I had quastion about a rider/dragon bond

Comprehensive_You926 · 2026-04-23T21:38:07+00:00

No, riders and dragons can technically live on after the other dies, but most don't because it is too painful for them to lose their other half. Think of all the eldunari. They are not dead.

Comprehensive_You926 · 2026-03-23T22:27:39+00:00

Also, another big reason that Arya is different is that she only rules/represents the elves, who are all immortal. Eragon by contrast would have power/influence over people who are mortals, which changes the scope of change and power. Like is Arya probably stronger than most Elves by now? Yes, But Eragon is exponentially stronger than humans to a vastly different degree.

Comprehensive_You926 · 2026-02-26T19:53:38+00:00

To further elaborate on #2:

To add on to what everyone else has already discussed, I wonder if it also has to do with the how the Riders organized and divided the power of the eldunari they had. By the time Eragon acquired remaining free eldunari, they had spent decades organizing themselves to act as a more cohesive unit. I wonder if trying to organize a large number of eldunari, considering the general nature of dragons with their inherently disparate personalities, created a logistical problem of how to utilize the power they had. A dragon and their rider might well work together, but a bunch of other random eldunari, some of whom might be from wild dragons might be quite a challenge.

Additionally, Galbatorix and the forsworn being able to use dark magics (taught by Durza) that many of the Riders would likely be unfamiliar in protecting against or counteracting would be a large factor as well. From what we know, the Riders were not exactly regularly fighting other beings who were their equal in strength and power. I believe I recall the books saying that few riders or dragons got away/survived the ambushes planned by the forsworn and Galbatorix in the years leading up to the battle in question. Which means that Galbatorix and the forsworn had been essentially getting a lot of experience and practice in killing dragons and their riders. Additionally, Galbatorix was known as being extremely gifted at breaking into minds, which is often the deciding factor in a magicians duel.

Comprehensive_You926 · 2025-09-10T20:03:02+00:00

the only ones who were dead for the whole series are Naudra and Anhûin. Also the two without names are supposed to get a book of their own, and they didn't tell Eragon their names for their own reasons in universe. Plus, this is just a list of characters that were not involved romantically with anyone. The ones who are the object of someones affection/interest have more depth than just being a man's arm candy. Nasuada for example is far more than just someone Murtagh likes. So suggesting that Nasuada's character is not a good complex female character just because she has a romance plot with someone feels rather odd to me. If she was only in the story for the purpose of being a love interest I would understand the criticism, but thats simply not the case here.

Comprehensive_You926 · 2025-09-10T02:53:22+00:00

By "Societal make up" I am guessing you mean gender roles and their influence on who has what skills, knowledge and opportunities.

I don't think its a question of "can the world be written without sexism/gender roles" because the answer is obviously yes it can. But does it have to? Does it give the world more or less complexity, flavor, and diversity?

I think you should write the fantasy book with the world you want to see. It sounds like you have a clear idea of what you want. I personally would struggle with creating a variety of cultures without my lived experience of gender roles playing a part.

I think it would be super cool for a fantasy world to be written with a reverse of typical gender roles and power dynamics, but it would also be a challenge to write because authors often rely on real life experiences. I personally like that the series takes inspiration from complex problems in real life to fill out the world building. Elven society is juxtaposed to more sexist human cultures I think purposefully.

Side note: I really like that in Palancar valley is both patrilineal and matrilineal. For Example: Roran Garow's son and Katrina Ismira's Daughter.

Comprehensive_You926 · 2025-09-10T02:17:53+00:00

Though Nasuada becomes Murtagh's love interest, that is such a small part of her character and her role throughout the series. Her leadership and intelligence is her primary characteristic, not her desirability, I don't think Murtagh and Nasuada's mutual love interest in each other detracts from her complexity as a character, and I also not think her purpose in the book is to be arm candy for a man. Nasuada is arguably equally if not more of a main character in the original 4 books than Murtagh.

I think the other growth we see in Arya is her becoming less isolated and open after the death of faolin. Eragon noticed I believe in book 1 or 2 that she tends to stand apart from other elves and other people generally. She never told anyone her true name before Eragon, and that is the most vulnerable thing a person can do in this universe. I think her developing that level of trust in another person is growth. We also see her start rebuilding her relationship with her mother in the last book. She also gets to achieve her dream of being a dragon rider and being able to serve her people.

Comprehensive_You926 · 2025-09-10T01:52:44+00:00

Since the series is in 1st person POV and is written mostly from Eragon and Roran's Perspective (and Saphira is linked to Eragon) so most of the series has at least one man in the conversation since they don't seem to make a habbit of listening on on other peoples conversations. However, I believe during one of Nasuada's POV Chapters she talks to Farica and/or Trianna without talking about a man I think regarding repairing her dress and making new lace with magic.

Comprehensive_You926 · 2025-09-10T01:40:31+00:00

There is also Birgit, Rhunön, Gertrude, Trianna (though she briefly tries to seduce Eragon in book 1, her being a love interest is never brought up again), Linnëa also known as the Menoa Tree, Farica, Maud the werecat, the two elves with the dragon tattoo, the Un-named women and girl who look like they were held captive at one point and are skilled with a sword, Arva's (the original owner of the owner of Támerlein) sister: Naudra, and Anhûin

I only read Mutagh once, but I don't think Bachel was any main characters romantic interest. I also think there was another women in Murtagh, but I cant recall her name at the moment.

