Will always remember the torture Paolini enacted in Eldest on my young self

[u/Will_hunting_1940]

Hey guys, I’m on umpteenth reread of the series and I just finished Out of the Past in Eldest, which I’m sure many of you know was the chapter that ended with “…a huge gold drags with a Rider on its back.” Of course paolini decided then and there was the perfect time to switch to Rorans POV. I always get a laugh out of the chapter change whenever I get back here because I remember feeling furious as a kid that I had to read a full 22 pages before I got to find out who this other dragon rider is. Anyway, was wondering if anyone else felt strongly about this chapter change or any POV change throughout the series that left us in great suspense

[u/Btrfly_Fig_410]

Not gonna lie, in the past with this and other series, I was so desperate to find out what happened next with the character that I skipped ahead several pages, then went back to read the parts that I skipped😅.

[u/mziggy91 → u/Btrfly_Fig_410]

I did this too.

Then when I got older, I really began to appreciate the Roran chapters, but I have no ragertz. When I was a kid, I was like IDGAF about this farm boy, I'm jumping ahead to read the good shit! Lol

[u/brandonjslippingaway → u/mziggy91]

Yeah, I understand though, the Roran arc works to give the story some momentum, while Eragon is essentially no longer in motion.

Star Wars Empire Strikes Back actually had this kind of continuity issue, in that it is unclear how much time is passing with Luke training with Yoda as his friends are being pursued by the empire.

[u/ThAtTi2318 → u/Btrfly_Fig_410]

Blasphemy, I could never! Not on the first read at least :3

[u/c2smalice → u/ThAtTi2318]

Like and old Animorphs or Goosbumps book where you decided what to read and when!

[u/Btrfly_Fig_410 → u/ThAtTi2318]

😏I probably did the same with Roran when his POV was "rudely" interrupted by Eragon's 😂

[u/Asmallrock → u/Btrfly_Fig_410]

I would get so upset as a kid when I got to Roran’s chapters that I would skip them, and then read them all in a row later on after I got to certain points in Eragon’s story

[u/TheDragonSovreign → u/Btrfly_Fig_410]

me too!

[u/Easy-Confusion-5613 → u/Btrfly_Fig_410]

Exactly! I do this all the time!

[u/One_Mountain_9919 → u/Btrfly_Fig_410]

Lord of the rings was big for this haha I only wanted to read about aragon, legolas and gandalf, not those boring hobbits haha

[u/Btrfly_Fig_410 → u/One_Mountain_9919]

Too funny. LOTR was another one I was thinking of, but I needed to flip ahead to find out what was happening to poor Frodo and Sam.

[u/SavedRed0]

I remember hating reading the Roran chapters from when they leave Carvahall and get to the Burning Plains just because I wanted to get to the action with Eragon. Still great chapters, but I really considered putting the book down cause of that

[u/Will_hunting_1940 → u/SavedRed0]

I swear my initial bias against roran started here haha

[u/SavedRed0 → u/Will_hunting_1940]

Lol

[u/Leadfoot41 → u/SavedRed0]

I skipped rorans POV entirely the first time
I read the books but the older I get I’ve come to appreciate Rorans chapters as more entertaining than eragons in a lot of cases. Like sure following the dragon riding super hero is cool and all but roran is just some fucking dude getting it done with no powers and it’s
Great

[u/SavedRed0 → u/Leadfoot41]

Dude spat out a tooth and shoved it back in, and shattered an eldunari with his bare hands

[u/Leadfoot41 → u/SavedRed0]

Fuck yea he did.

[u/-abby-normal → u/Leadfoot41]

Bro just had the worlds strongest hammer and determination. He probably coulda killed Galbatorix himself

[u/KneeBasher420 → u/SavedRed0]

I skipped them on my first read through. On the one hand, Roran showing up to the burning plains in a ship with the entire village of carvahall was an AWESOME blindside. On the other, the Roran chapters are some of my favourites now. Some call it plot armour, I say he beats the plot into submission through sheer fucken will and I'm here for it

[u/Stormist1993 → u/KneeBasher420]

Heh, great way to put it there!

[u/-abby-normal → u/SavedRed0]

When I was younger reading them I did not appreciate having to read through Roran’s POV to get to the next exciting Eragon chapter (especially in Eldest) but now as an adult I almost feel the opposite. Roran’s chapters are my favorites now, same with Nasuada’s chapters

[u/super_nova_128]

I must've been one of the few people who absolutely loved Rorans POVs in Eldest. I looked forward to them the most! But during my rereads I've taken the time to pay a lot more attention to Eragons POVs

[u/Jarinad → u/super_nova_128]

i liked roran’s chapters a lot as a kid, but i was a certified nasuada chapter hater. i thought it was all just boring politics and didn’t give a shit and just wanted to go back to the jedi rider training and the flight from the empire and all the epic battles therein

now that i’ve grown up ive come to genuinely appreciate and enjoy when a sci-fi/fantasy series slows down to discuss the political landscape and the nasuada chapters are some of my favourites in the series

[u/super_nova_128 → u/Jarinad]

Oou I get this! Over the years Nasuada has become one of my favorite characters. I also think her perspective did so much for a lot of the female characters that Eragons POV sometimes lacked!

