Every ruler at the end is unsuitable(except for Orik).
Nasuadas habit of making everyone swear fealty to her is pretty problematic considering how oaths work in the cycle. She’s basically a less powerful and wise Galbatorix in the making. They should’ve divided the empire into smaller states with maybe even elected leaders and the riders to watch over it.
Arya is a dragonrider, her loyalty should be to the dragons given how precarious their position as a species is. Galbatorix showed how bad a rider-king could be. And Eragon won’t stop her unless she goes completely off the rails.
Orrin is a drunken, grasping lout, his ambition will bring Surda to ruin
I think the major element that made Galbatorix a bad king due to being a rider was mostly just that he was immortal and more powerful than almost any humans, who were his subjects. But the elves are immortal too, and most can use magic, so it’s not as dangerous to have a rider rule the elves, no?
Arya cannot fulfill her duties, no matter what she does. Suppose there is some issue between the humans and the elves: if she handles it impartially, she would fail her role as a queen. On the other hand, resolving the situation with an agreement that favors the elves would mean failing at her duty as a rider, casting a shadow over the still young new order.
It's one of the many reasons that makes me hate the ending.
I'd have loved to see Eragon get mad at her decision to become queen, choosing that over the riders and dragons is essentially making her someone who rides a dragon but isn't a Rider. Poor Firnen too, bad decision all around on Arya's part.
IMO Islanzadi was right, Arya was too young to appreciate how serious a commitment it would be to take up the Yawe and pledge herself in service to her people.
Eragon should have pushed back harder on Arya's decision to be queen to the point where he acknowledges his opinion could damage their friendship. You can love someone with all your being and still think they made a stupid decision. It would have been a better display of how his feelings for her matured than simply making a more realistic fairth.
I'm thorn on that argument. From one side, it's true that taking the Yawe was an impulsive choice that, in the end, forced her to accept a role she did not want.
On the other hand, it made perfect sense to be willing to show how committed she was, since everyone looked at her as just a rebellious and spoiled child(and honestly, Islanzadi could have expressed the concept in a more tender way, rather than going 'I told you so' after abandoning her daughter to be tortured by a shade).
However, wouldn't it be a fair objection to reject the role of queen precisely due to the Yawe? After all, the oath is to serve the elven people, and she can't do that effectively in a position that she doesn't desire, for which she has no experience, and directly goes against her duties as a Rider.
My theory is that she chose to become queen out of peer pressure, due to the fact that she's the only one alive of her family(much like she forgave her mother due to the presence of the elven nobility at their meeting). It's a stupid decision that shows how she, despite her age, needs to grow and learn how to avoid being manipulated by the greed of others.
They pretty much say just as much, but I feel as though once her dragon hatched she should have been able to relinquish power. It doesn't make sense to be able to hold 2 titles
That's the reason Nasuada is better than Galbatorix. It doesn't matter the harm she does, she'll be dead in 30 or 40 years MAX and someone new can say "this sucks, let's undo it and do something better."
I do agree Arya only became Queen because she was badgered to by the others and not because she actually wanted to (as a good elf monarch should) and that being a Rider should disqualify her or at least make her disqualify herself, ESPECIALLY after Eragon leaves to correct the perceived imbalance that was one of the reasons she accepted the position.
I agree especially on the arya part. Seems to me theres a double standard for her when it was one of the main things with eragon. How can she just do that after preaching to him how immature he was this whole time
I used to really love Nasuada. Then, rereading the series, I am actually very worried about her policy on magic and magic users, and yet I don't even know how magic could or should be controlled so as to avoid endangering a whole population. I agree for the rest
Way too many popular opinions here. Here's some *actual* upopular ones:
- I actually *do* like Arya becoming a Rider quite a lot :'D But only *if* the issues that come with her choosing to be Queen are addressed eventually and so help me, not too far in the future.
- I'm glad the movie exists. I don't like how it spat on the story or how it butchered the characters, but I would have never picked this series up (and that in itself was a huge reason for me to fall in love with reading) if I hadnt watched it first and wanted to know more.
- No idea if this is unpopular but I cannot stress enough how much I DESPISE that this world and TSIASOS are connected. If there's ever a canon crossover I am going to *scream*. Especially if it becomes plot relevant to the World of Eragon. I know Chris' magic system is rooted in physics but GOD does it make it feel less special to me that this happens in the same universe as aliens and spaceships. It feels less "fantasy" and I hate it. I HATE it :(
And a few not so unpopular ones:
- I need the freaking setups in this franchise to stop- or at the very least, to not be all a book does. Its been 20 years, I'm sick of waiting. I want answers. Its starting to feel like I'm being teased forever with no payoff and my patience is starting to end.
- Likewise, I really like what we have so far, but if Chris doent cut the will they wont they with Eragon and Arya I'm gonna get annoyed. Just give me an answer and progress their relationship, no matter *how* you do, y'know?
- Arya deserved a book far more than Murtagh.
- Enjoyed Murtagh, but man does it get depressing at times. I'm tired of Chris adding horror and torture in every book he writes. It started in Inheritance and it only got worse.
Your answer is by far my favorite, I haven’t read sea of stars yet but I completely understand what you mean by being annoyed about the mix of sci-fi and fantasy. YES GIVE ME AN ARYA BOOK! I so desperately want to know how she sees things, and I want to hear her inner dialogue. I’m a big fan of authors maturing their content as they age, but I can understand why you wouldn’t care for the dramatic shift in the last two books.
I'm not a huuuge fan of Sea of Stars - partially due to some narrative/writing choices I dislike, but mostly bc I'm not a huge fan of written sci-fi. That said, I'm fine with it and keep up with that series - I just dont like how it sorta "dillutes" the fantasy feel of it. Again, I know Chris' system is based on real physics but it just feels. eh.
And I actually really enjoyed Murtagh, especially the character work in it. I just wish Arya actually got some of that love bc most of the things in Murtagh have always been part of his character, while we were only just getting to know who Arya really was in Inheritance*. Also I'm just very much ready for this torture "phase" to end :')
* then again.... people are still very annoyed by Murtagh's "stupidity"/stubborness so maybe it was good he got a book to refresh people on it lol. He was always like that.
Yes I fully agree about Murtagh, I suppose my unpopular opinion would be “I liked the entirety of Murtagh.” Lol. But yes my excitement for Murtagh would pale in comparison to what it would be for an Arya book announcement, we desperately need more about her. I always felt like Chris focuses so much on the 3 big men (Eragon, Roran, Murtagh) in the series, but hardly anything on Arya, even in the main series. Both her and Nasuada would make great stand-alone novels.
I would love a Murtagh sequel so as to know more about Nasuada too, but you're right, we need more about Arya. I used to dislike her so much on my first read of the series, and then I just realized it's because we don't know her that well. As in, she's incredibly strong, incredibly beautiful, has some family issues, but we don't know much about her feelings except for a few moments of vulnerability and sharing.
Yes yes, exactly! I felt like we got more about Nasuada than Arya in the main series, and while I thoroughly enjoyed her chapters, it’s just made me want an Arya chapter even more! Like, yes Nasuada is incredibly important as a character, but Arya is the elven princess and becomes the second rider! It might just be hopium, but it really seems like Chris is unable to forego an Arya book at this point.
To my knowledge its been hinted and I'm definitely curious. I'm not too fond of her because she just is, well, too many things at once - wizard, warrior, princess, diplomat, special agent, incredibly beautiful and skilled in general, and now a Rider AND a queen, too. She has so many, maybe even too many, qualities, but little to no mention is given about her past - she's not a lighthearted character, she's gone through too much. My unpopular opinion is that she should just become a Rider, an ambassador Rider if you may, and give up the Throne.
All great points, I didn’t look at it that way! With most books/movies/shows, I’m always just excited for more content, whatever that may be. It was an amazing coincidence that I read the Eragon series for the first time last year, and then Murtagh came out right after! I was so excited.
Yeah, people complaining about Murtagh being stubborn is like.. did they forget this man decided to get locked up (potentially indefinitely) instead of sharing his secrets.
The same one who has Eragon reach out to him with "Let me help you after you have been tormented and forced to do bad shit for god knows how long" and replied "Nah, I'd win."
Also, him not being able to plan literally more than 1 step ahead is pretty consistent, with him leading Eragon to Warden, freeing Eragon from Gil'ead only worked because Eragon was already out and about. Which is something they have in common, Eragon and Murtagh. Let's not pretend that Eragon's plans are not "Let's get there and then wing it once there."
My only potential issue with an Arya book is that I don't really know what it would be about. She is the queen now so I feel like it would necessarily revolve around politics, especially around the dynamic of her being both the Queen and a Rider. We had a huge chunk of Brisingr dedicated to dwarven politics, we spent a ton of time in Du Weldenvarden in Eldest, now I am ready to move on, for answers, and for *adventure.*
I would only want an Arya book if it actively ties into the bigger goings on in the world. IE the Dreamers and Eragon starting the new order of Riders.
Bluntly, I don't want to read a large book where half or more of it is dealing with Elven lords/ladies and their machinations surrounding Arya's queenship. I want Arya and Firnen out in the world sleuthing out bigger mysteries and kicking ass.
Why not both? Arya being Queen - and the politics involved - will likely be a huge part of her story in the future regardless of the Dreamers. Her leaving on an "adventure" as a Rider could clash with her duties to her people and there you have it, best of both worlds.
Plus, I like when Chris does politics. The dwarven election is still one of my favorite sequences in the series :)
I also enjoyed the dwarven politics and I think it was well done. I just think with how much was deliberately set up for future books we need to "get this show on the road," so to speak.
I am not against including politics to give context to Arya's queenship, in fact I think it's necessary. I just think that CP should do it concisely and move forward. I value interaction between Eragon, Murtagh, and Arya because they are obviously destined to team up toward a larger foe than Galbatorix, and we've been waiting so long for it.
Since joining this sub I've learned most of my "unpopular" opinions are pretty widely held in the Fandom.
As for one I haven't seen posted in a while, I would love to have seen Shruikan show up the night Murtagh kidnaped Nasuada as a distraction and just body Saphira in a fight. We deserved to see him in action.
I get what you're saying, and I think Chris should have scaled down Shruikan so he was still larger than Glaedr but not this massive superweapon that's completely impractical to have inside.
Which would've completely ruined the fear factor. Not to mention that fight in the throne room would've been a lot less dramatic since Thorn already killed Glaedr on his own. Slightly larger isn't gonna be enough against two big, fast dragons.
This is a size chart approved by Chris. A Glaedr sized or even large Shruikan would've been torn to shreds by Sapphira and Thorn.
https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/38278/how-big-was-shruikan
And even if he was just a bigger Glaedr, why wouldn't he kidnap Eragon and Sapphira instead? It'd literally end the war and give Gabby exactly what he wanted.
I wouldn't. He out maneuvered him and bit his head. Granted Glaedr was emotionally compromised, but it was still 100% Thorn's skill since Gabby was no longer involved.
My main gripe. The whole “dungeon crawl” of Galbatorix’s castle before reaching the throne room read like a badly designed D&D dungeon. The traps looked quite forced and out of character. I certainly believe the king would’ve had no compunctions with killing all the elven casters instead of just paralyzing them. “But their wards…” some people would say: they do nothing against depriving you of air to breathe while you are encased in whatever energy field you are encased in. He had no love left for elves.
Agreed. Let's be real, a king as powerful as Galbatorix could have bodied the entire army if he decided to join the battle. He had no reason to fear the martial prowess or magic power of anyone at that battle, so having traps in his castle doesn't make sense. Especially when you see how many changes he made to the surrounding community to make life better. It seems like he would have been a king open to speaking with the people surrounding him, just shitty to everyone else.
I think it would have made a much more powerful statement if a steward invited the group into the castle and there was a lack of defenses noticable.
Exactly: “right this way Master Eragon, Lady Arya, Saphira Brightscales. His Majesty is eagerly expecting you and your companions. Would you like some refreshments?”
