Brom
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| Brom Holcombsson | |
|---|---|
| Biographical information | |
| Born | 124 -129 BBRW(Three years after Morzan) |
| Died | 0 ABRW |
| Physical description | |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Height | Unknown (a bit shorter than Jeod) |
| Hair Color | Silver (Grayish-brown in film) |
| Eye Color | Blue (brown in film) |
| Chronological and political information | |
| Affiliation | Dragon Riders, Varden, Dwarves, Elves, Dragons, Humans, Eragon Shadeslayer, Selena |
| Dragon | Saphira I |
| Known teachers | Oromis, Glaedr |
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Brom Holcombsson was a male human, a former Dragon Rider, and one of the few founders of the Varden. After the Riders were destroyed at the end of the Dragon War, Brom devoted his life to opposing Galbatorix and the Empire, and organized an opposing side called the Varden. Throughout Eragon's revenge-journey he tutored him in magic and swordsmanship. He believed that Galbatorix had much to answer for; he had defeated three of the Thirteen Forsworn personally including Morzan and was responsible for the death of five others. He sacrificed himself to save Eragon from the Ra'zac. In Brisingr, it is revealed that he is Eragon's father.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Early life
Brom came from a family of illuminators in Kuasta, a remote city near the Sea, far south of Carvahall. His mother was named Nelda and his father Holcomb. Kuasta was so isolated by the Spine that it became a peculiar place, full of strange customs and superstitions. When he was new to Ilirea (Urû'baen), for instance, Brom would knock on a door frame three times before entering or exiting a room. The other students laughed at these habits, so Brom eventually abandoned them.
[edit] Friendship with Morzan
During their tutelage under Oromis, Brom idolized Morzan, tagged after him, allowed him to boss him around, and always considered his actions to be admirable. Morzan often took advantage of Brom's unflagging admiration, making him "blind as a bat".
[edit] The Downfall
During Galbatorix's rebellion and the subsequent downfall of the Riders, Galbatorix or the Forsworn killed Brom's dragon Saphira I in Doru Araeba. Ironically, Galbatorix had himself lost his own dragon when he and his friends were ambushed by Urgals in the night; it was his dragon's death that had driven Galbatorix insane. Brom also lost his sword, Undbitr, during this time. Devastated by grief and loss of identity (due to the deep bond between dragon and Rider), Brom swore to take revenge on the person he blamed for his dragon's death and the destruction of his world: Morzan. He began to pursue and persecute his former idol even more intensely than he had idolized him in the first place. As Oromis once said "Brom's love for Morzan was given way to hate, like a candle before an inferno,". He joined the elves at the battle of Illrea only for them to lose to Galbatorix and the Forsworn.
[edit] Recovery of the egg
After the creation of the independent country of Surda, Brom used the turmoil for his advantage. He helped found the rebel group known as the Varden, gathering and merging various groups opposed to Galbatorix and the Empire. He led them for a few years, and then surrendered the position to Weldon in order to pursue his true passion: Morzan's downfall. To help accomplish this objective, Brom worked as a gardener in Morzan's castle, having managed to find a weakness in the castle's wards and was caught up in a romance with Selena, Morzan's personal agent, the Black Hand. They would meet whenever Morzan was away on a mission for Galbatorix. Selena later bore Brom a son, Eragon, giving birth to him in Carvahall.
Before he was aware of Eragon, Brom's fervor led him to a scholar named Jeod Longshanks, who claimed to have discovered a passage into Urû'baen. Brom and Jeod organized the successful theft of one of the three remaining dragon eggs, all of which were in Galbatorix's possession. However, the thief, Hefring of Furnost, fled with the egg instead of bringing it to the Varden. Brom and Jeod raced against the Forsworn and Ra'zac for the egg, eventually coming to Gil'ead. The egg was recovered, however Brom said while talking to Jeod in Tierm that he found the egg in a storage room. Oromis told Eragon that Brom took it from Morzan's corpse. It is possible that this could be Oromis's mistake, however. Brom personally killed Morzan; Brom took Morzan's sword Zar'roc into his keeping, but was fearful for Selena's life when Morzan asked if Brom was responsible for his agent's disappearance. He raced back to Morzan's castle but was too late, she had already died. From what he learned from the healers, he guessed that Selena was pregnant with his child. He then headed to her home town of Carvahall and saw his son, named Eragon, in the care of his uncle and aunt Garrow and Marian.
