Chapter Eighteen (Part II) | Table of Contents | Chapter Nineteen (Part II)

Corneille Noire: A good day, everyone, and welcome back to Eragon! Last time, Eragon killed a crow and killed two Urgals. Now for the reader post:

On part III of chapter 12, Tris points out that Eragon’s claim to have only noticed his wounds when the blood seeps down his thighs fits with cut wounds, not with the wounds he actually had. They say Eragon might have better said that he was so focussed on helping Garrow that he could work through it.

Ill Logic: 293

Wolfgoddess points out that Katrina should have been especially concerned with Roran, since they are to marry eventually.

She also notes (on this and the previous parts) that Gertrude is quite foolishly optimistic about Garrow’s chances of surviving, which comes across to her as Gertrude being cruel. For myself, I think it is more of the medical ignorance she is written with, along with Paolini trying to keep some tension.

Further, Chessy leaves a very nice fic (and if you want too, you could read the entire thread).

On part II of chapter 18, Epistler notes that Snowfire rightly should have bolted, instead of letting Brom fight with Gavgor.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 55

Other than that… I would like to say that the HISC will not have to do every bit of the self-published edition any more.

Let me leave, then. Until chapter 23, then! (leaves)

Kerlois: Let us begin with the next chapter, then.

Chapter Nineteen: Admonishments

HISC: “How dare you use magic to kill the Urgals, even though you were in mortal peril, Eragon?”

Kerlois: Yes, that is at least in part how the admonishments will look. We open on Eragon regaining some amount of strength and leaving the alley, “skirting the dead monsters”.

FYRP: 57

HISC: The self-published edition notes that the Urgal he shot is “headless” and he resists the urge to vomit again. I do not quite see how the Urgal would end up headless, and that seems like something we should have heard about before, but alright.

Kerlois: He walks up the street for a short while before Cadoc trots up to him. He mumbles that Cadoc is not hurt. I do wonder where Cadoc was during the fight scene last chapter… We get this:

He noticed, without particularly caring, that his hands were shaking violently and his movements were jerky. He felt detached, as if everything he saw were happening to someone else.

I quite like this! It is written reasonably well, and we can also see that Eragon has lost quite some energy, apparently. Eragon then finds Snowfire, who looks quite stressed-out, and is prancing and “ready to bolt”. So… why did he not bolt when he was threatened by an Urgal with an axe, then? Brom still lies unconscious in the saddle. Eragon calms Snowfire mentally and then goes to Brom.

He has a “long, blood-soaked cut” on his right arm. It bleeds “profusely”, but is neither deep or wide. Still, Eragon knows it needs to be bandaged because Brom might lose too much blood.

HISC: Hmm, the self-published edition is marginally better at this, by saying that Eragon is relieved at seeing that the wound is neither deep or wide. Still, it would be better to delete the first bit about the bleeding, and not to mention that the wound is not wide, since that is simply how axes work.

PPP: 776

Kerlois: If I were him, I would also worry about Brom’s unconsciousness… though that would be harder to treat. Eragon strokes Snowfire to calm him, and then slides Brom out of the saddle. Brom is too heavy for him, though, and he falls to the ground (that suits him right). Eragon is “shocked by his own weakness”. Just then, a “scream of rage” fills his mind and there is Saphira! A pity she is too late to contribute much, but still.

Well, she lands “fiercely” in front of him, keeping her wings partially raised, hissing and lashing her tail. She asks if he is hurt, “rage boiling in her voice”. He puts Brom on his back and says he is not. Saphira then “growl[s]” and asks where those that did it are, so she can “tear them apart”. Ah yes, there we have Saphira’s bloodthirstiness. I think that will give us some things to discuss in due course.

Eragon “wearily” points to the alley and says that it will “do no good”, as they are already dead. Saphira surprisedly asks if he killed them. He nods and says he did it “[s]omehow”. He explains what happened with “a few terse words” while he goes through his saddlebags for the rags that Zar’roc was wrapped in. So… they preserved those rags?

HISC: Hmm, I do not see any mention of them after Brom first unwrapped the sword in either edition, so that should have been mentioned.

PPP: 777

Then there is this:

Saphira said gravely, You have grown.

Kerlois: What is that supposed to mean? Sure, I understand what she says, but how is killing the Urgals evidence of growth? He can do something that he could not before, but he has no understanding of it at all. I do not think that is growth, or that it is worth getting “grave” over.

Eragon ignores it and finds a “long rag”. He cleans and bandages the wound. Then he says to Saphira that he wishes they were still in Palancar Valley, because then he might know what plants “[are] good for healing”. Here, he has no idea.

Well, that is quite reasonable. After all, Yazuac is in a quite different environment than Palancar Valley, and it would be a little ridiculous if the plants were the same. I do wonder… how does Eragon think these plants will help with healing? Surely bandaging and cleaning the wound would be enough?

Saphira does not reply. Eragon picks up Brom’s sword, cleans it, and puts it back. Saphira says that they should leave, as there might be “more Urgals lurking about”. That reminds me of something Epistler noted, and which will come up later: should they not try to bury the villagers? This is the argument Brom will (kind of) give: the threat of the Urgals.

