Eragon: Chapter Twenty-Five: An Old Friend (Part I)

[pangolin20]

Overview of chapters Twenty-Six to Twenty-Eight | Chapter Twenty-Five (Part II)

HISC: A good day, everyone, and welcome back to Eragon! Last time, I made an overview of several chapters of the self-published edition. For the reader post:

On part II of chapter 17, Wolfgoddess notes that Eragon should probably have recognised the ripple of grass just before the thunderstorm.

She further notes that Brom should probably have watched out for Saphira better, given that he lost his first dragon (who was quite similar to her).

She also notes that Saphira should have considerable pain from being thrown around like she is, yet we see nothing of the sort. Well seen! I guess it shows just how unnecessary that scene was.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 95

She then notes that Eragon could easily get “scrapes in his skin” while breaking his fall, so…

PPP: 910 (-1)

She finally notes that, for the wind to blow Saphira over, it ought to have changed direction very quickly, which there is no indication this storm is capable of.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 96

Chessy notes that Saphira ought to gain height so she can avoid being blown into the ground. She also notes that Saphira could simply raise her wings to keep from being blown up, and that she ought to have faced into the wind while landing. She could have tried to turn around, at least.

Alec notes that Eragon and Brom should not be travelling during the storm (indeed, it seems like begging for hypothermia to me), and that Saphira could shelter them. They can certainly afford to wait for a bit.

Thinking this over further… there is no reason Saphira could not have flown around the storm, which would have avoided all of this. Also, as Chessy noted, I am reasonably sure that Brom and Eragon are so concerned about Saphira because Paolini heard that airplanes have difficulty in such weather. The problem is, of course, that Saphira is not an airplane and has more options and can recover better than one.

On part I of chapter 18, Alec notes that Eragon holding extra arrows in his hand while nocking one is plausible, so that is good to know.

Chessy notes that Brom’s talk about “being guided by the stars and sun” does not align with what we see, since, if he were doing this, he should be measuring those positions. What he does do is rather dead reckoning.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 97

She further notes that there should be a mention of a gallery forest along the Ninor, which there indeed should be.

PPP: 911

Finally, she rightly notes that there should not be thunderstorms in the winter here… which makes the previous chapter even more pointless.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 98

On part II of chapter 18, Chessy notes that axes are a quite legitimate weapon. Thank you for the correction! Alec says, though, that Paolini probably imagined “something a lot more piddly and less effective”, which does fit with our intuitions.

She further leaves a fic, along with some thoughts on Brom’s talk about “evil”.

Wolfgoddess and Alec note that Brom no reacting to the pile of bodies might be because he has seen worse, though that should be a bit more explicit.

On the overview… well, I will bring up what Epistler said as it comes up, but we got to talking about how “cotton” does not belong in this world (and it appears only one time in the Knopf edition)—

PPP: 912

—since the climate is not right for it. That, in turn, has led me to the realisation that the landscapes in Alagaësia seem to belong to two separate climate zones:

The areas north of the red line (Narda; Palancar Valley and the Spine around and north of it; the Bay of Fundor; Ceunon; and Du Weldenvarden) all have a temperate climate, while those south of it have a more subtropic climate. The problem with this is that there is no transition between these areas; as we saw, going from Palancar Valley to the plains left most of the winter behind at once. I am quite sure Paolini did not bother to check in the least if his climates actually fit together.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 99

Consequently, I do have to retract Fumurti’s complaint about the “frigid northern seas”; those do fit with the northern climate, after all.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 98 (-1)

If I were to devise an in-universe reason for this… I am almost tempted to say Elëa is experiencing an ice age. It would be quite interesting, at least.

With that, let us go on!

Kerlois: My apologies for the delay; I was tied up with finishing Mister Monday. Let us begin with the longest chapter of this book, then!

Chapter Twenty-Five: An Old Friend

I see the longest chapter in the self-published edition was actually “Hall of the Mountain King”, which was split up during editing. This chapter is now the longest because it had a significant portion added to it; whether that works we will see later. As for the title, it is accurate, since we will be getting to know Jeod extensively during this chapter (along with some mysterious backstory, of course).

