Inheritance discussion

I don't disagree to badly with the ending because it is one of the few books apparently based on the concept of 'life's a douche'. I like a bit of realism. Also, I have an alternate theory for your Eragon didn't get the girl; because Luke didn't.

More like he didn't get the girl... yet. Eventually, he will.

as if...it took paolini four books to allow the stuck-up Arya to hold hands with Eragon, don't think they'll get much farther soon...besides, shes the queen now and hes the leader of the Dragon Riders, i think theyre a bit too busy for romance right now...

I didn't say soon, I said eventually. On top of that, Arya had at the time lost her boyfriend Faolin, was tortured for months and didn't know Eragon at all. Furthermore, I agree with you that she's a bit stuck up. But on the other hand, she was a hundred year old princess who grew up with the finest of everything. It's expected. It also didn't help back then that Eragon's attempts were rather clumsy. That Eragon as a human got past all of that and his infatuation to something real, to holding hands with her and Arya telling him her true name (something Arya had never told anyone including her mother and Faolin and he had decades on Eragon) is astonishing. Arya never did let go of that fairth Eragon made of her before he left. She still has it. More than likely hung up in her room.

True. Telling someone your true name is a bit overkill really. No way I'm telling anyone mine. And I suppose they do have literally forever, to get the country up and running.

Exactly. Between exchanging true names, Arya still having Eragon's fairth and the prophecy, there's enough sentiment there to as the prophecy says to outlast empires.

The ending was horrendous, you could take the 3000 pages he used to write the series and use them for jury summons', people would still not enjoy reading it, but it wouldn't be such a waste... Maybe that was a bit of an overreaction, but I loved eragon, and then it all just went way downhill from there

Badgerlord wrote: "True. Telling someone your true name is a bit overkill really. No way I'm telling anyone mine. And I suppose they do have literally forever, to get the country up and running."

I'm not telling anyone mine either.

Cinderela wrote: "Badgerlord wrote: "True. Telling someone your true name is a bit overkill really. No way I'm telling anyone mine. And I suppose they do have literally forever, to get the country up and running."
..."

Really, I'm not sure I'd want to know mine anyway. If I wasn't an elf, I'd find being completely summarised in a couple of sentences very degraded.

Lucky for Eragon, Arya likes his true name.

LOL I can probably guess my true name in a couple of tries...but to comment on something said earlier (too lazy to check by who) I doubt Arya knew her true name when that elf Guy was still around,which is why she didn't tell him it. Wouldn't it be cool if somehow, the elf survived? Competition for Eragon...also if he was still alive, Paolini could make it so that he is the leader of the elves (cuz Arya doesn't seem queen-like...) paolini could then come up with a suitable reason why they can't be together(shouldn't be too hard, he's great at killing potential romance) that way, Arya and Firnin can help train the hatchlings and be with eragon and saphira

Arya knew what her true name was when Faolin was still around. She told Eragon as much in the chapter "A Matter of Duty" I think.

did she? guess i must've skipped that part... how do you remember the chapter name?? i have difficulty remembering character names!! =P

Don't elves know their true names at birth? I could swear I read it somewhere in there...

hey, maybe it's just me, what with the snail-like pace of the story, how am i supposed to pay attention to every detail of the story (then again it could be you =P)

Annabanana wrote: "did she? guess i must've skipped that part... how do you remember the chapter name?? i have difficulty remembering character names!! =P"

I have a good memory. I tend to remember a good deal of what I read and I read very often. Not everything though so I'm not sure if elves knew their true names at birth but I wouldn't be surprised if it was mentioned somewhere in the series Badgerlord. Authors almost always forget such details in their stories. Either way, she knew what her true name was when Faolin was still breathing and in a relationship with her, they just never got that far though I have no doubt if he hadn't died they would have. Like Arya said, exchanging true names usually takes many, many years even for elves to do. When Eragon first offered to tell Arya his own, she was shocked like no one had ever offered her such a thing before (and no one ever did).

i guess we'll just have to re-read the series to be positivley sure, though i'd just rather admit defeat that go through the whole series again for that one bit of info. Also, have you noticed how the names Firnin and Faolin are so similar, did Paolini mean for that? (did you notice that? Paolini and Faolin...weird...)

I don't think Paolini meant for that but nevertheless, Arya does seem to have a very strong sense of sentiment. She has fairths of her father and Faolin in her room and she kept the fairth Eragon made of her, so I wouldn't be surprised if Arya had surrounded herself with names as well as pictures reminding her of the people she cared for the most.

