Eragon: Chapter Twenty-Two: Through a Dragon's Eye (Part II)

[pangolin20]

Chapter Twenty-Two (Part I) | Chapter Twenty-Three

Fumurti: A good day, everyone, and welcome back to Eragon! Last time, Eragon went out flying with Saphira, and we discovered that the Ra’zac have left!

 

For the reader post:

On part II of chapter 16, Maegwin notes that I wrongly said that Therinsford is not part of the Empire, when it is never stated not to be. So Therinsford actually is in the Empire. Thank you for the correction, Maegwin!

On part IV of that chapter, Chessy and Tris rightly point out that it makes no sense for Palancar Valley to have been named after Palancar if he was indeed so power-hungry. Well seen, and we will be sure to note this again later.

Wolfgoddess notes that “backstabbing and assassination” (from Brom’s tale about Palancar) are certainly not the same.

She further notes that Eragon should have “slithered out of [the] saddle and immediately become a boneless pile on the ground” after a day of riding, since this is his first time riding any distance. Combined with his legs still hurting from riding Saphira at that point… and this is just nonsense.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 76

On part I of this chapter, Oblakom notes that it would have been quite a bit better, storywise, to have the Lethrblakya pick the Ra’zac up outside of Therinsford.

 

Epistler notes that Eragon watching Brom saddle Saphira is like “reading about someone helplessly watching the preparations for their torture or execution”. It does indeed come across very badly.

 

She further notes that Eragon isn’t wearing any eye protection (or a spell, for that matter), and yet he doesn’t have any trouble with the wind. I hadn’t even thought of that myself!

 

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 77

She also notes that Saphira’s tail wouldn’t act “like a giant rudder”, as it simply does not have enough area for that. She also notably uses her wings to change course, so presumably she uses those to keep on course, while using her tail for balance.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 78

And, naturally, rudders are intended to change course rather than to stay on course.

 

Like Coins Bounced Off a Drum: 5

Finally, she notes that Eragon can’t hold on to Saphira when his mind is in her body. During the looping, at least, I think he should have let go. After all, he’d kind of need his mind to be able to react to things.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 79

On to the reflections… while talking to Epistler, I realised this: Brom being so gruff to Eragon during training (especially about him not getting it) might be because Brom’s gone through this same training, and now he sees Eragon struggle with it. That implies that his own training (which he upholds as good and right) might well not have been so good, and to solve this dissonance, he pushes Eragon to succeed. It does make quite a bit of sense to me.

For the possible plagiarism from Pern… Epistler couldn’t point me to anything specific, and Kalinara, who I’d call a Pern expert, didn’t know either (nor did their reviews indicate anything). So I’m passing this on to Tris, Chessy, Wolfgoddess, Maegwin, and the others, with the note that it would come from the earlier books.

Looking at this, I’ve seen that the extensive rewrite of the bridge scene in chapter 16 was to cut out the text from Ruby Knight. I also see that the addition of the bit about human ghosts in chapter 20 was retconned in for continuity with Brisingr.

Further, since Epistler mentioned it, I’ll note that Paolini had Saphira mostly see in blue because he himself is red-green colourblind. Still… Saphira’s vision doesn’t make much sense, even with that information. Like, she’s supposed to see this: “blues were more prominent now, while greens and

reds were subdued.”

If that’s the case, “green” and “red” wouldn’t look like green and red to Eragon, and all colours would look different than usual. With, say, a computer screen, which uses blue, green and red as its base colours, putting in more blue wouldn’t allow you to see the individual quantities of the base colours changing, after all; you’d just see the overall colours shift. Also, why was Eragon thinking with colour theory here?

Forgot the Narrator: 50

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 80

Finally, I want to show some relevant pictures from Eragon’s Guide to Alagaësia (yes, that is an actual book, people):

Zar’roc. Notably, the pommel was gold-coloured and teardrop-shaped, with a ruby inside, not this diamond-shaped ruby held in place by a silver band.

Eragon and Saphira flying! (They look completely awful, but alright.)

Oh, and Scales supplies a nice description of Saphira’s attitude to Eragon now: “Eragon is a dumbass, but as long as he doesn't cause trouble, I'll humor him. If he doesn't do what I want, I will make him comply, though.”

So, with that done, let me go on with this chapter!

We last left off with Eragon having seen the tracks of the Lethrblakya leaving, him suggesting that the Ra’zac might have flown away on giant birds, and him asking if Brom has a better explanation.

HISC: In the self-published edition, Brom shakes his head grimly.

Fumurti: In the Knopf edition, in contrast, he just shrugs. That definitely wasn’t a change for the better. He says he’s “heard reports” about the Ra’zac moving between places “with incredible speed”, but this is “the first evidence” he’s had of it. So… hasn’t he heard reports about marks like those of a dragon being found in places where the Ra’zac have been? If they are flying around so quickly, the Lethrblakya must land somewhere too, and there would be bound to be rumours around those marks. It just feels weird to me that he wouldn’t mention those tales.

HISC: I am also amused by the notion of Brom wanting evidence to believe a certain story.