We open on the other side of the clumsy chapter break, where we are told that Angela’s shop has a “cheery sign and [is] easy to find”. I would like to know what that sign looks like, just to have some more texture. Also… why could Martin not have told them what sign to look for? That would mean they would have a solid chance of finding the shop, instead of stumbling on it by luck. In fact… let me reintroduce something:

Ill Logic: 1 (I simply want to keep track of how much this differs between books)

By the door sits a “short, curly-haired woman” who holds a frog and is writing. Eragon rightly assumes she is Angela. Then we are told that there is a house on either side of the shop (as I would expect in such a city), so Eragon asks which house Brom thinks is Jeod’s.

HISC: This edition fixes the error with “two houses around Jeod’s”.

Kerlois: I get that this is so Brom and Eragon can meet Angela, but Martin still should have clarified which house is Jeod’s. At this point, I almost think that he gave such vague instructions just to mess with them. (And Paolini could have had Brom want to know if Jeod actually lives here given that they heard it in a dive bar, for example.) Brom thinks it over and then decides to ask Angela. My, he seeks advice from someone else! I think this might well be the first time we see this.

So he goes to Angela and asks her if she could tell them where Jeod lives (which is noted to be because of politeness). Angela says she could and keeps writing. Brom is wise to her game and asks if she will tell them. She says yes. Then she stays silent, writing faster than ever (is she actually making notes on the frog, then, or just scribbling something random?). The frog “on her hand” croaks and looks at them “with baleful eyes”. Brom and Eragon keep waiting, but Angela stays silent.

At this point, I would just go up to the houses and find out for myself if Jeod lives there. Why should they not? They have made no attempt to hide themselves while in Teirm (other than using fake names), so if they have the wrong house, that would not be a problem. I guess that they do not want to abandon this conversation when they have begun it, though.

Also, I thought Angela had the frog in her hand just now?

PPP: 913

Further… is this good for the frog? Let me look. It turns out that it can be done, though one’s hands should be clean when doing it, and the frog will be stressed by it. To be fair, I will assume that Angela cleaned her hands before now (and she might well know this), but I highly doubt there is a good reason to keep holding the frog. The best one I can think of is to study their behaviour while being held, which should not take this long to write down, so this is quite unnecessary and it reflects quite badly on her.

I do get the feeling that Paolini did not bother to think about whether this would be harmful and just wanted a set piece… which is only to be expected, sadly.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 100

IYES: 29

Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 26

Well, Eragon is about to “blurt something out” (which is a quite common occurrence with him) when Angela speaks up. She says she will naturally tell Brom, as he only has to ask. His first question was if she could tell him and the second if she would, but he “never actually put the question to [her]”.

No, Angela, you were just being overly literal because you liked messing with Brom. His first question was just politeness, which you knew quite well. His second question indicated that he was wise to your game and tried to get an answer to his question, which you also know. And then you just had to one-up Brom and make him wait until you deigned to answer him. Do not think you can fool me, Angela.

I would not mind this if it were established as teasing between people who know each other, but Angela does not know Brom, which means she is doing this to a passer-by who is just asking her for directions. That is quite rude, after all, and it does not reflect well on her. Brom does not mind, as he smiles and “asks properly” which house is Jeod’s. He also asks the obvious question and asks why Angela is holding a frog. Angela “banter[s]” that now they are getting somewhere. Jeod is on the right; as for the frog, “he” is “actually a toad”. She is trying to prove that only frogs, and not toads, exist.

Let me see…

- Is “bantered” actually used as a speech tag? Alright, I can find some uses, but it seems to be quite rare and it is very obviously a Said Bookism, so…

PPP: 914

- Either way, I find her remark quite irritating, since she was the one who held Brom up and now she acts like he did it.

- I do wonder which “right” Angela means: her right (further in the direction Brom and Eragon have come) or their right (back the way they came). It is probably meant to be the latter, but if she is willing to play tricks on people like this, I would be somewhat suspicious of what she says further.