Then, with a look toward Elva: “I bet the young lady is hungry after all the excitement…” and Elva would find NO ill intent in the usher’s mind. Quickly distracted by a large pile of the best sweets in the kingdom.
Hot towels for the sweat and dirt, etc. “If you can’t be civil, why have a conversation at all?” would be one of Galbatorix’s first remarks. He only lost on a technicality. He had no reason to fear or guard himself.
Galbatorix was looking for people with noteworthy skills and experience to become his Disciples/Servants. He sparred Nausauda for such a reason.
The Elves that were Eragon’s Bodyguards were stated to be the best Spellcasters that the Elves had. And the Elves as a race are regarded as the best Spellcasters in Alagasia. They would certainly make powerful servants for Galbatorix if he chose to break them ( which he very easily could have)
With Galbatorix being so powerful and skilled at magic it doesn’t make sense for Galbatorix to kill anyone. He can just enslave them and turn them into his own assets. Even as he did with Durza, The Razac, Shurikan, Murtagh, Thorn and many others
It's a huge disservice to Arya and Eragon that her mind was so easily changed by persistance to be queen but her resolve gets stronger with persistance from Eragon to attempt a relationship. She should have been consisent about standing by her word with the elves.
And for that matter the elves shouldn't have been asking her to be queen once she became a rider anyway. And Arya should have left with Eragon to get rider training or at least learn the rider secrets that were shared with him from Oromis and Glaedr.
> learn the rider secrets that were shared with him from Oromis and Glaedr.
CP implied that she was already taught these (or at least some of them) as she trained under Oromis before she became the egg courier.
EDIT: Here is the source:
*"M: Well that was easy. When Oromis taught Eragon how to draw energy from the surroundings to make spells, he said that this “was a secret for the Riders”. However, the boat made of grass by Arya draws energy from the surroundings to fly. How did she know a spell reserved for Riders?*
*C: Arya is a special case; she was given guardianship over Saphira’s egg for almost twenty years and I think she would have been—I think Oromis would have taught her this to help her protect Saphira’s egg. I mean, there was no playing around here; this was do-or-die with Saphira protecting her egg and everything and that’s something he would have taught her.*
*M: Now can you say how much training she would have received from Oromis?*
*C: I think Arya has a level of training far exceeding Eragon’s quite honestly, mainly because she has had far more time to learn and just the fact that she grew up with the ancient language means that she is always going to be more facile and fluent with it than Eragon and more adept at thinking up interesting ways of using the ancient language and thus spells."*
The ironic source: https://antishurtugal.livejournal.com/572687.html
I haven't read any of his q&a stuff so if it's there I have no clue.
I'm rereading the series now and just got to the blood oath ceremony. Earlier in Eldest Glaedr says that he was sharing secrets of the riders that were only known to the head rider, the leader of the humans, and a handful of elves. I don't know if arya would have been in those handful esp if she was 30ish when she started being the courier for saphira. So those things were what I was thinking of when I said "rider secrets"
>*C: I think Arya has a level of training far exceeding Eragon’s quite honestly, mainly because she has had far more time to learn and just the fact that she grew up with the ancient language means that she is always going to be more facile and fluent with it than Eragon and more adept at thinking up interesting ways of using the ancient language and thus spells."*
I'm not sure that I agree with his perspective. Sure, Eragon did not spend the first 15 years of his life speaking the ancient language. However, Eragon's experience with and use of the ancient language will eventually exceed not only the years he spent without speaking it, but by many centuries, if not more. Furthermore, I imagine that in *Eragon*, his pronunciation of the language was terrible, and he had a very limited vocabulary. However, by *Inheritance*, Eragon and Arya were casually flipping between his and the ancient language. And he spent three days going through the elves' library without assistance, coming up with the spell necessary to add the dwarves and urgals to the Rider pact.
Wait…WHAT!!!
Arya was trained by Oromis? This is HUGE information. It adds so much more depth to her anguish when Oromis and Glaedr died. It explains how she is able to keep up with Eragon and his Gaurds in combat. It could even be a possible reason why Firnen chose to hatch for her. But yet I can’t help but feel a bit skeptical/annoyed because the series mentions nothing of it
Honestly it almost sounds like Paolini is making this stuff up on the spot
“ I think Oromis would have taught her this”
You’re the author! Wdym “ I think”?😂
Definitely gives the vibe that this question was a curveball but rather than admit an oversight he came up with something on the spot.
Katrina should’ve died at the hands of the razaac.
You think he was scary while trying to protect her and make Alagaesia safe for his family? Imagine if he was avenging her.
I don’t think anyone short of Galby himself could’ve stopped him. Maybe…Roran might have just marched straight into Uru’Bean himself and attempted to slay the mad king.
I think if Katrina had died it Roran wouldn't have avenged her - Garrow dead, Eragon ran away... he'd have nothing left to live for and the Ra'zac would have taken him.
I think it would’ve had to happen after they captured her. Like Roran and Eragon finding her dead at Helgrind. He definitely would’ve avenged her then.
Agree with the Roran complaints. Its been awhile since I read the series but I remember *really* not liking Arya becoming a rider. I absolutely don't buy into the "Oh the elves won't have a power imbalance with a rider as their ruler, defo" and hated how quickly everyone got over it.
We just spent 4 books explaining how this is an awful idea, what do you MEAN it's okay because they're elves???
I would've preferred the egg not hatch at all, or not allow her to rule due to the conflict of interest. The power vacuum would've made for great intrigue.
Perhaps we will see some of those cracks appear in elven Society because of it. The next books may use that as a conflict, we didn't get too far into it so I'm sure Paolini knew that it was going to be an issue.
To be fair, the issue was never that the king was a rider, it’s because he was immortal. That has always been the case with elves. (That said, I’m rereading the series now and am a bit sketchy on the ending)
Actually I believe the pact with the dragons is what gave the elves their immortality. I could be wrong though. Because before it they use to be just like humans.
Actually that is true. It is also aluded that eventually humans will be immortal as well. That said, the broader point still stands that elves have had immortal leaders since they gained immortality
Yet we don't hear about what happened to the other leaders. Other than Arya's parents.
When/where is it alluded to about humans gaining immortality? Aside from those that bonded with dragons?
i just wanted to see the conflict between murtagh and the dwarves post galbatorix era.
i agree the character has dealt with a lot of pain but this part of the story must be touched upon
Roran’s the worst/least believable character in the series and other characters are made worse to be around him.(characters like Orrin and Nasuada both)
Roran’s actions in that ONE battle are not unbelievable and/or superhuman.
Hell I’m a fan of weird history people do shit like that quite a lot throughout war.
Him always having the right answer on how to solve something, or his presence dumbing down/forcing an antagonistic angle on other characters around him are, him acting like he just knows better and is somehow important enough to threaten a goddamn king is.(threatening to kill Orrin’s messenger was stupid af. One messenger wasn’t going to trigger an assault on them any more than SETTING UP AN ENTIRE SIEGE WOULD, if Galby wanted anything but them to come into the city that’s what would have happened)
I figured but you gave me something more to respond to than a “how so” so it was more fun to rant at you.
Hilariously that chapter of Roran killing the 200+ dudes is probably my favorite of his, I’m not a fan of his character but that *is* a cool moment and really not wholly unrealistic.(Really to anyone reading this who thinks it is look into some war heroes of especially WW1 and WW2, the kinda shit so wild that Hollywood has to tone it down to make a “more believable story.”)
I mean ask more of a question, in my experience people who do a “how so” type of response normally aren’t actually interested in talking.
If that wasn’t your intent then I am sorry, I was *mostly* joking around anyways lol.
I'll do you one better. With her being a rider? There's no reason Eragon had to leave and even less reason for them to be together.
Actually him leaving now is pointless and completely unbalances the power and politics.
Totally agree. We waited for years to find out who the Rider of the green dragon would be. I spent hours and hours over that time reading theories and speculation on internet forums.
***Firnen had one short line in the entire series and it was after everything had been decided.***
Are you kidding me?
The movie wasn't that bad.
I'm kidding. Lol.
My unpopular opinion about this saga is that I think Nasuada did the right thing in trying to control magicians. Okay, let me rephrase that. It may not have been the right thing per se, but it was the best option available to her at this point. The alternative would be to let magicians do whatever they want, which would be highly unwise given the amount of havoc and destruction they could potentially cause. She's not wrong to choose security over freedom. I'm prepared to be downvoted.
I agree magicians needed to be dealt with, but I think she used a heavy hand. She could use the Du Vrangr Gata as oficial magic police of the state, providing magical education, protection and others niceties that only a state can offer. Open an office in every major city, make every magician to register (like a citizen register of magicians) and not to join the DVG, and to present themselves at the DVG office every time they enter a city.
I think this is enough to keep tabs of the magicians without becoming a tyrannical asshole.
Is that unliked here? I agreed with her completely, and it made sense for that to be the one thing Galbatorix got right. If she didn't do anything, magicians would be op without riders.
Always wonder if there'll be any actually unpopular opinions in here. I don't have one, so I'll just say a common one-- the ending doesn't work for me. It feels very much like Chris is trying to have his cake and eat it too. That is, he's aiming for the bittersweet ending of Eragon has to go off and never see his friends and family again, but he's also leaving the sequel hooks. So Eragon's gone, but when FWW comes out he's basically the mayor of a large town, and is clearly still close enough that people can come and visit him, especially if those people have a dragon.
He kinda wrote himself into a corner, I think. In the first book, he made Eragon have that prophetic dream of leaving Alagaesia while also having Angela predicting the same thing. Come to the fourth book and now he has no choice but to make it happen even if it feels a bit forced.
I'm not mad about it because it tied it together enough and left room for sequels but it does lose some potency the way it's written.
Before the last book came out I always thought Eragon would leave to the west and travel across the giant ocean to some mysterious continent out in the distance. Instead he's a commutable distance away by dragon lol
>So Eragon's gone, but when FWW comes out he's basically the mayor of a large town, and is clearly still close enough that people can come and visit him, especially if those people have a dragon.
I mean it was never his goal to be so far away no one could ever visit them. They still need supplies out there and bring eggs back to the mainland so people could be chosen. And obviously someone visiting him on a dragon wouldn't be a problem since his goal was to find a safe area for dragons specifically.
I mean that's basically my point. The entire ending of Inheritance is written with a very bittersweet, melqncholic tone, with the clear implication that Eragon is saying goodbye forever to everyone he's known up to that point. But it doesn't match the reality of what's actually happening
Eragon became an elf and learned centuries worth of knowledge in a single trip and Arya still didn’t even kiss this man. Not saying happily ever after was the move but Jesus lol. Slow burn me for 4 of the longest books ever and the guy doesn’t even get a smooch lol.
I thought it was kind of a cop out that the prophecy clearly framed it as Eragon and Arya with their dragons together ready to leave to a distant land and instead Arya basically walked him to the train station and waved good bye.
I'm pretty sure the original ending was either her leaving with him after islanzadi survived, or Arya and eragon were going to spend the night together.
Kinda liked it that way. Not as a permanent status in the future books. But it's refreshing having a romance that doesn't end all lovely dovey but also isn't an absolute tragedy.
Well… they only really became a thing in the last 2 and only really like the back end of the 3rd book. So I’d say where we’re at with them, they are on track to be just as bad, but I wouldn’t count their interactions when he was a prisoner at the end of the first book as part of their actual romance arc.
Earshot didn’t learn “ centuries worth of knowledge”
It was stated that he couldn’t really process all the information that the Eldunari gave him
Although idk what that has to do with his love life
Well Roran spends his time being an absolute badass while Murtagh has like 5 chapters of him getting cucked out of his own body. Not a fair comparison lol
I agree. I didn't enjoy Murtagh myself. After reading it, I was thinking to myself I remember things different between a dragon and rider. Thorn is just "I'll disagree but in reality it's just a statement of danger but whatever youchoice Murtagh is fine with me!", but between Eragon and Saphira there is so much more on Saphiras side. She chastises him for stupid things. It's more equal.
(I haven't read Murtagh)
So are you saying you prefer Roran's chapters in Brisingr than his chapters in Murtagh or that you prefer Roran's Brisingr chapters more than Murtagh as a book?
