTP! :D Brom? Who's that? =P

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Alas, Brom is dead. He can no longer share meat with Eragon. But! Perhaps Murtagh will!

[faded-enmity.livejournal.com]

Well, this just reaffirms my belief that Eragon is a selfish little prick. God, I never thought I'd hate a protagonist so much.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

He apparently gets worse in the second book.

[the7bells.livejournal.com]

Wow. I think this book gets more pathetic as it goes on.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Yes. Yes it does.

[silentvoice29.livejournal.com]

Okay, sometimes when you know a character is going to die, it just adds to the suspense and wonder of it all. I'm under the distinct impression that in this case... it doesn't.

[dove-cg.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but usually the suspense is there because you're pretty positive that you're RIGHT... but there's always a chance the author won't do it. Or else, you're just waiting to see HOW they die. After all, we know Harry and/or Voldemort will die. But I'm definitely interested in seeing how.

With this, it's pretty obvious that Brom would die in a boring manner and that Eragon would collapse just so HE could get all of the attention back on himself. I say we dub this new disease he has the 'Attention-Deficit Knock-out'... because he's only unconscious until everyone there, who matters, has worried about him enough.

I really hope Murtagh tries to kill Eragon a few times.

[silentvoice29.livejournal.com]

Well, I mean, there's the whole Romeo and Juliet thing, I guess. You know since the prologue that they're pretty much screwed. The pleasure (can you call it that?) of the play is watching how everything unravels.

And yeah. Jeez, does a main character really NEED to attention whore?

If Murtagh tries to kill Eragon, it would add some interesting flavor. In other words, I doubt it's going to happen. v.v

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

It didn't really. As soon as Brom was hit by the knife I was all, yup, there he goes. He was fine, he was healing, Oh no he's having convulsions. Wait... last minute reveal. Okay, lingering death. Dead.

[silentvoice29.livejournal.com]

I think what ruined it is that the author tried to pretend he MIGHT get better with the whole healing thing. I mean, that just KILLS suspense. Obviously, he isn't going to get any better. The real suspense comes from shortly before the death blow, a sort of "omghe'sgonnadie," especially if we're talking about dramatic irony.

[dove-cg.livejournal.com]

I like the icon. But you should've made the text all sparkly and speshul too! The background is okay but it strikes me as more chaotic than it does uber. Maybe more of a silver or gold background... or chrome! :D

But if you wanna keep it as it is, just for easier reading, you might want to make the text darker. I can read it but it's still a bit of an effort to do so.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

My icon making skills are very bare minimum. I don't know how I would make the text all sparkly or anything like that. And yeah, I think it does need to be darker.

^_^

[dove-cg.livejournal.com]

I made some. Hope you like 'em. :D Photoshop gradients helped. u_u;

I should've tried making the letters look like diamonds or some other gem. I might do that when I get back. *leaving for the weekend* :)

Re: ^_^

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

SHINY!

[gjohnsonkoehn.livejournal.com]

They've drugged Eragon so he can't access his magic and break free.

He's supposed to be Inigo frickin' Montoya here, why does he need magic to deal with a small squad of minions?

Also? Dragon!

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

He was tied up too. >> Kinky

[sonic-sues.livejournal.com]

Maybe Brom will come back as a zombie and eat Eragon's brains. Mmmm, meat!