Eragon: Chapter Three (Part III): How Galbatorix Rose to Power: The "Offical History" I

[pangolin20]

Chapter Three (Part II) | Table of Contents | Chapter Three (Part IV)

On to the propaganda! This will be a spork, because I’ll have very much to say about it.

“The sands of time cannot be stopped. Years pass whether we will them or not . . . but we can remember. What has been lost may yet live on in memories.

I like that he begins his story with a kind of framing device. I can’t help but note, though, that “what has been lost” can also live on in other places than memories. In Alagaësia, for example, it could also live on via writing, or even via magical photos. And even if there’s no one around to remember, things that happen still leave their traces. That’s why archaeology is a thing, among others.

That which you will hear is imperfect and fragmented, yet treasure it, for without you it does not exist.

*headdesk* Aaaand here the intro falls apart.

• The story will be “imperfect and fragmented” indeed. Thank you for admitting that, Brom. It’s also blatant propaganda and has more holes in it than Swiss cheese. Couldn’t he just say that this story likely isn’t exactly what happened, but he’s trying to do his best? As is, this story is never challenged, and we’re supposed to take it as gospel, no matter how little sense it makes.

• I love how he tells his audience to treasure this story, when the traders could likely give them a much better and more complete version. Of course, we’re not supposed to think the traders would have that, but it’s their history, after all. I think the people of the Empire proper know better what has gone down than Brom ever could.

• That last part is just such nonsense. So if the audience would magically disappear, the Fall of the Riders would be retconned out of existence?? And Galbatorix too??? I’m sorry, Brom, but the existence of your audience has nothing to do with whether or not the Fall has happened. It’s not some kind of mental construct! Okay, assuming that Brom means something like “without you, this would be forgotten”, it still doesn’t work, because it has at least indirectly affected nearly everyone in Alagaësia! There would be more than enough stories about it.

Evidence, Please: 17

Land of Incompetents: 83

I give you now a memory that has been forgotten, hidden in the dreamy haze that lies behind us.”

Forgotten by who??? By the people of the Empire? Thought not. This has taken place on a much too large scale to be forgotten as widely as you’re implying, Brom!

Evidence, Please: 22

~~~

His keen eyes inspected their interested faces. His gaze lingered on Eragon last of all.

This is nice foreshadowing that Brom is Eragon’s father, if it’s meant to be that, at least.

~~~

And now begins the actual story. Before I begin, I’ve just noticed that I made an error with the calendar. The Riders were actually formed 2704 years before the year after the one the book is currently in. So the date this chapter takes place is October 31, 2703. I’ll go back and edit the other entries to fix this.

I’m also bringing in some support, in the form of Kerlois.

*Kerlois, a shoebill-like bird with dark green feathers, walks over*

Kerlois: Which book is this?

Pangolin: It’s Eragon, and this is Brom’s blatant propaganda story.

Kerlois: Ah yes, one of the worse stories in this series, though it has somehow escaped its proper evisceration before now. Shall we?

