Eragon: Chapter Nineteen: Admonishments (Part II)

[pangolin20]

Chapter Nineteen (Part I) | Chapter Twenty (Part I)

Kerlois: A good day, everyone, and welcome back to Eragon! Last time, Eragon and Brom left Yazuac and that is about all that happened.

Now for the reader post:

On chapter 13, Corneille Noire says that the description of Eragon’s grief reads like omniscient narration.

Forgot the Narrator: 45

Further, Chessy leaves another fic.

Maegwin also shows a version of events that works a bit better.

On part I of chapter 14, Chessy articulates the flaw in Saphira’s speech to Eragon quite well: Saphira seems to assume that grief/depression amounts to death, when it most certainly does not. That does explain her insistence on Eragon doing something…

Wolfgoddess points out that it makes little sense for Saphira to urge Eragon after the Ra’zac when she was so terrified of them at first. Indeed, we have not seen her afraid of them at all in the intervening chapters. I guess she is supposed to have lost that fear while she thought “long and hard” about what being a dragon means? Still, that should have been clearer.

PPP: 780

She further notes that the meat Eragon has might be preserved. Fair enough.

Tris also has some nice rants on the subject. (And they point out that Saphira actually told Eragon to commit suicide. Some ‘loving partnership’.)

On part II of chapter 14, Chessy gives a nice argument for why the Riders returning is bad:

(1), War is bad.

(2), We want to have as little of it as circumstances allow.

(3), Warrior-Aristocrats are elites who legitimize their positions by being good at waging war.

(4), Warrior-Aristocrats need war to justify their position.

(5), Warrior-Aristocrats create more war because of (4).

(6), The Riders legitimized their position by being good at war and therefore are Warrior-Aristocrats (3).

(7), The Riders will create more war (5), which will be bad (2).

(8), The Riders coming back is a bad thing.

Further, she notes that the wood of the farm would still be there, at least. I further note that we see just that in Eldest.

She further notes that it might have worked better to have Brom be excited at the sight of Saphira.

Finally, there is Umbrares’s first flight.

Wolfgoddess notes that Saphira might be flying in the clouds while Eragon talks with Brom, so…

Ill Logic: 294

Tris and Chessy note that the headache Eragon gets when Brom talks to them is quite convenient. I do not think it could be mind-control, but something like a spell to give him a headache might fit.

On part I of this chapter, Epistler notes that the handling of Brom’s unconsciousness is quite ridiculous. There is no need to get him on Saphira as soon as possible, after all. If there are more Urgals, Saphira can watch for them until Brom wakes, at the least.

HISC: Also, putting him upright on Saphira will not exactly help him wake up.

Ill Logic: 296 (+2)

Kerlois: She further notes that Saphira would have to bend her neck impossibly to put Brom on her back.

It’s Like We’re Smart but We’re Not: 60

Finally, she notes that Saphira should rightly have more of a reaction to being ridden by someone other than Eragon. That would indeed be nice… It feels to me like she is being put in the background again.

What Dragons?: 319

Also, Brom himself ought to have a reaction to riding a dragon who looks like the first Saphira, and riding a dragon for the first time in about a hundred years. But no…

PPP: 781

 

Well, let me do the rest of the chapter, then!

 

Last time, we ended on Brom asking Eragon what happened while he was unconscious. Eragon gets nervous and clasps his hands.

HISC: The self-published edition notes this is because Eragon wonders how Brom “[will] react to his tale of magic”. Given how Brom has treated him, this does not come across well.

Kerlois: What, does he expect that Brom will beat him up if he does not answer right? Well, Eragon tells the story “without embellishment”. I am not sure why this is noted; surely he would not want to be untruthful in any way if he wants Brom to explain what he did? Brom stays silent, “his face inscrutable”, and when Eragon is done, he looks away for a while. Finally, he asks if Eragon has used “this power” before now.

Eragon says he does not and asks what Brom knows of it. Brom says he knows “[a] little”. There is a note that he looks thoughtful, and then he says that it seems he “owe[s] [Eragon] a debt for saving [his] life” and he hopes that he can “return the favor someday”. Hmmm, those two do not go together well. I think he should rather hope that he can “repay the debt” or talk about it as a favour from the beginning.