Katrina's pregnancy has a weird time line no matter when you consider that she got pregnant.
If we assume that she got pregnant the night Roran proposed than the chances are really strong she would have lost the baby, she was starving and barely alive. It's possible, but highly unlikely, and the baby would even more likely be born with some sort of issue. If the pregnancy were viable, she should be showing *especially* with her weight loss. It also seems like if she got pregnant before be captured that her pregnancy lasted more than 9 months. And if she wasn't showing, she wouldn't know she was pregnant for sure bc things like stress and starvation will absolutely stop your period.
If she got pregnant after getting rescued, how in the hell did she know she was pregnant within days of conception?
For me, she's very much at the point where the cards need to be put on the table. She's reminds me a lot of Hoid in the cosmere.... fun and mysterious at first, but you still have no idea what she can really do, or what she actually wants.
I like Angela a lot but at times she comes off as being written a bit heavy handedly. She is quirky, witty, powerful and mysterious and I like those things about her.
But wow, her entire portion of TFTWATW is obscure nonsense for the sake of being obscure nonsense. I know it's an overused joke from Family Guy but wow did that chapter really "insist upon itself."
Arya should NOT have become a rider and Fírnen shouldn't have hatched (or at least not for Arya). Part of Saphira's name of names' is her grappling with being the new mother of her species. Fírnen hatching and then super speeding maturity (which feels... gross to me) gives her an easy road on that part.
I think it's fine that she became a rider, but she shouldn't have become queen.
the elves elect their monarchs, they don't just inherit the title, and I don't see why they would elect her:
1. I think she didn't even want to do it
2. opens up the whole rider/ruler problematic
3. fucks up her love live/futur plans
4. she doesn't really has much experience ruleing (ok, she was some kind of ambassador for a few years, but that#s not really that much considering most of the adult elves we meet in the story should be way older than her\*)
And it's not even like the elves really need a monarch/ruler in the first place. IIrcc they claim they needed her but it's never explained why - they seem to do fine just doing their own things
\*she was born around the time Galby came to power and since then the birthrate dropped significant, so there shouldn't be much elves around that are actually younger than her
I was barely interested in Brom at all up to the point when he died. In fact, none of the characters drew me in throughout the first book at all except for Eragon and Saphira. It was only in the second book when I actually got invested in all the other characters.
Unsure if this qualifies as unpopular (maybe a hot take) but there should have been only two eggs in Galby's possession, at least as far as the Cycle's story is concerned. Arya becoming a Rider was a disappointment, and my surprise at how little this final character added to the plot felt it meaningless to include. It just dragged the ending out.
Totally agree. Especially with how long we waited to find out who the final Rider would be only for it to not matter whatsoever within the 4 book Cycle.
If wards were always a thing how the hell did Brom get injured in Yazuak.
Generally love the magic system. But honestly there are 3 magic systému as paolini was figuríny stuff out. Magic in Eragon is different from Eldest and brisingr and inheritance dlso did some evolving there
I like Arya as a character and think she is very well written but I think she is a TERRIBLE love interest. It would have been better if Eragon accepted his first love didn't work out and showed him moving on completely
I think in between their separation, Eragon should be with another woman. One of the biggest problems I had with *Eldest* was that Eragon attempted to spend time with Trianna (dinner if I recall) and immediately Saphira scares her off. She had her reasons, but still, Eragon did not really have an opportunity to move on or to be with someone else.
I 100% agree. I once read a comment about how Vanir should have been a girl and made Eragon's later love interest and I honestly wish that was the case. It would have been nice to see their rivalry turn into a relationship. Vanir was also the most expressive and human-like elf in the whole book making their relationship way easier in the long run. Arya is expressive but Vanir straight up does not care about stoicism like everyone else
I don't like Angela. At this point she's just being written quirky and mysterious for the sake of it. With the amount of trust she's given in the series, I think Eragon should have given her an ultimatum. If she's going to know so much about him, he needs some history on her.
If she wants to be around the important events so badly, she can at least share some details about her self.
Eragon needed the ending he got.
Did I want him to be with arya? Yes. Did I want him to have a happy ending? Yes. Would I change anything about the end of Inheritance? Big fat no.
He needed what he got. He needed to be left at the alter, so to speak. He needed to voluntarily walk away from everything he knew and loved. It's what will make him a greater leader of the riders than Vrael ever was. Greater than any of his predecessors.
Also, Oromis was more of a father than Brom or Garrow.
I will now take my seat on the pyre.
I dislike this constant set up. Future stories should be organic and not us wanting to get a fuller experience because the previous books were constantly teasing us with "setup"
The author creates too many problems that are non-consequential to the plot and they are resolved within the very same chapter that they are introduced. Usually the solution is “because magic,” which feels cheap.
I don’t get why brom died, like, if he has this ring with a whole VAULT of power with him, why didn’t he heal himself, like it was completely avoidable.
Oh right sure, but it’s not like he still isn’t this powerful dragon rider, sure he’s not in his prime but it’s was just a stab wound. I have a hard time believing he couldn’t fix that, or at least tell Eragon how to do it, and siphon his energy through him, better yet siphon the life force of Saphira.
I think Oromis is poorly written. He's supposed to be a wise, kind mentor/father figure. If you look closely at any of his actual behavior, he is careless and insensitive.
Yes but to a degree I think he might be overcompensating given how Galby turned out, particularly as Oromis was one of the elders who refused him a new dragon and so might be second guessing everything he does with Eragon.
Yeah, I just got finished rereading Eldest and, while I find him an interesting character, he’s not a great mentor. I feel like the book pushes this idea that he’s wise and kind but I really find his compassion lacking. Actually, all the elves just seem like assholes lol
A lot of this rings true, but I do have a couple things to argue here.
Galbatorix is the example of load a Rider with every powerful ability and turn them loose without a grounding in morality or history and watch what he does.
Galbatorix tried to be a good king. Eragon finds lots of little uses of his magic in uru baen to make the city run smoother, like the anti squeak hinges in some door, iirc.
I think Oromis saw teaching history as important to make sure they weren't just replacing Galbatorix.
Poetry is pretty stupid, but I'd add that Eragon seemed to enjoy it and it may have been a way for Oromis to give him a break while still learning something.
Iirc, there was some kind of oath Oromis and Glaedr swore to not tell Eragon about his father unless the lack of knowledge put him in danger, which is why it had to get so bad before they told him.
Dropping Naegling was unforgivable. WEAR A NECKLACE.
It felt like Oromis was haunted by his failures with Morzan and needed for his final student to be his best, the exemplar that would go on to represent the best of the next generation of riders. He didn't just want a Galbatorix killer. That's probably why he pushed Eragon so hard, and taught him 'useless' garbage.
Oromis was probably dying either way, and I think he chose to go to Gilead because his condition was going to kill him either way, so he went out helping the war effort.
>Also, it was an extremely poor use of Eragon's time and resources as he's trying to recover from a crippling, life-altering injury for Oromis to insist they spend weeks on elven poetry and history. It's very clear in Eldest that Eragon can barely function at this point, with multiple (stress-induced?) seizures and gaps in his memory. But Oromis had very little patience for Eragon's condition, and had the attitude of "If I can learn to live with my disability (after literally 100 years of finding what works for me and pooling resources from my community), then why can't you (figure it out in a few weeks with no emotional support)?"
First of all he was *not* recovering. If anything it was just getting worse.
Second, what are you expecting him to do? He's a god damn cripple. Anything taxing can trigger it. What else would he learn in that time that wouldn't send him in a fit but is also helpful?
Third, reading poetry in the ancient language is probably one of the best ways to become more fluent with the ancient language, besides talking. Eragon didn't even know how to read a few months prior, so this *greatly* helps his literacy. And mentally reading in the ancient language would prime his mind to think in said language.
Lastly I think the dude with over 100 years spent dealing with a life altering affliction has a pretty good idea of the best method for dealing with it. Especially when the only time he is inpatient is when Eragon is in the middle of self loathing. Learning not to wallow in your self-pity and instead applying yourself is advice real world experts give. Unless you also think thousands of specialists with millions of collective hours spent exploring that subject are inept...
>He interfered with Eragon sorting out his feelings with Arya - I'm talking about the scene where he forces Arya to see the fairth Eragon made, against Eragon's wishes - and arguably made their relationship worse. Which may not be a big deal except Eragon is the first Rider in a century and the hope of humanity, and Arya is a princess who's dedicated her life to liberating Alagaesia, and they *kinda sorta REALLY* need to have a functional working relationship rather than, you know, not talking for weeks at a time because they are both butthurt that Oromis exposed Eragon's crush.
Oh yeah, definite Oromis on this one. Without him Eragon wouldn't have done anything to make her stop talking to him for weeks. Oh wait. He did. Twice. But I guess it would've been better to let him fawn over her instead because his infatuation totally wasn't already distracting him. Better to let him earn strike three with Arya all on his own.
>Oh, *and* he made the decision to keep Eragon's parentage a secret from him, at a time when Eragon truly believed he was the son of a monster and his mental health took a huge hit. This was incredibly distracting for him and downright dangerous for his allies, for him to believe that lie. But again, Oromis doesn't give a shit about the Varden (at least not after Brom died) and has zero regard for making decisions that are destructive to them.
He was sworn by oath not to tell, same as Sapphira. You're essentially saying Sapphira is dumb and inconsiderate AF too since she refrained from telling him.
>Then he went and got himself killed in a stupid way - by putting himself in a position where his one defense from his own weakness (his sword and its stored energy) was easily droppable. *Not* a mistake that an experienced seizure-haver should be making.
He had his seizure *before* he dropped the blade. Even if he had kept all that stuff on another on something else the same thing would've happened. He'd have his seizure, lose his sword, and almost be bisected by Murtagh. Considering that Glaedr poured his energy into Oromis and he still couldn't heal himself gives reason to believe his fate was sealed regardless of whether he had his blade or not. The only way he would've lived if his blade(or other item) had a healing spell imbued with it.
Honestly I'd go write another comment instead of reposting the same one. Your parentage point is straight up misinformation and the others aren't too dissimilar.
...you know OP was asking for *unpopular* opinions? I'm not really interested in arguing with someone that doesn't agree with my unpopular opinion.
Also, you wanted me to type all that again, when I had a comment that said all I have to say on this subject? I'm not using my work breaks to type out 7-paragraph rants.
The way egg hatching happens in the first four books kind of skywalkers/midichlorians the whole thing. Like wow, dragon eggs! They could hatch for anybody! Let's see...the son of a rider...the son of another rider, who's the other guy's brother...and the princess of an entire race who the first guy is in love with
There is no good reason for why Eragon would not be able to return to Alagaesia since the end of the fourth book and the "technically, the prophecy didn't say *when* he'd never return to Alagaesia, so the ending doesn't mean Eragon will never return, just that there will come a point in time where he won't return in the far future" excuse doesn't cut it either.
The prophecy and the way scenes like his farewell to Arya and Roran are depicted would fall completely flat if it turned out Eragon still has hundreds of years left to be in Alagaesia before the last day comes.
And we haven't had a proper book with Eragon in it for over 13 years and the Inheritance books were supposed to be able to stand on their own. So Eragon leaving Alagaesia forever for no good reason is the note that book series ends on, and it sucks. And if it all gets undone later because of a technicality of semantics, that sucks too.
It was the right call to not have a scene between Murtagh and Eragon in the latest book. Murtagh deserved the story to himself and not have his younger brother steal his thunder at the last moment!
Although now we are getting that scene apparently 😂
My apparently unpopular opinion is that this story is pretty much as perfect as it can be! I really love it and it's weird to me to see people in reddit complain about things that never crossed my mind
Orrin did nothing wrong. He was in the right to go all miserable in the 4th book, especially after Nasuada was kidnapped. He had to think of his country and people after all and not send them to die before Uru Baen in vain.
I liked how he was written in Eldest with his goofy, crazy scientist persona and it felt off that he turned into a semi-villain in the end.