Pangolin: We shall.

~~~

“Before your grandfathers’ fathers were born, and yea, even before their fathers, the Dragon Riders were formed.

Pangolin: True enough, though this doesn’t give a good sense of how long the Riders have existed. Assuming that the villagers are approximately 30, and going with 30 years per generation, that would give 150 years, and the Riders fell 100 years ago. Even going with a ridiculously long time of 120 years per generation, it would still only go 600 years back. Brom might as well say that the Riders were formed 2700 years ago, and leave it at that.

Kerlois: Interesting that Brom specifically uses “fathers” instead of “parents”.

Pangolin: It’s probably got to do with Paolini’s attempts to paint Alagaësia as a patriarchal society. Not that it serves the plot in any way, other than being imported from other works.

To protect and guard was their mission, and for thousands of years they succeeded.

Pangolin: Right. I don’t believe this at all. Oh, sure, we’re told this over and over, but there’s quite a lack of actual evidence. I’ll save the arguments for later, but for now, just judge for yourself if this looks like “protecting and guarding”:

These and other pressures drove the Urgals to raid the dwarves and elves and to challenge them in feats of arms. The Riders quickly intervened, razing the Urgals’ villages and banishing their tribes to the fringes of Alagaësia, where they no longer posed a significant threat. ~“Domia Abr Wyrda”

Kerlois:

Their depredations may have been what forced King Palancar to emigrate. When we, the Riders, became aware of the Ra’zac’s foul presence in Alagaësia, we did our best to eradicate them, as we would leaf blight. Unfortunately, we were only partially successful. ~Eldest, Chapter 42, “Image of Perfection”

Few are still alive who can claim that much. I remember the Riders and how they

meddled in our affairs. ~Eragon, Chapter 55, “Hall of the Mountain King”

Pangolin: They’re just so good at protecting and guarding that they need to execute what amounts to genocide!

Evidence, Please: 32

Kerlois: Given how long he’s lived since the Fall of the Riders, of which a considerable time was in the Empire, Brom should have heard more than his fill of negative stories about the Riders. The only reason I can think of why he never reports such stories is that he refuses to see the Riders as flawed, which is not a great attitude for the mentor figure to have.

Pangolin: I’d love to see what Eragon could have turned out to be with other mentors…

Their prowess in battle was unmatched, for each had the strength of ten men.

Pangolin: Great selling point. If they were as great as they’re said to be, I’d think they wouldn’t need to do battle.

Kerlois: Who were they even battling? The humans? According to the “Domia Abr Wyrda” fragment mentioned above, they battled the humans when they first came into Alagaësia, but after that, again according to “Domia Abr Wyrda”, the Riders let them live in peace. The human might of course have wanted more autonomy or the like, but in that case, they had more than enough resources not to let it escalate to battles. And also, the humans were part of the Riders, so they should be aware of any issues already. Battling against the humans only makes sense if the Riders ignored issues the humans had and were trying to crush rebellions.

As for the other races… The Urgals are covered above. The dwarves… In Inheritance there is a mention of the Riders fighting in dwarven wars, which they should not be doing. We never hear anything about the Riders fighting the dragons. There also is no mention of anyone from outside of Alagaësia attacking.

So the three main targets these battles could be about are:

1) The dwarves, who the Riders should not be fighting, except for when their battles spilled over into the areas the Riders controlled.

2) The Urgals, who could pose very little threat.

3) The humans, who the Riders also should not be fighting, except if everything else fails.

This does not reflect very well on them, I think.

Pangolin: Certainly not. I won’t score this, because it’s vague what it’s referring to, but I will add this:

Murdered By the Convocation: 3 (because Brom focuses on the violence of the Riders)

Kerlois: Also interesting that Brom cites their physical strength as their main advantage in battle. Their magic was probably much more decisive, as they could wipe out an entire army with magic alone.

Pangolin: There’s no reason for him not to mention it; earlier, Eragon said he loved hearing tales of magic, so I can’t see why Brom wouldn’t do this.

Land of Incompetents: 84

Also, a nitpick, but I’m certain not all of the Riders were “as strong as ten men”. The elvish Riders, certainly, but as we’ll see, human Riders don’t become all that much stronger than they already are.

