my favorite part about eragon is that he HATES killing. he is constantly trying to save lives at the detriment of his own self. he has panic attacks about going into battle, not because he’s scared and unskilled, but because he’s so good at killing that he knows there will be too much blood on his hands. he hesitates to heal a baby, not because he doesn’t want to do it, but because he thinks the baby deserves to have cleaner and less bloody hands heal her.
he’s just a teenager raised on a farm in a remote valley suddenly thrust into politics and war when all he wants is to fly with his best friend. he feels like its his duty to save everyone and everything. even enemies who have slain countless comrades have his compassion.
the thought of absorbing the life force of any living creature, dying or not, disgusts him. he has the weight of the entire continent on his shoulders and he still weeps at the loss of an ants life. he speaks to older people about this multiple times and all they ever say is that it’s gruesome but necessary. he’s just a boy with too much empathy in a world overflowing with violence that he feels responsible for.
