The past influences the present. Growing up with wealth, being surrounded by crime, working for minimum wage. Every experience of the past formulates how one thinks in the future. In the case of Eragon, our main character grew up outside the system. Like us, Eragon is learning about the history of Alagaesia for the first time. And it’s not a pretty picture.
Harmony Between Races
The world of Alagaesia has four primary races: humans, elves, dwarves, and dragons. There are also Urgals and Ra’zac, but they don’t factor into the peace of the early times. For while no man has seen an elf, dwarf, or dragon in Alagaesia for decades, there was once constant communication and alliances between the four races.
After an alliance with the elves, dragon eggs would be protected until their destined rider came and the dragon hatched. A bond would then be formed between dragon and rider, one of mind and body. This means that if the rider or the dragon is injured, the other feels it. If the rider dies, so does the dragon, but not the other way around.
Where there’s a drawback, there’s great power. A rider and dragon rule the skies. Magic becomes part of a rider’s repertoire, and those abilities are only heightened by their dragon. This makes them ideal for settling conflicts and ensuring safety between the nations.
But such power can, and will, corrupt.
Betrayal of Brothers
Galbatorix, a dragon rider, loses his dragon in combat. He approaches the council of dragon riders and requests another dragon, but is denied. As mentioned, dragons bond with one rider and that connection holds throughout their lives. For Galbatorix to request a new dragon is to bring his own baggage into a new bond, but also to prevent a dragon from connecting with its destined rider.
None of this matters to Galbatorix. He promptly steals a dragon and forges a new bond with it. His skewed ideaologies influence other riders to rebel, creating strife within the dragon riders. War ensues, riders and dragons killing each other. In the aftermath, only a few dragon riders survived. Galbatorix leading the charge.
Claiming dominion over Alagaesia, Galbatorix hunted down the remaining riders who weren’t killed with their dragons. The same was done in reverse, riders like Brom killing the traitors that hunted them. When all was said and done, Galbatorix was the only rider remaining with a dragon at his side.
The Aftermath of the Present
Thanks to Galbatorix’s greed and desire to claim power, division was created between man, elf, and dwarf. Many lost their lives in his conquest, cities destroyed and trade prevented. The elves vanished from Alagaesia, hiding within a magical fortress that blocks entry from man. The dwarves moved underground, building tunnels and fortresses that are too complex to navigate.
With the world in his palm, Galbatorix amassed an army from the inhabitants of Alagaesia. He also aligned himself with Urgals and Ra’zac, unearthly beasts with extreme strength and magic. These forces were tasked with hunting down the resistance, a collection of men and dwarves known as the Varden. Cities and towns thought to harbor these rebels or came against the king’s men were ransacked.
Therefore, to protect themselves and their people, many submitted to the new rule. Surda is the only real free state, but only because it doesn’t support the Varden or meddle in the affairs of Galbatorix. And so it has been for many years. Until Eragon.
Why Eragon Takes a Stand
Being from a small village on the outskirts of Galbatorix’s reign, Eragon didn’t experience much of the strife that major cities saw. He knew the king commanded with an iron fist and that it was pointless to come against the soldiers that stopped by.
But when a dragon hatches for him, he becomes aware of the history I just detailed. The harmony, the betrayal, the conquest. Perhaps not all the details, but enough to know that the life people are living today is not what they should be experiencing. Eragon’s stand begins as revenge for the death of his uncle at the hands of the Ra’zac. As the story unfolds and history is explained, his stance shifts to regaining the peace and harmony of the past. Dwarves and elves won’t have to hide, men won’t live in fear of being drafted into an army of murderers.
And dragons will roam Alagaesia once more.