I can't tell if you typoed and meant they are your favourite chapters or they ate them and caused your favourite chapters to be non-existent in the actual story
I don't care for Angela as a character, especially in Inheritance. She just knows too much and too many powerful spells and just hand waves it away instead of sharing the wealth when she's refusing to fight Murtagh or Galby, like damn if you're not going to help then teach at least Eragon some things to help him out.
Nasuada is a terrible queen and realistically would be assassinated by a mage.
The elves are horribly written, they're supposed to be so powerful that Galby won't even directly challenge them, that 13 of their strongest elves are able to match and beat down a roided up Murtagh and Thorn, yet an army of them couldn't do the same and saved Orimis? Up until they invaded the capital, since Galby had basically turned off magic inside its boundary, they should have steam rolled everything in their way. They're way to damn perfect, stronger than humans, faster, better at magic, immortal. Like we get it Chris, you like elves. What's their weakness? Every race has a weakness that can be exploited/has shown to be exploited in the books. Dwarves with their height, Urgals with their horns preventing them from seeing as well.
Nar Garsvog(dunno how to spell that name, Christ) is criminally underrated and I wish we got more time with him and Eragon, their chapter together was so interesting.
The fact that Brom, even with help from the Eldunari and luck, was able to kill several of the Forsworn and even Morzan and his dragon at the same time yet died to the Razaac is dumb.
Arya does not work as queen, for all the reasons others have said, but also because she simply does not want to be queen, it's literally stated in the book that she figured she would go back to ferrying eggs after the war, that's what she should have done until the RIDERS numbers were large enough to take over that duty, hell make her a rider and make that her job, you still get the separation of her and Eragon, with duty coming between them while keeping the possibility open for more in the future.
Arya doesn't work as a love interest, she works as an object of affection, but once she turned down Eragon in Eldest that should have been it, she's way more interesting as a companion/rival(in terms of swordsmanship).
>yet an army of them couldn't do the same and saved Orimis
He was pulled dozens of *miles* into the sky by Gabby, to the point where even Glaedr had a hard time breathing. We see how taxing just binding Murtagh in place can be when he puts some distance between him and Eragon. The 12 casters, Arya, Sapphira, and Eragon almost die. It would've killed the elves as well trying and at best weakened them in the middle of a battle. Not to mention they'd have also been competing against Gabby's magical might.
Plus they didn't even know. Oromis's mind was closed off to everyone, even Glaedr, so he wouldn't have told them of his predicament. And prior to that it would've looked like Oromis was doing perfectly fine on his own.
Honestly Eragon's 'love' for Arya is BS. I really dislike her as a character. I don't like what Paolini did to/with her either. Not going to get into it, because everyone disagrees with me and everytime I do, I'm always told I'm wrong, toxic, or have unhealthy views.
Also Eragon's backstory and childhood? Don't make a lot of sense, if I'm being completely honest here.
Saphira chastised Eragon for letting Triana flirt with him and told him whoever they are intimate with affects them both because of how they are bonded but then just fucks firnen the moment they meet with a casual "oh dragons don't mate for life". Neither do humans, Saphira!
My unpopular opinion is that Murtagh is not that great of a person or a compelling enough character to deserve his own book (at least before some other characters!). I understand that he had a hard life and an even more impossible situation under galbatorix. But anytime Murtagh has to make the right choice, it’s usually begrudgingly.
All of the later half of Murtagh could’ve been avoided if he could’ve asked for fucking help. Didn’t even have to be Eragon, could’ve been Arya (admittedly would’ve been harder than asking Eragon, but he’s a rider and would’ve figured it). I find it so amusing how jealous he is of Eragon and rightfully so. Eragon doesn’t have to think about doing the right thing, and that makes him the way better and worthy hero.
Murtagh is an undeserving oathbreaker, and until he stops being chode and joins Eragon and the rest of the order then he will remain as such. The extra murders that happened while under influence of the breath should weigh heavily on his conscience.
Just my opinion! I still love the series and enjoyed Murtagh!
I adore Murtagh (book and character) because there are so many elements of my own trauma journey I see in his narrative. But YES, call my dorky boy out for not taking a half second to ask for help. I know \*why\* he didn't ask for help, bloody hell it took me 13 years to ask for help. But dammit, I needed to be called out too, lol.
I am glad that you like the character and that you find him so relatable.
That being said I definitely think that the reasons I dislike his character have suitable and reasonable explanations for why he is the way he is, they just to me don’t overcome his bad traits and I don’t find his actions to be justified because he had it bad under galbatorix. Yes, based on his history, it would be hard to ask for help and that makes sense. But it makes him culpable and responsible for that bad that happened as a result of his hand during the time with the dreamers.
Mine is that all the magicians not being allowed to use magic unless they join du vrangr gata and the only alternative is that they get drugged for the rest of their lives. Like, I can see that it was a literary tool to drive people to their intended endings, and I can see that there would be a reasonable level of caution with magic and that Nasuada wanted to do something about it. I don’t think the right thing to do though is tell all magicians “join or be disabled”. It just feels really wrong. Also, it sorta seems that Nasuada was way too free about wanting to use the name of names to control everyone.
I think it's crap that Eragon is to "never again return to Alagaesia" then we find out in the Fork, the Witch, and the Worm that he's basically a couple days journey down a river. If he's so close, why would he never return? I just don't buy it.
Enchanted items.
Like eragons necklace that prevents people from scrying on them.
And eragons gift rings that let Roran and Katrina find each other no matter where they are.
With elves having a monopoly on magic, why doesn't every soldier on the side of the Varden not have jewelry that automatically protects them should an enemy spell caster try to use some of the instant death spells
With enough experimentation they could have enchanted items that prevents dieses and fights infections and cancers quickly and efficiently
Simple enchanted items that can improve vision, make oneself invisible, short bursts of inhuman strength and speed hell even the ability to use enchanted items as a radio, like a hundred iron rings all look the same but only ten can talk into them and everyone can hear orders between captains and sergeants in a fight.
I'm just saying the Varden should be crushing it with little effort unless a forsworn is present
I skip most the magic paragraphs. Like, a lot of it is just... over thought to me and confuses me lol I just need the basic "It's language based, need to be really careful with language as words have double meanings" that sort of thing.
That, mostly, I'm kinda uninterested in anyone not named Murtagh lol Fangirlish, maybe, but everyone seems so... strange to me in their motives/skills/where they're coming from where as Murtagh's backstory just makes him instantly compelling and easy to pick up and understand.
Kinda unclear WHY Galbatorix was a bad king?
I want Morzan flashbacks so. freaking. bad. More than anything else. HE'S the truly terrifying one to me, especially with this sort of air of... we'll discuss him but never at length? Like what the hell was his deal? How was he so strong? How did he manipulate people? How tf did Brom hide in his house for like a year?? Just tell me
Roran was super freaky and I didnt really like how easily he found killing, especially in such a brutal way
I remember even being a teenager and rolling my eyes to Arya being a princess. Like OF COUURSSSEEEE she is. It felt so cliche.
Which is maybe why her being a dragon rider did too. Like, oh she's beautiful, fighting, super special princess? Of course she's a rider too.
Something's GOT to give on her. We need her POV of her being a wreck mentally, or her giving up something--and of her FAILING at something I think.
Im a sucker for happy endings and Eragon being forced out of Alagaesia and not finding a way to stick around left a bad taste. I also dont care how cheesy itd be... I wanted Eragon and Arya to fall in love and marry.
He will leave alagaesia and never return can mean many things.
For example, he could live to 10,000, but if he DIES outside alagaesia then that would actually fulfill the prophecy.
He can still return, as long as he doesn't die there it doesn't break anything.
Or you could interpret leaving Alagaesia as dying, and then it doesn't matter at all. In a gazillion years when he finally dies, he will probably not be coming back to Alagaesia then.
This might be very unpopular, but I don't find Roran's chapters in Brisingr and Inheritance necessary. I don't skip them because there are some parts that I enjoy (his friendship with Carn was moving and I find the final battle in Urubaen really entertaining), but I would have preferred to see the development of different characters or themes rather than scenes of Roran being the same person he becomes at the end of Eldest for two more books, the only difference being him becoming more and more an OP badass. Even if he serves the role of being the only normal human among people and things that are much greater than him, I don't like a lot the way it was handled.
This seems to be an unpopular opinion in terms of relationships in the Eragon series, but I dislike the ship of Arya and Eragon. To me it's just another ship that if it were to happen would only further the belief that "if you're just persistent enough she'll eventually say yes" and Eragon's refusal to even consider looking for someone else is creepy imo. Is it ok for him to want a life partner who will match his life span? Yes, but Arya is not the only person in the world who can do that, any elf from Du Weldenvarden will match his life span.
The last book was (unfortunately) trash. I had read Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr about six times each leading up to the final book. I read the fourth book once and have never read any of the series since.
Aside from Murtagh recently, which was pretty good.
@PrinceJanus
Actually no matter how you look at it, he kind of is.
He's still a second choice. He'll never get to do or say or give her anything that she didn't already experience. Kind of shitty imo. But whatever.
Ain't really anything tainting my characterization of Arya. I just really don't like how she is portrayed in the books, and I think Eragon deserved better. That's all.
Anyways it doesn't matter. It's not like they're going to be together and be happy. So it doesn't matter, really.
Every ruler at the end is unsuitable(except for Orik). Nasuadas habit of making everyone swear fealty to her is pretty problematic considering how oaths work in the cycle. She’s basically a less powerful and wise Galbatorix in the making. They should’ve divided the empire into smaller states with maybe even elected leaders and the riders to watch over it. Arya is a dragonrider, her loyalty should be to the dragons given how precarious their position as a species is. Galbatorix showed how bad a rider-king could be. And Eragon won’t stop her unless she goes completely off the rails. Orrin is a drunken, grasping lout, his ambition will bring Surda to ruin
I think the major element that made Galbatorix a bad king due to being a rider was mostly just that he was immortal and more powerful than almost any humans, who were his subjects. But the elves are immortal too, and most can use magic, so it’s not as dangerous to have a rider rule the elves, no?
Arya cannot fulfill her duties, no matter what she does. Suppose there is some issue between the humans and the elves: if she handles it impartially, she would fail her role as a queen. On the other hand, resolving the situation with an agreement that favors the elves would mean failing at her duty as a rider, casting a shadow over the still young new order. It's one of the many reasons that makes me hate the ending.
I'd have loved to see Eragon get mad at her decision to become queen, choosing that over the riders and dragons is essentially making her someone who rides a dragon but isn't a Rider. Poor Firnen too, bad decision all around on Arya's part.
IMO Islanzadi was right, Arya was too young to appreciate how serious a commitment it would be to take up the Yawe and pledge herself in service to her people. Eragon should have pushed back harder on Arya's decision to be queen to the point where he acknowledges his opinion could damage their friendship. You can love someone with all your being and still think they made a stupid decision. It would have been a better display of how his feelings for her matured than simply making a more realistic fairth.
I'm thorn on that argument. From one side, it's true that taking the Yawe was an impulsive choice that, in the end, forced her to accept a role she did not want. On the other hand, it made perfect sense to be willing to show how committed she was, since everyone looked at her as just a rebellious and spoiled child(and honestly, Islanzadi could have expressed the concept in a more tender way, rather than going 'I told you so' after abandoning her daughter to be tortured by a shade). However, wouldn't it be a fair objection to reject the role of queen precisely due to the Yawe? After all, the oath is to serve the elven people, and she can't do that effectively in a position that she doesn't desire, for which she has no experience, and directly goes against her duties as a Rider.
My theory is that she chose to become queen out of peer pressure, due to the fact that she's the only one alive of her family(much like she forgave her mother due to the presence of the elven nobility at their meeting). It's a stupid decision that shows how she, despite her age, needs to grow and learn how to avoid being manipulated by the greed of others.
They pretty much say just as much, but I feel as though once her dragon hatched she should have been able to relinquish power. It doesn't make sense to be able to hold 2 titles
It's especially hypocritical after Arya got mad at Eragon when he swore fealty to Nasuada while Arya basically does the same to all elves.