- I am sure that Angela will be disappointed in her research (and she will). Sure, toads are a subclass of frogs, and it can certainly be proven that they are not separate, but they still form a valid subclass. How does she intend to prove that toads “do not exist”, then? This would make sense with a cryptid, but not with beings that clearly actually exist!

- Finally, why are you saying this amphibian is “actually a toad” if you do not think that toads even exist?

PPP: 915

Eragon “interrupt[s]” (does he now?) to ask how toads cannot exist if she “[has] on [her] hand right now” and what good proving there are only frogs will do. Yes, that is a good question, though it is is somewhat undermined by Eragon describing this “toad” as a frog twice before now. She is also still holding the frog; if they were “on” her hand, they would have fled long before now.

PPP: 916

For his second question, what “good” does it need to do? I think that having knowledge is good in and of itself, and it might well prove useful. Angela shakes her head at this, “dark curls bouncing”. Hair does not “bounce” naturally, Paolini. I mean, I do not doubt that she has enchanted her hair to make it have such nice curls, but I get the strong impression that Paolini thought this is a natural thing. You know what, let me rename this count:

Did Not Do the Research: 101

Angela says he does not understand. If she proves that toads do not exist, the amphibian she has now has never been a toad, so the “toad” he sees now “doesn’t exist”. She raises a “small finger” and says that if she can prove this, toads will be “unable to do anything bad”, like “make teeth fall out, cause warts, and poison or kill people”. Also, since toads will not exist, “witches won’t be able to use any of their evil spells”.

So… Angela is quite clearly a witch, given this and her herb shop, and she is doing this research to clear the reputation of toads and of witches, it seems. Let me look closer:

- The things Angela names as misconceptions about toads are mostly Earthly in origin, though I could find nothing on toads making teeth fall out, so credit to Paolini for that. Toads giving witches their evil spells is something that we do need to see, though. As it is, Brom clearly does not think that is the case and no one else does, either. So, given this and the misconceptions coming from Earth, I think that this is in order:

Cardboard Worldbuilding: 2 (one for now, and one for the earlier climate zones nonsense)

- I would think that she could prove such things considerably easier by actually trying to prove them. She could easily prove that toads will not make teeth fall out or cause warts; after all, she has handled one and she has not developed warts or lost teeth. Proving they cannot poison or kill people would be quite hard, since they do produce poison, which is harmful when ingested and can indeed kill. Still, she might well prove that they are not very harmful when touched.

- So, if she does prove these things, how does she plan to make it known? Does she even want everyone to know about her discovery, or does she just want the satisfaction of knowing she is right? I think it is rather the latter.

- Consequently, this might be a moot point, but I am a little peeved that Angela wants to “prove” that witches cannot use evil spells when there is clearly already a lot of misinformation about magic going around. (To correct myself, it was not just in chapter 19; we already had Eragon talking about how tales have taught him to fear magic. It really has to be a widespread phenomenon.) In any case, given some of the things she gets up to, it comes across like she wants people not to be suspicious of her.

Well, Brom says “delicately” that it sounds interesting, and he would like to hear more, but they really have to go now. Angela has no problem with it and goes back to writing. Once Angela cannot hear them any more (how far away is Jeod’s house, then?) Eragon says “She’s crazy!”. Yes, Angela’s methods make little sense, but I hardly got “mentally ill” from her speech just now. If anything, she seems to like messing with people.

Olympic Finals in Conclusion Leaping: 17

Brom says she might be, but “you never know”. Really now? You seemed to be quite convinced she was just now. I am certain that is why he pulled out of the conversation after she gave her explanation. He also did that “delicately”, which gives me the impression that he thought Angela needed to be handled carefully, lest she become violent. That is certainly an actual stereotype about mentally ill people, and I am not surprised to see Brom believe it.

All the Isms: 16

(Also, psychiatric diagnoses are a thing, so what were you talking about, again?) Brom goes on to say that Angela might just “discover something useful”, so Eragon should not criticise. After all, toads might really be frogs! And yes, they actually turn out to be. …Would that not have been taught by the Riders, if they were so awesome? In fact, why is this not a widely-known fact? This makes it look like they were keeping knowledge to themselves (and they actually were), which I doubt Paolini intended.

