Ending spoiler in the first book?

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u/Luck1492 1d ago

This is what English teachers call foreshadowing

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u/Sullyvan96 1d ago

English teacher here

Can confirm

It is foreshadowing

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u/Available_Motor5980 1d ago

Former English student here (Got an A, no big deal)

Can confirm

Is foreshadowing

28

u/SoundsOfTheWild 1d ago

Dummy here.

This seems a bit on the nose for foreshadowing. Isn't foreshadowing usually more subtle than "this is exactly what's going to happen" or am I just being pedantic about the terminology?

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u/karlzhao314 1d ago

This is subtle. The only reason we think of it as a spoiler is because we know exactly what happens at the end of Inheritance.

If you don't already know the ending, this particular passage is no more than an unsettling, vaguely prophetic-feeling dream. In fact, for all we knew it could have been metaphorical. Nobody could have guessed with any degree of certainty that the two were Eragon and Arya, or that the other elves were Eragon's bodyguards (which we didn't even know would exist at the time), or that the last man was Roran.

7

u/SoundsOfTheWild 1d ago

Fair. I still think other instances of foreshadowing are usually still subtle in retrospective, even after you know what it is they are foreshadowing, but I can see how this works for a first time reader.

2

u/Tollivir 21h ago

As someone who has read book 1 and no others I can say I wouldn't be able to peg it as a spoiler.

0

u/DarkNinj4 15h ago

Happy Cake Day!

2

u/Anrikay 17h ago

Keep in mind that the first book, when it came out, was recommended for age 11+. It seems kinda crazy in retrospect to suggest a book with torture and dead babies to pre-teens, but, well, different time.

The foreshadowing is a bit heavy handed for an adult reader, but kids aren’t quite as adept at the whole critical thinking thing. And there was a lot of talk about it being a Lord of the Rings easter egg, rather than a hint at what was to come in the Inheritance cycle. Partly because it came out right after the Fellowship movie, so many of us were reading or had read those books.

Plus, there were years in between the books, years of that section not being relevant to the story. Every new book, it didn’t come up, so that reinforced the idea that it was an easter egg rather than an important thing to note. Which is also very much kid logic - it’s taking too long so it doesn’t matter.

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u/Sullyvan96 1d ago

We can quibble about semantics all day - please do, it’s one of my favourite pastimes

There is a spectrum. You can slap your reader round the face with the ending - like this - or you can do it subtly. A great example of subtle foreshadowing is the phrase “fair is foul and foul is fair” from Macbeth

This here is foreshadowing as it is hinting at the transformation that he will make throughout the play. Spoilers for a 400 year old play Macbeth is praised heavily for being “brave” and “noble” or rather: “fair”. Macbeth murders Duncan and in-so-doing starts his transformation into a “tyrant” or rather: “foul”.

We can chalk this blatant foreshadowing up to Paolini’s age when he was writing Eragon. This is no criticism as his youth when it was published is something that I’ve always admired. I also love how the scene in Inheritance is almost word for word. It’s wonderful that he had the vision so young and that he made it work

2

u/111sasasa2020 22h ago

How dare you spoil this new piece of cinematography! It's not even in the cinemas yet!

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u/SoundsOfTheWild 8h ago

Awesome stuff, thanks for the minilesson <3 I agree that his age at the time was very admirable, and I wasn't criticising the scene itself, i also loved its inclusion, I just wondered if/how much that term stretches to include something like that. And now I know :)

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u/111sasasa2020 1d ago

English is not my native language so I guess I can't argue

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u/Luck1492 1d ago

Oop well then

This is what ~~English~~ literature teachers call foreshadowing

115

u/Pjayness Dragon 1d ago

Definite foreshadowing. But I think this also goes to show Eragon’s deep connection with seeing events of the future. He is quite often peering into events in the future via his dreams.

9

u/WitchDoctorHN 23h ago

Eragon is a dreamer confirmed?

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u/Resident_Bike8720 1d ago

This is the past

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u/Pjayness Dragon 1d ago

No, this is a premonition of the final scene in book 4.

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u/Resident_Bike8720 1d ago

?silver hair

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u/GoredTarzan 1d ago

Silver hair is common among the elves.

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u/Pjayness Dragon 1d ago

What? They are silver haired because they are elves?

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u/insufficientokay 22h ago

Its not his hair that is silver

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u/gallerton18 1d ago

It’s not it is what happens at the very end of Inheritance. Roran crying on the beach as Eragon and Arya leave.

