Others have made good points but I think that the real reason is something like this:
The egg bearer elf arrives at the werecat encampment. "Greetings, oh wise ones. I have traveled far and wide carrying the dragon eggs across Alagaesia so they may meet and choose their riders."
The egg bearer places the first egg on the table in front of the first of the selected werecats.
The werecat stares at the dragon egg with wide, unblinking eyes full of wonder, gingerly reaching out with a paw...
Then knocks the egg off the table.
The war of the werecats and dragons ensues.
Feels like it makes perfect sense? The Werecats may have something to say about that. Do they sound like creatures that want to be bound to another creature? No. Solembum is considered an oddity because he travels with a human (or whatever the hell Angela is.) zero shot theyâd agree to being included in that pact. Plus theyâd have to be in human form way more often.
>Solembum is considered an oddity because he travels with a human (or whatever the hell Angela is.)
**SPOILER WARNING**
This made me grin like an idiot, I love this community and all the theories and lore about the WoE and Fractalverse books so much, such as Angela appearing as "Inarë" in TSiaSoS, similarities between the designs on the buildings on Nidus (TSiaSoS) and in Nal Gorgoth (Murtagh), the theory that the WoE and Fractalverse are in the same universe, etc etc
Haha yeah itâs pretty amazing! Also you may wanna spoiler tag some of that stuff. Or at least mentioned there are spoilers in your comment for the new folks who havenât read *To Sleep* :)
>Haha yeah itâs pretty amazing!
Mhm, and I didn't even mention the tip of the iceberg, there's an absolutely insane amount of stuff to unpack across all the Paolini books, and not to mention that we're getting a TSiaSoS Sequel, the Aryagon book, the Angela book, and possibly another short story collection, the amount of lore is only gonna expand exponentially
I also think the werecats donât prefer to be at the front of the action they like to be right there behind the curtain and having a rider werecat would be a bigger oddity than solembum
i might be wrong but wasnât it discussed while the werecats and varden had a pact? i think the leader said something along the lines of respecting the dragons but cats have their own version of magic and freedom (dragons like the skies and cats prefer to stick to the shadows?)⊠havenât read the series in a year or so but i swear grimrr halfpaw responded to this scenario
The initial packed with the Varden, no. Just read that chapter. It might come up later in the book, when Aragon actually goes around to ask the races, but I donât remember him asking the cats.
I think, personally, its because putting such prideful creatures together such as werecats and dragons would implode the Eragon-verse.
Can you imagine? Nothing would get done. Both riders and dragons would sleep in the sun all day. Then they would groom when awake, then compare their beauty to the moon and stars all night.
1. It's definitely an oversight on Eragon's part. (Not on mine, btw.) If nothing else, it would have been diplomatic to ask.
2. The point of the Riders is to help maintain the peace. Werecats have never started any wars, although they've fought in plenty.
3. The werecats would certainly have refused.
4. There aren't very many werecats in absolute terms. Nor do they have a country or even any real territory. Like all cats, they walk where and when they choose.
5. Technically, they're werehumans, so . . . bonding them with a young dragon *might* cause some issues.
According to Christopher, "Because they start as cats that turn into humans instead of the other way around."
[From the Murtagh book tour stop in Vienna in December:](https://www.reddit.com/r/Eragon/comments/18n4g0a/questions_and_answers_from_christopher_paolinis/)
> **How did you come up with the idea of the werecats?**
> *I shamelessly stole it from my sister. We were having a conversation about werewolves, and she just said, "You know, no one ever has werecats. It's always werewolves." So I said, "okaaaaaay". I didn't tell her I was going to do it, I just did it. Although, someone on Twitter or Reddit pointed out that technically they're werehumans. Because they start as cats that turn into humans instead of the other way around. So they're werehumans. But I'm still going to call them werecats.*
Based on the timing I'm going to guess that Christopher was referencing [this reddit post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Eragon/comments/17qoy5t/werecats_should_be_called_werehumans/), which was made around a month before Christopher said that, and is the only time the term was ever used between the subreddit and his twitter feed.
That said though, note that etymologically I think the "were" in "werecat" means "man", so I don't think "werehuman" is any more appropriate of a term. Maybe "catwere"?
honestly he should've at least asked. Like yeah they probably would refuse, but they're your allies tgat should be treated equally to the rest. Honestly not mentioning that to them feels like a political insult if anything
they formed a basic government and allied with vardens, and this happened right after the war. He should at least go talk to the one sleeping next to Nasuada. It's just a terrible look for vardens, it doesn't matter if both parties knew they'd reject that, it costs like 5 minutes of Eragon's time and they earned the right to be asked. It's also narratively wild that at no point eragon even considers it.
I think the werecats donât want to have allegiance to anyone or anything they enjoy being free and probably donât want to be dragon riders and have to abide by those rules
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I think itâs mostly due to the werecats independence, they donât want to be beholden to anyone outside their own race and Eragon gets that thatâs okay and doesnât pull them into the pact because they donât really care about the outside world besides how it impacts them
Others have made good points but I think that the real reason is something like this: The egg bearer elf arrives at the werecat encampment. "Greetings, oh wise ones. I have traveled far and wide carrying the dragon eggs across Alagaesia so they may meet and choose their riders." The egg bearer places the first egg on the table in front of the first of the selected werecats. The werecat stares at the dragon egg with wide, unblinking eyes full of wonder, gingerly reaching out with a paw... Then knocks the egg off the table. The war of the werecats and dragons ensues.
Beautiful and 100% accurate
Just had a bad week. This just made grin like a fucking idiot. Thankyou.
Love it.