PPP: 782

I do not exactly care for his talk about “owing a debt” either way. He says Eragon should be proud, because “few escape unscathed from slaying their first Urgal”. So murdering Urgals is something that he expects people to do regularly, and doing it for the first time is some kind of milestone? I have said this before, but I truly hate Brom.

FYRP: 58

(As I hate this book’s attitudes toward the Urgals, of course.) Brom says that the way he did it was “very dangerous”, and he could have destroyed himself and the whole of Yazuac. Ah, I see we have the “admonishments” from the chapter title here. It does not work as an admonishment, though. Eragon did not choose to do this, after all, and he also does not know how to use magic again, so he is in no further danger. It just makes Brom look unreasonable if he means this as an admonishment.

Eragon gets defensive and says that he did not have a choice, as the Urgals were nearly upon him, and if he had waited, they would “have chopped [him] into pieces”. And he probably thinks they would have killed Brom, too, and eventually done the same to Snowfire and Cadoc. Presumably Brom believes the same. Why does he care so much, then? If Eragon had not used magic, they would all have died. What is the problem with using something that only might kill them?

I also note that Eragon does not know this for sure… though under the circumstances I do not mind.

HISC: I do mind the phrasing “chopped into pieces”. That sounds a bit superfluous to kill him, so does he think that the Urgals wanted to eat him?

Kerlois: Either way, Brom bites on his pipe and says that Eragon had no idea what he was doing. Yes, Brom, he indeed did not have an idea. Then maybe you should have taught him before now? It is not Eragon’s fault that he did not know this. Eragon rightly tells Brom that he should tell him. He says that he has been “searching for answers to this mystery”, but he cannot make sense of it. After all, how can he have used magic, when no one has instructed him or “taught [him] spells”?

Well… it might be because magic like Eragon used can be stumbled upon on accident, and that it does not need any teaching? More refined magic certainly does require instruction, but this does not seem to.

Brom’s reaction is… this:

Brom’s eyes flashed. “This isn’t something you should be taught—much less use!”

Just look at how unreasonable this is! Eragon asks some questions about something that happened to him, and Brom’s reaction is “Forget all about it!” And he is a Rider, Brom! What are you on about with “you should not learn or use this”? And how do you plan to prevent Eragon? Also… you do realise that he might go on to use this uncontrolled version of magic anyway, and that it would be less dangerous to teach him?

Ill Logic: 297

HISC: The self-published edition notes here that Eragon begins to get angry at this.

Kerlois: As he well might. He says that he has used it, and he may need it again to fight, but he will not be able to if Brom does not help him. Then he asks what is wrong, and asks if there is “some secret [he’s] not supposed to learn until [he’s] old and wise” or if maybe Brom does not know anything about magic. I certainly think Brom can stand to take some sarcasm and taunts from Eragon.

Brom reacts like this:

“Boy!” roared Brom. “You demand answers with an insolence rarely seen. If you knew what you asked for, you would not be so quick to inquire. Do not try me.”

Yes, Brom, Eragon is being insolent with you. What of it? Maybe that is because he has had more than enough of your awful behaviour. I also do not think that these taunts constitute an “insolence rarely seen”, so I am quite sure that Brom is trying to shame him.

Further… Eragon does know what he is asking for! He knows that he is asking after magic! I see this is another attempt of Brom to keep him from learning more.

As for his manner here… it only serves to show why Eragon should not trust you at all.

HISC: In the self-published edition, he also says that he has been patient with Eragon, which… he has sometimes been, but in many cases not.

Kerlois: Brom then gets more kind and says that the knowledge Eragon asks for is “more complex than [he] understand[s]”. Then help him understand it. This is not a good reason to keep it from him.

HISC: Here we have a bit that has changed somewhat between editions. In the self-published one, Eragon “[rises] hotly in protest” at… being told that magic is more complex than he understands? I do not get it. Brom “overrid[es]” him by saying that he will explain and Eragon is “subdued”. Leave off, Paolini.