Brom was also responsible for the deaths of seven other Forsworn, two of whom he killed directly. He made sure that people thought he was dead, for Galbatorix would hunt him to the ends of Alagaesia. He secretly returned to Farthen Dur, meeting with his successor Deynor and later negotiated exchanging the egg between the Varden and elves. He accompanied Arya to Ellesmera, he also informed his former teachers Oromis and Glaedr of Eragon's existence and entrusted them with a fairth of Selena. It is possible at the time that he was given the ring, Aren, from Islanzadí, which he stored with every bit of energy he could muster.
[edit] A new Rider
After seeing the egg safely delivered to the Varden, Brom went into hiding in the village of Carvahall, living in disguise as a storyteller, partly because he wished to watch over his son that Selena had given birth to at Carvahall, her hometown. Years afterwards, when Eragon, his son by Selena, discovered a dragon egg, and the baby dragon inside hatched for him, Eragon asked Brom for suggestions of good names for dragons. She and Eragon later agreed on the name "Saphira", without understanding its significance.
Saphira's existence put Eragon and his family in great danger from Galbatorix, who wished to reestablish the order of the Riders and so bring them under his control. When Eragon's uncle Garrow was murdered by creatures called Ra'zac, Eragon and Saphira were forced to flee Carvahall and Palancar Valley. Brom accompanied them on their quest to find and destroy the Ra'zac. Along the way, he educated Eragon in the use of the magical powers bestowed upon a Dragon Rider, and the art of swordsmanship; he gave Eragon the sword Zar'roc, but refrained from telling him its history. In the town of Therinsford, Brom purchased two horses, Snowfire and Cadoc.
In Yazuac, Brom was wounded in an encounter with Urgals, and Eragon insisted that Brom ride Saphira, as she could protect him better than Snowfire could. Though Brom protested, insisting that no one should mount a dragon except its Rider, Saphira and Eragon persuaded him to accept the favor. A little afterwards, Saphira put events together and discovered Brom had used magic earlier on, past Utgard, and told Eragon she thought he was a magician, not revealing that she knew he was a rider.
In the port city of Teirm, Eragon shamefully revealed that he was illiterate. Brom consequently took it upon himself to teach Eragon to read. Though Eragon learned remarkably quickly, their plans were still delayed by a week.
Later, when they discovered Urgals close to where they were camped, they fled, Eragon on Saphira and Brom with Snowfire and Cadoc. When the urgals nearly overtook Brom, Eragon had Saphira land in front of the urgals, and after a brief confrontation with them, used magic to blast them back. Eragon fainted from the effort, while Saphira protected him. Saphira and Brom then went to destroy the remaining Urgals. Around this time, Brom also revealed the fact that he was Eragon's father to Saphira, though he made her swear not to tell Eragon unless certain circumstances were met.
Upon returning, Brom scolded Eragon for using such an energy-wasting attack on the urgals when sending rocks through their heads would have been much easier. Afterwards, he began training Eragon on what to do in dangerous situations involving magic, dragons, and Shades.
[edit] Brom's death
Brom and Eragon eventually found the Ra'zac, but were ambushed and forced to escape. Their escape attempt was unsuccessful and they were captured; however, a stranger named Murtagh rescued them. Unfortunately, one of the fleeing Ra'zac flung a dagger at Eragon. Brom sacrificed himself to save Eragon, jumping into the dagger's path. Unfortunately, the dagger went through his ribs. In passing, the other fleeing Ra'zac kicked Eragon in the ribs, breaking some of them.
Sadly, the wound was fatal, and Brom soon died. But before dying, Brom revealed to Eragon that he was once a Dragon Rider himself, and that he was a one-time friend of Morzan, first and last of the Forsworn, before Morzan was corrupted by Galbatorix. Brom's own dragon, also named Saphira, was killed in the Battle at Doru Araeba. After revealing seven words in the Ancient Language, he died shortly afterward.And in Eragon, he even hinted that he was Eragon's father as right before he died he gave Eragon a blessing, something a father gives his son.