Cardboard Worldbuilding: 3

As for what Brom says… I guess that Eragon “criticised” her? “You’re crazy” is not much of a criticism, though. His advice is not exactly useful, either. Thinking on it, he seems to imply that research that will likely lead nowhere “useful” can be mocked and derided, while research that will probably lead somewhere should not be questioned at all. For the former… well, where do you get off thinking that? You cannot know if it will lead somewhere, and it might well be that the people doing it are just having fun. Is it right to call them crazy, then? For the latter… even if it leads somewhere, the research might well be flawed, and criticism might help improve it. Also, those doing the research mostly want results to come out of it, so if you just accept anything that looks promising, there is a good chance you end up with hot air.

(For Angela’s research, I wonder what she is actually researching now. As I noted, the frog will be quite stressed, so that makes it hard to study much of their behaviour, and if she wants to describe physical characteristics… well, we should see her doing it. I further hope that she also has a traditional frog somewhere for comparison.)

Well, that was rubbish. Eragon’s reaction to Brom saying that Angela might well be right is this:

“And my shoes are made of gold,” retorted Eragon.

Who would even say this? I almost feel like this was edited from Eragon cursing or something; the context makes it look like this should be much sharper than it is.

Also, looking a bit wider, why is Eragon so opposed to Angela’s hypothesis now? He was just fine asking about it just now and he would be curious about something like this. I think I know what it is: Paolini wanted to show Eragon be wrong about this, but he ended up twisting Eragon out of character instead.

PPP: 915

That ends our introduction of Angela, too. It is certainly a memorable one, though that is in part because of her general obnoxiousness, and she does not seem like someone I would want to trust.

So Brom and Eragon reach Jeod’s house, which is quite fancy, with a doorknocker made of wrought iron and a “marble doorstep”. Brom knocks three times. No one answers. Eragon feels “slightly foolish” and suggests trying the other house. Um, neither Martin nor Angela said that Jeod would be available now, so why is this a sign that this would be the wrong house? I am really not seeing the logic here.

Olympic Finals in Conclusion Leaping: 18

Brom ignores him and knocks again, loudly. Again there is no answer. Eragon gets exasperated, because how dare these people not be available within half a minute. This does not seem like our usual Eragon, either. Then he hears someone run to the door (which indicates to me that Helen was just held up) and Helen cracks the door open. We get her description: she is young and has a “pale complexion and light blond hair”. It is also noted that it seems like she has been crying, but her voice is steady.

HISC: Since the explanation about her crying because she could not have a dress has been cut out, I presume she has done so because of the general state of Jeod’s business. This should probably have been cut, though, since it is attached to something that does not exist any more.

PPP: 916

Kerlois: So Helen asks what they want. Brom asks if Jeod lives here. Helen nods and says he is her husband. She asks if he expects them and does not open the door further. Brom says he does not but they need to talk to him anyway. Helen says he is “very busy”. Brom says they have come from far and it is just “very important” that they see him. Helen’s “face harden[s]” and she reiterates that Jeod is busy.

I want to note that Helen is being reasonable. There are two people who she has never seen before, and who claim to have business with Jeod, even though he is not expecting them. Brom gives no explanation as to what this business is or why it is so very urgent and does not care that Jeod is busy. This seems quite shady, and Helen is fully in her right to keep them out. Further, given that Jeod just lost his last ship and so is in big trouble, I can certainly see why she would be less patient than usual with Brom. Also, I note that Brom is making this sound as if meeting Jeod is quite urgent when it really is not. Does he really expect Jeod to drop everything he is doing to help them out with finding the Ra’zac in a way that might not even work?

Going back to what I wanted to say… Helen (even ignoring what we get later) is cast as unreasonable here. For example, she is noted not to open the door any farther, which is not necessary to the scene at hand and only seems to serve to show that she is being unreasonable. Further, while her “face hardens” here, Brom is noted to stay “pleasant” when answering and Helen is noted to seem “suspicious” later. Taking what we get later into account, I am quite sure we are supposed to think her unreasonable for not letting them in because Brom wants to. Well, I thought not.

