Brom

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Brom Holcombsson
Biographical information
Born	c. 100 BBRW
Died	0 BBRW
Physical description
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Height	Unknown
Hair Color	White
Eye Color	Dark blue
Chronological and political information
Affiliation	Dragon Riders, Varden
Dragon	Saphira
Known teachers	Oromis

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early life 1.2 Friendship with Morzan 1.3 The Downfall 1.4 Recovery of the egg 1.5 A new Rider 1.6 Brom's death 1.6.1 Death in Eragon movie 2 Other 3 Real-world connections 3.1 Speculations 3.2 Comparisons

[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. He fell in love with Selena and became known only to Oromis that he was Eragon's true father. 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, 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 had Brom's dragon, the original Saphira, put to death in front of Brom's very eyes. 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.

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.

[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 Deynor in order to pursue his true passion: Morzan's downfall. His 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. They raced against the Forsworn and Ra'zac for the egg, eventually coming to Gil'ead. The egg was recovered, and Brom personally killed three of the Forsworn, including Morzan; Brom took Morzan's sword Zar'roc into his keeping. He was later responsible for the deaths of five other Forsworn.

[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. Years afterwards, when a farmboy named Eragon 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, coveted the dragon eggs. When Eragon's uncle Garrow was murdered by creatures called Ra'zac, Eragon and Saphira were forced to flee Carvahall and the 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 thought he was a magic-user or magician (not knowing 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.

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.

[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 unfortunatly the dagger went through his ribs. In passing, the other fleeing Ra'zac kicked Eragon in the ribs, breaking some of them.

Unfortunately, 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 afterwards.

Eragon used magic to shape sandstone 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:

Here lies Brom

Who was a Dragon Rider
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.

[edit] Death in Eragon movie

In the Film, Brom's death, along with several other big plotlines, are ultimately lost in the final cut.

When Eragon rescues Arya, he has to fight Durza. When the young Rider weakens himself with magic, Durza lifts a spear, and he shoots it at Eragon, saying, "They say as a dragon rider draws his last breath, he hears the screams of his dying dragon." Suddenly, Brom jumps in front of the javelin and is mortally wounded. Before he dies, he rides Saphira.

It is possible the director changed the death sequence to make the film more dramatic. Nonetheless, it upset fans.

[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). It was evident, however, that Brom was fond of young Eragon.
• It is later found, however, in the third book, according to Glaedr, that Morzan was not Eragon's father, it was Brom.
• When Eragon, Saphira and Brom fled Carvahall, Brom expressed his gratitude that he lived to see the legend of the Dragon Riders reborn.

[edit] Real-world connections

[edit] Speculations

• Some believe that Brom might have loved Arya, although he fell in love with Selena, Eragon's mother, while on an operation in Morzan's castle.

[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 Yoda, being the last of the Jedi Knights, while Brom, along Oromis, was the last of the Dragon Riders), and both moved near the protagonist's home (Obi-Wan moved to Tatooine, near Luke's uncles' farm, and Brom moved to Carvahall, near Garrow's farm, where Eragon spent his youth) in order to keep an eye on their enemy's son. He also was killed by one of the enemy. Also, 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. Brom's description in the book (long white beard, hooked nose, carved staff, smoke pipe) can be compared a lot to Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings.

Preceded By	Position	Succeeded By
None	Leader of the Varden	Deynor

Preceded By	Position	Succeeded By
Morzan	Holder of Zar'roc	Eragon Shadeslayer

Preceded By	Position	Succeeded By
None	Eragon's Travel Partner	Murtagh