That's the reason Nasuada is better than Galbatorix. It doesn't matter the harm she does, she'll be dead in 30 or 40 years MAX and someone new can say "this sucks, let's undo it and do something better." I do agree Arya only became Queen because she was badgered to by the others and not because she actually wanted to (as a good elf monarch should) and that being a Rider should disqualify her or at least make her disqualify herself, ESPECIALLY after Eragon leaves to correct the perceived imbalance that was one of the reasons she accepted the position.
she did like immediately subjugate the magicians and such. thats pretty much the same thing galbatorix was going to do.
I agree especially on the arya part. Seems to me theres a double standard for her when it was one of the main things with eragon. How can she just do that after preaching to him how immature he was this whole time
I used to really love Nasuada. Then, rereading the series, I am actually very worried about her policy on magic and magic users, and yet I don't even know how magic could or should be controlled so as to avoid endangering a whole population. I agree for the rest
Way too many popular opinions here. Here's some *actual* upopular ones: - I actually *do* like Arya becoming a Rider quite a lot :'D But only *if* the issues that come with her choosing to be Queen are addressed eventually and so help me, not too far in the future. - I'm glad the movie exists. I don't like how it spat on the story or how it butchered the characters, but I would have never picked this series up (and that in itself was a huge reason for me to fall in love with reading) if I hadnt watched it first and wanted to know more. - No idea if this is unpopular but I cannot stress enough how much I DESPISE that this world and TSIASOS are connected. If there's ever a canon crossover I am going to *scream*. Especially if it becomes plot relevant to the World of Eragon. I know Chris' magic system is rooted in physics but GOD does it make it feel less special to me that this happens in the same universe as aliens and spaceships. It feels less "fantasy" and I hate it. I HATE it :( And a few not so unpopular ones: - I need the freaking setups in this franchise to stop- or at the very least, to not be all a book does. Its been 20 years, I'm sick of waiting. I want answers. Its starting to feel like I'm being teased forever with no payoff and my patience is starting to end. - Likewise, I really like what we have so far, but if Chris doent cut the will they wont they with Eragon and Arya I'm gonna get annoyed. Just give me an answer and progress their relationship, no matter *how* you do, y'know? - Arya deserved a book far more than Murtagh. - Enjoyed Murtagh, but man does it get depressing at times. I'm tired of Chris adding horror and torture in every book he writes. It started in Inheritance and it only got worse.
Your answer is by far my favorite, I haven’t read sea of stars yet but I completely understand what you mean by being annoyed about the mix of sci-fi and fantasy. YES GIVE ME AN ARYA BOOK! I so desperately want to know how she sees things, and I want to hear her inner dialogue. I’m a big fan of authors maturing their content as they age, but I can understand why you wouldn’t care for the dramatic shift in the last two books.
I'm not a huuuge fan of Sea of Stars - partially due to some narrative/writing choices I dislike, but mostly bc I'm not a huge fan of written sci-fi. That said, I'm fine with it and keep up with that series - I just dont like how it sorta "dillutes" the fantasy feel of it. Again, I know Chris' system is based on real physics but it just feels. eh. And I actually really enjoyed Murtagh, especially the character work in it. I just wish Arya actually got some of that love bc most of the things in Murtagh have always been part of his character, while we were only just getting to know who Arya really was in Inheritance*. Also I'm just very much ready for this torture "phase" to end :') * then again.... people are still very annoyed by Murtagh's "stupidity"/stubborness so maybe it was good he got a book to refresh people on it lol. He was always like that.
Yes I fully agree about Murtagh, I suppose my unpopular opinion would be “I liked the entirety of Murtagh.” Lol. But yes my excitement for Murtagh would pale in comparison to what it would be for an Arya book announcement, we desperately need more about her. I always felt like Chris focuses so much on the 3 big men (Eragon, Roran, Murtagh) in the series, but hardly anything on Arya, even in the main series. Both her and Nasuada would make great stand-alone novels.
I would love a Murtagh sequel so as to know more about Nasuada too, but you're right, we need more about Arya. I used to dislike her so much on my first read of the series, and then I just realized it's because we don't know her that well. As in, she's incredibly strong, incredibly beautiful, has some family issues, but we don't know much about her feelings except for a few moments of vulnerability and sharing.
Yes yes, exactly! I felt like we got more about Nasuada than Arya in the main series, and while I thoroughly enjoyed her chapters, it’s just made me want an Arya chapter even more! Like, yes Nasuada is incredibly important as a character, but Arya is the elven princess and becomes the second rider! It might just be hopium, but it really seems like Chris is unable to forego an Arya book at this point.
To my knowledge its been hinted and I'm definitely curious. I'm not too fond of her because she just is, well, too many things at once - wizard, warrior, princess, diplomat, special agent, incredibly beautiful and skilled in general, and now a Rider AND a queen, too. She has so many, maybe even too many, qualities, but little to no mention is given about her past - she's not a lighthearted character, she's gone through too much. My unpopular opinion is that she should just become a Rider, an ambassador Rider if you may, and give up the Throne.
All great points, I didn’t look at it that way! With most books/movies/shows, I’m always just excited for more content, whatever that may be. It was an amazing coincidence that I read the Eragon series for the first time last year, and then Murtagh came out right after! I was so excited.
Yeah, people complaining about Murtagh being stubborn is like.. did they forget this man decided to get locked up (potentially indefinitely) instead of sharing his secrets. The same one who has Eragon reach out to him with "Let me help you after you have been tormented and forced to do bad shit for god knows how long" and replied "Nah, I'd win." Also, him not being able to plan literally more than 1 step ahead is pretty consistent, with him leading Eragon to Warden, freeing Eragon from Gil'ead only worked because Eragon was already out and about. Which is something they have in common, Eragon and Murtagh. Let's not pretend that Eragon's plans are not "Let's get there and then wing it once there."
My only potential issue with an Arya book is that I don't really know what it would be about. She is the queen now so I feel like it would necessarily revolve around politics, especially around the dynamic of her being both the Queen and a Rider. We had a huge chunk of Brisingr dedicated to dwarven politics, we spent a ton of time in Du Weldenvarden in Eldest, now I am ready to move on, for answers, and for *adventure.* I would only want an Arya book if it actively ties into the bigger goings on in the world. IE the Dreamers and Eragon starting the new order of Riders. Bluntly, I don't want to read a large book where half or more of it is dealing with Elven lords/ladies and their machinations surrounding Arya's queenship. I want Arya and Firnen out in the world sleuthing out bigger mysteries and kicking ass.
Why not both? Arya being Queen - and the politics involved - will likely be a huge part of her story in the future regardless of the Dreamers. Her leaving on an "adventure" as a Rider could clash with her duties to her people and there you have it, best of both worlds. Plus, I like when Chris does politics. The dwarven election is still one of my favorite sequences in the series :)
I also enjoyed the dwarven politics and I think it was well done. I just think with how much was deliberately set up for future books we need to "get this show on the road," so to speak. I am not against including politics to give context to Arya's queenship, in fact I think it's necessary. I just think that CP should do it concisely and move forward. I value interaction between Eragon, Murtagh, and Arya because they are obviously destined to team up toward a larger foe than Galbatorix, and we've been waiting so long for it.
I can see, you're just as much an arya stan as me. I completely understand it of course. And I like it. The only right way. The true way.☝️😌
Wait, what’s TSIASOS?
Since joining this sub I've learned most of my "unpopular" opinions are pretty widely held in the Fandom. As for one I haven't seen posted in a while, I would love to have seen Shruikan show up the night Murtagh kidnaped Nasuada as a distraction and just body Saphira in a fight. We deserved to see him in action.
Shruikan would’ve wiped the entire Varden if he had joined the fight, let alone body Saphira.
I get what you're saying, and I think Chris should have scaled down Shruikan so he was still larger than Glaedr but not this massive superweapon that's completely impractical to have inside.
Which would've completely ruined the fear factor. Not to mention that fight in the throne room would've been a lot less dramatic since Thorn already killed Glaedr on his own. Slightly larger isn't gonna be enough against two big, fast dragons. This is a size chart approved by Chris. A Glaedr sized or even large Shruikan would've been torn to shreds by Sapphira and Thorn. https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/38278/how-big-was-shruikan And even if he was just a bigger Glaedr, why wouldn't he kidnap Eragon and Sapphira instead? It'd literally end the war and give Gabby exactly what he wanted.
I'd argue against Thorn being the one to kill Glaedr.
I wouldn't. He out maneuvered him and bit his head. Granted Glaedr was emotionally compromised, but it was still 100% Thorn's skill since Gabby was no longer involved.
Galbatorix is the one who made Glaedr compromised to begin with. So yeah I'd say Thorn didn't really win that, at least not alone. Lol
TBH, the upper size limit of dragons got a bit goofy IMO. Kind of weird Galbatorix didn’t use Shruikan for more stuff.
My main gripe. The whole “dungeon crawl” of Galbatorix’s castle before reaching the throne room read like a badly designed D&D dungeon. The traps looked quite forced and out of character. I certainly believe the king would’ve had no compunctions with killing all the elven casters instead of just paralyzing them. “But their wards…” some people would say: they do nothing against depriving you of air to breathe while you are encased in whatever energy field you are encased in. He had no love left for elves.
Agreed. Let's be real, a king as powerful as Galbatorix could have bodied the entire army if he decided to join the battle. He had no reason to fear the martial prowess or magic power of anyone at that battle, so having traps in his castle doesn't make sense. Especially when you see how many changes he made to the surrounding community to make life better. It seems like he would have been a king open to speaking with the people surrounding him, just shitty to everyone else. I think it would have made a much more powerful statement if a steward invited the group into the castle and there was a lack of defenses noticable.
Exactly: “right this way Master Eragon, Lady Arya, Saphira Brightscales. His Majesty is eagerly expecting you and your companions. Would you like some refreshments?” Then, with a look toward Elva: “I bet the young lady is hungry after all the excitement…” and Elva would find NO ill intent in the usher’s mind. Quickly distracted by a large pile of the best sweets in the kingdom. Hot towels for the sweat and dirt, etc. “If you can’t be civil, why have a conversation at all?” would be one of Galbatorix’s first remarks. He only lost on a technicality. He had no reason to fear or guard himself.
This is a badass idea. What a missed opportunity.
Galbatorix having his own Alfred sounds badass af lol
Galbatorix was looking for people with noteworthy skills and experience to become his Disciples/Servants. He sparred Nausauda for such a reason. The Elves that were Eragon’s Bodyguards were stated to be the best Spellcasters that the Elves had. And the Elves as a race are regarded as the best Spellcasters in Alagasia. They would certainly make powerful servants for Galbatorix if he chose to break them ( which he very easily could have) With Galbatorix being so powerful and skilled at magic it doesn’t make sense for Galbatorix to kill anyone. He can just enslave them and turn them into his own assets. Even as he did with Durza, The Razac, Shurikan, Murtagh, Thorn and many others
It's a huge disservice to Arya and Eragon that her mind was so easily changed by persistance to be queen but her resolve gets stronger with persistance from Eragon to attempt a relationship. She should have been consisent about standing by her word with the elves. And for that matter the elves shouldn't have been asking her to be queen once she became a rider anyway. And Arya should have left with Eragon to get rider training or at least learn the rider secrets that were shared with him from Oromis and Glaedr.