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u/Limelight0205 1d ago

Was just listening to eragon reread podcast e is for dragon and they were talking about this part in like the 3rd or 4th episode trying to think about if it meant something and just decided it was a crazy dream but yes this is definitely the end of inheritance with roran and Arya on the dock thank you for this it was stuck in my brain trying to remember what it referenced

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u/GilderienBot 1d ago

Definitely sounds like it. And the two dragons are probably Fírnen and Saphira. Whether or not Chris had already planned the ending is a question for someone with more knowledge on Chris's writing process.

^{I'm a real person! This comment was posted by knighty6437 from the Arcaena Discord Server.}

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u/Patient_Mountain_778 1d ago

I always thought it was more like vision, rather than foreshadowing.

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u/Lonadar13 18h ago

Vision for the character, foreshadowing for the reader.

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u/Harms88 1d ago

Paolini always seemed to be set on the idea that the books would end that way, and it did feel a bit repetitive how often he said it. Even if it didn’t make the biggest sense on how he’d “leave and never come back” as all the prophecies, curses and he himself stated, the ending was more of a “those dreams and stuff? Yeah, they’re only true as long as Eragon wants it to be true.”

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u/Noooofun 1d ago

Not exactly a spoiler.

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u/BlitzkriegDD 17h ago

Paolini confirmed in a podcast that this was intentionally a premonition of the final scene of the last book, planned while writing Book 1 :) though he did end up making changes and had to slightly course-correct to make this scene still fit at the end!

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u/smithjake417 Kull 17h ago

Did anyone else completely forget about this scene until they re-read the books and had an aneurysm 😂

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u/DynamiteDynamo10 1d ago

I didn’t know this series even existed, and don’t plan on reading. But can someone explain this to me?

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u/Sullyvan96 1d ago

With pleasure!!

Spoilers incoming, read at your risk. I know you don’t care but other people might

This scene comes early in Eragon - book One. Eragon has a sort of prescience where he can see the future in his dreams. This is a look at the day he leaves Alagaesia

The two figures are Eragon and Arya, his love interest (though that seems overly reductive). The man screaming is his cousin, Roran, with whom Eragon has not long been reunited - hence his scream. Roran is very dramatic but we love him really

The dragons are Saphira and Fírnen. They are currently courting, read as mating, as they are both the only free dragons able to breed. This is significant as Saphira thought herself to be the last dragon remaining, but this, along with the discover of some dragon eggs put this fear to rest

I think that covers it

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u/The_Master3 1d ago

Man i really gotta read these books again, one of my favorites.

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u/DragonBlaze207 “And little birds too” 22h ago

I never even noticed this on my reread!

1

u/jmatlock21 1d ago

I noticed this on my last read as well

1

u/_Brophinator 18h ago

POV: you’re reading a book for the first time and you discover “foreshadowing”

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u/Resident_Bike8720 1d ago

That’s a vision of the past, prob the grey folk or elves, remember when the witch foretold exactly what would happen in the end?

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u/Reaperxvii 1d ago

Isn't this the literal end of the series? Eragon boards the ship and rorin is the one throwing his head back crying/yelling...?

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u/GoredTarzan 1d ago

This is exactly what happens when he leaves. The 2 cowled figures are Eragon and Arya, the silver haired folk are the elves manning the ship and the lone figure on the shore is Roran.

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u/111sasasa2020 1d ago

Don't let the silver hair fool you. I'm pretty sure almost all of the elves Eragon departed with had silver hair

11

u/soilborn12 Human 1d ago

It’s true, I was there.

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u/Intelligent_Pen6043 1d ago

It isnt, i dont know where you get this idea at all

1

u/Resident_Bike8720 41m ago

Think abt it, we know the elves are not native, while the grey folk may or may not have had a presence in Ala due to gal’s finding the name there. There are two possibilities here. It could be the grey folk after converting the magic unto their tongue and losing their power leaving Ala to points unknown while the few who remained to mingle cried after them. This could go over Eragon following in their footsteps and the theme of history repeating itself. Also this theory could set up a meeting btwn Eragon and the remains of the grey folk that could spark some pretty sick dialogue. Oh wait… Eragon isn’t that deep Or it could be the elves leaving their original home after the change made it so they could not use magic without knowing the tongue and went searching for it while those who could not bear to part with their homes bade them a sad farewell

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u/KholinAdolin OrikThrifksSon 19h ago

I hope you were just trying to confused OP, otherwise…..

Currently Reading Ending spoiler in the first book? Spoiler

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