Evidence, Please: 33

Kerlois: A last thing: where are the dragons? They would also give the Riders a massive advantage in battle.

Pangolin: Exactly! But Brom doesn’t mention them until three paragraphs later. It does fit in perfectly with how much the dragons will be neglected in this supposedly dragon-centric series. For which there’s the count What Dragons?

What Dragons?: 1

Next line?

Kerlois: Go for it.

They were immortal unless blade or poison took them.

Kerlois: One of the few things in this series that does not contradict anything or is subject to a retcon.

Pangolin: Gah, I know… I’ll notice that they were immortal because of a magical bond that was forged between the Riders and the dragons. Not that Brom mentions this. To be fair, he probably has no means of knowing this, because the Riders kept their history a secret to people before they reached a certain level.

Kerlois: I will note that the ways of death named here fit deaths in battle or assassinations, but nothing else.

Pangolin: Like they couldn’t die by falling off their dragons, by casting spells that took too much energy, by suicide, by infectious diseases… Nope, it’s only getting killed by others.

Murdered By the Convocation: 4

For good only were their powers used,

Pangolin: *laughing* See above.

Kerlois: *can’t laugh, but echoes this sentiment*

Evidence, Please: 43

and under their tutelage tall cities and towers were built out of the living stone.

Kerlois: Would you care to give examples, Brom? It would be a nice bit of background information to know which cities, if any, were built by the Riders.

Pangolin: That would be great, and it would also give us something to verify Brom’s claims with. Not that I doubt that the Riders were involved with building cities; I’d be amazed if there was a city they didn’t meddle with during its construction.

On a more specific note, I love the wording “under their tutelage” here. Because it’s not like the humans could build cities themselves or anything; they needed to be taught by the Riders, and the Riders also had to look over their shoulder while they did it. That’s my golden age.

Kerlois: A definite indication that the “golden age” was far from the utopia it is held up to be, at least. I will hold off on giving this points, because it is too vague to draw definite conclusions from.

Pangolin: Nitpick number 2: I think it should be “cities and tall towers” instead of “tall cities and towers”. I don’t have an idea what “tall cities” are actually supposed to be; a quick Google search confirmed my suspicion that it means a city with loads of skyscrapers, something that doesn’t fit any of the cities in Alagaësia, really.

PPP: 73

I also wonder about the phrase “living stone”. As we’ll see later, the dwarves believe that stone is alive, so this could be a nice indication that Brom has lived among the dwarves for some time. But it might also be a fluke.

While they kept peace, the land flourished.

Kerlois: As I noted before, they did not keep the peace very well if they did battle like Brom said.

Pangolin: How did Alagaësia flourish? If it did, I’d expect to hear all kinds of tales of the wonderful things that happened back then, but we don’t. We’ll hear next to nothing of human culture from that time, for example. And, as we’ll hear in Inheritance, the Riders deliberately held back technological innovations. That doesn’t sound much like “flourishing” to me.

Evidence, Please: 44

It was a golden time.

Kerlois: But what was it like? How was it to live in such a golden time? Where are the descriptions of the Riders’ opulent palaces, filled with fluorescent marble and atomically smooth silk? Where are the tales of the playwrights that stood on every corner and the performances of beautiful plays for all to see? I know this is exaggerated, but it would fit the image of a “golden age”, and it would be more evocative than just “it was a golden age”.

Pangolin: Yep. And it gets this:

Evidence, Please: 45

The elves were our allies, the dwarves our friends.

Pangolin: Because the elves would never want to debase themselves by being friends with those lame hoomins. At least, that’s consistent with the attitude the elves will consistently display during this series.

RVMP: 24

Wealth flowed into our cities, and men prospered.

Pangolin: Can we get to the story already??

Kerlois: Who prospered, exactly? The people who had good connections with the Riders? And what about the peasants? Did they also get that wealth, or was it purely something for city people?

Pangolin: And how is this different from the present day? Carvahall doesn’t seem all that poor.

But weep . . . for it could not last.”

Pangolin: Oh, how horrible that the Riders were destroyed. I certainly didn’t get much feeling out of this short paragraph.

Kerlois: I’m convinced it was for the best.

Pangolin: Me too.