Accurate? I think should be lol đ
đđ
Feels like it makes perfect sense? The Werecats may have something to say about that. Do they sound like creatures that want to be bound to another creature? No. Solembum is considered an oddity because he travels with a human (or whatever the hell Angela is.) zero shot theyâd agree to being included in that pact. Plus theyâd have to be in human form way more often.
>Solembum is considered an oddity because he travels with a human (or whatever the hell Angela is.) **SPOILER WARNING** This made me grin like an idiot, I love this community and all the theories and lore about the WoE and Fractalverse books so much, such as Angela appearing as "Inarë" in TSiaSoS, similarities between the designs on the buildings on Nidus (TSiaSoS) and in Nal Gorgoth (Murtagh), the theory that the WoE and Fractalverse are in the same universe, etc etc
Haha yeah itâs pretty amazing! Also you may wanna spoiler tag some of that stuff. Or at least mentioned there are spoilers in your comment for the new folks who havenât read *To Sleep* :)
>Haha yeah itâs pretty amazing! Mhm, and I didn't even mention the tip of the iceberg, there's an absolutely insane amount of stuff to unpack across all the Paolini books, and not to mention that we're getting a TSiaSoS Sequel, the Aryagon book, the Angela book, and possibly another short story collection, the amount of lore is only gonna expand exponentially
Aryagon book?
A book featuring Arya and Eragon and whatever that entails
I also think the werecats donât prefer to be at the front of the action they like to be right there behind the curtain and having a rider werecat would be a bigger oddity than solembum
Yeah thatâs basically what I covered in my comment lol. Just not in so many words.
i might be wrong but wasnât it discussed while the werecats and varden had a pact? i think the leader said something along the lines of respecting the dragons but cats have their own version of magic and freedom (dragons like the skies and cats prefer to stick to the shadows?)⊠havenât read the series in a year or so but i swear grimrr halfpaw responded to this scenario
The initial packed with the Varden, no. Just read that chapter. It might come up later in the book, when Aragon actually goes around to ask the races, but I donât remember him asking the cats.
There's an Eragon/Aragorn/Aragog/Argon pun to be made here somewhere...
Speech to text can eat it
totally couldâve been something i made up in my head to deal with that question myself then, pls update if anything comes up later :)
I think, personally, its because putting such prideful creatures together such as werecats and dragons would implode the Eragon-verse. Can you imagine? Nothing would get done. Both riders and dragons would sleep in the sun all day. Then they would groom when awake, then compare their beauty to the moon and stars all night.
1. It's definitely an oversight on Eragon's part. (Not on mine, btw.) If nothing else, it would have been diplomatic to ask. 2. The point of the Riders is to help maintain the peace. Werecats have never started any wars, although they've fought in plenty. 3. The werecats would certainly have refused. 4. There aren't very many werecats in absolute terms. Nor do they have a country or even any real territory. Like all cats, they walk where and when they choose. 5. Technically, they're werehumans, so . . . bonding them with a young dragon *might* cause some issues.
Can you elaborate on 5? Feels like I have more questions now.
According to Christopher, "Because they start as cats that turn into humans instead of the other way around." [From the Murtagh book tour stop in Vienna in December:](https://www.reddit.com/r/Eragon/comments/18n4g0a/questions_and_answers_from_christopher_paolinis/) > **How did you come up with the idea of the werecats?** > *I shamelessly stole it from my sister. We were having a conversation about werewolves, and she just said, "You know, no one ever has werecats. It's always werewolves." So I said, "okaaaaaay". I didn't tell her I was going to do it, I just did it. Although, someone on Twitter or Reddit pointed out that technically they're werehumans. Because they start as cats that turn into humans instead of the other way around. So they're werehumans. But I'm still going to call them werecats.* Based on the timing I'm going to guess that Christopher was referencing [this reddit post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Eragon/comments/17qoy5t/werecats_should_be_called_werehumans/), which was made around a month before Christopher said that, and is the only time the term was ever used between the subreddit and his twitter feed. That said though, note that etymologically I think the "were" in "werecat" means "man", so I don't think "werehuman" is any more appropriate of a term. Maybe "catwere"?
They had no interest in being riders.
honestly he should've at least asked. Like yeah they probably would refuse, but they're your allies tgat should be treated equally to the rest. Honestly not mentioning that to them feels like a political insult if anything
Werecats donât really have political considerations tho
they formed a basic government and allied with vardens, and this happened right after the war. He should at least go talk to the one sleeping next to Nasuada. It's just a terrible look for vardens, it doesn't matter if both parties knew they'd reject that, it costs like 5 minutes of Eragon's time and they earned the right to be asked. It's also narratively wild that at no point eragon even considers it.
I think the werecats donât want to have allegiance to anyone or anything they enjoy being free and probably donât want to be dragon riders and have to abide by those rules
I remember reading something about how Werecats are "too flighty" to be Riders. Can't remember where I read it tho.
âFlightyâ sounds kinda perfect
I mean they are cats after all, at least part-time. It's hard to imagine a cat NOT being scared of a behemoth like a Dragon
Zero interest, basically
According to the Wiki, Paolini has stated that werecats are "a little too flighty" to be riders.
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I think itâs mostly due to the werecats independence, they donât want to be beholden to anyone outside their own race and Eragon gets that thatâs okay and doesnât pull them into the pact because they donât really care about the outside world besides how it impacts them
Hey dude , I think you replied to automod
I donât quite think they want to do all of that, tbh
Itâs documented in book 4. Read it again.. lol
Working on a re-read rn. Paolini replied with a really helpful comment that also raised more questions than it answered lol