In all seriousness though, you're absolutely right. Bumblebee scene was ridiculous. Eragon's treatment of Sloan shows how twisted and morally devoid Eragon's become. Child soldier scene makes that even more apparent.
Actually, I think above all else how Sloan's plotline is resolved will speak heavily to the success of the overall 'cycle', in our eyes at least. If, after finding out about Eragon's deception, Katrina and Roran are furious and Eragon is made out for what he is, then I'd be pretty satisfied. If, however, Sloan miraculously changes himself, changes his true name, gets his sight restored, and comes groveling to Eragon's feet in gratitude, and Katrina and Roran view Eragon as a saint... Well, lets just say more than a few walls (and desks) will be broken by the sheer force of a book and/or forehead slamming against it.
I agree with you about Sloan. I'm afraid it will be the second resolution though. >.< Either that or Sloan will somehow die on the way to the elves despite the magic protecting him. Eragon will then have an opportunity to angst for a few minutes. Roran will find out, yell at him, and then say it was for the best. Katrina will never know (giving Roran a moment to angst about keeping a secret from her). As Nasuada and the elves hardly care about the matter, Eragon gets over the issue in no time and Sloan is never mentioned again.
Well, given that bumblebees are practically pacifists (I used to pick them up and pet them as a kid, and I never got stung by one. Very gentle little things; I'll be sad when they go extinct. >: ) I can see that one happening if he felt like the world was bs and he was too tired to go on, but the second line takes it out of the realm of believability.
And the rest? Yeeeep. That about sums it up.
Also, I'm pretty sure that knife wounds on the arm wouldn't hurt more when you laughed. Head or abdomenal wounds, yeah, but probably not arm wounds.
Well, I think they're social bees, so you probably only smooshed a few workers, who can only lay eggs near the end of the season, and those are all unfertilized. But yeah, social bees in general are in bad shape still, iirc. Not as bad as it was, but some bumblebee species may have actually gone extinct, at least in North America.
Speaking as someone with both a healthy sense of humour and cats who brawl relentlessly, cuts on the arm do NOT hurt more when you laugh. They tend to throb a bit if you have to use your arms a lot for anything that counts as remotely strenuous, but not when laughing.
Now cuts on the chest or stomach, that's something else entirely. OWOWOW.
What Eragon did to Sloan and that soldier still strike me as his worst crimes, if only because of how unnecessarily cruel they were.
Katrina and Roran were there; all Eragon had to do was bring them to Sloan and ask they wanted done with him. There, at least, the basic justice of the wronged could be done. The way things are, he's forcibly inserting himself into a situation where he isn't needed.
With that soldier... Eragon and Arya could've hid from the troops, or used magic to cloak themselves. When this guy ran, Eragon could've used that trick with the rocks to kill him instantly and (relatively) painlessly, or used the power to kill his mind they way he did at the end of Eldest. He could've put the guy to sleep for a few days with a spell or fogged his mind. He could've offered him the chance to join the Varden or taken him prisoner. He could've lied to him and let him run with false information. Instead he chose to stalk this kid down and throttle him to death. That was just...ugh.
The scene where Eragon murders the young soldier is probably the best written in the entire book and places Eragon clearly in the wrong. I can't help but think Paolini has started to realize what kind of character Eragon is and is actually showing the fall of a traditional hero in a brilliant subversion.
Yeah, but does anyone there even react to it like he was wrong? *does not want to waste money/time on bad books when she has hundred+ dollar textbooks to buy and homework to do*
Just because the reader picks up on the wrong doesn't mean that it's reacted appropriately to in-book. IIRC, none of the characters Eragon associates with, save MAYBE Saphira (who was raised by this psychopath and is a large carnivore and would probably therefore have a somewhat warped sense of morals by our standards (although she would probably object to him not using the corpse, if we use RL logic)), would tolerate that.
IIRC, the only other person there was Arya, who basically shrugs. *re-reads* No, she doesn't even do that. She uses his death as a lead-in to ask why Eragon spared Sloan. Then the two start mutilating fresh corpses in order to hide the evidence that they were all killed with bare hands.
I think it's worth reiterating that the lead up to the battle had descriptions like this: The patrol was visible as a plume of dust for half an hour before Eragon was able to make out the shapes of the men and horses...