Fumurti: Brom further says that it’ll be “almost impossible” to find them if they indeed have “flying steeds”. He does know that these steeds can’t be dragons, since a dragon “would never consent to bear a Ra’zac”. That’s not how it works, Brom. Dragons all have different minds and live under different circumstances, so it’s very likely one would eventually bear a Ra’zac. Further, if these actually were dragons, why would Galbatorix send them out to come fetch the Ra’zac, instead of keeping them close to him until they’re big enough to be reasonably safe? That’s a much more compelling argument. Two new dragons would be a huge thing, after all.

Also… I’m a bit bothered by how little Brom reacts to this. He’s just learned that the Ra’zac have “flying mounts”, and that those need to be of a species he doesn’t know, and he isn’t even surprised at this. This really is something important for them, so why doesn’t he care?

Eragon asks what they should do. Saphira can’t “track them through the sky”, and even if she could, they’d abandon Brom. Yes, that would be a bad idea.

So, for Eragon’s question, what could they do best? Magic wouldn’t work, since it would cost too much energy (mainly because they’re too far away now). Given that, it would work best to figure out where they’ll go now, and where it’s best to intercept them. Well, I’m sure they’ll report to Galbatorix about this, either directly or indirectly, and after that, they’ll eventually get sent on another mission. They are also constantly sent on missions, and they need to be told of those missions and report back on them. The easiest way to do that, I think, is to have this happen at some kind of headquarters, as they would also be able to resupply there. It would be wise to intercept them near their headquarters, then, as they are bound to go to it (or leave it) at some time.

Where could this headquarters be, then? Since the Lethrblakya can fly, there are no hard constraints on it, but it would be convenient to have it be as central in the Empire as possible. For ease of resupplying and of coordinating with the agents of the Empire, I might also expect it to be close to a city. Since Brom and Eragon don’t have a map with them, I won’t look at the map, but I’m familiar enough to say that Dras-Leona and Urû’baen are quite central (and large), and of them, Urû’baen lies on the fringe of the Empire and Dras-Leona lies more central, so I’d pick Dras-Leona.

I also remember that there’s an inselberg, named Helgrind, next to Dras-Leona that would make for a good hiding spot and headquarters (with no interference from outside). So I put my bets on Helgrind as headquarters.

The point of this exercise is that Brom knows all of this already, as we’ll see, so it should only take a reasoning session to work out what they should do now to find the Ra’zac. Instead, they’ll take a detour of about a month, and Brom will only put this together in six chapters, because this book is really badly plotted. So let’s see how they come to go on this detour!

Brom says, in answer to Eragon, that there’s “no easy solution to this riddle”. First, this isn’t a “riddle” by any means.

PPP: 828

There also totally is an easy solution for this! You only need to think it through, and you have everything you need already! Blegh. Well, Brom proposes to have lunch while they think it over, as perhaps “inspiration will strike [them] while [they] eat”. My, I’m impressed Brom actually advises thinking before acting for once. Still, I’d like to know what Brom is going to do if inspiration doesn’t hit them.

So they get food and eat, and Eragon looks at the sky. Eragon thinks of home again and wonders “what Roran [was] doing”. He actually thinks of Roran again! That’s the first since… when they first saw Therinsford (not counting his dream of Roran and Garrow)! I get that Eragon is now on his quest, Paolini, but he shouldn’t simply stop thinking about Roran once he does.

PPP: 833 (+5) (this is quite bad)

He then sees the burnt farm before him and “grief threaten[s] to overwhelm him”. And then he’s thinking about something else. I do like that he’s actually sad about Garrow dying, but there really should be more than this!

HISC: The self-published edition notes that his grief is still there, but it “does not overwhelm him”. He wonders what Roran does and hopes that he will not be too angry at Eragon’s departure.

Fumurti: That’s… marginally better, I suppose. Eragon wonders about what he’ll do if they can’t find the Ra’zac. He thinks about returning to Carvahall (and there’s a clumsy insert with him snapping a twig), or travelling and training with Brom. He stares at the plains, “hoping to quiet his thoughts”. Um, why does he think about going back to Carvahall? That would only put everyone there at risk for no good reason, and he even noted this back in chapter 16!

That aside, I do like it. Eragon has only gone on this adventure because of the chance to get revenge on the Ra’zac, and now he thinks he might not find them. I’d certainly think this would be quite difficult for him, as he’d need to rebuild what he wants to do. For what it’s worth, I’d tell him to keep training (not with Brom) and then try to do something about Galbatorix; that’s the best way for him to keep himself, Saphira, and Carvahall safe.

Let me also use this point to talk about the story from chapter 16 to now. It’s clearly supposed to be Eragon, Brom and Saphira chasing after the Ra’zac and getting into trouble now and then… but it came out as Eragon, Brom and Saphira getting into trouble and just happening to follow the Ra’zac. In fact… these are the times the Ra’zac are named after Brom discovers they went to Yazuac:

a) Eragon suggests the Ra’zac might have laid a trap in Yazuac.

b) Brom sees the Ra’zac went through Yazuac but didn’t kill the people there.

c) Eragon sees the Ra’zac’s “spoor” when leaving Yazuac and knows they’re on the right track.

d) Eragon asks if the Ra’zac might have “caused the attack” on Yazuac. Brom doesn’t answer and says the Ra’zac went south.

e) There is discussion of them tracking the Ra’zac and constantly staying behind.

f) Eragon dreams about the Ra’zac.