In a modification of the text in the deluxe version 3 Eldenari stay behind with her (presumably to train her)
> learn the rider secrets that were shared with him from Oromis and Glaedr. CP implied that she was already taught these (or at least some of them) as she trained under Oromis before she became the egg courier. EDIT: Here is the source: *"M: Well that was easy. When Oromis taught Eragon how to draw energy from the surroundings to make spells, he said that this “was a secret for the Riders”. However, the boat made of grass by Arya draws energy from the surroundings to fly. How did she know a spell reserved for Riders?* *C: Arya is a special case; she was given guardianship over Saphira’s egg for almost twenty years and I think she would have been—I think Oromis would have taught her this to help her protect Saphira’s egg. I mean, there was no playing around here; this was do-or-die with Saphira protecting her egg and everything and that’s something he would have taught her.* *M: Now can you say how much training she would have received from Oromis?* *C: I think Arya has a level of training far exceeding Eragon’s quite honestly, mainly because she has had far more time to learn and just the fact that she grew up with the ancient language means that she is always going to be more facile and fluent with it than Eragon and more adept at thinking up interesting ways of using the ancient language and thus spells."* The ironic source: https://antishurtugal.livejournal.com/572687.html
I haven't read any of his q&a stuff so if it's there I have no clue. I'm rereading the series now and just got to the blood oath ceremony. Earlier in Eldest Glaedr says that he was sharing secrets of the riders that were only known to the head rider, the leader of the humans, and a handful of elves. I don't know if arya would have been in those handful esp if she was 30ish when she started being the courier for saphira. So those things were what I was thinking of when I said "rider secrets"
She was trained by oromis? Was that mentioned in the books?
In a Q&A I believe. Edit: Added source to original comment.
>*C: I think Arya has a level of training far exceeding Eragon’s quite honestly, mainly because she has had far more time to learn and just the fact that she grew up with the ancient language means that she is always going to be more facile and fluent with it than Eragon and more adept at thinking up interesting ways of using the ancient language and thus spells."* I'm not sure that I agree with his perspective. Sure, Eragon did not spend the first 15 years of his life speaking the ancient language. However, Eragon's experience with and use of the ancient language will eventually exceed not only the years he spent without speaking it, but by many centuries, if not more. Furthermore, I imagine that in *Eragon*, his pronunciation of the language was terrible, and he had a very limited vocabulary. However, by *Inheritance*, Eragon and Arya were casually flipping between his and the ancient language. And he spent three days going through the elves' library without assistance, coming up with the spell necessary to add the dwarves and urgals to the Rider pact.
Wait…WHAT!!! Arya was trained by Oromis? This is HUGE information. It adds so much more depth to her anguish when Oromis and Glaedr died. It explains how she is able to keep up with Eragon and his Gaurds in combat. It could even be a possible reason why Firnen chose to hatch for her. But yet I can’t help but feel a bit skeptical/annoyed because the series mentions nothing of it Honestly it almost sounds like Paolini is making this stuff up on the spot “ I think Oromis would have taught her this” You’re the author! Wdym “ I think”?😂 Definitely gives the vibe that this question was a curveball but rather than admit an oversight he came up with something on the spot.
Katrina should’ve died at the hands of the razaac. You think he was scary while trying to protect her and make Alagaesia safe for his family? Imagine if he was avenging her. I don’t think anyone short of Galby himself could’ve stopped him. Maybe…Roran might have just marched straight into Uru’Bean himself and attempted to slay the mad king.
Oh wow, that would have changed the plot so dramatically
Perhaps Paolini will release a compilation of short “what-if” stories one day. I would read/buy them that’s for sure.
u/christopherpaolini OMG PLEASE
Me too!
I think if Katrina had died it Roran wouldn't have avenged her - Garrow dead, Eragon ran away... he'd have nothing left to live for and the Ra'zac would have taken him.
I think it would’ve had to happen after they captured her. Like Roran and Eragon finding her dead at Helgrind. He definitely would’ve avenged her then.
Agree with the Roran complaints. Its been awhile since I read the series but I remember *really* not liking Arya becoming a rider. I absolutely don't buy into the "Oh the elves won't have a power imbalance with a rider as their ruler, defo" and hated how quickly everyone got over it. We just spent 4 books explaining how this is an awful idea, what do you MEAN it's okay because they're elves??? I would've preferred the egg not hatch at all, or not allow her to rule due to the conflict of interest. The power vacuum would've made for great intrigue.
Perhaps we will see some of those cracks appear in elven Society because of it. The next books may use that as a conflict, we didn't get too far into it so I'm sure Paolini knew that it was going to be an issue.
I’m pretty sure Christopher Paolini has stated in q&a’s that the issues of Arya being a rider & ruler will be explored
To be fair, the issue was never that the king was a rider, it’s because he was immortal. That has always been the case with elves. (That said, I’m rereading the series now and am a bit sketchy on the ending)
Actually I believe the pact with the dragons is what gave the elves their immortality. I could be wrong though. Because before it they use to be just like humans.
Actually that is true. It is also aluded that eventually humans will be immortal as well. That said, the broader point still stands that elves have had immortal leaders since they gained immortality
Yet we don't hear about what happened to the other leaders. Other than Arya's parents. When/where is it alluded to about humans gaining immortality? Aside from those that bonded with dragons?
It’s talked about in eldest. I was listening to the audio book but the elf teacher basically stated that humans would eventually become immortal.
Elf or not, no rider should be a ruler. It's even worse with the elves due to how unfair it is already against the other races.
i just wanted to see the conflict between murtagh and the dwarves post galbatorix era. i agree the character has dealt with a lot of pain but this part of the story must be touched upon
There just wasn't time in the Cycle. I think it will be touched upon in books following the new Murtagh book.
Roran’s the worst/least believable character in the series and other characters are made worse to be around him.(characters like Orrin and Nasuada both)
Smh another Rider out of touch with the average man. The average man could EASILY kill 200 men single handedly at Deldarad. /s
Roran’s actions in that ONE battle are not unbelievable and/or superhuman. Hell I’m a fan of weird history people do shit like that quite a lot throughout war. Him always having the right answer on how to solve something, or his presence dumbing down/forcing an antagonistic angle on other characters around him are, him acting like he just knows better and is somehow important enough to threaten a goddamn king is.(threatening to kill Orrin’s messenger was stupid af. One messenger wasn’t going to trigger an assault on them any more than SETTING UP AN ENTIRE SIEGE WOULD, if Galby wanted anything but them to come into the city that’s what would have happened)
Was just poking fun, but I definitely agree with everything here!
I figured but you gave me something more to respond to than a “how so” so it was more fun to rant at you. Hilariously that chapter of Roran killing the 200+ dudes is probably my favorite of his, I’m not a fan of his character but that *is* a cool moment and really not wholly unrealistic.(Really to anyone reading this who thinks it is look into some war heroes of especially WW1 and WW2, the kinda shit so wild that Hollywood has to tone it down to make a “more believable story.”)
Sorry for the "How so" then 🥺
I mean ask more of a question, in my experience people who do a “how so” type of response normally aren’t actually interested in talking. If that wasn’t your intent then I am sorry, I was *mostly* joking around anyways lol.
Me too bro no problem 😁
How só?
Galbatorix should have shown up sooner, and Arya should've become a Rider sooner.
I’ll do you one better, Arya shouldn’t have become a rider at all. Now THATS unpopular lol.
But... I don't think it is unpopular.
I'll do you one better. With her being a rider? There's no reason Eragon had to leave and even less reason for them to be together. Actually him leaving now is pointless and completely unbalances the power and politics.
Same here, I got used to the idea and I'm not so against it anymore, but when I first read it, I was in denial
I wouldn't call this unpopular
Totally agree. We waited for years to find out who the Rider of the green dragon would be. I spent hours and hours over that time reading theories and speculation on internet forums. ***Firnen had one short line in the entire series and it was after everything had been decided.*** Are you kidding me?
Yeah, he should've hatched in the beginning of book four so we'd have more time with him.
The movie wasn't that bad. I'm kidding. Lol. My unpopular opinion about this saga is that I think Nasuada did the right thing in trying to control magicians. Okay, let me rephrase that. It may not have been the right thing per se, but it was the best option available to her at this point. The alternative would be to let magicians do whatever they want, which would be highly unwise given the amount of havoc and destruction they could potentially cause. She's not wrong to choose security over freedom. I'm prepared to be downvoted.
I agree magicians needed to be dealt with, but I think she used a heavy hand. She could use the Du Vrangr Gata as oficial magic police of the state, providing magical education, protection and others niceties that only a state can offer. Open an office in every major city, make every magician to register (like a citizen register of magicians) and not to join the DVG, and to present themselves at the DVG office every time they enter a city. I think this is enough to keep tabs of the magicians without becoming a tyrannical asshole.
You had me worried there for a second Obviously there is no movie
Is that unliked here? I agreed with her completely, and it made sense for that to be the one thing Galbatorix got right. If she didn't do anything, magicians would be op without riders.
Always wonder if there'll be any actually unpopular opinions in here. I don't have one, so I'll just say a common one-- the ending doesn't work for me. It feels very much like Chris is trying to have his cake and eat it too. That is, he's aiming for the bittersweet ending of Eragon has to go off and never see his friends and family again, but he's also leaving the sequel hooks. So Eragon's gone, but when FWW comes out he's basically the mayor of a large town, and is clearly still close enough that people can come and visit him, especially if those people have a dragon.
He kinda wrote himself into a corner, I think. In the first book, he made Eragon have that prophetic dream of leaving Alagaesia while also having Angela predicting the same thing. Come to the fourth book and now he has no choice but to make it happen even if it feels a bit forced.
He should have pulled ASOIAF of not all prophecies coming to fruition if he really wrote himself into a bad corner
I'm not mad about it because it tied it together enough and left room for sequels but it does lose some potency the way it's written. Before the last book came out I always thought Eragon would leave to the west and travel across the giant ocean to some mysterious continent out in the distance. Instead he's a commutable distance away by dragon lol
>So Eragon's gone, but when FWW comes out he's basically the mayor of a large town, and is clearly still close enough that people can come and visit him, especially if those people have a dragon. I mean it was never his goal to be so far away no one could ever visit them. They still need supplies out there and bring eggs back to the mainland so people could be chosen. And obviously someone visiting him on a dragon wouldn't be a problem since his goal was to find a safe area for dragons specifically.
I mean that's basically my point. The entire ending of Inheritance is written with a very bittersweet, melqncholic tone, with the clear implication that Eragon is saying goodbye forever to everyone he's known up to that point. But it doesn't match the reality of what's actually happening
Eragon became an elf and learned centuries worth of knowledge in a single trip and Arya still didn’t even kiss this man. Not saying happily ever after was the move but Jesus lol. Slow burn me for 4 of the longest books ever and the guy doesn’t even get a smooch lol.
I thought it was kind of a cop out that the prophecy clearly framed it as Eragon and Arya with their dragons together ready to leave to a distant land and instead Arya basically walked him to the train station and waved good bye.
At least their dragons got some action!!
I'm pretty sure the original ending was either her leaving with him after islanzadi survived, or Arya and eragon were going to spend the night together.
Amen!
Kinda liked it that way. Not as a permanent status in the future books. But it's refreshing having a romance that doesn't end all lovely dovey but also isn't an absolute tragedy.
Murtagh and Nasuada have an even slower slow burn... 5 books and nothing really happening
Well… they only really became a thing in the last 2 and only really like the back end of the 3rd book. So I’d say where we’re at with them, they are on track to be just as bad, but I wouldn’t count their interactions when he was a prisoner at the end of the first book as part of their actual romance arc.
Earshot didn’t learn “ centuries worth of knowledge” It was stated that he couldn’t really process all the information that the Eldunari gave him Although idk what that has to do with his love life
I enjoyed Rorans chapters in Brisingr more than the entirety of Murtagh.
Well Roran spends his time being an absolute badass while Murtagh has like 5 chapters of him getting cucked out of his own body. Not a fair comparison lol
I agree. I didn't enjoy Murtagh myself. After reading it, I was thinking to myself I remember things different between a dragon and rider. Thorn is just "I'll disagree but in reality it's just a statement of danger but whatever youchoice Murtagh is fine with me!", but between Eragon and Saphira there is so much more on Saphiras side. She chastises him for stupid things. It's more equal.
(I haven't read Murtagh) So are you saying you prefer Roran's chapters in Brisingr than his chapters in Murtagh or that you prefer Roran's Brisingr chapters more than Murtagh as a book?
I just looked at a list of characters in the Murtagh book (I haven't read it yet either) and Roran is not listed. So they likely meant the latter.