It still took the better part of an hour for their two groups to meet
Eragon and Arya had considerable time to magic themselves invisible or hide or whatever. The excuse used not to hide is that digging a hole would leave dirt, and the soldiers would surely thoroughly investigate something as remarkable as a pile of dirt.
Finished with Brisingr? Heck no! I've only read the first 300 or so pages! *lol* I almost typed 3000 there. I need to go read a bit more and then I shall rant away again. :D
Transformers in Alagaesia? Oh gosh! The great dragon Saphira upstaged by a car!
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In all seriousness though, you're absolutely right. Bumblebee scene was ridiculous. Eragon's treatment of Sloan shows how twisted and morally devoid Eragon's become. Child soldier scene makes that even more apparent.
Actually, I think above all else how Sloan's plotline is resolved will speak heavily to the success of the overall 'cycle', in our eyes at least. If, after finding out about Eragon's deception, Katrina and Roran are furious and Eragon is made out for what he is, then I'd be pretty satisfied. If, however, Sloan miraculously changes himself, changes his true name, gets his sight restored, and comes groveling to Eragon's feet in gratitude, and Katrina and Roran view Eragon as a saint... Well, lets just say more than a few walls (and desks) will be broken by the sheer force of a book and/or forehead slamming against it.
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Either that or Sloan will somehow die on the way to the elves despite the magic protecting him. Eragon will then have an opportunity to angst for a few minutes. Roran will find out, yell at him, and then say it was for the best. Katrina will never know (giving Roran a moment to angst about keeping a secret from her). As Nasuada and the elves hardly care about the matter, Eragon gets over the issue in no time and Sloan is never mentioned again.
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And the rest? Yeeeep. That about sums it up.
Also, I'm pretty sure that knife wounds on the arm wouldn't hurt more when you laughed. Head or abdomenal wounds, yeah, but probably not arm wounds.
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Speaking as someone with both a healthy sense of humour and cats who brawl relentlessly, cuts on the arm do NOT hurt more when you laugh. They tend to throb a bit if you have to use your arms a lot for anything that counts as remotely strenuous, but not when laughing.
Now cuts on the chest or stomach, that's something else entirely. OWOWOW.
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That's Lutz, from the Generation 1 remake of the original Phantasy Star. He's a badass wizard with no social skills. XD
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Katrina and Roran were there; all Eragon had to do was bring them to Sloan and ask they wanted done with him. There, at least, the basic justice of the wronged could be done. The way things are, he's forcibly inserting himself into a situation where he isn't needed.
With that soldier... Eragon and Arya could've hid from the troops, or used magic to cloak themselves. When this guy ran, Eragon could've used that trick with the rocks to kill him instantly and (relatively) painlessly, or used the power to kill his mind they way he did at the end of Eldest. He could've put the guy to sleep for a few days with a spell or fogged his mind. He could've offered him the chance to join the Varden or taken him prisoner. He could've lied to him and let him run with false information. Instead he chose to stalk this kid down and throttle him to death. That was just...ugh.
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Just because the reader picks up on the wrong doesn't mean that it's reacted appropriately to in-book. IIRC, none of the characters Eragon associates with, save MAYBE Saphira (who was raised by this psychopath and is a large carnivore and would probably therefore have a somewhat warped sense of morals by our standards (although she would probably object to him not using the corpse, if we use RL logic)), would tolerate that.
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*re-reads*
No, she doesn't even do that. She uses his death as a lead-in to ask why Eragon spared Sloan. Then the two start mutilating fresh corpses in order to hide the evidence that they were all killed with bare hands.
I think it's worth reiterating that the lead up to the battle had descriptions like this:
The patrol was visible as a plume of dust for half an hour before Eragon was able to make out the shapes of the men and horses...
It still took the better part of an hour for their two groups to meet
Eragon and Arya had considerable time to magic themselves invisible or hide or whatever. The excuse used not to hide is that digging a hole would leave dirt, and the soldiers would surely thoroughly investigate something as remarkable as a pile of dirt.
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When I first read the title of this entry, I imagined Bumblebee the Transformer swooping in to save Eragon. XD
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Transformers in Alagaesia? Oh gosh! The great dragon Saphira upstaged by a car!
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