~~~

Brom looked down silently. Infinite sadness resonated in his voice.

Pangolin: This is awkwardly written. Brom can’t both be silent and have his voice sound like something at the same time.

PPP: 74 (this should be “Brom looked down silently. When he spoke again, infinite sadness resonated in his voice.”)

Kerlois: Knowing his backstory, I can feel for him somewhat. It would still be nice to have his background filled in a bit more.

Pangolin: Yeah. I can’t really tell if he’s sad about the loss of the Riders in general or his more personal loss, or both.

~~~

“Though no enemy could destroy them, they could not guard against themselves.

Pangolin: How do you know that no enemy could destroy them? None of their enemies (the Urgals, the humans, and the Ra’zac) were nearly evenly matched. And in the one case where they were seriously threatened, the Fall of the Riders, they blew themselves up (literally). So there’s next to no basis for this claim.

Evidence, Please: 46

Kerlois: I fail to see how Brom’s story will demonstrate that they could not guard against themselves. A Rider who turns against his order because he is treated abominably means more that there is something quite wrong with the Riders than that they needed to guard against rebellious members more.

Pangolin: This is also one of the only ~*~valid~*~ critiques of the Riders we’ll hear: they didn’t allow any oversight, so in time they collapsed because of their internal flaws. Those flaws are supposed to be that they didn’t change with their time and such. No word on the more damning stuff, of course.

And it came to pass at the height of their power

Kerlois: The height of their “power”, specifically. Not the height of their might or their influence, but of their power.

Pangolin: Ah, this series’ obsession with power, as if raw power is the only thing that matters. I mean, the Riders might have had enough power to blast a planet from its orbit, but if they don’t use it with any degree of responsibility, it still won’t work out.

that a boy, Galbatorix by name, was born in the province of Inzilbêth, which is no more.

Pangolin: The province’s name is stolen from Tolkien, by the way.

Kerlois: I very much doubt that Galbatorix was called Galbatorix from birth. “Big King” seems like an awful name to give a baby.

Evidence, Please: 47

Pangolin: Where was this “province” anyway? And how was the Broddring Kingdom (what the Empire was called before it was the Empire) divided, then? Do we ever get answers to this? Lolno.

Missing Puzzle Pieces: 22

I would love to know where Galbatorix was born. Maybe somewhere near the Beors? Dwarvish at least has the letter “ê”.

Kerlois: What did happen to Inzilbêth? Maybe it disappeared when the Broddring Kingdom became the Empire? We won’t find out.

Missing Puzzle Pieces: 23

At ten he was tested, as was the custom, and it was found that great power resided in him. The Riders accepted him as their own.

Pangolin: Yeah, this is absolutely not what happened. According to Brom himself later on, which also fits everything else in the series, he would have been called upon to touch several eggs, and he would have been bonded with a specific dragon, in this case the purple dragon Jarnunvösk, after which they would have been abducted to, I think, Urû’baen to be trained.

Brom knows all of this (he’s been through this), and I can’t think of any reason he wouldn’t tell this.

Continuity Fluidity: 32

Land of Incompetents: 85

What Dragons?: 2 (because the dragons aren’t mentioned here for some reason)

I’ll talk more about this later, when we get some insight on the Riders’ training practices, but I’m not very happy with Galbatorix becoming a Rider at age ten. Nor am I happy at what happened to Jarnunvösk.

Look Away: 49

~~~

“Through their training he passed, exceeding all others in skill. Gifted with a sharp mind and strong body, he quickly took his place among the Riders’ ranks.

Kerlois: No mention of Jarnunvösk, even though she would have trained alongside him.

What Dragons?: 3

Some saw his abrupt rise as dangerous and warned the others,

Pangolin: So what? Are you seriously afraid of him because he rose to prominence too quickly? As if you couldn’t obliterate him if you wanted to.

Land of Incompetents: 86

Kerlois: It would make more sense if he threatened their power (as far as an individual Rider could do that) in some fundamental way. Maybe he treated Jarnunvösk as an equal, instead of a subordinate?

Pangolin: Of course they’d hate that. If he was a high-ranking Rider, he might inspire others to treat their dragons likewise, and the Riders wouldn’t like that.

but the Riders had grown arrogant in their power and ignored caution. Alas, sorrow was conceived that day.

