THERE IS A SPOILER IN THIS
EDITORIAL…IF YOU HAVEN’T FINISHED READING ELDEST; YOU MAY NOT WANT TO CONTINUE
READING.
WHAT DOES
INHERITANCE MEAN?
As defined by the Online Encyclopedia Britannica
inheritance means: “The devolution of personal property on an heir or heirs
upon the death of the owner. The term inheritance also designates the property
itself. In biology, any observable feature or trait, of an organism,
whether acquired or inherited. An acquired character is a response to the
environment; an inherited character is produced by genes transmitted from
parent to offspring.”
An inherited character is produced by genes
transmitted from parent to offspring…wow, that’s huge. I’ve been
thinking about the question how did Eragon and then Murtagh learn and become
skilled riders so quickly as well as proficient in the use of magic? They’re
both only human, right? Or are they? More on this later…
There is the obvious, inheriting of a possession in this
trilogy; in Eragon-Chapter The Horns of a Dilemma-pg 369…Murtagh said to Eragon
“Morzan threw his sword at me as I ran by. My back was laid open by the very
sword you now carry-the only thing I expected to receive as inheritance, until
Brom stole it from my father’s corpse”.
Then in Eldest Murtagh talking to Eragon in Chapter –
Inheritance- pg 652,”Perhaps. But before I let you go…Reaching out, Murtagh
pried Zar’roc from Eragon’s fist and unbuckled Zar’roc’s red sheath from the
belt of Beloth the Wise. If I have become my father, then I will have my
father’s blade. Thorn is my dragon, and a thorn he shall be to all our
enemies. It is only right, then, that I should also wield the sword Misery.
Misery and Thorn, a fit match. Besides, Zar’roc should have gone to Morzan’s
eldest son, not his youngest.”
As I’ve stated in a previous editorial, I believe that Brom
was Eragon’s father and we know that Morzan is Murtagh’s father, so yes Zar’roc
should go to Murtagh as his “inheritance”. Could this imply then that
Eragon too will inherit his father’s sword? Remember we were told that Brom had
requested another sword when his was lost…and Solebum told Eragon that
when he needed a sword to go to the Menoa Tree. I think that Eragon with find
Brom’s sword is buried at the foot of the Menoa Tree waiting for him as his
inheritance.
Another example of inheritance is when Nasuada took over
the leadership of the Varden after her father Ajihad was killed. In Eldest,
Chapter Fealty – pg 59, “Raising his voice, Jormundur said, By the right of
inheritance and succession, we have chosen Nasuada.”
Do I see any other inherited positions or possessions
coming into play? I think that Orik being Hrothgar’s heir will most likely
inherit the leadership of his Clan since Hrothgar’s death. We know that Arya is
the princess/heir to the leadership of the Elves. But I don’t know how that
works with Arya’s future, because I don’t believe that she will accept this
position even if it does become available to her.
What if, for purposes of this editorial the word
inheritance refers to the inherent traits that are passed on from one
generation to the next? What has been inherited. So is it possible that the
Gedwey Ignasia becomes a part of a rider’s DNA and is passed on to any children
he may have. This characteristic may lay dormant until the opportunity presents
itself to become one with a new hatchling dragon. As far as we know Eragon and
Murtagh are the only 2 children of riders. So I don’t believe that it’s known
how this ability presents itself in the children of riders. But not only are
they both sons of riders, they are also sons of a magical mother.
When Eragon touched Saphira for the first time he described
the sensation in Eragon-Chapter Awakening – pg 37, “Tentatively, he reached
out with his right hand and touched its flank. A blast of icy energy surged
into his hand and raced up his arm, burning in his veins like liquid fire. He
fell back with a wild cry. An iron clang filled his ears, and he heard a
soundless scream of rage. Every part of his body seared with pain. He
struggled to move, but was unable to. After what seemed like hours, warmth
seeped back into his limbs, leaving them tingling. Shivering uncontrollably, he
pushed himself upright. His hand was numb, his fingers paralyzed. Alarmed, he
watched as the middle of this palm shimmered and formed a diffused white oval.
The skin itched and burned like a spider bite. His heart pounded frantically.”
This whole process doesn’t sound like something really casual; this paragraph
says to me that the bond that links Eragon and Saphira was being engrained into
his identity, becoming not just a casual link but rather a permanent part of his
very being.
So in retrospect if you go back in time to Eragon’s father
who was also a dragon rider, this same process would have had to happen to him
as he and his dragon were “linked”, it then only seems natural that this
characteristic would have been passed on from father to son. So why wasn’t
Eragon aware of this “magical undercurrent” running through him earlier? It’s
possible that this ability may lay dormant until the child became of age, which
Eragon did during his trip with Brom, well after Brom had died and he was on the
road with Murtagh. So then why wasn’t Murtagh aware of this ability? I’m not
sure he wasn’t aware of it. In Eragon – Chapter Capture at Gil’ead pg 288
“With his return to health, Eragon also resumed practicing magic. Murtagh was
curious about it and soon revealed that he knew a surprising amount about how it
worked, though he lacked the precise details and could not use it himself.
Whenever Eragon practiced speaking in the ancient language, Murtagh would listen
quietly, occasionally asking what a word meant.” Of course we know that
Murtagh was taught by Tornac in the art of the blade, but I’m not so sure that
he wasn’t also taught something about magic also, and he’s not telling the truth
about not knowing how to use magic. I think he may have “stumbled onto it” as
Brom had told Eragon or had an idea that he had the ability, but was not
instructed completely in how to use it.
Then in Eragon-Chapter Revelation at Yazuac, pg 144,
Brom is explaining a Riders training “This regimen continued for many months,
occasionally years, until the Riders were deemed responsible enough to handle
magic. Up until then, not one student was told of his potential powers. If one
of them discovered magic by accident, he or she was immediately taken away for
private tutoring. It was rare for anyone to discover magic on his own”. So
it was possible that Eragon, as had happened in the past in rider training, that
even without any proper training in the use of magic…it was something
that was inherent…it was already there.
This could explain how Eragon was able to destroy the
Urgals in the same chapter pg 133, “…The power grew stronger and stronger
until he felt ready to burst from the contained force. He stood tall and
straight, all fear gone. He raised his bow smoothly. The Urgals laughed and
lifted their shields. Eragon sighted down the shaft, as he had done hundreds of
times, and aligned the arrowhead with his target. The energy inside him burned
at an unbearable level. He had to release it, or it would consume him. A word
suddenly leapt unbidden to his lips. He shot, yelling, Brisingr!”
And again in Eragon – Chapter Therinsford, pg 117, Eragon
talking to Brom, “When we were in the barn, I touched the bay’s mind by
accident. I didn’t know it was possible to do that. Brom Frowned. It’s
unusual for one as young as you to have the ability. Most Riders had to train
for years before they were strong enough to contact anything other than their
dragon.”
The Dragon Rider aura, if you will, is an innate quality
that both Eragon and Murtagh possess, which was an unknown. If this quality had
been discovered previously, I’m sure that Galbatroix would have exposed Murtagh
to the dragon eggs years earlier, but I think that it was only after learning
that Eragon and Murtagh were brothers from the twins that Galbatroix figured out
that if an egg would hatch for one son of a rider then perhaps one will hatch
for another. That’s why he arranged with the twins to have Murtagh captured and
brought back to him, he wants to control the next generation of riders.
Do you think that this would explain why they “caught on”
so quickly and does that explain the name of the trilogy?
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