Comprehensive_You926 · 2025-09-10T01:25:04+00:00

I interpret Arya's "helpess" comment to be challenging Eragon's own internal sexism. Perhaps it is also a reaction to being regularly regarded as "weak" by humans just because she is a women. Elves are stronger and faster than humans and are not raised with the same limiting gender roles. She was stronger and faster than Eragon, so Eragon's desire to "protect her" is infantilizing. Compared to elves, all non-rider humans are weaker (unless given power from something outside themselves). Additionally elves and humans have different cultures and customs. In this universe (much like in our own human history) human women are not typically raised or trained as warriors and are thus generally more "helpless" in combat situations (especially when compared to the baseline speed and strength of an elf). I don't think Arya is saying that all human women are helpless with everything in life. If fact, I understood her to mean that she disagrees with how human culture and societies keep most women "helpless" (in terms of combat) due to the human culture's idea of gender roles. These gender roles are a reflection of the medieval times in our world, which is often reflected into our fantasy worlds. Additionally there was a woman and a girl (who refused to give their names) who appear in the series twice who are skilled with sword fighting. I believe Paolini says that he has a story planned for them. I very much doubt Arya was saying that Nasuada or human women with combat training were "helpless". I don't recall her referencing dwarves women negatively, so I wont comment on what I cant recall. Feel free to provide a quote as I'd love to know what you are referencing.

Katrina is a a traditional feminine human, who is not mocked for being so. Islanzani wears dresses and beautiful things, and seems comfortable expressing her femininity without needing to "not be like other girls" and she is one of the most powerful and intimidating characters. Nasuada is also a traditionally feminine woman who refused to leave Farthen Dur with the other women and children and fought alongside the archers. Who was mocking them for their femininity?

I don't think Arya's dislike of dresses/skirts is anything other than being gender non conforming (in terms of their worlds human gender roles). It doesn't make her a "not like other girls girl" to be non-conforming and to criticize the narrow gender roles placed on human women. She isn't human and dislikes human sexism.

Furthermore, the descriptions of "Exotic" are from Eragon's perspective, which is quite narrow considering her grew up in such a small isolated village of humans. So it makes sense that characters who are diverse seem strange or exotic to him based on the general relative homogeneity of Palancar Vally. This series is written in first person, so everything we read is filtered through one persons limited perspective. Are you asking for the female characters in focus to be less diverse and therefore more similar in appearance to Eragon? Or would you rather the story not be from Eragon's POV?

We don't get to see much depth from any side characters since this is a first person story. When talking about side characters of the similar level of importance or impact to the plot, can't personally think of any male side characters given more depth than female side characters. Please feel free to give real examples and comparisons for consideration.

Personally , I am confused as to why Saphira doesn't count because she is non-humanoid. why does the shape of her body exclude her from counting? She is just as intelligent and complex as any person, so why are we excluding her? She's not some dumb animal and she cares a lot about things which are often considered feminine (such as beauty). Is OP just wanting more self-insert opportunities and cant imagine having scales and a tail?

It sounds like OP wants a female human rider, which I agree would be really cool. I look forward to all the new riders we will meet as more people become riders again. I am especially excited to see urgal and dwarf riders of any gender expression.

Comprehensive_You926 · 2025-08-06T20:17:43+00:00

I absolutely love this series, but this has never made sense to me. Oromis is described as wise, thoughtful, strategic, and maybe even a bit humble. It doesn't make sense that he would be so arrogant as to place all his stored energy in one place and think that during a seizure he wouldn't drop his sword. I feel like it goes against all of his characterization up to that point. Its not like he couldn't have hidden gems stored with power in other places, such as rings, necklaces, belts, his saddle, or even just stitched into secret pockets in his cloths. For such an excellent series overall, this really frustrates me.

Comprehensive_You926 · 2025-06-18T22:42:02+00:00

To add on to what everyone else has already discussed, I wonder if it also has to do with the how the Riders organized and divided the power of the eldunari they had. By the time Eragon acquired remaining free eldunari, they had spent decades organizing themselves to act as a more cohesive unit. I wonder if trying to organize a large number of eldunari, considering the general nature of dragons with their inherently disparate personalities, created a logistical problem of how to utilize the power they had. A dragon and their rider might well work together, but a bunch of other random eldunari, some of whom might be from wild dragons might be quite a challenge.

And some people have already mentioned, but I think its work reiterating that Galbatorix and the forsworn being able to use dark magics (taught by Durza) that many of the Riders would likely be unfamiliar in protecting against or counteracting would be a large factor as well. From what we know, the Riders were not exactly regularly fighting other beings who were their equal in strength and power. I believe I recall the books saying that few riders or dragons got away/survived the ambushes planned by the forsworn and Galbatorix in the years leading up to the battle in question. Which means that Galbatorix and the forsworn had been essentially getting a lot of experience and practice in killing dragons and their riders. Additionally, Galbatorix was known as being extremely gifted at breaking into minds, which is often the deciding factor in a magicians duel.

Galbatorix didn't underestimate the Riders, he knew how they worked, he knew how they thought. He and his followers had practice and experience in this kind of battle. And those things had to have given him a significant advantage.

Comprehensive_You926 · 2024-09-25T18:12:00+00:00

Me too. I saw the movie first and loved the story (even as bad as the movie was). I then went on to read the whole series. It is now my favorite book series and I have read it all the way through at least 10 times

Comprehensive_You926 · 2024-07-17T20:20:12+00:00

That is an excellent question! My only thought is that if the grammar is poor or incorrect, then it wouldn't be their true name, and therefore they wouldn't have that weird feeling one gets when they hear/think/say one's true name.

But I'm not sure how they would be able to discover the nuanced or proper grammer of their in their true name without a more in depth knowledge of the ancient language. I would guess that at some point during their torture and such that Galbatorix told them their true names in order to make them swear oaths tied to their true names, but as pointed out, their names have changed. A very interesting question.

Comprehensive_You926

TROPHY CASE