HISC: In the self-published edition she says here that they would not be a problem for her, but Eragon and Brom would be in danger. Then… she could try to tend to the burial and tell Eragon to alert her if something goes wrong? She could also conceivably dig graves for and bury all these people.

Kerlois: That is certainly true. At the least, they should think about it, given how Eragon went on last chapter about how terrible it was for them, and given that burial is held as necessary for someone’s soul to find rest in Carvahall. Could he not at least have buried the little white baby, if only because of the focus it had. But no, we will not see the least thought of it until they reach the next village.

Ill Logic: 294

Morals for Thee But Not for Me: 11

To be fair, I do not think we see him have this belief in the way that Roran does, but I still think this goes against his own morals.

HISC: The self-published edition notes here that Eragon finds it difficult to “think rationally”, which is nice to see, but does not fit with what we see.

Kerlois: He asks Saphira if she can carry Brom. Saphira’s saddle will “hold him in place”, and she can protect him. It might be better to wait until Brom is conscious again, I think. Either way, I think Eragon and Saphira treat him being unconscious a little too lightly.

Saphira says she will, but she will not leave Eragon alone. Eragon says she can fly next to him, as long as they just get out of there. He puts the saddle on Saphira, then tries to lift Brom on her, but again “his diminished strength fail[s] him”. He asks Saphira for help.

She does so by biting in the back of Brom’s robe, lifting him off the ground, “like a cat would a kitten”, and putting him on her back. Then Eragon straps Brom in. He looks up when Brom “shift[s] and moan[s]”. He blinks “blearily” and puts a hand to his head. So… he was indeed hit on the head, then? Still, he will have no further trouble from it, or from being unconscious. At least the previous occurrences of people being unconscious had some lingering consequences.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 56

He looks at Eragon “with concern” and asks if Saphira got here in time. Eragon shakes his head (because of course she was not) and says he will explain it later. Brom is injured and he has healed it as best as he could, but he needs a “safe place to rest”. Brom feels his arm and agrees. He asks after his sword and sees that Eragon has found it.

Eragon finishes strapping Brom in, and he says that Saphira will take him along and follow Eragon by air.

HISC: In the self-published edition, Eragon now says that if they meet any Urgals, Saphira can “scare them off”. She herself insists that she will kill them. Yes, that is clearly the best option, even if they make no move to attack.

Kerlois: Brom asks if Eragon is sure he wants him to ride Saphira, because he could ride Snowfire, too. Eragon says he could not with that arm, and if he rides Saphira, he will not fall off even if he faints. Brom nods and says he is honoured.

HISC: The self-published edition has Brom tell Eragon to be careful.

Kerlois: Well, Brom puts an arm around Brom’s neck and she takes off, “springing high into the sky”. Eragon backs away and goes back to the horses. He ties Snowfire behind Cadoc, and then leaves Yazuac, “returning to the trail and following it southward”. It goes through a “rocky area”, then bends to the left and goes along the bank of the Ninor. We have attained it, then!

HISC: Hmm, if the trail goes left, it bends to the east, which means that Eragon would follow the Ninor downstream toward Lake Isenstar… In a few chapters, though, they will arrive at Daret, which lies to the west and upstream. So I am quite certain that this should be “right” instead of “left”. Let me show one of the earlier pictures:

I think this shows the issue quite well. (I am also somewhat pleased that I seem to have been the first to realise this.)

Kerlois: He truly should have looked at his own map better.

PPP: 777

Along the path there are “[f]erns, mosses, and small bushes” and it is “refreshingly cool” beneath the trees, but Eragon does not let himself feel secure. If it is “refreshingly” cool, then there should have been some mention of heat before now, I think.

PPP: 778

Eragon stops briefly to fill the waterskins and to let the horses have a drink. That was the solution to the problem of the water, then: they simply get some when they reach the Ninor. How very necessary that was. Eragon looks down and sees “the Ra’zac’s spoor”, and he thinks that they are at least going in the right direction. I do know what “spoor” means, but Eragon should not.

Forgot the Narrator: 44

HISC: The self-published edition called these “footprints”, which does not work, since the Ra’zac are mounted. “Track” would have been a perfectly fine replacement, though.

Kerlois: We are told that Saphira circles overhead, and keeps a “keen eye” on him. Then Eragon suddenly talks about how he is disturbed that he only saw two Urgals. Obviously the villagers were killed and the village “ransacked” by a large group, but “where [is] it”? Maybe it is south-east of here, since Merlock said they were migrating to the Hadarac Desert? I guess that Paolini is trying to introduce the possibility of them running into the Urgals, but why would they? The bigger danger would be in Urgals deserting from the main force.

He then comes up with the explanation that those they encountered were “a rear guard or a trap left for anyone who was following the main force”. First, I think “rear guard” would be better written as a single word.