So there are six distinct mentions, and only one of them is of much substance. And this is where the “chasing the Ra’zac” plot is mentioned. These mentions are much too thin to hang such a plot on. I honestly wouldn’t mind if Eragon’s misadventures and training were supposed to be the point, but they aren’t allowed to be because the point is supposed to be chasing the Ra’zac, which barely even exists itself. This is really badly written.

PPP: 843 (+10)

Back to the story. When Brom’s finished eating, he stands, and says that he’s considered “every trick [he knows], every word of power within [his] grasp, and all the skills [they] have”, but he still can’t see how they can find the Ra’zac. …Why would you want to “find” the Ra’zac anyway? Trying to surprise them by their headquarters or some other place you know they’ll come by would at least allow you to make an ambush. Trying to “find” them right now seems like it’d go very wrong. So yes, Brom doesn’t know how to find them now. Then deduce where they’ll be and go there instead.

Eragon unfortunately doesn’t have this perspective and goes into despair, slumping against Saphira (who I guess is just hanging out there and not reacting). Brom then gives a kind of last-resort plan: Saphira could show herself at a town, and that would draw the Ra’zac “like flies to honey”. But the Ra’zac just left here, and the people in the towns don’t have a direct connection to them or Galbatorix, so it would take quite some time before they got here again. He says it would be very risky to do, though, since the Ra’zac would bring soldiers along, and Galbatorix might just be interested enough to come himself, “which would spell certain death for [him] and [Eragon]”. I can see Galbatorix killing Brom, but why would he want to kill Eragon? Wouldn’t he love to have a Rider in his service again? Why would he miss a chance for that? I suppose it’s because Galbatorix is “evil”, but this is just stupid.

Eragon asks what they should do now and throws up his hands. He asks Saphira for ideas (my, he’s remembered she’s there!). Saphira has no ideas, because why not.

HISC: Brom then says it is up to Eragon, and it is his “crusade”. Eragon, quite rightly, gives him “a black look” and goes to pacing. He does not feel he can decide this, and so he gets to thinking. He knows the Empire will hunt Saphira and him, and they can only be safe if they leave it. To the south there is a country, Surda (this is a very bad way of introducing it), that would shelter him if he’s “just a fugitive”. Since he is a Rider, they would not “dare provoke the full wrath of the King”. I highly doubt that he would wage a war on Surda just to get at Eragon, though.

He further thinks that that only leaves the east, “across the desert and into wild lands [he] know[s] nothing about” (which is what you also did the past weeks). Never mind that he could also go north or south, then. He ends by saying that he hates this and everyone who put him in this situation.

Fumurti: That’s not really bad, though I’ll note that Eragon doesn’t have to flee like this, for example if he wants to fight Galbatorix. I’ll also say that fleeing might well help keep Carvahall more safe; if Eragon’s gone from Alagaësia, threats to it or keeping people hostage won’t do much, since they can’t reach him.

Back to the Knopf edition, which cuts out this whole thought process, Brom says this in reply to Eragon asking “what now”:

“That’s up to you,” said Brom. “This is your crusade.”

Forgot the Narrator: 51 (why does Brom know about crusades?)

I can kind of see what Paolini went for, since Eragon wants vengeance on the Ra’zac, so he should decide. Still, Eragon is asking Brom for advice! Then he shouldn’t blow Eragon off with “well, you decide”. After all, Eragon’s passing this to Brom because he can’t decide himself.

Also, Brom manipulated Eragon into coming along so far, so he can’t rightly push all the responsibility onto Eragon. He also just knows more about this situation, so if he’s going to have Eragon decide, he should offer his knowledge, at least. I don’t know what Brom thinks Eragon will decide, but he probably won’t like it.

Further, I don’t really like how Brom phrases it. By calling Eragon hoping to kill the Ra’zac a “crusade”, he implies that it’s unreasonable. And it is, because Eragon couldn’t hope to complete it like this, but it’s not unreasonable that Eragon should want it, which is the feeling I get from the phrasing.

Finally, I note the emphasis on how it’s Eragon’s crusade. I’d expect Brom himself to care about stopping the Ra’zac, too, and the Ra’zac even say that Brom has “caused them much grief”. This is much more Brom’s crusade than it is Eragon’s, so why doesn’t he take the lead in this?? This makes no sense.

Anyway, Eragon “[grinds] his teeth angrily” (which works just as well in both editions, for once) and stalks away. Just as he’s about to go into the trees, “his foot [strikes] something hard”. Eragon looks and sees it’s “a metal flask with a leather strap just long enough to hang off someone’s shoulder”. On it is the “Ra’zac’s symbol”. (I’ve tried looking for an illustration of it, but no luck, it seems.)

So, it seems the Ra’zac lost something! That is certainly interesting! (I do wonder how Brom missed this; I guess it was lost in the shadow of the trees? After all, the sun would only shine fully on it in the evening.) Let’s see what this is, then. Eragon picks up the flask and unscrews the cap. A “cloying smell” comes from it, the same that he noticed when finding Garrow in the wreckage of the farm. That seems like something to be quite careful with, then. Now this happens:

“He tilted the flask, and a drop of clear, shiny liquid fell on his finger.”