Kerlois: The Knopf edition cuts from Brom saying that the knowledge is “more complex” to Eragon protesting (presumably at another indication that Brom does not want to tell him). He says that he “feels like [he’s] been thrust into a world with strange rules that no one will explain to [him]”. Just look at how this sentence is constructed to keep the blame off Brom. “No one” will explain it to him, even though the only one who could is Brom. Further, magic is the only “strange rule” that has not been explained to him yet.

Well, Brom says he understands. He says it is late and they should go to sleep, but he will tell Eragon some things now, “to stop [his] badgering”. He simply wants to know more about what just happened, Brom! He has hardly been “badgering” you! Also good to see that he literally says this to Eragon’s face.

Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 13 (+2) (for Brom’s general awfulness here)

Further… the readers would want to know more about magic, too, so they are indirectly told they are being impatient, too. Come on, Paolini, it is not unreasonable to want to know about the magic system of this book!

Well, now we are about to learn something about the magic system.

HISC: We are a little over a quarter of the book in, by the way. That point was passed somewhere in chapter 17.

Kerlois: I guess we are making progress, then? Brom confirms that the power Eragon used is indeed magic, and says that it has “rules like the rest of the world”. If you break any of them, you will inevitably die. Hmmm, I do not think we will hear about these “rules” outside of here. This explanation is not integrated very well, then.

He goes on to say that your deeds “are limited by your strength, the words you know, and your imagination”. That is a decent summation, given what Brom knows, and one that will mostly be kept to. Eragon asks what he means by “words”. Brom immediately complains about Eragon having more questions and that he hoped Eragon was “empty of them”. What, did you think Eragon would just leave it alone? However much you may want to crush his curiosity, you have not succeeded yet.

He immediately says that Eragon is “quite right in asking”. Good on him for recognising this. He asks if Eragon said something when he shot the Urgals. Eragon says he said “brisingr”. When he says so, the fire flares and he shivers, as “[s]omething about the word [makes] him feel incredibly alive”. That is something else we will never hear from again… You truly do need to stitch your ideas together, Paolini.

Brom says he thought so and explains that the word comes from “an ancient language that all living things used to speak”. Oh, are we presenting myths as fact again? Yes, it does come from “the ancient language”, but I do not see how “all living things” would have spoken this language! It would be fine for a myth, which does not have to accord with reality, but Brom presents this as actual history, so it ought to make sense.

This language was supposedly “forgotten over time and went unspoken for eons in Alagaësia”. I have little idea how this was forgotten completely when it was spoken by everyone in Alagaësia, but alright. Eventually the elves “brought it back over the sea”. Hmmm, according to Eldest, the ancient language was their language and they brought it with them when they went to Alagaësia. I think that is a considerably better explanation than the one Brom gives.

The elves supposedly “taught it to the other races”, who used it “for making and doing powerful things”. Did they not use it for mundane things, too? Why does it have to be “powerful things”? Also, I am quite certain the “other races” learned it because the elves assumed dominance and their language would have been widely known, along with it being a very handy way to use magic. The “other races” would have learned it on their own, I am sure.

Brom further says that this language has “a name for everything, if you can find it”. So, everything that exists has a phrase that describes it, and those phrases have existed since the beginning of the language? Are new phrases constantly added to it as new things come into existence? When are concepts considered distinct enough to get distinct phrases? Unfortunately, only the first will be answered.

There is a greater problem with this: the ancient language is also the native language of the elves. Why would it be “if you can find it”, then? Surely whatever phrase is used for something is its true name?

It is certainly possible for this system to work as described here, but it just… this rigid system of “everything has a fixed true name” does not work with its use as the language of the elves, since languages are fluid. I think I can discuss this better soon.

Well, Eragon asks what this has to do with magic. Brom says it has everything to do with magic, as it is “the basis for all power”. Really now? See this quote from chapter 14:

Saphira pulled herself up as he finished speaking and prowled over to Eragon. He pulled out the blade and showed her the sword. It has power, she said, touching the point with her nose. The metal’s iridescent color rippled like water as it met her scales. She lifted her head with a satisfied snort, and the sword resumed its normal appearance. Eragon sheathed it, troubled.