Petty Ain’t the Word for You: 71 (yes, this is still necessary)

That is not to mention that Brom could easily have said “I am an old friend of Jeod’s and we have come to visit him again”. It would probably sound somewhat suspicious, too (since Helen has probably not heard of him), but at least it is verifiable and does not sound like they want to rob him.

Ill Logic: 2

Brom bristles at this, because how dare Helen not let him in when he refuses to say why he is here and/or keep some load of her husband when he is going through a difficult time! He keeps his voice “pleasant”, however, and asks if Helen could give him a message. She agrees to. His message is that “a friend from Gil’ead” waits outside. …So why could you not lead with this? Looking at the map, I see that Gil’ead is a city in the northeastern part of the Empire, on Lake Isenstar. The name is obviously derived from the Biblical name of the region in Jordan, which is a rather odd association for this city, which does not resemble it in any way. While that makes it a bad name in any case, Paolini then put in an apostrophe, which I presume is a laughably inadequate attempt to make the transplant less obvious. Instead, it just makes the whole thing more obvious and it is a blatant case of Meaningless Apostrophes. In short:

A Better Commando Name: 23

Helen is suspicious (what did you expect?) but agrees again. She closes the door and leaves.

HISC: This edition changes little about the exchange, except that the original had her agree “pointedly”.

Kerlois: Eragon then says this:

“That wasn’t very polite.” he commented.

As you might note, it has a full stop instead of a comma, something that slipped by Paolini, everyone editing this, and (as far as I know) all the antis, too. Yes, I am slightly smug about catching this.

PPP: 916

For what he says… I do not exactly see how Brom was being impolite. He should have given an explanation, sure, but he backed off when Helen made it clear that she did not want to go on, and his message was not impolite, either. Brom promptly sets out to prove it, though, as he tells Eragon to “[k]eep [his] opinions to [him]self” and to keep silent and let him do the talking. Ah yes, how dare he call you out (however silly that calling out may be). Also, “let me do the talking” and forbidding Eragon to talk are quite different things; it frankly comes across like Brom thinks Eragon would give them away, which once again underestimates Eragon’s intelligence.

Brom then crosses his arms and “nervously” taps his fingers, because he apparently is that now. (And no, I do not care that he is nervous. It was still a nasty thing to say.) Eragon pointedly “clamp[s] his mouth shut” and looks away. If I were him, I would outright walk away; after all, if Brom thinks he can decide for me, he clearly does not need me around. Still, good on him for doing this, at least.

Then the door slams open and a “tall man” comes out. Jeod is described as before, with quite some attention drawn to his scar. Once he sees them, his eyes go wide and he sags against the doorframe. He is “speechless” and gapes at them for a bit, before softly asking if it is really Brom. I do like this; it conveys Jeod’s shock at finding out that Brom is actually alive after all this time quite well. Brom puts a finger to his lips and grabs Jeod’s arm. He says it is good to see him and he is happy that “memory has not failed [Jeod]”, but he should not use that name, since it would be “unfortunate” if anyone knows he is here.

I do not like this, though (probably in part because Jeod’s shock was so clear just now). So Jeod has just found out that Brom is alive… and Brom’s first priority is to have Jeod not use his real name. Yes, Brom is certainly right to remind Jeod of that, but it is not so urgent as Brom is making it out to be. This would be appropriate if they were in a large tavern and anyone could overhear them, but this is a mostly empty street (at least, it sounds that way), so who cares if Jeod softly says Brom’s name? Engaging with Jeod, like showing that it is really him, should take priority now, and Brom not doing is… not the best way to reintroduce yourself. Also, grabbing Jeod’s arm is completely unnecessary and makes him look quite bad.

No Touchy: 9

Jeod looks around “wildly”, plainly shocked. He says he thought Brom was dead, and asks what happened and why Brom did not contact him earlier.