Pangolin: So they did see Galbatorix as a threat to their power. And we’re supposed to see those Riders as in the right for treating him like that.

This Is Fine: 2

~~~

“So it was that soon after his training was finished, Galbatorix took a reckless trip with two friends.

Kerlois: And with all three of their dragons.

What Dragons?: 4

We will also never hear anything about either of these friends.

Missing Puzzle Pieces: 24

Pangolin: I notice that there’s no mention of the other Riders warning them. So everyone just let them go? Everyone close to them either didn’t care about Galbatorix or wanted him gone? Wait, if people were so suspicious about him, why did they let two fellow Riders and dragons go along with him??? The fuck?

Kerlois: For the first point, it would make sense if everyone knew the journey was not “reckless” at all. Based on the next few sentences, that makes more sense.

Evidence, Please: 48 (for the claim the trip is reckless)

As for the second point, it might indicate that not all of the Riders had as much trouble with Galbatorix’s views as his opponents. Not that Brom would include such nuance in his stories.

Pangolin: Oooh, that’s something very good to keep in mind for later! Thanks, Kerlois!

Far north they flew, night and day, and passed into the Urgals’ remaining territory, foolishly thinking their new powers would protect them. There on a thick sheet of ice, unmelted even in summer, they were ambushed in their sleep.

Pangolin: Hoo boy, do we have a lot to say about this. This chapter will probably be broken into three parts, but whatever. First, I’ll monologue a bit about the geography of Alagaësia. You can skip this, just look out for three asterisks.

First, I’ve measured the scale of Alagaësia, going off the physical map. Using a scale of 1 centimeter to 5 miles, I measured the dimensions of the map as 1385 miles (2228,9 kilometres) west-east, and 915 miles (1472,6 kilometres) north-south. That means the map cover a surface area of 1267275 square miles (3282277 square kilometres). Assuming for convenience that Alagaësia has the same surface area as Earth, that means that it covers (3282277 / 510072000) × 100% = 0,64% of the total surface of the planet.

Next, there’s this quote from Brisingr:

Since so little of the sun’s radiance entered the city-mountain—except for a dazzling half hour before and after noon during the height of summer—the dwarves illuminated the interior with uncounted numbers of their flameless lanterns. ~Brisingr, Chapter 31, “Blood on the Rocks”

This is in the mountain Farthen Dûr, which is an extinct volcano with a small crater opening. So if the sun can shine in, that means it must stand almost exactly overhead. Given that this is said to occur during the height of summer, I’ll assume for convenience that Farthen Dûr lies on the Tropic of Cancer, at approximately 23° 26'N.

Measuring from the approximate base of Farthen Dûr to the southern edge of the map gives ~130 miles (209,2 kilometres) and measuring to the northern edge of the map gives ~790 miles (1271,4 kilometres). I’ll assume in the following that the planet Alagaësia is on is perfectly spherical.

Then, this holds: L = 2πr * (θ / 360), with θ in degrees. Entering the radius of the Earth and θ = 23° 26' gives L = 2608,59 kilometres (1620,89 miles). The formula can be retooled to give θ: θ = (180L / πr). In this case, L = (2608,59 – 209,2) = 2399,39 kilometres (1490,89 miles). Entering this gives θ = 21,554° = 21° 33'N for the southern edge.

For the northern edge, L = (2608,59 + 1271,4) = 3879,99 kilometres (2410,89 miles). Entering this gives θ = 34,855° = 34° 51'N.

***

Phew! I don’t expect to do that every time, but it does work out.

All this to say they must have flown far north indeed if they encountered an ice sheet. Let’s say that the ice sheet would begin at 60°N. Even if we say that they began flying at the northern edge of the map, because it’s unclear where Galbatorix was trained, the difference in latitude would be (60° - 34° 51') = (25° 09'). Entering this in the first formula gives L ≈ 2800 kilometres (1740 miles).

That also means that there’s an enormous stretch of land to the north of Alagaësia that will never, ever be mentioned.

Missing Puzzle Pieces: 74

Anyway. Back to the story at hand.

Kerlois: Thank you for sorting this out. Going through this from the start, I have to ask why they went on “night and day”. However magical these dragons might be, being able to fly 2800 kilometres at once without a wink of sleep seems quite far-fetched to me.

Evidence, Please: 49