Fairths of her dad and Faolin?! how do i keep missing these bits of info? or are you just making this stuff up to mess with my mind...i didnt skip that much of the series, a few chapters at most.

It's in Eldest when Eragon is in Arya's room.

Eragon in Aryas room?! I think I'm gonna have to reread that book, though i dont remember skipping the parts when he was in Ellesmera, curse my awful memory & short attention span!!

I seem to forget things a few minutes after they happen to me, only to remember them a rnadom amount of time later. After the initail lapse, however, I can usually recall them pretty easily. Once I started reciting Poe's 'The Raven' in the middle of breakfast. Good times...

Yes in Eldest, Eragon made a visit to Arya's room with flowers (to apologize) while he was in there, he saw two fairths, one of her father and the other was Faolin though at the time he didn't recognize it. Arya keeping Eragon's fairth of her clues us into where she would be keeping it and what regard she holds it in.

@Badgerlord: lol the opposite happens to me. I read it, and i remember it for the span of a month, then i start forgetting bits of info (better yet, books start merging with each other and create this random messed-up story. ex: Cirque du Freak and Artemis Fowl (with a bit of Rangers Apprentice and Uglies)

@Wg: he was apologizing because of the first Fairth he made of her, the one she hated, right? if yes, then its coming bak to me, bit-by-bit (i feel like i have amnesia =P)

Yes. I think Oromis explained Arya's anger well enough but I also think given how Arya reacted to the second one, that she was that upset with the first one because she hated how Eragon saw her back then. It depicted her as artificially perfect, someone who wasn't her at all. The second one depicted her as she actually was with virtues and flaws but perfect for him. I think she thought that no one had ever seen her so well, nothing less I don't think would have inspired her to tell Eragon her true name.

I think Arya was a bit harsh on Eragon really. Sure, the perfectionist fairth was a bit much, but I think it would be because of all the legends and whatnot he had heard about elves, and how beautiful they are meant to be. He can't help feeling infatuated when he meets his first elf.

yeah, arya was harsh, at first, she disliked him because she was still mourning over Faolin. Then she started hating him because he thought shes pretty. Now, she likes him, but it's a bit too late. Considering that she's a 'wise' elf, she should've seen this coming, but she continued to hate him till the end...kinda dumb. (by hate, i mean disliked Eragon somewhat)

Arya was a bit harsh with Eragon. Eragon was trying to connect to her during a time where she was mourning the loss of Faolin and had been tortured for months. He had his work cut out for him but he won her over with his stubborn but increasingly smoother persistence, his supportive nature and frankly because he got Arya.

how did this rant go from Murtaughs ending to Arya and Eragons relationship =P lol, but seriously, Arya and Eragon should have stayed together, same with Murtaugh and Nasuada (especially them considering Eragon has it all and Murtaughs just the little abandoned half-brother.)

Well I can understand Murtagh needing to get away for a while but I'm surprised that he and Nasuada didn't find a way to keep in contact. With Eragon and Arya, I at the least know they will see each other again, that their story and relationship will continue.

Wg wrote: "Well I can understand Murtagh needing to get away for a while but I'm surprised that he and Nasuada didn't find a way to keep in contact. With Eragon and Arya, I at the least know they will see eac..."

Good Point! A maigcal mirror could have solved so many problems! Assuming Nasuada didn't destroy it in her 'controlled magic' campaign. Which I disagree with. You can't let magic be governed.

Nasuada can't allow it to run rampant either. In Nasuada's case, I keep in mind how useless she would be in a fight against someone like Murtagh, Eragon and Arya. They're bonded to very powerful, intelligent and perpetually growing dragons which in turn will only make them magically more powerful.

All three know the true name of the ancient language and Eragon and Arya also know how to draw energy from their surroundings because Oromis taught them both how. Just look at the chapter where Murtagh attacked the Varden and took Nasuada, she tried kicking him and one of his wards protected him. Eragon, Arya and Orik were running and Eragon and Arya were just leaving him behind because he couldn't hope to match their speed. There's a reason why Roran called it the battle of the gods. Their ability to use magic for whatever purpose is limited by only energy and imagination. Not all of Alagaesia is like them of course but they're too many whose abilities in magic they could abuse against those who have no defense. I don't like Nasauda's approach but I agree with the concept.

Nasuada wouldn't destroy her mirror to Eragon, she certainly wouldn't do if Murtagh made one for her.