Um… did he mean to test the liquid on his finger? Given that he tilts it, I guess that he wanted to see what was inside, and I don’t mind that. Still, we don’t hear about him holding out his finger to test it, so I’d almost think he wants to pour it on the ground, and he accidentally held his finger in the way. This is very unclear.

PPP: 844

Either way, it’s a bit foolish of him to try something of the Ra’zac, which he knows they used in conjunction with Garrow’s death, out on himself. It is sensible of him, though, to only use it on a fingertip first… or that’s what makes sense, at least, rather than him pouring the liquid on his entire finger.

PPP: 845

Instantly, his finger “burn[s] as if it were on fire”. Eragon yelps and scrubs his hand on the ground, and after a moment the pain fades to “a dull throbbing”. He sees that “a patch of skin [has] been eaten away”. That went about as well as one might expect. And, since he rubbed his finger on the ground and we’re not told he washes it, it rightly should get infected, but it doesn’t.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 81

I’m also bothered that his whole finger burns. Only a drop fell on it, after all, and if he’s holding his finger out straight, the liquid won’t flow along his entire finger. I highly doubt he’d manage to spread a drop like this out when it falls, too. Combine that with only a “patch of skin” missing, which doesn’t indicate his whole finger, and this is just nonsense. (And that’s not even to mention that he couldn’t have fixed it by scrubbing so easily if it was on his whole finger.)

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 82

PPP: 846

Well, either way, this liquid is presumably some very potent acid. So Eragon grimaces and “jog[s]” back to Brom. He tells him to look what he’s found. Brom takes the flask over, and pours a bit of liquid into the cap. Eragon goes to warn him that the liquid burns, and Brom says he knows it’ll burn his skin. Then we have this:

“And I supposes you went ahead and poured it all over your hand. Your finger? Well, at least you showed sense enough not to drink it. Only a puddle would have been left of you.”

It might suit you to show some more concern about this, Brom! You suspect that Eragon might have poured acid over his hand, and you barely seem to care!

On the other hand… why does Brom even think he’d have done so? Eragon doesn’t have difficulty using his hands, and I’d think pouring acid over one would elicit more than a grimace from him. So…

Olympic Finals in Conclusion Leaping: 11

That said, taking his “you showed sense enough” comment into account, I think he just assumes Eragon is stupid, which is not a great thing for him to do. I mean, Eragon certainly behaves foolish quite often, but then you should teach him better, and not simply say “you’re stupid”.

Also, Eragon still didn’t pour it over his whole finger.

PPP: 847

Finally, I highly doubt that there would only be “a puddle” left of Eragon if he’d downed the entire flask. It’s simply a small amount compared to how large Eragon is, so I doubt it would have dissolved everything, and it also takes time for the acid to react, so by now he wouldn’t be “a puddle”. Further, Eragon would have spit the acid out by the time he’d first felt it burn, so there’s no way it could have dissolved his entire body, especially not if you’d heal him, Brom.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 83

Well, Eragon wants to know what this acid is, and Brom explains in a large paragraph. Let me show it first, and discuss afterward.

The acid is “[o]il from the petals of the Seithr plant”, which “grows on a small island in the frigid northern seas”. In its usual state, it’s used for preserving pearls, as it makes them “lustrous and strong”. When “specific words” are spoken over it, along with “a blood sacrifice”, though, it gains the power to “eat any flesh”. By itself, that wouldn’t make it anything special, since plenty of acids can do that, but this acid leaves everything else untouched. That is, anything can be immersed in without being harmed, unless “it was once part of an animal or human”.

Because of this, it’s become “a weapon of choice for torture and assassination”. It can be stored on wood, put on the “point of a spear”, or even dripped on sheets to burn the next person sleeping in that bed. There are countless uses for it, which are only limited by “your ingenuity”. Any injury it causes is slow to heal. It’s also “rather rare and expensive”, especially in the flesh-eating form.

Pfooo, that’s a lot! Let’s begin. First, I’ll note that this acid is called “Seithr oil”, as we’ll see in a few chapters. Also, going to the glossary tells me that “seithr” means “witch” in the Ancient Language, so this oil is named “Witch Oil”. Given the way it’s converted, I think that’s a quite appropriate name. (And the plant probably got its name from the Seithr oil.)

So we learn the plant grows “on a small island in the frigid northern seas”. I really don’t believe that these seas are so “frigid”; after all, CN calculated that the northern edge of the map lies somewhat beyond 28° north, and these “frigid seas” would still lie nicely within the subtropics.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 84

Also… we really haven’t seen much of the winter once they went out of Palancar Valley. In the valley it was cold and there was snow, but here there’s no snow and no mention of it being cold, and in Daret there were even dust devils, which form in warm conditions! What Paolini wrote here actually fits quite well with our calculations!

Further, this plant apparently only grows on one small island? If that’s the case, I’d have expected it to have gone extinct quite some time ago. Wait… Eldest explicitly says it grows on “treacherous islands”. The plant growing on multiple islands makes quite a bit more sense, so I think Brom’s repeating something without thinking again.

PPP: 848

I’m also a bit surprised to see people leaving Alagaësia this casually, given how no one seems to know anything about the area outside of it.

