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I enjoy Eragon and Arya both on their own and as a potential couple, but with some important caveats.

Strengths

Their story has many strong points. The long-term buildup, shared history, and emotional growth make their connection very compelling. By the time they reach the events of Inheritance, they have the deepest spiritual bond in the series. They share their true names, which is one of the most intimate acts of trust and connection possible in their world. This is something even married couples like Roran and Katrina never do, and it is something elves who have known each other for centuries rarely consider.

They join minds so often that they can anticipate each other’s thoughts and reactions even when they aren't mentally linked. They share moral instincts and patterns of thinking, often arriving at the same conclusions independently. We see this when they both instinctively plan to tear their hands free in Dras-Leona, or how easily they read each other in the final book. They care deeply about each other. Their dragons, which are literal manifestations of their souls, mirror each other in temperament and support their compatibility. They share trauma, history, and a deep mutual understanding. They become best friends who push each other to grow, and that version of their relationship works beautifully.

Areas for Growth

The main challenge is that this dynamic wasn't established from the beginning. The first three books contain some unresolved writing and relationship issues that still hang over the romance. Paolini spends a lot of time creating obstacles between them, but he doesn't spend as much time resolving them, which can make the relationship feel a bit unbalanced.

A big part of this is the power imbalance. Arya is older, more experienced, and socially elevated, while Eragon starts out young, inexperienced, and very vulnerable. His early feelings often look like idealization or emotional dependency. He even goes through periods of self-erasure, like starving himself for her. There is also the complicated idea that she only truly begins to notice him after his transformation into something closer to her own race. Because Eragon is the younger party, this dynamic can feel a bit lopsided and problematic. While the goal was for them to be equals by the end, they don't always feel that way on the page.

Moving forward, Eragon could benefit from the kind of life experience Arya already has. She had a long-term relationship with Fäolin that helped shape her as an adult. She has loved, lost, and experienced a real partnership, but Eragon hasn't had that yet. If they are going to meet as equals, he needs a life arc that isn't entirely centered on her. This includes gaining real romantic experience with others. This is especially important since they are now separated by distance and duty with no formal promises to each other.

It isn't healthy, realistic, or narratively sound for an adult to stay emotionally frozen at sixteen while pining for someone he isn't with. Eragon deserves the chance to grow by being in a mutual relationship and learning who he is outside of his longing for Arya.

Of course, any other partner shouldn't just be a placeholder. It would be out of character for Eragon to date someone he doesn't care about or to discard them the moment Arya reappears. He values being noble and kind, so treating a partner as a stepping stone wouldn't fit his personality. If he eventually chooses Arya, it should be a conscious choice made as an adult, not a continuation of his boyhood worship. Arya didn't put her life on hold, and Eragon shouldn't be expected to freeze in place either.

For Arya, the journey looks a bit different. She has a very intense relationship with her sense of duty. Her identity is largely built on duty, sacrifice and self-denial. For a romance to truly work, she needs to actively choose personal happiness and learn how to let it coexist with her responsibilities. We haven't seen that arc for her yet, as she remains fairly unchanged in this regard throughout the series. She also needs space to process her own trauma and learn to express her emotions more freely.

The structure of the story also plays a role because we rarely see things from Arya’s perspective. Without her point of view, the relationship can feel one-sided, like Eragon yearning at a closed door rather than two people moving toward each other. Her stoicism contributes to this feeling of the romance being unrequited and unequal. More insight into her thoughts would balance things out and make her emotional restraint easier to understand. As it stands, that imbalance feels especially uncomfortable given their age gap, and if the genders were reversed, it would be far more widely criticized.

Ultimately, the idea of Eragon and Arya is a good one, but the execution sometimes makes it feel like the younger, more vulnerable party is doing most of the emotional work. If future stories address the power imbalance and allow both of them to grow independently, seeing them end up together would be a great payoff. It would show a relationship based on mutual respect and equality rather than one person pining for the other.

oh, he wouldn't be surprised at all. But he would be really concerned, he wouldn't want his son to experience heartbreak. Brom knows all too well how hurtful love can be, but he is also aware that he doesn't regret being in love with Selena

Brom would just tell Eragon to stay focused and to not let his feelings blind him, because the Alagaësia relies on Eragon

I’ve seen this debated on different platforms, so I wanted to take a closer look at what the books say and what Christopher Paolini has confirmed. Headcanons are fun, and everyone has their own mental image of these characters, but for this post, I’m focusing on the canon material.

Short answer: Eragon and Arya are the same height.

Arya’s Height in Context

It’s true that Arya is described as “taller than most men” (Brisingr), but the books never explicitly compare her height to Eragon’s. To understand this better, it helps to look at elven height in general:

Elves are generally tall. They’re repeatedly described as “long, lean figures” (Brisingr) with slim but strong builds. This description is used for the twelve elven spellcasters sent to protect Eragon; the same group later seen aboard the Talíta.

Most of these elves are noted to be of the “same general build and complexion as Arya” (Brisingr).

Individual elves, such as Lord Däthedr, are explicitly described as “tall” (Brisingr).

This establishes a clear baseline: height is normal for elves. That context matters when evaluating Eragon’s stature in comparison.

Evidence For Equal Height

The Talíta Vision

In Eragon’s prophetic dream, he sees a group of elves and notes that “two of them, taller than the rest, walked arm in arm” (Eragon). One is Arya; the other is Eragon himself.

This shows that even among a race that is already tall, Eragon and Arya stand out, and crucially, they do so together, as peers in height rather than one towering over the other.

The Five-Foot Tunnel

During the infiltration of Dras-Leona, the group enters a tunnel that is explicitly stated to be five feet tall:

Angela, who is described as short, moves through it without issue.

Eragon, Arya, and the elf Wyrden are all forced to “hunch like an old man with rheumatism” (Inheritance) to get through.

This gives us a concrete reference point: Arya, Wyrden, and Eragon are all significantly taller than five feet, again placing Eragon and Arya in the same physical category.

How the Books Frame Their Height

The books also rarely frame their interactions in terms of one character having to look up or down at the other in a way that suggests a height difference. Instead, their physical closeness is usually described at eye level:

During sparring, they are described as “staring into each other’s eyes” (Inheritance).

In close combat, Arya’s eyes are described as being “only inches away from his” (Inheritance).

We're consistently shown parity rather than a noticeable height gap.

Author Confirmation

And finally, Paolini has addressed this directly in an AMA:

Conclusion

Thud. Bright as a flaming sun, the dragon hung before Eragon and everyone clustered along the Crags of Tel’naeir, buffeting them with gusts from its mighty wings… It was far larger than Saphira, large enough to be several hundred years old, and proportionally thicker in its neck, limbs, and tail. Upon its back sat the Rider, robes startling white against the brilliance of the scales.

Closeups under the cut! Eragon fanart in 2026 I guess

Clive, Ifrit, and Joshua Rosfield. FINAL FANTASY XVI.

Fanart by yours truly.

Time taken: 60-70 hrs?

Please don't repost/reuse without consent. Do not use my work for AI-generated content or imagery.

Psylocke Color Swap with @valentinainat1

their lines and my colors on top, and my lines with their colors below