HISC: The self-published edition has him “hiss” this, while this edition changes it to “whisper”. I think that fits a bit better, though I rather like the implication of anger in the former.

Kerlois: Brom says that “All things will be explained” and asks Jeod for a place they can talk safely. Again, if it truly were urgent, this would make sense. As it is, Brom could easily say “I had to disappear”, so this comes across roughly the same way as him saying “all will be told in time” to Eragon earlier. It is better here, of course, since he clearly plans to tell Jeod, but there simply is no good reason to keep him in the dark now.

HISC: This edition deletes a mention of Brom letting go of Jeod.

PPP: 917

Kerlois: Yes, editing does not merely involve cutting things. Jeod considers for a bit, then says that they cannot talk here, but, if Brom waits a moment, he will take them somewhere they can. Brom is fine with that; Jeod is too and he goes inside. Eragon hopes he can learn something about Brom’s past. Good luck with that. I am pleased to see that Eragon has regained some curiosity, though.

When Jeod comes back, he has a rapier, and he is wearing an “embroidered jacket” along with a “plumed hat”. As Epistler notes, this would be considerably better placed in a Renaissance-themed setting. Still, the cities will consistently have this aesthetic, so I cannot complain too much, though I would like to know why the rest of the land is medieval-themed. Maybe that is because the Riders invested more into the cities, and thus they could develop further?

Cardboard Worldbuilding: 4

Brom looks at this clothing with a “critical eye” and Jeod shrugs self-consciously. Well, if you wanted to have a say in how he dresses, you should have let him know that you were still alive. As it is, Jeod does not have to do anything with this. I see that the new & improved edition removes the hyphen in “self-consciously” here.

So Jeod leads them to the citadel, which is apparently where it is “safe”. Eragon leads the horses. We know he has stables, of course, and Epistler asked why Jeod did not point Eragon to them… but I think he is too impatient to hear more from Brom to care for that, or to say where they are going, for that matter. At some point during their walk, Jeod gestures at the citadel. He explains that “Risthart”, Teirm’s lord, has decreed that all “business owners” must have their “headquarters” in the castle. Most of them conduct their business elsewhere, but they still need to “rent rooms there”. Jeod finds it nonsense, but they follow the decree anyway to “keep him calm”. They will also be “free of eavesdroppers” in the castle, since the walls are thick.

Time to review:

- “Risthart” is not a great name, but also not terrible, so… good enough.

- Is “business owner” meant to be synonymous with “trader”? That would explain why Jeod talks about “we”, but it does not mean the same thing.

PPP: 918

- Some of the traders do conduct their business from the castle, then? I would like to hear more about that.

- For Jeod saying this is “nonsense”… that is just nonsense. Having the headquarters of each business in one place (which is obviously the goal of this) makes it much easier to oversee them and to contact the owners if need be. I can certainly see why having to rent a room there would be irritating, but that does not mean it makes no sense.

- So Risthart is supposed to be angry and implicitly tyrannical, and he needs to be kept calm? Then we really should see him doing anything unreasonable, and we will not see that in this book or in the others. I think that he is supposed to be this way because he is a lord under the eeevil Galbatorix (or, as Murtagh puts it, “anyone who stayed in Galbatorix’s good graces for years on end had ice in their heart and blood on their hands”).

- As for being free of eavesdroppers… well, we have seen that is not quite true.

They reach the “fortress” (and I really wish Paolini would not use so many different words for this building), go in through the main gate and then enter the “keep”. Um, the keep is the fortified main tower of the castle, so I do not think the main gate would connect to that. Also, we will soon see that they are in a courtyard, and that is generally not included in a keep.

Did Not Do the Research: 102

Jeod walks to a “side door” and points to an “iron ring”. He says they can tie the horses there and no one will bother them. So the horses are tied, and Jeod opens the door with an “iron key” and lets them in. Inside there is a long hallway lit by torches on the walls. (Is this place visited often enough to justify that?) Eragon is surprised at how “cold and damp” it is. He touches the wall and feels a “layer of slime”, which he shivers at. That is decently done.