Saphira used magic to shape diamond into a tomb for Brom on a hilltop near Dras-Leona. Eragon then used magic to carve these words on the side of the tomb:
And like a father
To me.
May his name live on in glory.
Though not known then, this was too true. A day later, Saphira transformed Brom's sandstone grave to a diamond tomb, with her semi-passive magic, (assumed) preserving his body through the ages. After Brom's death, Saphira said that Brom told her some secrets, including the location of Dormand, and the knowledge of Eragon's parentage (though the latter wasn't revealed until Oromis revealed Eragon's parentage first). Eragon resolved to one day visit his father's tomb and place wards around it so that no thieves would disturb it.
[edit] Other
- Eragon and Saphira, who were shaken to hear that Murtagh was Morzan's son, later suspected that Brom came to Carvahall after Morzan's death in order to keep an eye on Eragon, so as to prevent the boy from becoming like his father (Murtagh's existence was kept secret from everyone except Galbatorix). This opinion changed after Eragon found out Brom was his father.
- When Eragon, Saphira and Brom fled Carvahall, Brom expressed his gratitude that he lived to see the legend of the Dragon Riders reborn.
- Saphira kept Eragon's real parents a secret from him, in fear that Eragon grew to hate Brom, and his mother, Selena.
- Brom had a white beard, silver hair, and always carried a staff.
- Brom was played by Academy Award-winning actor Jeremy Irons in film version of Eragon. Though the film was heavily criticized and Irons' looks were not completely book-accurate of Brom's, his portrayal was praised.[1]
[edit] Trivia
Murtagh described Brom as a "dabbler" in Eldest. This background was when Murtagh told Eragon about how Galbatorix discovered new words in the Ancient Language, powerful words which the elves were scared to use. Murtagh was describing how one such as Brom could have defeated the great Morzan.
[edit] Real-world connections
[edit] Comparisons
Brom can be compared to the Star Wars character Obi-Wan Kenobi. Both of them were one of the latter in their respective Order (Obi-Wan, along with Yoda, being the last of the Jedi Knights, while Brom, along with Oromis, was the last of the Dragon Riders), and both moved near the protagonist's home (Obi-Wan moved to Tatooine, near Luke's uncle's farm, and Brom moved to Carvahall, near Garrow's farm, where Eragon spent his youth). He was also killed by one of the enemy (Obi-Wan by Darth Vader,Brom by the Ra'zac). In addition, Obi-Wan Kenobi was devastated when his apprentice and friend, Anakin Skywalker, turned to the dark side, as was Brom when Morzan betrayed the Riders. The main difference between the two characters, Brom was the father of the protagonist, whereas Obi-Wan was not.
Brom's description in the book (long white beard, hooked nose, carved staff, smoke pipe) can also be closely compared to Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings. His role was fairly similar to Gandalf as well; Brom left with the hero of the story, was a wise old wizardly character with magic, and died saving Eragon's life by jumping in front of a dagger thrown by one of the Raz'ac in the first book just like Gandalf who died the first time by protecting Frodo from the Balrog.
Brom also bears a resemblance to the Ranger's Apprentice character Halt. Both are grim, mysterious, and are quite skilled in a hero's primary fighting skill; Brom is a Dragon Rider and magician, and Halt is an expert archer. They are also part of the order which the hero is placed in: Dragon Riders/Rangers. They are also both mentors to the hero and know the truth of the hero's parentage. However, Halt does not die yet but Brom is dead.
| Preceded By | Position | Succeeded By |
| None | Leader of the Varden | Weldon |
| Preceded By | Position | Succeeded By |
| Morzan | Holder of Zar'roc | Eragon Shadeslayer |
| Preceded By | Position | Succeeded By |
| Rhunön | Holder of Undbitr | Unknown |
| Preceded By | Position | Succeeded By |
| None | Eragon's Travel Partner | Murtagh |
| Preceded By | Position | Succeeded By |
| Morzan | Student of Oromis | Eragon Shadeslayer |
| Preceded By | Position | Succeeded By |
| Galbatorix | Keeper of Saphira's egg | Arya |
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