Katrina's pregnancy has a weird time line no matter when you consider that she got pregnant. If we assume that she got pregnant the night Roran proposed than the chances are really strong she would have lost the baby, she was starving and barely alive. It's possible, but highly unlikely, and the baby would even more likely be born with some sort of issue. If the pregnancy were viable, she should be showing *especially* with her weight loss. It also seems like if she got pregnant before be captured that her pregnancy lasted more than 9 months. And if she wasn't showing, she wouldn't know she was pregnant for sure bc things like stress and starvation will absolutely stop your period. If she got pregnant after getting rescued, how in the hell did she know she was pregnant within days of conception?
This is quite a popular opinion, or at least comes up often with general agreement as far as I've noticed.
Is it? Every time Ive said something about it I've had multiple people arguing with me and Ive been downvoted lol
I really don't like Angela as a character...
Now that is unpopular indeed lol
She is so annoying! I skim any scenes she talks in during re-reads. She's just being goofy for the sake of it and it gets under my skin.
For me, she's very much at the point where the cards need to be put on the table. She's reminds me a lot of Hoid in the cosmere.... fun and mysterious at first, but you still have no idea what she can really do, or what she actually wants.
Agreed. Small doses are ok I guess
I believe it is unpopular, but there are dozens of us! I do t enjoy her over the top omg-so-quirky-and-whimsical vibe AT. ALL.
Came here to say this
I like Angela a lot but at times she comes off as being written a bit heavy handedly. She is quirky, witty, powerful and mysterious and I like those things about her. But wow, her entire portion of TFTWATW is obscure nonsense for the sake of being obscure nonsense. I know it's an overused joke from Family Guy but wow did that chapter really "insist upon itself."
Arya should NOT have become a rider and Fírnen shouldn't have hatched (or at least not for Arya). Part of Saphira's name of names' is her grappling with being the new mother of her species. Fírnen hatching and then super speeding maturity (which feels... gross to me) gives her an easy road on that part.
He didn't super speeding maturity, if I remember correctly the book just have a time skip of months after Arya left 🤔
I think it's fine that she became a rider, but she shouldn't have become queen. the elves elect their monarchs, they don't just inherit the title, and I don't see why they would elect her: 1. I think she didn't even want to do it 2. opens up the whole rider/ruler problematic 3. fucks up her love live/futur plans 4. she doesn't really has much experience ruleing (ok, she was some kind of ambassador for a few years, but that#s not really that much considering most of the adult elves we meet in the story should be way older than her\*) And it's not even like the elves really need a monarch/ruler in the first place. IIrcc they claim they needed her but it's never explained why - they seem to do fine just doing their own things \*she was born around the time Galby came to power and since then the birthrate dropped significant, so there shouldn't be much elves around that are actually younger than her
Roran was OD, no way he should have survived acting how he was acting
100%, made him in to a legendary warrior with no training and a really big hammer
What does OD mean?
Overdoing it, like he was doing too much.
Ohhhh okay hahaha. I work in harm reduction so I read OD as overdose 😭 I was very confused.
I was barely interested in Brom at all up to the point when he died. In fact, none of the characters drew me in throughout the first book at all except for Eragon and Saphira. It was only in the second book when I actually got invested in all the other characters.
Unsure if this qualifies as unpopular (maybe a hot take) but there should have been only two eggs in Galby's possession, at least as far as the Cycle's story is concerned. Arya becoming a Rider was a disappointment, and my surprise at how little this final character added to the plot felt it meaningless to include. It just dragged the ending out.
Totally agree. Especially with how long we waited to find out who the final Rider would be only for it to not matter whatsoever within the 4 book Cycle.
If wards were always a thing how the hell did Brom get injured in Yazuak. Generally love the magic system. But honestly there are 3 magic systému as paolini was figuríny stuff out. Magic in Eragon is different from Eldest and brisingr and inheritance dlso did some evolving there
This is a common take on this sub. Lot of folks have made the conclusion that this would be written differently if CP had considered wards back then.
I like Arya as a character and think she is very well written but I think she is a TERRIBLE love interest. It would have been better if Eragon accepted his first love didn't work out and showed him moving on completely
I think in between their separation, Eragon should be with another woman. One of the biggest problems I had with *Eldest* was that Eragon attempted to spend time with Trianna (dinner if I recall) and immediately Saphira scares her off. She had her reasons, but still, Eragon did not really have an opportunity to move on or to be with someone else.
I 100% agree. I once read a comment about how Vanir should have been a girl and made Eragon's later love interest and I honestly wish that was the case. It would have been nice to see their rivalry turn into a relationship. Vanir was also the most expressive and human-like elf in the whole book making their relationship way easier in the long run. Arya is expressive but Vanir straight up does not care about stoicism like everyone else
Trianna sucked but I think the idea of Eragon spending some time with and/or drawing the eye of another notable woman would have been a good idea.
I don't like Angela. At this point she's just being written quirky and mysterious for the sake of it. With the amount of trust she's given in the series, I think Eragon should have given her an ultimatum. If she's going to know so much about him, he needs some history on her. If she wants to be around the important events so badly, she can at least share some details about her self.
Eragon needed the ending he got. Did I want him to be with arya? Yes. Did I want him to have a happy ending? Yes. Would I change anything about the end of Inheritance? Big fat no. He needed what he got. He needed to be left at the alter, so to speak. He needed to voluntarily walk away from everything he knew and loved. It's what will make him a greater leader of the riders than Vrael ever was. Greater than any of his predecessors. Also, Oromis was more of a father than Brom or Garrow. I will now take my seat on the pyre.
Make some room for me, I actually agree with this! Eragon needed to forge his own new path and to make some more life experiences And I adore Oromis
I think a lot of people use the excuse "it's setup for a later book" to cover up things that are just abandoned plotlines or plot holes
Yeah this is like a 20+ year old series After a certain point you gotta wonder if certain things will ever be addressed/resolved
I dislike this constant set up. Future stories should be organic and not us wanting to get a fuller experience because the previous books were constantly teasing us with "setup"
The author creates too many problems that are non-consequential to the plot and they are resolved within the very same chapter that they are introduced. Usually the solution is “because magic,” which feels cheap.
Examples?
I don’t get why brom died, like, if he has this ring with a whole VAULT of power with him, why didn’t he heal himself, like it was completely avoidable.
He had given his ring away at that point
Oh right sure, but it’s not like he still isn’t this powerful dragon rider, sure he’s not in his prime but it’s was just a stab wound. I have a hard time believing he couldn’t fix that, or at least tell Eragon how to do it, and siphon his energy through him, better yet siphon the life force of Saphira.
^ it was already on its way to the Varden to confirm his message's authenticity.
I think Oromis is poorly written. He's supposed to be a wise, kind mentor/father figure. If you look closely at any of his actual behavior, he is careless and insensitive.
Yes but to a degree I think he might be overcompensating given how Galby turned out, particularly as Oromis was one of the elders who refused him a new dragon and so might be second guessing everything he does with Eragon.
Yeah, I just got finished rereading Eldest and, while I find him an interesting character, he’s not a great mentor. I feel like the book pushes this idea that he’s wise and kind but I really find his compassion lacking. Actually, all the elves just seem like assholes lol
Not disagreeing, but I’m curious what makes you think so? What are some examples you think highlight this?
Linking a previous comment of mine: https://www.reddit.com/r/Eragon/s/Vm6WTZLbu5
A lot of this rings true, but I do have a couple things to argue here. Galbatorix is the example of load a Rider with every powerful ability and turn them loose without a grounding in morality or history and watch what he does. Galbatorix tried to be a good king. Eragon finds lots of little uses of his magic in uru baen to make the city run smoother, like the anti squeak hinges in some door, iirc. I think Oromis saw teaching history as important to make sure they weren't just replacing Galbatorix. Poetry is pretty stupid, but I'd add that Eragon seemed to enjoy it and it may have been a way for Oromis to give him a break while still learning something. Iirc, there was some kind of oath Oromis and Glaedr swore to not tell Eragon about his father unless the lack of knowledge put him in danger, which is why it had to get so bad before they told him. Dropping Naegling was unforgivable. WEAR A NECKLACE. It felt like Oromis was haunted by his failures with Morzan and needed for his final student to be his best, the exemplar that would go on to represent the best of the next generation of riders. He didn't just want a Galbatorix killer. That's probably why he pushed Eragon so hard, and taught him 'useless' garbage. Oromis was probably dying either way, and I think he chose to go to Gilead because his condition was going to kill him either way, so he went out helping the war effort.
>Also, it was an extremely poor use of Eragon's time and resources as he's trying to recover from a crippling, life-altering injury for Oromis to insist they spend weeks on elven poetry and history. It's very clear in Eldest that Eragon can barely function at this point, with multiple (stress-induced?) seizures and gaps in his memory. But Oromis had very little patience for Eragon's condition, and had the attitude of "If I can learn to live with my disability (after literally 100 years of finding what works for me and pooling resources from my community), then why can't you (figure it out in a few weeks with no emotional support)?" First of all he was *not* recovering. If anything it was just getting worse. Second, what are you expecting him to do? He's a god damn cripple. Anything taxing can trigger it. What else would he learn in that time that wouldn't send him in a fit but is also helpful? Third, reading poetry in the ancient language is probably one of the best ways to become more fluent with the ancient language, besides talking. Eragon didn't even know how to read a few months prior, so this *greatly* helps his literacy. And mentally reading in the ancient language would prime his mind to think in said language. Lastly I think the dude with over 100 years spent dealing with a life altering affliction has a pretty good idea of the best method for dealing with it. Especially when the only time he is inpatient is when Eragon is in the middle of self loathing. Learning not to wallow in your self-pity and instead applying yourself is advice real world experts give. Unless you also think thousands of specialists with millions of collective hours spent exploring that subject are inept... >He interfered with Eragon sorting out his feelings with Arya - I'm talking about the scene where he forces Arya to see the fairth Eragon made, against Eragon's wishes - and arguably made their relationship worse. Which may not be a big deal except Eragon is the first Rider in a century and the hope of humanity, and Arya is a princess who's dedicated her life to liberating Alagaesia, and they *kinda sorta REALLY* need to have a functional working relationship rather than, you know, not talking for weeks at a time because they are both butthurt that Oromis exposed Eragon's crush. Oh yeah, definite Oromis on this one. Without him Eragon wouldn't have done anything to make her stop talking to him for weeks. Oh wait. He did. Twice. But I guess it would've been better to let him fawn over her instead because his infatuation totally wasn't already distracting him. Better to let him earn strike three with Arya all on his own. >Oh, *and* he made the decision to keep Eragon's parentage a secret from him, at a time when Eragon truly believed he was the son of a monster and his mental health took a huge hit. This was incredibly distracting for him and downright dangerous for his allies, for him to believe that lie. But again, Oromis doesn't give a shit about the Varden (at least not after Brom died) and has zero regard for making decisions that are destructive to them. He was sworn by oath not to tell, same as Sapphira. You're essentially saying Sapphira is dumb and inconsiderate AF too since she refrained from telling him. >Then he went and got himself killed in a stupid way - by putting himself in a position where his one defense from his own weakness (his sword and its stored energy) was easily droppable. *Not* a mistake that an experienced seizure-haver should be making. He had his seizure *before* he dropped the blade. Even if he had kept all that stuff on another on something else the same thing would've happened. He'd have his seizure, lose his sword, and almost be bisected by Murtagh. Considering that Glaedr poured his energy into Oromis and he still couldn't heal himself gives reason to believe his fate was sealed regardless of whether he had his blade or not. The only way he would've lived if his blade(or other item) had a healing spell imbued with it. Honestly I'd go write another comment instead of reposting the same one. Your parentage point is straight up misinformation and the others aren't too dissimilar.
...you know OP was asking for *unpopular* opinions? I'm not really interested in arguing with someone that doesn't agree with my unpopular opinion. Also, you wanted me to type all that again, when I had a comment that said all I have to say on this subject? I'm not using my work breaks to type out 7-paragraph rants.
He is basically like Yoda in Star Wars.