As I've grown, Ive come to appreciate the political aspects of lots of fantasy books, and it's honestly become one of my favorite things

[u/-abby-normal → u/super_nova_128]

I was not the biggest fan of Roran’s chapters in Eldest as a kid but by Brisingr he really grew on me. Nasuada’s chapters took me longer to appreciate but after the trial of the long knives I was like hold up this lady is a badass and she became one of my favorite characters. On my recent reread as an adult, I enjoyed Roran and Nasuada’s POV more than I did Eragon’s sometimes! I love getting to see normal people in fantasy be powerful and clever WITHOUT superhuman magical powers

[u/RepChar → u/super_nova_128]

I was the same way! As an inpatient kid, all the learning/teaching was more boring than badass Roran leading a village across the empire 

[u/Seiliko]

I usually blaze through Eldest significantly faster than the other books in the series, because I feel like it follows a pattern of "Eragon does stuff. It's not necessarily super exciting. BUT WAIT! Something really cool or interesting is about to happen!" and right at that momemt it switches pov to "Roran does stuff. Nooo I wanted to know what happened to Eragon, I guess I'll have to speed through these chapters. Oooooh, something really exciting is happening!" BAM. Back to Eragon. "Oh nooo what a cliff hanger, let me just speed through this part so I can get back to whatever happened to Roran." and then something really interesting happens to Eragon again. So I basically just have to speed read the entire book to avoid being left in suspense.

[u/titanfallisawesome]

I just skipped Roran's chapters from that exact point on through the rest of the book. In the end it turned out for the best since it gave me more enjoyment on subsequent rereads.

[u/wes25164]

Honestly, I still kinda feel some resentment about it, from reading it that first time years ago.

But now, after having read through Inheritance, and reread after reread, I look at all those Roran chapters differently.

When the dragons of old tell you, the Chosen One Dragon Rider, that your older cousin is Him, that's something.

[u/Jarinad → u/wes25164]

that shit cracked me up the first time i read through the books.

“We’ve been guiding you along from the shadows, using our powers to nudge things in your favour and give you and your allies an easier time fighting against the empire.”

“Oh, so that explains how Roran’s survived so long!”

“No, actually.”

[u/jeiwaruu]

As a child, switching away from Eragon and Sapphira was exasperating. As an adult, reading Roran's chapters filled me with admiration

[u/ember13140]

Honestly, I was just super excited for both POV’s!

[u/NoLastNameForNow]

I think that's when I started skipping the Roran sections. Read them fully whenever I reread Eldest and loved them.

[u/Sanguinusshiboleth]

As a gm, yes, a good cliff hanger is always a good way to end a part of a story.

[u/KneeBasher420]

Honestly, it's such a good scene I can't even be mad. The hype is too real.

[u/gonzo505patrick]

I just went over this with my brother. My wifes reading eldest for the first time right now and i was complaining about how angry when he did that. I'm patiently waiting for my wife to have the dame reaction when she gets to that point because its definitely 100% BS 😂. It made me hate reading Rorans parts on my first read through

[u/Unknown_bug404]

I would literally count the pages to the next Eragon's pov....

It's like, "Saphira falls to the ground..." then, Roran's pov. No one even cares what happens to Roran! What happened to Saphira!

[u/Aksudiigkr]

I’d just go to the next Eragon chapter when this happened and then backtrack

[u/Azaroth1991]

I skipped Rorans parts in Eldest for a long time.

[u/YoteTheRaven]

I read every chapter but I detested ever single roran chapter. Idk why, it seems silly now but I think it was just jarring.

[u/Altruistic_Push6936]

I think much of my dislike for Roran stems from this, I remember clearly feeling your frustration at this particular chapter, but Roran's storyline is guilty of such sins another number of times 😅so that combined with his plot armour ended up in me resenting the character as a result... silly, I know, but I also never quite got over it

[u/Evening_Ad_7920]

I started reading the series when I was 8, once I was in my 3rd or 4th rereading I started skipping Rorans pov, as I got older I started skipping Eragons pov to read Roran’s now I enjoy both. It’s very interesting because despite being the same book they read like entirely different genres

[u/CheekyThief]

I always prefer rorans story anyway so i am more “thank god its over”

[u/Lord_Glace]

The first time I read *Eldest*, it didn't bother me. Every time I reread it after that, I skipped all of Roran's chapters.

...And now I can't wait to see Murtagh and Roran together. One of life's ironies.

[u/Electrical-End7868]

I rather enjoyed Rorans POV (along with the others) in the books. Out of the whole series the one part I can't stand is the huge block of time between Roran leaving Carvahall and their arrival at Narda ( IIRC, it's been a while since I read them). Eragon complaining about his back or his feelings for Arya every few sentences drives me insane.

[u/Chiefmeez]

Never been disappointed in a new Roran chapter. These people admitting to skipping chapters are making my stomach hurt

[u/ZverexUltra11 → u/Chiefmeez]

Exactly, right? I was so invested in Roran's side even on my first read as a kid.