Pangolin: I also love how Brom just drops that in, like the dragons can just keep going forever, and like how far they can fly is only limited by the needs of their Riders. Like sentient, talking planes.

What Dragons?: 5

Damn, I’d never even thought of this while mentally going through this part.

Kerlois: Does help to have a co-sporker, to take things off your mind, doesn’t it?

Pangolin: Yep. Anyway, this certainly looks like an “embellishment” to me, to which my first reaction is: “Step off, Brom. This isn’t your story to tell anymore. If you can’t keep such basic things right, you shouldn’t be telling the stories of actual people.”

Next point: Brom claims they went into “the Urgals’ remaining territory.”

Kerlois: Even though the Urgals’ remaining territory is in the Spine and the Beors, according to everything else.

Continuity Fluidity: 33

Pangolin: Point. Especially weird the audience doesn’t pick up on this, because they’d know the Urgals have lived in the Spine for more than a hundred years.

Also, I sincerely doubt that there would be Urgals that far north. Alright, some Urgals might have split off from the main group when they first went to Alagaësia, or Urgals might have fled when they were attacked by the Riders.

I have two objections to that:

1) We literally never hear about this again. There’s no mention of this even from the Urgals themselves. I’d expect there to be legends of some kind about the group that went out of Alagaësia, especially given how oppressed they are. Come to think of it, why haven’t the Urgals in the Spine escaped to the north over the past thousands of years, then?

2) Why have they never visited Alagaësia, then? If they split off at first, I’d expect them to have reached Alagaësia in those thousands of years, if only in the course of explorations. If they fled later, I’d expect their existence to be relatively common knowledge.

Kerlois: Another thing I have to ask is: how would the Riders have known that there were Urgals there? No one ever seems to think about the lands to the north of Alagaësia, and there is no reason to think that did not apply to the Riders; they could have easily explored those lands in detail, but the only things we will hear is that there is an ice sheet to the north. And that might also have come from Galbatorix.

Evidence, Please: 59

Pangolin: Next point: how were they “foolish” for thinking their new powers would protect them? Eragon’s skillset when he’s a full Rider allows him to overwhelm his enemies with little trouble, and I think a fully-educated Rider could easily take on a group of Urgals. Here, there’s three Riders and three dragons. Between them, they should be able to win most battles with the Urgals. More importantly, if they saw Urgals, they could also try to avoid them, by either staying completely away from them, or flying high above them. They could easily stay safe with a bit of forethought.

Evidence, Please: 60

Kerlois: What is even the point of that addition? To make Galbatorix look bad for going on this expedition? If so, that fails, for all the reasons we have pointed out.

Pangolin: Then comes my next point: they were attacked on an ice sheet by Urgals. My question is: what the fuck were those Urgals doing on an ice sheet? I really don’t know.

They can’t exactly live there, or at least, it’s very impractical, because of the cold and the lack of anything to eat. And there’s no reason they’d live there when there’s non-frozen land right to the south of them.

Straight From Left Field: 9

Even if they didn’t live there, they’d still have to have seen the three dragons, and have decided that risking a fight with them on an ice cap was in any way a good idea, which seems very unlikely.

Continuity Fluidity: 34

Evidence, Please: 62

Kerlois: Furthermore, the ambush does not make sense, either. As will be shown later, the Urgals’ society places much value on combat. While it would make some slight sense if the Urgals decided to seek out these six people to fight them, they would only do so in fair combat, not by ambushing them in their sleep.

Evidence, Please: 63

Pangolin: I’ve got a theory that will fit much better, I think. Going back to the previous paragraph, where it was said that some people see Galbatorix’s rise as dangerous. When they hear that Galbatorix is about to journey far north, they decide to tail the group he’s in. They use invisibility spells to keep from being noticed, and stay far back. When everyone goes to sleep on the ice sheet, the Riders magically disguise themselves as Urgals and attack.

Kerlois: Much better and consistent with the rest of the series.

