Hello all you Eragon, Eldest, Brísingr, and Inheritance fans. This is MasterFrench here and I think I have posted the first fanfic of the Inheritance Cycle on this site because I can't find any myself. As a disclaimer, I don't own the Inheritance Cycle because Christopher Paolini could only dream up this series. Not that it was a bad thing or anything, it is really creative. This fanfic analyzes the possibility of Saphira and Fírnen having eggs together. Wait... oops. SPOILER ALERT! DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ INHERITANCE! Of course that could have come sooner... well, I'll just put it in the description so no one gets mad for ruining the end of the book. Anyway, read and just give me your thoughts on if you believe they did have eggs/hatchlings together or not.
So it has been confirmed by Mr. Paonlini himself that Saphira and Fírnen did become mates. But what is the possibility of them having eggs together? It is one of the most asked questions to Christopher. "Did Saphira and Fírnen have eggs?" Christopher has led us on a wild goose chase throughout the fanfic world and on his Facebook and Twitter accounts. He has purposely left us in the dark since the question was asked for his amusement or just because he doesn't know what to say himself. A new book is in the distant future but according to Christopher is already planned out. In an interview with Christopher the matter of Saphira*Fírnen was brought up but his answer was "no comment". Although he has not publicly released wether or not they had a batch of eggs, today we will analyze the possibility of it happening.
Who Knows?
Since the only contact with Saphira and Fírnen were from the point of Saphira and Fírnen becoming mates, which, according to Paolini was not soon after they met, to the last contact they had together which was when Eragon and Saphira left for the other lands spanned from a few weeks to a month or two. This combined with Eragon and Arya's busy schedule of preparing to leave could give them time to mate without Eragon or Arya noticing. BTW Eragon most likely would not know of this due to the lack of reaction in Inheritance. Because you would freak out a bit of your best friend was having a kid and he had no reaction or confirmed that they had eggs in the book. Arya, however, might keep this a secret if asked by Saphira and or Fírnen not to tell anyone. Still, this is unlikely due to her lack of reaction. At the end Inheritance, she showed no sudden interest or worry to Saphira. This tells us that she most likely does not know either. This makes it really hard to guess the time of conception seeing that the only beings that know are Saphira and Fírnen.
Where Did it Happen?
Conception of the batch of eggs definitely took place in the eleven forest. Although, laying the egg(s) depends on who long it takes for an egg to develop to the point of being laid. It is hard to guess this time seeing as Saphira and Fírnen are dragons that probably don't exist on this planet. Although we can compare this to the time it takes for other reptiles to conceive and then lay eggs. As explained in the book by Brom, dragon eggs are ready to hatch as soon as they are laid and only wait for the right environmental conditions or the right future rider to approach. This tells us that dragons are related to a type of lizards that have ovivipary or ovivipary-like young. This means that the egg is contained until it is ready or almost ready to hatch. This is similar to a pregnancy but the young do not have placenta contact with the mother and instead live off of yolk. This means that the pregnancy is a long one and the egg cannot be on Alagaesia but is with Eragon and Saphira. So the egg was laid either on ship they left on or on the land they find. If it is to remain a secret and they were laid on the ship then it could be a batch of one or two eggs hidden in the eggs they took with them. Or they could have been laid on the new land and if hidden right could contain any number of eggs possible.
When has/will it happen(ed)?
Breeding season for dragons happens once a year and for a week Saphira has to eat once every day. If I remember right was mentioned in Eldest and happened in the summer months which is when Eragon met Arya and, for the first time ever, Fírnen. Coincidence? I THINK NOT! In the time that they left Eragon's and Arya's sight to the point just before Saphira left to join Eragon on the boat that departed to the distant lands is the possible times of *ahem* "monkey business". On the other hand, when will the egg(s) be laid and when will they hatch? Although it is hard to say seeing that Saphira and Fírnen are dragons, lizards that have similar breeding patterns often carry eggs anywhere from a few months to a year and a half. For the sake of the document length, we'll just give it a wide carrying time of 9-16 months. This puts the laying of the batch of eggs at the end of or after their journey to the distant lands, although the latter is more likely. Saphira would either need to hide her eggs with the ones Eragon received or have a private laying in a secret location to continue the secrecy of the eggs.
Conclusion
Although it is unlikely that the secret can be kept from Eragon, it wouldn't be the hardest thing to do. I would give it a eighty percent chance that Saphira and Fírnen had eggs seeing the breeding season lined up with Fírnen coming of age and accepting Saphira as a mate. As of keeping this a secret from Eragon. I would give it about a forty percent chance that it will happen if saphira does have eggs with Fírnen.
Well, that's it for this analysis of chance. As a warning, my chances don't mean that something will or won't happen. It's chance and there is always a smaller percent of a chance that may become true. Kind of like when you roll dice there is a chance that the numbers will match each other on all of the dice but since it rarely happens doesn't mean that it never happens. Anyway, this has been MasterFrench and I hope to see you soon in another fanfic. Goodbye!