So Brom says it’s used to “preserve pearls”, because it makes them “lustrous and strong”. While I can’t find anything conclusive on this, I’d say pearls already are lustrous (though I think being iridescent is rather what they’re liked for), and some articles on pearl care I saw note that oil can be harmful… so I’m going out on a limb and say that this is a bad idea. If you have any specifics, please let me know!

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 85

I also wonder why they specifically need the Seithr oil to preserve pearls. Brom doesn’t give any reason to, so why would these jewellers buy something so “rare and expensive” if, say, sunflower oil would work as well? It’d probably be in part because Seithr oil is marginally better at preserving pearls, and so people would buy those pearls because they’re “high quality”, and in part because it’s more “exotic” and so the sellers can brag about how they can afford it. I’d just wish Brom would acknowledge that there’s other options than Seithr oil.

So then we learn it can be turned into specifically flesh-eating acid by a certain ritual. Can this only be done with Seithr oil, then? I’d think someone would have found a way to convert other substances by now. As for the ritual itself… that’s quite unlike the magic we’ll see, in that it requires a blood sacrifice, and I’d love to know more about this!

Then Brom says it only attacks anything that “was once part of an animal” (and clearly also anything that still is, as we just saw). That means that the spell that makes the Seithr oil do this needs to be able to travel back in time, since the only way to make entirely sure that whatever is dipped in “was once part of an animal” is to go back in time and find out. That’s interesting, since in Eldest, Arya explains that such a spell killed some elves who tried out due to the energy required. The Seithr oil, though, manages such a feat apparently without drawing energy from anyone around it. I’d really advice Eragon to look into the kind of ritual that is used to convert it, because that might just come in handy. Not that they ever do, since the characters of this series are quite bad at connecting things.

Skipping over the assassination things… Brom notes that wounds inflicted by Seithr oil are “always slow to heal”. I think that’s got more to do with burns healing slowly in general (especially in a setting like this) than with some kind of inherent property of Seithr oil. I think I’ll give it this:

Olympic Finals in Conclusion Leaping: 12

For the assassination stuff, it makes sense and I like it! The problem with it, though, is that it mostly appears in connection with tracking down the Ra’zac and that we won’t see it used for any assassination outside of killing Garrow. The way Brom describes it, it seems like it’s quite well-known that Seithr oil is used for assassinations and that it’s also done from time to time. So… what might be going on there?

 

I don’t think the assassinations with Seithr oil would be very widespread, to begin with. Making the dangerous variant requires a quite specific ritual that might not be widely known, and the oil itself is noted to be rare, so getting it might pose a problem, too. In case someone used it, it would also be quite easy to recognise (because the acid will leave fabric untouched, for example), and, because of how rare Seithr oil is, it would be easy to trace who got it and then who’s responsible for the assassination. Compare with using a knife: knives are much easier to get, they can be just as effective, and, even if the knife were to be found, it won’t be immediately traceable.

 

I think that also answers why the Ra’zac use Seithr oil: they don’t have to hide who they are so much and they’re agents of the king. They don’t have to worry about being traced, and they can even put their own symbol on their flasks of Seithr oil.

 

Come to think of it… while I considered physical attacks with Seithr oil before, it would also suck for trying to poison people, because of its “cloying smell”. While that would be weakened when it’s dilute, it’d still be a clear indication that something’s wrong. And, again, since it immediately burns on contact, the victim would just spit out the Seithr oil. Sure, they’d be hurt, but it certainly wouldn’t be necessarily fatal.

 

I’d say, then, that the area where it has the greatest advantage is in trying to kill very many people at once, for example by poisoning a well… That would require quite a bit of Seithr oil, though, which is notably hard to get, and anyone who drinks the water would spit it out, since it would burn. And if the concentration was low enough not to cause suspicion, I doubt it would be high enough to reliably kill many people. If you’re going to put something in the well, you might as well go for biowarfare and throw in a rotting corpse; at least the water wouldn’t give off immediate warning signs in that case.

 

Hmmm… I wanted to say that Seithr oil could be used in assassinations ordered by the powerful (like local lords/ladies, and nobles at Galbatorix’s court), but if it’s quite bad at killing people, it only really makes sense as a torture.

 

Let’s see if I can work around it. If the assassin were to put Seithr oil in the target’s bloodstream, that would mean the target couldn’t avoid it, and, since it’d be in the bloodstream, it would be transported through the body very quickly, and would quite probably kill the target. Let me first look how to do this if the method of getting it in the bloodstream wouldn’t already be fatal. The best thing I could come up with was stabbing someone with a needle coated in Seithr oil. That might also be a good way to avoid suspicion, as I can imagine someone covertly dipping a needle in the oil at the jeweller and then stabbing someone. The assassin would have to be lucky, though, and the amount of Seithr oil would have to be small.

 

(If this were a more modern fantasy setting, this would be easier, as it would be possible to hide the Seithr oil in a syringe, or to pour it in someone’s IV, or, to match my example, do something like this.)

 

In cases where it would possibly be fatal, like the spear Brom mentions or a knife, I think it’d have the most value if the weapon can only be used once. Combined with the difficulty of getting the Seithr oil, I’d say it would be used mostly in assassinations of nobles and lords/ladies, since those might be difficult to get at and would be worth the trouble.

 

So, that’s why I think Seithr oil isn’t used for assassinations that we see: because it’s only really useful in quite specific situations, which aren’t really met (due to wards), and outside of that, its use lies in torture.