Brom raised an eyebrow. “That’s the sort of thing I’m talking about. Dragons will constantly amaze you. Things…happen around them, mysterious things that are impossible anywhere else.

Brom, you literally saw Saphira use power without using the ancient language, and now you say there is no power without it? Are you truly ignoring this? I just do not know what to say to this, because of how ridiculous this is. Does he actually expect Eragon and Saphira to ignore what they saw and did?

As we will see, though, the ancient language is barely “the basis for all power”.

HISC: In the self-published edition, he even says that it is so “whether or not people realize it”. Well, Brom, it is manifestly not. Do you truly want to say that Eragon actually did not see Saphira use magic without the ancient language and that Saphira actually did use the ancient language, in their presence? I cannot believe how arrogant he is.

Kerlois: At least the Knopf edition removed that. Brom continues explaining:

The language describes the true nature of things, not the superficial aspects that everyone sees. For example, fire is called brisingr. Not only is that a name for fire, it is the name for fire.

How can “brisingr” describe fire, though? It does not tell me anything at all about fire and I highly doubt it will to anyone. Also, what “superficial aspects” do you think natural languages describe about things, Brom? “Fire” does not describe anything; it is simply an arbitrary label for the concept. To be fair, quite some concepts do have some description of them in them… but I simply do not see what something like “hwal bár” conveys that “blue whale” does not. (Thanks to Sophie Brouwer, Susannah Dijkstra and Emma Konijn for padding out the vocabulary a bit!)

I would also expect this from a natural language! The problem is just that a natural language is not well-suited to being a “language that describes the true nature of things”. In fact, how would any language do that? It seems to me the amount of explanation required to describe “the true nature” of anything would be very cumbersome. Further, if it actually were such a language, I do not think it would be good as a native language (see Lojban for example).

Brom explains further that, if one is “strong enough”, once can use brisingr to make fire do what one wants, and that is “what happened today”. …So then “brisingr”, and the other ancient language words, are used to invoke the things they mean? Given that Brom said you are limited by the words you know, that would fit more… Also, I am quite certain getting fire to do what you want is a matter of practice, not of strength, as he will soon say himself.

Eragon thinks on it, and asks why the fire was blue, and how it did “exactly what [he] wanted, if all [he] said was fire”. Presumably it did so because you wanted it to? As we will see, intent does matter quite a bit, and I imagine that you can make something do what you want once it is invoked.

Brom says that the colour “varies from person to person”. Of course, it also can be specified by the user: “brisingr bár” would always render blue fire and “brisingr raudhr” would always render red fire. In this case, though… I am quite certain it is blue because Saphira is blue. (Do not ask me how that works.)

As for why the fire did what he wanted, Brom says, “that’s a matter of practice”. Then why did you just say it is a matter of strength?

PPP: 783

He goes on, saying that “most beginners” need to spell out what they want, but it is not “as necessary” when they have more experience. A “true master” might even say “water” (which is adurna in the ancient language, for reference) and create something “totally unrelated, like a gemstone”. I think that being able to create a gemstone in any case is proof of mastery, but that is not exactly relevant. Eragon would not be able to understand how it was done (because he could not ask?) but the master would see a connection between adurna and the gemstone and use that as “the focal point for his power”. Brom further says that the “practice is more of an art than anything else”, and what Eragon did was very difficult.

I get what Brom means, I think. It would involve using adurna as a nickname, as it were, for the gemstone. It is a somewhat implausible example, true, but it could easily be done. A pity we never see anyone do so outside of now…

Further, Eragon did not seem to have much trouble using magic in this way, so I do not think it is “extremely difficult”, then. Well, to be fair, I think it would be quite hard to do consciously, and not easy to do unconsciously, either, so Brom is mostly right. Also, what Eragon did falls under what Brom describes: after all, he used brisingr to call a shockwave into being.