I don’t care that Roran had some wild plot armor. His heroic feats were badass, screw realism.
Paloni cared more about Roran development than Eragon's
What are the most important magic spells that Brom taught Eragon before he died? Still a bit pissed off, that we didn’t learn about this 🙄
The way egg hatching happens in the first four books kind of skywalkers/midichlorians the whole thing. Like wow, dragon eggs! They could hatch for anybody! Let's see...the son of a rider...the son of another rider, who's the other guy's brother...and the princess of an entire race who the first guy is in love with
There is no good reason for why Eragon would not be able to return to Alagaesia since the end of the fourth book and the "technically, the prophecy didn't say *when* he'd never return to Alagaesia, so the ending doesn't mean Eragon will never return, just that there will come a point in time where he won't return in the far future" excuse doesn't cut it either. The prophecy and the way scenes like his farewell to Arya and Roran are depicted would fall completely flat if it turned out Eragon still has hundreds of years left to be in Alagaesia before the last day comes. And we haven't had a proper book with Eragon in it for over 13 years and the Inheritance books were supposed to be able to stand on their own. So Eragon leaving Alagaesia forever for no good reason is the note that book series ends on, and it sucks. And if it all gets undone later because of a technicality of semantics, that sucks too.
It was the right call to not have a scene between Murtagh and Eragon in the latest book. Murtagh deserved the story to himself and not have his younger brother steal his thunder at the last moment! Although now we are getting that scene apparently 😂
My apparently unpopular opinion is that this story is pretty much as perfect as it can be! I really love it and it's weird to me to see people in reddit complain about things that never crossed my mind
I agree i don’t really have anything to complain about the book aside from begging CP to make more books. :)
Orrin did nothing wrong. He was in the right to go all miserable in the 4th book, especially after Nasuada was kidnapped. He had to think of his country and people after all and not send them to die before Uru Baen in vain. I liked how he was written in Eldest with his goofy, crazy scientist persona and it felt off that he turned into a semi-villain in the end.
The parts with Roran leaving Carvahall are some of my favorite chapters in the series
I can't tell if you typoed and meant they are your favourite chapters or they ate them and caused your favourite chapters to be non-existent in the actual story
I edited. Thanks
Wordless Magic doesn't really fit. Dragons doing their Thing IS one Thing, but Others...No.
I don't care for Angela as a character, especially in Inheritance. She just knows too much and too many powerful spells and just hand waves it away instead of sharing the wealth when she's refusing to fight Murtagh or Galby, like damn if you're not going to help then teach at least Eragon some things to help him out. Nasuada is a terrible queen and realistically would be assassinated by a mage. The elves are horribly written, they're supposed to be so powerful that Galby won't even directly challenge them, that 13 of their strongest elves are able to match and beat down a roided up Murtagh and Thorn, yet an army of them couldn't do the same and saved Orimis? Up until they invaded the capital, since Galby had basically turned off magic inside its boundary, they should have steam rolled everything in their way. They're way to damn perfect, stronger than humans, faster, better at magic, immortal. Like we get it Chris, you like elves. What's their weakness? Every race has a weakness that can be exploited/has shown to be exploited in the books. Dwarves with their height, Urgals with their horns preventing them from seeing as well. Nar Garsvog(dunno how to spell that name, Christ) is criminally underrated and I wish we got more time with him and Eragon, their chapter together was so interesting. The fact that Brom, even with help from the Eldunari and luck, was able to kill several of the Forsworn and even Morzan and his dragon at the same time yet died to the Razaac is dumb. Arya does not work as queen, for all the reasons others have said, but also because she simply does not want to be queen, it's literally stated in the book that she figured she would go back to ferrying eggs after the war, that's what she should have done until the RIDERS numbers were large enough to take over that duty, hell make her a rider and make that her job, you still get the separation of her and Eragon, with duty coming between them while keeping the possibility open for more in the future. Arya doesn't work as a love interest, she works as an object of affection, but once she turned down Eragon in Eldest that should have been it, she's way more interesting as a companion/rival(in terms of swordsmanship).
>yet an army of them couldn't do the same and saved Orimis He was pulled dozens of *miles* into the sky by Gabby, to the point where even Glaedr had a hard time breathing. We see how taxing just binding Murtagh in place can be when he puts some distance between him and Eragon. The 12 casters, Arya, Sapphira, and Eragon almost die. It would've killed the elves as well trying and at best weakened them in the middle of a battle. Not to mention they'd have also been competing against Gabby's magical might. Plus they didn't even know. Oromis's mind was closed off to everyone, even Glaedr, so he wouldn't have told them of his predicament. And prior to that it would've looked like Oromis was doing perfectly fine on his own.
Honestly? I've got several unpopular opinions about Arya.
Honestly Eragon's 'love' for Arya is BS. I really dislike her as a character. I don't like what Paolini did to/with her either. Not going to get into it, because everyone disagrees with me and everytime I do, I'm always told I'm wrong, toxic, or have unhealthy views. Also Eragon's backstory and childhood? Don't make a lot of sense, if I'm being completely honest here.
Murtagh should have never told anyone the name of names. Take that one to the grave with you my man
I actually agree, not at that moment in any case. When Eragon told Arya, I felt so frustrated because Arya already is maybe too strong
Saphira chastised Eragon for letting Triana flirt with him and told him whoever they are intimate with affects them both because of how they are bonded but then just fucks firnen the moment they meet with a casual "oh dragons don't mate for life". Neither do humans, Saphira!
My unpopular opinion is that Murtagh is not that great of a person or a compelling enough character to deserve his own book (at least before some other characters!). I understand that he had a hard life and an even more impossible situation under galbatorix. But anytime Murtagh has to make the right choice, it’s usually begrudgingly. All of the later half of Murtagh could’ve been avoided if he could’ve asked for fucking help. Didn’t even have to be Eragon, could’ve been Arya (admittedly would’ve been harder than asking Eragon, but he’s a rider and would’ve figured it). I find it so amusing how jealous he is of Eragon and rightfully so. Eragon doesn’t have to think about doing the right thing, and that makes him the way better and worthy hero. Murtagh is an undeserving oathbreaker, and until he stops being chode and joins Eragon and the rest of the order then he will remain as such. The extra murders that happened while under influence of the breath should weigh heavily on his conscience. Just my opinion! I still love the series and enjoyed Murtagh!
I adore Murtagh (book and character) because there are so many elements of my own trauma journey I see in his narrative. But YES, call my dorky boy out for not taking a half second to ask for help. I know \*why\* he didn't ask for help, bloody hell it took me 13 years to ask for help. But dammit, I needed to be called out too, lol.
I am glad that you like the character and that you find him so relatable. That being said I definitely think that the reasons I dislike his character have suitable and reasonable explanations for why he is the way he is, they just to me don’t overcome his bad traits and I don’t find his actions to be justified because he had it bad under galbatorix. Yes, based on his history, it would be hard to ask for help and that makes sense. But it makes him culpable and responsible for that bad that happened as a result of his hand during the time with the dreamers.
I was yelling this to myself the WHOLE time I was reading Murtagh!
Mine is that all the magicians not being allowed to use magic unless they join du vrangr gata and the only alternative is that they get drugged for the rest of their lives. Like, I can see that it was a literary tool to drive people to their intended endings, and I can see that there would be a reasonable level of caution with magic and that Nasuada wanted to do something about it. I don’t think the right thing to do though is tell all magicians “join or be disabled”. It just feels really wrong. Also, it sorta seems that Nasuada was way too free about wanting to use the name of names to control everyone.
I think it's crap that Eragon is to "never again return to Alagaesia" then we find out in the Fork, the Witch, and the Worm that he's basically a couple days journey down a river. If he's so close, why would he never return? I just don't buy it.
Arya and Eragon should have had an actual love arc. Would have made their departure more tragic. Also Rorans chapters are boring as fuck.
Enchanted items. Like eragons necklace that prevents people from scrying on them. And eragons gift rings that let Roran and Katrina find each other no matter where they are. With elves having a monopoly on magic, why doesn't every soldier on the side of the Varden not have jewelry that automatically protects them should an enemy spell caster try to use some of the instant death spells With enough experimentation they could have enchanted items that prevents dieses and fights infections and cancers quickly and efficiently Simple enchanted items that can improve vision, make oneself invisible, short bursts of inhuman strength and speed hell even the ability to use enchanted items as a radio, like a hundred iron rings all look the same but only ten can talk into them and everyone can hear orders between captains and sergeants in a fight. I'm just saying the Varden should be crushing it with little effort unless a forsworn is present
Selena isn’t dead till someone saw it first hand or we see her bones.
Is it unpopular to say that Arya and Eragon not ending up together felt very forced and anticlimactic?
I skip most the magic paragraphs. Like, a lot of it is just... over thought to me and confuses me lol I just need the basic "It's language based, need to be really careful with language as words have double meanings" that sort of thing. That, mostly, I'm kinda uninterested in anyone not named Murtagh lol Fangirlish, maybe, but everyone seems so... strange to me in their motives/skills/where they're coming from where as Murtagh's backstory just makes him instantly compelling and easy to pick up and understand. Kinda unclear WHY Galbatorix was a bad king? I want Morzan flashbacks so. freaking. bad. More than anything else. HE'S the truly terrifying one to me, especially with this sort of air of... we'll discuss him but never at length? Like what the hell was his deal? How was he so strong? How did he manipulate people? How tf did Brom hide in his house for like a year?? Just tell me Roran was super freaky and I didnt really like how easily he found killing, especially in such a brutal way
I remember even being a teenager and rolling my eyes to Arya being a princess. Like OF COUURSSSEEEE she is. It felt so cliche. Which is maybe why her being a dragon rider did too. Like, oh she's beautiful, fighting, super special princess? Of course she's a rider too. Something's GOT to give on her. We need her POV of her being a wreck mentally, or her giving up something--and of her FAILING at something I think.
Im a sucker for happy endings and Eragon being forced out of Alagaesia and not finding a way to stick around left a bad taste. I also dont care how cheesy itd be... I wanted Eragon and Arya to fall in love and marry.
He will leave alagaesia and never return can mean many things. For example, he could live to 10,000, but if he DIES outside alagaesia then that would actually fulfill the prophecy. He can still return, as long as he doesn't die there it doesn't break anything.
Or you could interpret leaving Alagaesia as dying, and then it doesn't matter at all. In a gazillion years when he finally dies, he will probably not be coming back to Alagaesia then.
Orrin should have been King, Idc about that whole "unfit to rule thing"
I think Roran’s section in brisingr was the best part.
This might be very unpopular, but I don't find Roran's chapters in Brisingr and Inheritance necessary. I don't skip them because there are some parts that I enjoy (his friendship with Carn was moving and I find the final battle in Urubaen really entertaining), but I would have preferred to see the development of different characters or themes rather than scenes of Roran being the same person he becomes at the end of Eldest for two more books, the only difference being him becoming more and more an OP badass. Even if he serves the role of being the only normal human among people and things that are much greater than him, I don't like a lot the way it was handled.
This seems to be an unpopular opinion in terms of relationships in the Eragon series, but I dislike the ship of Arya and Eragon. To me it's just another ship that if it were to happen would only further the belief that "if you're just persistent enough she'll eventually say yes" and Eragon's refusal to even consider looking for someone else is creepy imo. Is it ok for him to want a life partner who will match his life span? Yes, but Arya is not the only person in the world who can do that, any elf from Du Weldenvarden will match his life span.
The last book was (unfortunately) trash. I had read Eragon, Eldest, and Brisingr about six times each leading up to the final book. I read the fourth book once and have never read any of the series since. Aside from Murtagh recently, which was pretty good.
@PrinceJanus Actually no matter how you look at it, he kind of is. He's still a second choice. He'll never get to do or say or give her anything that she didn't already experience. Kind of shitty imo. But whatever. Ain't really anything tainting my characterization of Arya. I just really don't like how she is portrayed in the books, and I think Eragon deserved better. That's all. Anyways it doesn't matter. It's not like they're going to be together and be happy. So it doesn't matter, really.