 

Back to the story, then. Eragon remembers the burns that Garrow suffered from, and realises “with horror” that the Ra’zac used Seithr oil on him. I guess they did so to show off? There certainly wasn’t a practical benefit to it (nor was there to beating him up, but they still did so). Eragon says he wonders why the Ra’zac left the flask behind “if it’s so valuable”. Brom says it must have “slipped off” when they flew away.

 

HISC: In the self-published edition, Brom tells Eragon to think about “when Saphira takes off”, as there is “enough confusion” to lose something. …We have seen Saphira take off, and that notably does not look like “enough confusion” to me, especially since the Ra’zac would be used to this.

Fumurti: I could see it if they were doing something unusual, like trying to keep the horses here until the Lethrblakya came (yes, I do think they did that, even though it makes very little sense). I think that would explain why the flask lay quite a bit away from the tracks, too; if it has just slipped off, I doubt it would have fallen this far. I probably shouldn’t nitpick this much, but I do come up with better alternatives, so…

Eragon asks why they didn’t come back for it, because he doubts Galbatorix would be pleased to hear they lost it. Brom says he won’t be, but he’ll be “even more displeased” if they “delayed bringing him news of [Eragon]”. Um, why would losing this Seithr oil be a problem? As we’ll see in Brisingr, they’ve got what’s presumably reserve oil in case this happens. Even if they hadn’t, Galbatorix could easily acquire new Seithr oil for them. After all, he’s the king, and he’s not in Eragon and Brom’s position, no matter what Brom may think.

Either way, the Ra’zac won’t delay bringing Galbatorix news of Eragon… except that they spent three weeks on riding ahead of Eragon, Brom, and Saphira when they could have had the Lethrblakya pick them up much earlier (for some reason). So they clearly don’t care about delaying bringing the news! Are you even reading the same book, Brom?!

PPP: 849

Anyway, Brom means that the Ra’zac will be telling Galbatorix about Eragon now. In fact, if they’ve reached Galbatorix by now, one can be sure that Galbatorix “has learned [Eragon’s] name”. Yes, we can, but that’s hardly the worst part of it, as Eragon could (and should) use a false name. The problem is rather that the Ra’zac will have described Eragon, too, and that they’ve probably guessed that Brom accompanies him. Brom could try to circumvent that problem by magically disguising himself and Eragon (which we know he can from Brisingr), but he naturally won’t do that.

 

Brom further explains that this means they’ll “have to much more careful when [they] go into towns”. Throughout the Empire, “notices and alerts” will be posted. They’ll be mostly posted in cities rather than towns, though.

 

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 86 (+2) (one point for now and one for Brom thinking the Ra’zac would come “like flies to honey”)

Still, all their measures to not draw attention will finally make sense at the following town/city! Saphira will actually need to hide, and Eragon and Brom will have to be quite careful; after all, unlike in Therinsford and Daret, some people will be actively looking for them. Additionally, they’ll be around cities quite a bit longer from now on, as they’ll find out the Ra’zac are at Dras-Leona eventually, and they’ll have to stay there a while to come up with and implement an attack plan. That will be quite tricky!

I do like this, since it means they’ll have to be careful from now on, and that they are in some kind of danger. I might wish for some clarification of what Bad Things Galbatorix will do when he catches them, because I really don’t buy he’d kill Eragon, but otherwise, it makes sense, and there is some underlying tension.

Eragon doesn’t really react to it, presumably because they’ve already tried their best to avoid detection so far. He thinks for a bit and then asks after the Seithr oil again. Oh, I think I’ll use this opportunity to talk more about the Seithr oil, since I’ve had some more thoughts on it.

So I’ve neglected to mention Brom’s “bedsheets” example, and more generally the possibility of putting Seithr oil on surfaces that people use. For the bedsheet example… I really don’t see how that would work. The only way I can see someone get wholly burned is if they were wearing gloves, they went to bed wholly naked, and they slammed the bedsheet down on themself. That’s such an edge case that it won’t be worth it. So… let me go through some additional possible applications.

The first is that with stuff like the bedsheets, people would often touch it with their hands before putting it on their whole body. And, as Eragon just showed, that touch would be a good indication that something’s wrong and it wouldn’t cause much permanent damage (especially since it’d be applied in a thin layer).

Second, for things like gloves or a hat, which go on areas of the body not usually protected by clothing… you still generally need to touch them with your hand, and any touch would indicate danger. The same thing goes for clothing, and it’s further limited to plant-based clothing, too.

Third, for applications like smearing it on someone’s seat… even if the target is wearing animal-derived clothing (leather, wool, and silk are my first examples) which the oil could eat through, they’d still quite probably jump out of their seat at the first pain. Further, the oil would be wasted on eating through the clothing, and using more oil would just make it more conspicuous (qua appearance and odour).

So… what’s there to consider further? The vapour doesn’t do anything (as we could see with Eragon twice, and which is weird), so it’s useless to try to spread it into the air. We don’t know at which temperature it freezes, or even if it’s still acid as a solid… I think I can consider the very first thing I looked at: physical attacks with it.