Finally, I think we need this:

No-Wave Feminism: 63

Just then, Saphira breaks into Eragon’s thoughts! Where have you been, Saphira?! You were right next to them and during this conversation and you said nothing??

What Dragons?: 320

She says that Brom is a magician! That is how he could light the fire their first day on the plains. He does not only know about magic, he “can use it himself!” My, have you finally found out? I thought the magic darting smoke rings would have given him away. Further… Saphira will later say (or at least imply) that she already knew all this from the moment that Brom first spoke to her, and she did not say so because Brom asked her not to. So she is not being exactly honest with him here. I also wonder why she sees fit to tell him now, instead of leaving him to figure it out for himself.

Just Break Up Already: 253

Eragon’s eyes widen, and he says she is right. Why, Eragon, you had not thought that he might be able to use magic? For shame. Saphira tells him to ask about his power, but he needs to be careful. She says:

It is unwise to trifle with those who have such abilities. If he is a wizard or sorcerer, who knows what his motives might have been for settling in Carvahall?

Well, I presume those would be the same as he usually would have, because magicians are not some kind of separate species or more untrustworthy in general. In fact… I might as well replace “wizard or sorcerer” with “very strong person”, since using magic is, in this world, quite comparable to being very strong. It is just a natural ability that is determined, in part, by factors outside of one’s control and, in part, by training. It would make about as much sense for them to be suspicious of Horst. After all, who knows why he came there? Maybe he just wants to murder people!

The reason I ridicule this is because this is the first instance of the quite unwarranted distrust toward magicians in this series. It will not become much of a problem until Inheritance, but it is still… a problem.

Also, why would Saphira think Eragon plans to “trifle” with Brom? Asking him questions is not “trifling” with him!

Ill Logic: 298

Eragon keeps that in mind. He says to Brom that “Saphira and [he]” just realised that Brom can use magic, and that is how he started the fire their first day on the plains. Why bother with the smoke rings, then? If it is not used as evidence that Brom can use magic, what do we need it for? It makes everyone look bad and comes from nowhere.

Brom “incline[s] his head slightly” and says that he is “proficient to some degree”. Eragon asks why he did not fight the Urgals with it. He says that he can think of “many times when it would have been useful”, as Brom could have shielded them from the storm and “kept the dirt out of [their] eyes”. You might have prevented that last problem by shielding your eyes or blinking, but whatever.

Brom’s answer to Eragon’s reasonable questions is to refill his pipe and say it is for “[s]ome simple reasons”. He is not a Rider, which means that he will always be weaker at magic than Eragon. I… guess that is true? He does not have his dragon any more, so he is not exactly lying. Further, he is old and using magic gets harder with time. I can see why he did not use magic in the latter two cases, then, but not why he was unwilling to use it against Gavgor. He might have died there! No matter if his magic is so weak, it would still have helped!

Also, I am quite certain he did it in part because he did not want Eragon to know what he could do… which makes him giving the secret up like this quite ridiculous.

Eragon gets “abashed” at this (because he feels bad about assuming that Brom could do all this?) and says he is sorry. Brom tells him not to be because it happens to everyone. You do realise that “I’m sorry” is a way to express empathy, Brom? (I would truly like Eragon to keep insisting it is an apology, by the way.)

(Also, what does he mean by “it happens to everyone”? I highly doubt this happened to Riders who were still bonded to their dragons, because they are immortal… Further, most magicians would not live to be as old as Brom, so I do not think this “happens to everyone”.)

Eragon asks where Brom learned to use magic, and Brom says it is “one fact [he’ll] keep to [him]self”. Oh, just that one fact? (We will find out eventually either way.) He says that it was “in a remote area” and “from a very good teacher” and the least he can do is “pass on his lessons”. I also think you should think about which lessons you want to pass on.

Also… from how Brom phrases this, I would think that his teacher is dead, which is not true. Finally, this teacher is not good at all, and if Brom is truly passing on his lessons, it is little wonder that the information he gives sucks so much.

Brom snuffs his pipe and says that he knows Eragon has more questions, but he will answer them the next morning. Then… I think I will need to go into some more detail here.

He leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “Until then, I will say this to discourage any experiments: magic takes just as much energy as if you used your arms and back.

So… is this actually true or did you just make this up to scare Eragon out of experiments? It is clearly supposed to be the former, as someone independent of Brom says this, too, but at this point, it almost sounds like the latter.

As for what he says… it is unfortunately untrue. To take an example from this book, in the chapter “Water from Sand”, Eragon transforms sand into water. Some calculations (which I will share then) tell me that it would take about 12 terajoules of energy to achieve this. That is far more energy than Eragon could possibly have in him, and yet he does not die. My conclusion is that Brom, and his teacher, have no idea what they are talking about with this.

Also, I doubt that magic would use exactly as much energy as “using your arms and back”, because magic can do things more efficiently. If you used magic to lift an object from the ground instead of with “your arms and back”, you would not have to expend energy on crouching, for example. I get that Brom is probably speaking figuratively, but I am not inclined to cut him slack.

Ill Logic: 299

That is why you felt tired after destroying the Urgals. And that is why I was angry. It was a dreadful risk on your part.

Brom, Eragon did not know that he used magic, so you cannot hold him accountable for “taking a dreadful risk”. Consequently, it is completely unreasonable for you to have been angry at him! Further, as I have said, he thought he was about to be killed! How would it be wrong for him to choose possible death over certain death?

If the magic had used more energy than was in your body, it would have killed you.

So would Usgazh and Gavgor, according to what you think! What would you want to have happened?! Well, outside of that, this is a good risk to warn Eragon for.

You should use magic only for tasks that can’t be accomplished the mundane way.”

Why? Are there no small tasks that could be accomplished “the mundane way” but could be done easier with magic, then? Surely very tiny things can be accomplished more easily with magic? Surely magic is quite suited to delicate things, from, say, lace to eye surgery? Surely it is not a problem to use it for things that take long to do “the mundane way”, like carving a diamond? Magic can also be used for little things, Brom!

I am quite certain he is “passing on” one of his lessons now and that he does not think about it at all. That is why we will see all kinds of people using magic for things that can be accomplished the mundane way later, I presume.

Ill Logic: 300

~~~

“How do you know if a spell will use all your energy?” asked Eragon, frightened.

I think you would have to guess a bit?

~~~

Brom raised his hand. “Most of the time you don’t. That’s why magicians have to know their limits well, and even then they are cautious.

I think that these magicians would be able to guess if they could do something quite well after a time? This only makes much sense if they are constantly doing things they have never done before, which I do not think would be very common. Predicting the amount of energy more specifically would be harder to do, but this would not be that big a problem, I think.

Once you commit to a task and release the magic, you can’t pull it back, even if it’s going to kill you.

I think that is mostly a problem of how you define “task”? If it is something like creating fire, I can see that you cannot pull back from that. If you do something like blowing around smoke rings… I think it is not a “task” per se, since it does not have a goal. To be precise, the goal would be moving the smoke rings at all, and the task is accomplished as long as they move. It would certainly be possible to draw back from that.

So if one were to phrase one’s spells as processes, this would not be a problem at all. In fact, this reasoning is about what we will get in Eldest from Brom’s former teacher.

Brom says he means this as a warning, and Eragon should only try more once he has learned more. He says that is enough for tonight. We cut to them preparing for night as Saphira speaks up. My, she has been absent for the rest of this conversation, too!

What Dragons?: 321

She says that both of them are “becoming more powerful”, and soon no one “will be able to stand in [their] way”. Eragon asks which way they will choose and Saphira says “smugly” that it will be whichever they want. That is a good way to come off as a villain, Saphira. I also like that she apparently is not concerned with what her plan will be at all.

The chapter ends with them “settling down for the night”.

Protagonist Unconsciousness: 9

This chapter could have been quite a bit shorter, but that is my only substantial gripe with it (aside from how Brom gets treated, of course. Do not put him in a saddle immediately!). The introduction of magic is done well enough, I think. I only wish it might have been placed earlier…

Next time, our magic lesson will continue. Until then!