I do wonder… No, I cannot find anything about slime on stone walls. It also seems quite unlikely to me, since that slime would have to come from the walls, and given the torches in this hall, it should have dried up long ago. I guess it is supposed to be because it is so damp in this castle, but, while that causes a variety of problems, it does not make slime appear. Further, why is this castle so damp? It is a bit off the coast and also above sea level, so where is this water coming from? And why would the Riders not have done something to keep it from being so damp? Finally, how come Eragon finds the hallway quite cold when there are quite some hot torches in it? I suppose Paolini threw some descriptions of castles together to go for a certain mood, but the end result only makes sense of Eragon is hallucinating.

Did Not Do the Research: 105 (+3)

Jeod grabs a torch from the wall and leads the way (that seems like it is not supposed too happen). He stops before a “heavy, wooden door”, which he opens and leads Eragon and Brom into. This room is “dominated by a bearskin rug laden with stuffed chairs”. Around the walls are bookshelves “stacked with leather-bound tomes”. Nice. Jeod stacks wood in the fireplace (which he gets from… somewhere) and puts the torch under it. Soon, the fire roars.

HISC: This edition removes the account of Jeod lighting a taper and lighting candelabra with it, thankfully. It also removes the mention of Jeod, Eragon and Brom sitting, which also should not have been deleted.

PPP: 919

Kerlois: Well, Jeod calls Brom an “old man” and says he has “some explaining to do”. He most certainly has.

HISC: This edition also removes Jeod posturing about how he is giving Brom all his attention, which is a definite improvement.

Kerlois: Brom smiles and asks who Brom calls “an old man”. The last time he saw Jeod, there was no grey in his hair, and now it looks to be “in the final stages of decomposition”. That is still a quite odd thing to say about hair. Would Jeod not look bald, then? That aside, I do like this teasing, since it is just teasing, and there is nothing mean about it, for once. Jeod says that Brom looks the same as “nearly twenty years ago” and time seems to have kept him as a “crotchety old man” just to “inflict wisdom” on every younger generation. Yes, he does inflict his wisdom, does he not? This is also a nicely subtle hint that Brom is a Rider, since most people would not look the same for twenty years, and we know that Riders have an “extended life”. Well done, Paolini!

Jeod gets back on track and tells Brom to get on with the story. That was “always what [he was] good at”, Jeod finds. I do agree, really, since the stories Brom has told are relatively good in terms of structure. Eragon gets interested and eagerly waits for what Brom will say. Brom first pulls out his pipe and blows a smoke ring which he turns green and blows up the chimney. Show-off.

HISC: This edition does not have Brom smoking despite Jeod’s clear disapproval, at least.

Kerlois: There is that. I might like Eragon to connect this to Brom blowing such smoke rings the first day out of Carvahall, but I will take what I can get. Brom asks if Jeod remembers what they were doing in Gil’ead. Jeod says he naturally knows; that kind of thing is “hard to forget”, after all. Brom finds that an “understatement” (well, maybe it is different for Jeod?), but it is still true. Now, Brom will tell this story in quite vague terms, since Eragon must be kept ignorant at all times, apparently, so I will explain a bit about what happened.

As you might remember, Brom was involved in a plot to get Saphira’s egg. Jeod was involved in that, too. Brom managed to kill Morzan and Krovogon and that is where this picks up. When they were “separated”, Brom says, he could not find Jeod. During the “turmoil” he ended up in a “small room”. It only had “crates and boxes” in it, but he was curious, so he rummaged around… and he found Saphira’s egg!

That is actually a quite smart thing to do of Morzan (who had the egg). That means it is unlikely to be found, even by someone looking for it, and it would not be damaged in the battle. Also, if he won, he would know where it was, and he presumably told someone else where it was in case he lost. I do find it quite unlikely that Brom just happened to stumble into this room and just happened to take the time to explore it just after he killed Morzan and Krovogon, when he would be in great danger. I suspect this is another interference of Umaroth, and given that he admits to having “aided” Brom in the previous fight… I find that all the more likely. (I do have to wonder to what extent Umaroth was planned and to what extent plugging plot holes affected his role.)