It certainly has an edge over other acids because of how strong it is, but, given its strong smell and my deduction that it caused a flashover, it must be quite volatile. That means the boiling point must be quite low. The problem with this is that the gas is useless, and in warm weather, one could lose quite a bit of Seithr oil that way. Combined with its rarity, that might well balance its acid strength. I’d frankly recommend nitric or sulfuric acid, since those don’t have to be made via an arcane ritual, don’t stop being acid as gas, and, in the case of sulfuric acid, aren’t nearly as volatile as Seithr oil.

That leaves me with just one pro of Seithr oil: it doesn’t attack materials that haven’t once been part of an animal. That led me to this scenario: someone pours Seithr oil over sturdy cotton gloves, puts those on, then goes to their target and grabs their face with the gloves. I think a technique like this would be most effective in situations where the perpetrator can only be with the target for a short time and wants to inflict as much hurt as possible.

So, in conclusion (for real this time), I’d think that Seithr oil as a means for assassination would be most often used in combination with an already possibly lethal weapon, to ensure the target dies. I’d also expect it to be used to maim, as it can be applied with more focus than other acids.

Well, that was… not as focused as I’d like, but I’m happy to say “good enough” and go back.

So Eragon asks how rare the Seithr oil is exactly. Brom says it’s like “diamonds in a pig trough”. Then he actually amends himself, and says the normal oil actually is used by jewellers, “but only those who can afford it”. Well, that fits nicely with my explanation about sellers “bragging about how they can afford it”! I’d say it’s mostly used by the more prestigious jewellers, then, also because it’s a sign of how prestigious and good at this they are.

Eragon asks if there are “people who trade in it”, then. Brom says there’s “[p]erhaps one, maybe two”. That fits with all the Seithr oil coming from a single source; it would be quite possible for one or two people to control its trade. Then, this happens:

“Good,” said Eragon. “Now, do the cities along the coast keep shipping records?”

HISC: In the self-published edition, Eragon also says “Last question now” when asking this, so Brom has successfully abused Eragon into not wanting to ask questions.

Fumurti: Lovely. So… the chain of reasoning goes well. The oil is rare, so there will be few merchants who trade in it, so if there are records of its trade, it should be possible to comb through them. The problem with this is that Eragon shouldn’t know what shipping records are. Something like this would work:

“Good,” said Eragon. “Now, is there a way this trade is recorded?”

“…Yes, there is. All the cities keep track of the trade that’s going on and this would be recorded, too.”

“Then we can look through the records and find the records of the Seithr oil!”

“Yes, we actually can!”

This would have the same result, without Eragon the farm boy somehow knowing that “shipping records” are a thing. That’s about the same as Eragon seeing a cathedral in the clouds: it’s Paolini putting his own knowledge into Eragon’s head. In fact…

Forgot the Narrator: 52

PPP: 859 (+10) (5 points for each occurrence)

Well, Brom’s eyes “brighten[]” and he says the cities naturally do. If they can get to those records, those will tell them “who brought the oil south and where it went from there”. I… don’t think the former has anything to do with what you want, but the latter will certainly work.

Eragon then says that “the record of the Empire’s purchase” will “tell [them] where the Ra’zac live”! Yay! …How would you tell what’s coming from the Empire, though? I also doubt they’d actually need this information, since the context would probably be enough for them to tell.

There is a much bigger problem with this, though: they can already deduce where the Ra’zac will probably live! And once they’re in Dras-Leona, they can then trace the oil and find out where the Ra’zac’s headquarters are.

To be fair, checking the records will give them more certainty than an educated guess… but it will also have them spending quite a bit of time going to and from the coast, and getting at the records will be difficult and is quite likely to attract unwanted attention. I can see why they’d want to, though, since going to Dras-Leona, finding out the Ra’zac aren’t there, and then having to search for them again is far from ideal.

What I’d have them do is this: go in the direction of Dras-Leona, find some traders underway, and get rumours and stories about the Ra’zac from them. Then they could choose their course before reaching Dras-Leona. This also means they wouldn’t have to enter multiple cities, and it would be less likely to draw attention than going through shipping records.

HISC: In the self-published edition, Brom adds that the cities inspect all ships for “smuggled goods” and record the “cargo list” for later taxation. They also records the “origins and destinations” of the goods.

Fumurti: Fair enough, I’d say. So, the problem I have with this is not only that they take such a risky path, but mostly that they don’t even consider that they could do anything else! Even when they have actually deduced it, later on, they don’t think they could have tried to do that at any earlier point!! It’s not even railroading; I think Paolini genuinely didn’t realise they could deduce this, and either became so attached to the ensuing plot, or just didn’t think about it, and left it in. The result is an outright Idiot Plot.

Back to the story… Eragon doesn’t know how many people can get the oil, but “it shouldn’t be hard” to find out who isn’t working for the Empire. And how are you going to do that? I don’t think the records would explicitly mention that, and you can’t exactly check that for yourself. Even so, he could just use context to find out which shipments went to the Ra’zac, which is exactly what they end up doing!

Brom calls him a “[g]enius” and says he wishes he’d thought of this years ago, as it “would have saved [him] many headaches”. Hmm, I can understand that Brom didn’t think of it before… but it’s not such a great solution, either.