PPP: 778

Now, I doubt they were a “rear guard”, because two Urgals would be a little small for such a large force. Further, they would be ward for attacks from behind, not stay in Yazuac to catch people who might come along. I get the feeling that Paolini did not understand what a “rear guard” is.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 57

For the second option… who would follow them? I guess that might be other Urgals… Still, why bother to set up a trap against people who might follow? It cannot be to hide their movements, since the traders already knew of them, so they must not bother doing so. If they were followed by people who want to fight them, they should also have left more than two Urgals in Yazuac. So I do not think they were either of these.

HISC: The self-published edition has Eragon look up at Saphira to make sure she is still there. I do note that Eragon’s fatigue has disappeared along with leaving Yazuac, without Eragon eating anything or having his energy replenished in any way. I guess Paolini just forgot about it.

PPP: 779

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 58 (that is not how this works)

Kerlois: Thank you for catching that. Eragon then thinks about how he killed the Urgals. He slowly gets an “idea, a revelation”. He, Eragon, a “farm boy of Palancar Valley” has used magic! He says it is the “only word for what has happened”. It seems impossible to him, but he cannot deny that he has seen it. Well, good for him that he does not do so.

HISC: I do like that he explicitly names himself as “farm boy”. Do you not know that they are often involved in magical things, Eragon?

Kerlois: Eragon continues by thinking that he has “somehow” become a “sorcerer or wizard”. I quite like that he is so confused about this! At the least, he has an actual reaction to something weird happening. He says he does not know how he can use magic again, or “what its limits and dangers might be”. Hmmm… We get this:

How can I have this ability? Was it common among the Riders? And if Brom knew of it, why didn’t he tell me? He shook his head in wonder and bewilderment.

So… Brom apparently never told any story about the Riders having magic? I… actually think that might be true. Given how little Eragon was in Carvahall, he might not have had the chance to hear about the Riders from other people than Brom, and as we saw, Brom did not mention magic in the two occasions we did see him speak about them.

I do share Eragon’s confusion here: why would Brom do his best to avoid this subject? My best guess is that Brom thought it would help his cover story or something? It is still not necessary at all; Eragon could know a little about magic and know that it is because he is a Rider and little would change.

Now he talks with Saphira to check how Brom is doing and “to share his thoughts”. Saphira is exactly as puzzled about the magic as he. Never mind that she has “ancestral memories”, then. Eragon then asks he if she can find them a place to stay, as he cannot see very far in the forest. While Saphira searches, he goes along the Ninor. Um, why does he only ask her to look for a “safe place” now? Would it not have been easier to find one as soon as they left Yazauc? I might see it if they wanted to get away from Yazuac, but we do not hear that, so it seems like everyone simply forgot.

Ill Logic: 295

Saphira calls him when “the light [is] fading” and shows him a picture of “a secluded clearing in the trees by the river”. Apparently this includes directions on where to find it, as Eragon turns the horses toward it and “nudge[s] them into a trot”.

HISC: The self-published edition notes just now that Eragon was “dozing” when Saphira called him and that he berates himself for it.

Kerlois: Well, with Saphira’s help, Eragon soon finds the clearing, though it is so well hidden that he doubts others could find it. That is just like the hiding place near Carvahall, then. He enters and sees that there already is a “small, smokeless fire” burning. Brom sits next to it, tending to his arm. Saphira is crouched next to him, “her body tense”. She asks him if he is sure he is not hurt.

Eragon says that he is not “on the outside”, but he is unsure “about the rest of [him]”. Then maybe you should have that checked? I do not imagine Usgazh punching him off Cadoc would have done him much good. Not that he will ever have any trouble resulting from this.

It’s Like We’re Smart But We’re Not: 59

Saphira says she should have “been there sooner”. Eragon says she does not have to feel bad, as they “all made mistakes”, and his was not staying closer to her. …That was what you were supposed to do, so I do not see how it counts as a mistake? Your mistake was rather not calling for her until it was too late. I just do not get why Eragon would say being too far away from her was a problem.

Ill Logic: 296

Either way, Saphira feels very grateful that he said that.

HISC: The self-published edition has Eragon saying she should not “feel badly”. Here, when Eragon leads the horses over, Brom gets up and asks if everything went well, then says that he sees it did.

Kerlois: All rightful changes, then. Eragon asks how Brom is. He looks at his arm and says it is a “large scratch and hurts terribly”, but he is sure it will heal soon. He does need a new bandage, though, as the current one did not last as long as he thought. So they boil some water to clean his wound with and then put a “fresh rag” on it. Once that is done, Brom says that he is hungry and Eragon looks like it as well, so they should first have dinner and then talk.

HISC: The self-published edition has some fluff here about what they are eating that I do not feel like including.

Kerlois: Once they have eaten, Brom lights his pipe, and he says that he thinks it is time for Eragon to tell what happened while he was unconscious. He is “most curious”. Note is made of his face reflecting the light of the fire, and his eyebrows “[sticking] out fiercely”. Why is that the case? This would be appropriate if Eragon had done something wrong, but here, I do not think there is a good reason for Brom to appear so intimidating.

HISC: I think that we ought to stop here, as we are almost halfway through the chapter. Until next time!

Kerlois: Until next time, then, as we will learn the basics of magic.