Jeod is naturally shocked at this (or rather, shock “runs over his face”). Once Brom had it, he could not wait for Jeod, since at any moment he might have been discovered, “and all lost”. …I suppose he could not have done like Arya did and sent it away, then? Sure, as we will learn, sending her egg away would be very draining, and Brom is not as good with magic as Arya, so it might well have been his death… but he absolutely would have been willing to die for the cause. It just sounds so weird to me that he implies he would have given up if discovered.

So, he did the sensible thing by putting on the best disguise he could, fleeing Gil’ead and running to “our friends”. Here he corrects himself while looking at Eragon, because Eragon is Not Supposed To Know. The Varden kept the egg in a “vault” for safekeeping and “made [him] promise to care for whomever received it”. We never hear about this “vault” again and it is quite clear it was not kept there, so oops.

PPP: 920

I also wonder why he is talking about being “made to promise” to care for whoever becomes the new Rider, when (from his reaction when he saw Saphira) we know that he would have loved to. This also does not come up in his later account, so…

PPP: 921

Well, until the day he would be called to do that, he “had to disappear”. No one could know he was alive, not even Jeod, “though it grieved [him] to pain [Jeod] unnecessarily”. So he “went north” and “hid” in Carvahall. I get what he was trying to do, but the Varden would surely still know he was alive. They might have promised in the ancient language never to reveal he is alive, but that is something Brom should say, since it is relevant. That is not to mention that he had no trouble revealing his presence to Carvahall… Further, why does he find not letting Jeod know he was alive “unnecessary” when he finds having to disappear necessary? And why does it only grieve him to hurt Jeod unnecessarily? Would hurting him “necessarily” (however he defines that) not be worthy of grief? …That is about how he acts with Eragon, so I guess it tracks. It still is not something I would want to see in a heroic character, though.

PPP: 922 (for Brom saying that not telling Jeod was “unnecessary”)

Back with Eragon, he “clenche[s] his jaw”, angry that Brom is “deliberately keeping him in the dark”. My, it is actually acknowledged that Brom is trying to keep Eragon ignorant and he is allowed to be (rightly) angry about it! It is progress, I suppose.

HISC: This edition cuts out some thinking and complaining about Brom keeping him in the dark.

Kerlois: So, Jeod frowns and asks if “our friends” knew “all along” that Brom was alive, then. Brom confirms it.

I am wholly with Jeod here. Why should the Varden know, but not Jeod? Sure, Jeod might be recognised as having been along for the egg hunt, though, given that Morzan and Krovogon had been killed, that would be relatively improbable. Surely the members of the Varden who he told would be more likely to reveal he was still alive?

But I grant that Jeod is somehow just as likely to reveal it. That still leaves us with the problem of how Brom “hid” in Carvahall. He used the name he is widely known under, lived in a very conspicuous way with likely stolen furniture, still wore Aren, which would be quite recognisable, and appeared even when the traders came along! If he wished to be found out, he could have done much worse. So, why could he live in this way and be very conspicuous, while Jeod was not supposed to know? There was a good chance Jeod could have found out on his own, so I cannot think of a good excuse for this.

True, I am quite sure that Brom genuinely thought it was for the best, but he could certainly have afforded to message Jeod and he should have done it at some point before now! This is just quite selfish, and Jeod is quite right to complain.

For the Good of the Cause: 22 (+5)

Jeod, not knowing any of this, sighs and says that he supposes “the ruse was unavoidable”, though he still wishes the Varden told him. Yes, that is a valid complaint, too. As we know, Jeod supports the Varden now, and some people in the Varden know that he has worked with Brom, so I can see why he might want this. Sure, it might put Brom in danger of being exposed (but still less than what he himself did), but it would also be a token of appreciation for how much Jeod has helped the Varden.

So Jeod asks for confirmation on whether Carvahall is farther north and “on the other side of the Spine”. Brom must have told him about Carvahall, then. Brom agrees. And I would like to stop here, since the next bit is best discussed as a whole. Until next time, then!