Pangolin: Not that Brom would ever entertain the thought. Lessee… I’ll put in 20 ill logic points for the general lack of logic that went into this story, 1 Behind the Story point for the story I just spun, and 5 Look Away points, because someone should have figured out that this couldn’t be the Urgals.

Land of Incompetents: 106

Look Away: 54

The Story Behind the Story: 3

Phew, we spent 1450 words talking about 39 words. Talk about analysis.

Though his friends and their dragons were butchered and he suffered great wounds, Galbatorix slew his attackers.

Kerlois: “Butchered”. What a nice description to give. It just shows so much respect to these four people. Also, this is the first explicit mention of dragons in this story.

Pangolin: And we’ve learned exactly nothing at all about them. Hup, there they go into the fridge. This also cements for me that it couldn’t have been Urgals. I very much doubt that a small group of Urgals, which they are implied to be if Galbatorix could kill them, could have killed two adult dragons like this. They might do so with a trap, but on an open ice field? Very unlikely.

Evidence, Please: 64

Kerlois: I do not know what to make of the focus of this sentence. I would think that the loss of Galbatorix’s friends is more important than him killing his attackers.

Pangolin: I could see it if it was meant as some kind of revenge killing, but here it just seems random. Also, take note of the “great wounds”.

Tragically, during the fight a stray arrow pierced his dragon’s heart.

Pangolin: His dragon that doesn’t even merit a name here, and who will only be named once in this series. Was it so hard to say that she’s called Jarnunvösk? Also good to say that the female character is fridged.

No-Wave Feminism: 28

What Dragons?: 6

Kerlois: I wonder how in the world a plain arrow could have done so. Going by the Domia Abr Wyrda extract, Galbatorix was nineteen when this happened. That means Jarnunvösk would have been 9 years old. Saphira, in The Fork, the Witch and the Worm, is 3-4 years old, and while it is not exactly stated how large she is, I would guess it is between 30 and 50 metres (98,4 to 164 feet) in length. It seems unlikely that an arrow would be able to do much damage to Jarnunvösk, who would have been even bigger.

Pangolin: For one, it should have bounced off her scales or get stuck in them. And even if it didn’t, it shouldn’t have had the energy to go all the way to her heart. If we assume it was a magical arrow, it still would be quite small relative to her heart, so I doubt that she’d die immediately.

Kerlois: How did the arrow even hit her directly to the heart?

Pangolin: My personal theory is that she decided to sacrifice herself for Galbatorix. If the attackers saw that she’d died, they might assume that Galbatorix had died too, or if they didn’t, that he couldn’t stand the loss and would soon commit suicide. That would explain why she was hit in the heart. And magic could be involved with how she died.

The Story Behind the Story: 4

Without the arts to save her, she died in his arms.

Pangolin: I’m being petty, but I’m quite sure she can’t have died in his arms. Jarnunvösk would be, like, a hundred times bigger than Galbatorix. If she’d try to lie in his arms, she would crush him. I’ll forgive it, though. He’s probably just using a figure of speech, after all.

Kerlois: Still very sad. At this point, she’d been bonded nine years with him, after all, and they also shared a mental bond. Having the dragon one is bonded to die is at one point described as “having part of your mind, part of your identity, die.” Even without the magical bond, the prospect of having someone you had a mental link with for years die… it is daunting, and I do not blame Galbatorix for being shaken up over it.

Pangolin: I want to note that this situation (someone being unable to save someone else because they don’t have the magic) will come back three more times in this series: once in Eldest, once in Brisingr, and once in The Fork, the Witch and the Worm. In this case, I think that either the arrow was enchanted to prevent anyone from healing wounds made with it, or Galbatorix was too distraught to effectively use magic in time, because it’s established that using magic needs a certain level of concentration.

Then were the seeds of madness planted.”

Kerlois: *glares*

Pangolin: This is the comment you give, Brom?! No sympathy towards Galbatorix because his soul-bonded partner died? Just “and that’s when he began to turn mad and eeevil”. I can’t say how much I hate this, but I can put up a count for all the times this horrible attitude pops up.

Bullyay: 1