HISC: Brom then says the plan has “a problem”. The coast has “numerous cities and towns” where ships can land, after all. Searching all of those shipping records will take massive amounts of time. …Then you could ask around to find out where the Seithr oil is unloaded? Eragon asks if there’s “any one city that controls the majority of the trade”. Brom says that “Teirm” does so. He supposes they should start there, but there is “no guarantee that [they] will succeed”. Well, you should still try, at least.

Fumurti: The Knopf edition, then, jumps from Brom saying this would’ve saved him headaches to him talking about the coast having many “cities and towns” on it.

PPP: 860

In this case, he suggests himself that Teirm would be the best place to start, since it “controls most of the trade”. Let me also show the map with Teirm on it…

There we go. As you can see, Teirm is located near the mouth of the Toark River and on a bay, which I think might explain why it’s so popular for trade.

Brom pauses and then says that, as far as he knows, his “old friend Jeod” lives there. It’s been “many years” since they’ve seen each other, but Jeod might just be willing to help them. And, since Jeod’s a merchant, he might just have access to the records. Well, that’s quite some good luck, then!

Eragon asks how they can get there (so it’s time for more map failure). Brom says they’ll need to go “southwest until [they] reach a high pass in the Spine”. Once they are through, they can “head up the coast to Teirm”. That would be south­-southwest, looking at the map (the pass is the one with the Toark River).

PPP: 861

We get a mention of a “gentle wind” blowing. Eragon asks if they can reach the pass “within a week”. Brom says they can do so easily, and if they “angle away from the Ninor and to [their] right”, they might see the Spine the next day already. Let me fact-check…

So, here’s the (very simplified) path they might take:

If they take this, it would be about 110 kilometres (~68,4 miles) to the pass. That would mean they’d have to do some 15,7 kilometres per day (~9,75 miles per day). I think that’s eminently reasonable, for once!

Now for Brom saying they can see the Spine by tomorrow (which Saphira naturally already can and Eragon likely saw when flying today).

I see that the Spine is closest west-south-westerly from their current position, at some 49,4 kilometres. From the position they’ll have the next day (so a seventh of the way along)… the same mountains would be closest, at 33,8 kilometres.

Calculating the horizon distance tells me that… the Spine couldn’t be higher than 191 metres. Since that obviously can’t be true, I presume that the Ninor lies in a valley and that they’ll be climbing out of it the next day. So that’s reasonable, too.

I do want to say that going “away from the Ninor and to their right” is redundant, as they already are on the right side of the river.

PPP: 862

And there the conversation ends. I note that there’s no mention of Brom doing anything with the flask, but we will learn later on that he’s brought it with him. That could be clearer.

PPP: 863

Now that we’ve heard the specifics about their plan, I want to say that I do like it. It’s not great, certainly, but it does provide us with an actual plot. It also gives us something to look forward to: while the prospect of the past chapters was “we’re going to chase after the Ra’zac without any hope of catching them”, here it is “we’re going to Teirm (and seeing it), where we’ll meet Jeod, and we’ll get to look through the records, and we’ll see where the Ra’zac live, and we’ll go there, and there will be a confrontation”. I just find it’s better to read when there’s something to anticipate, and it means the story will have to get somewhere, too. So… that’s something to look forward to.

Well, Eragon goes to Saphira and mounts her again, telling Brom he’ll see him at dinner. Good to see that one flight has cured Eragon entirely of his fear of flying with her. He’s not even a bit nervous about this! This is not how something like this works.

After a bit, Eragon says he’ll ride Cadoc tomorrow. “Before [Saphira] protest[s]”, she ought to know that he’s only doing it because he wants to talk to Brom. So he’s placating Saphira, presumably because he’s afraid she’ll blow up at him like she did yesterday. But remember, people, they are still a perfect match! I just wish Paolini was as good at recognising abuse in his book as he is at portraying it…

Saphira thankfully takes this well, and says Eragon should ride with Brom “every other day”, so Eragon can get his training and she can hunt. Eragon asks if she won’t be “troubled by it” (ugh), and Saphira says it’s necessary.

Cut to them landing for that day. Eragon’s “pleased to discover” that his legs don’t hurt, since the saddle has “protected him well from Saphira’s scales”. Saphira’s scales still wouldn’t hurt his legs like that, so I think it’s mostly because Paolini was more realistic here. Also, I’d think Eragon would have noticed this first somewhere between the first and second flights? It is quite a big deal that this went smoothly, after all.

Eragon and Brom go to fight, but it “lack[s] energy”, since they’re both occupied with what happened that day. When they finish, Eragon’s arms “burn[] from Zar’roc’s unaccustomed weight”. I can certainly see that, as I imagine it would be quite a bit heavier than a wooden practice sword, but it feels like Paolini thinking swords are super-heavy again.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 87

And there the chapter ends. I guess Paolini just wanted us to see this training session because we always see the sessions?

Other Ending: 9

So, now for my thoughts on this chapter. It’s not really bad, I’d say. I do wonder… would it have been better to merge Eragon flying with Saphira with the previous chapter? No, I do think it works well enough this way. The thrust of the chapter, losing the Ra’zac and finding a way to find their headquarters, further works well enough as long as you don’t think about it too much. Either way, we now actually have things to look forward to, and I’m very happy with it!

Next time, you’ll see CN and I’ll be back for chapter 27. Until then!