Murtagh and Nasuada were my favourite characters (not including Angela, of course) and they were also my favorite pairing (Roran and Katrina can go to hell) and the way that their story ended was just... wrong... Paolini needs to make a sequel series and bring them together ;)

In fact, I kind of prefer this ending. I didn't like Murtagh falling in love (though I must admit it was beautiful even for me), and I was in fact hoping that he wouldn't end up with Nasuada. I think it would destroy the character, the cold, distant character that I loved so much.

Wg wrote: "Nasuada can't allow it to run rampant either. In Nasuada's case, I keep in mind how useless she would be in a fight against someone like Murtagh, Eragon and Arya. They're bonded to very powerful, i..."

But you still can't really govern magic. It's unfair. Why should magic be controlled when you can't control things like natural strength or intelligence? It's just another genetic perk, as far as I'm concerned.

Well like I said, I don't like Nasuada's approach. I agree with her that something has to be done just not that. That's a cure that's worse than the disease.

That and I'd hate to be the one telling Elva she's not allowed to use her powers anymore. I wouldn't do that job even if they'd tied her down and I'd had me pain sensors dulled. She creeps me out.

I think you're over analyzing it. She might have been confused, because she's happy that she's not the only dragon anymore (besides Shruikan), but she's also sad because Thorn has to serve under Galbatorix.

umm, what Alexia said threw me off, we were talking about Elva (the creepy kid) not Saphira... but i agree, we shouldn't let magic run around freely, i guess it's not fair to lock them up but it's not fair for them to have that extra perk, considering how awesome it is. Also, is magic Genetic? can there be a magic-less elf?

Hmm, I think my computer is acting up

Annabanana wrote: "umm, what Alexia said threw me off, we were talking about Elva (the creepy kid) not Saphira... but i agree, we shouldn't let magic run around freely, i guess it's not fair to lock them up but it's..."

I think magic is genetic, although it's more of a genetic mutation in humans as compared to a genetic staple in elves. I guess it could happen that an elf could be born without magic.

@Alexia: sure...blame the computer =P
@BadgerLord: that would suck, elves with no magic is like a slow cheetah...

Annabanana wrote: "@Alexia: sure...blame the computer =P
@BadgerLord: that would suck, elves with no magic is like a slow cheetah..."

Wouldn't that make a great story character? I would read a book about a magicless elf if Paolini made one. The idea makes me think of Angela.

I'm just going to make one point about Murtagh and Thorn. Their relationship was formed while they were under the influence of Galbatorix and they have never had the chance to bond with no one else influencing them. I think they did need to get away, at least for a little while, before coming back to society. And of course this will also give everyone in their world a chance to heal before accepting them back into the folds of society.

Thats true... i mean, i dont want murtaugh to die (though that would get this rant really fired up) but still...

Good point Claire! I must have forgotten. I suddenly like Eragon a little less.

now that i think about it, Paolini ignored a lot of stuff he previously wrote, like the fact that eragon and roran couldnt read but the uncle guy could (rorans dad, cant remember the name,) he never even expanded on that, i thought he'd bring him into the whole plot somehow but he didnt.

Nasauda couldn't have become Queen if Murtagh hadn't left and she intended to stay with him. They knew they couldn't be together for the good of Alagaesia. The people would never have understood why she would choose to be with Galbatorix's right-hand man, no matter that he changed because of her - they would never have trusted him and by extension, her. It had to happen that way - sad as it was.

I REMEMBER THIS!! wow! I forgot all about this...okay, back on topic:
She wasnt a good queen to start with for the simple reason that she had to have heirs but she wasnt even married, the only person she was interested in was Murtaugh and he is off-limits for 'the saftey of Alagaesia' and what-not.

I think she should find someone with an actual family whose bloodline will continue so they can worry about Alagaesia while she retires (visits occasionally to check o things) and takes Eragon up on his offer of Immortality. Then shes happy, Alagaesia is happy and (most importantly) Murtaughs happy!!

Annabanana wrote: "I REMEMBER THIS!! wow! I forgot all about this...okay, back on topic:
She wasnt a good queen to start with for the simple reason that she had to have heirs but she wasnt even married, the only pers..."

I like to think that Nasauda should stay queen, but that any new Queen or King should be chosen from the general populace, and not passed through families. Nothing to stop her kids, assuming she has any from becoming rulers, but they should fully know that it's only the will of the public that keeps them there.