~~~

The storyteller clasped his hands and looked around slowly, shadows flickering across his worn face. The next words came like the mournful toll of a requiem.

Kerlois: Well, let’s see what this is about, shall we?

~~~

“Alone, bereft of much of his strength and half mad with loss, Galbatorix wandered without hope in that desolate land, seeking death.

Pangolin: Poor Galbatorix. Here I want to link to an excellent fanfiction that describes what might have been his experiences. I guess he was bereft of his strength because he was severely wounded.

Kerlois: Note that he’s called “half mad with loss”. Because according to this book, every mental illness equals “mad” equals either means “eeeevil” or “rambles on and on”, and in both cases, it also means “unstable”. Like that is not a very reductive and harmful view.

Bullyay: 2

It did not come to him, though he threw himself without fear against any living thing.

Kerlois: Even though he was mentioned earlier to have “great wounds”, and even though he would freeze there. Interesting.

Pangolin: Granted, it doesn’t have to mean anything. It might also just be something that was made up in the retelling. But if this is accurate, it would indeed be interesting that he survived so long.

Urgals and other monsters soon fled from his haunted form.

Kerlois: I still don’t believe that there were Urgals there.

Evidence, Please: 65

Pangolin: Oh, look. Urgals are “monsters” again.

RVMP: 25

Kerlois: And who would those “other monsters” be? That seems like it could be quite interesting.

Missing Puzzle Pieces: 75

Pangolin: Polar bears, maybe? Further than that, I wouldn’t know.

During this time he came to realize that the Riders might grant him another dragon.

Pangolin: I can understand why he’d want to have another dragon; he’d probably want to recreate the bond he had with Jarnunvösk, even if it wasn’t with her in specific. But it would still be a disastrous idea. On Galbatorix’ side, he’d probably find that the dragon wasn’t the same as Jarnunvösk, and couldn’t replace her. On the dragon’s side, they’d be, most probably, non-consensually bonded with someone, which is very wrong in itself. And on both sides, the only way they would know to break such a bond would be to kill one or both of the partners. So it would be an all-around clusterfuck.

Kerlois: Why would the Riders be the ones to grant Galbatorix a dragon? I would think the dragons should be the one to decide. After all, they are the ones whose children are bonded to elves and humans.

Pangolin: Sure thing. This sentence here is very telling of how the dragons were treated by the Riders, and none of it is good.

Look Away: 59

What Dragons?: 7

Driven by this thought, he began the arduous journey, on foot, back through the Spine. Territory he had soared over effortlessly on a dragon’s back now took him months to traverse.

Kerlois: The Spine stretches that far north? That would be nice to know for certain.

Pangolin: Good to see that Brom remembers that they flew north on dragons. I also wonder why there wasn’t a rescue mission. Okay, they don’t know where he is, but didn’t they bother to scry him? Or did his wards get in the way? Even if they did, in Brisingr, Eragon gives Roran and Katrina rings that allow them to locate each other, so they might have found Galbatorix by using a location spell…

Land of Incompetents: 107 (they should have tried, at least)

Kerlois: My, that will probably open an entire world of plot holes later on.