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Inheritance
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Chapters 1-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “Into the Breach”
Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide contain descriptions of enslavement, emotional abuse, graphic violence, torture, mutilation, and bodily injury.
Eragon, Saphira, and the Varden army are engaged in a battle to take the city of Belatona, which is controlled by a lord who is loyal to Galbatorix. Eragon and Saphira are fighting on the front lines alongside Arya, Roran, and the Elf spellcasters who protect them. The enemy is retreating, but in a desperate gesture, one of their soldiers brings out a strangely enchanted lance-like weapon from inside the keep. He throws it toward Saphira and hits her in the chest before Eragon can stop him.
The Elves heal Saphira while their leader Blödhgarm joins Arya and Eragon in examining the weapon. The lance is a Dauthdaert, an ancient Elven weapon designed to kill dragons and repel magical enchantments. As they speak, the keep starts to crumble, and a wall falls into the courtyard. Eragon barely has enough time to catch a glimpse of Roran before the falling stone buries his cousin.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Hammerfall”
Panicked, Eragon realizes that Roran was standing under the doorway to the keep when the wall fell. Eragon runs through the keep’s hallways, dispatching enemy soldiers until he reaches the portcullis and finds Roran, who is still alive but injured.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Shadows on the Horizon”
Arya and Blödgharm, who followed Eragon, heal Roran. They all then leave together in search of the lord of the castle, Lord Bradburn and find him hiding in the keep. Although his soldiers surrender, Lord Bradburn refuses to order his men to officially stand down. After taking Lord Bradburn prisoner, Eragon and his friends hear trumpets announcing the arrival of the Werecats.
Chapter 4 Summary: “King Cat”
After the battle, Nasuada, Eragon, and the Varden leaders welcome the Werecat delegation. Werecats are rare creatures who do not often associate with the other peoples of Alagaësia, so the Varden are intrigued by their intentions. Their leader, King Grimrr Halfpaw, offers the Werecats’ aid to the Varden army, offering to help in the fight against Galbatorix. After a brief round of negotiations, Nasuada accepts.
Angela the witch is present in the assembly, and the Werecats are hostile toward her.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Aftermath”
Chapter 6 Summary: “Memories of the Dead”
Through his telepathic link with his Dragon, Saphira, Eragon watches her memory of his mentor and father, Brom, finding the memory comforting. Eragon recalls his past experiences with Glaedr, one of the last Dragons of the old regime, whose consciousness now lives on within an Eldunarí (a gem-like organ that contains a dragon’s consciousness). Eragon digs up Glaedr’s Eldunarí but cannot make contact with the dragon’s consciousness, as Glaedr is still mourning the death of his rider, Oromis. Arya then joins Eragon and Saphira. She also attempts to reach Glaedr but is unsuccessful. They are interrupted when Albriech, a friend of Eragon and Roran, comes to ask Eragon for help because his mother, Elain, is in labor.
Chapter 7 Summary: “What Is a Man?”
Roran returns to the Varden camp and reunites happily with a worried Katrina. He tells her about the battle, and his wife comforts him while she washes some bandages. When he notices that Katrina is getting tired, Roran insists on taking over her task despite Katrina’s protests that his gesture is improper. Baldor, Albriech’s brother, then comes to tell her that his mother is in labor. Roran and Katrina follow him.
Chapter 8 Summary: “The Price of Power”
Nasuada is finally able to take off the bandages that she has worn ever since the Trial of the Long Knives (described in Brisingr). She assesses her scars and decides that they shall be a reminder of her character. King Orrin, who has become more and more sullen as the war has progressed, asks Nasuada to break her bargain with the Urgals, arguing that this alliance is damaging the Varden’s reputation. Nasuada refuses, insisting that cooperation between the different races of Alagaësia can only be beneficial. Orrin relents but remains unconvinced. They then continue planning their progress across the country; they are now approaching Dras-Leona, an important and well-garrisoned city in the Empire. The Varden are also trying to find a way to keep their prisoners secure; because the prisoners swore magical oaths of obedience to Galbatorix, they cannot be trusted or left alone.
Chapter 9 Summary: “Rudely into the Light…”
As Elain’s labor continues, Eragon and the villagers of Carvahall wait outside her tent for hours, tense and worried. When Arya emerges from the tent to fetch fresh linens, Eragon asks her to ease Elain’s pain with magic. However, Arya explains that the other women refused her help because humans are prejudiced against magic; she states that Eragon should not interfere either. After a long time, the baby is finally born, but she has a cleft palate. Eragon is asked to heal the infant, so he takes her to his tent with Gertrude while the others care for Elain.
Chapter 10 Summary: “A Cradle Song”
Eragon spends the whole night composing a spell and healing the baby while Gertrude, the Carvahall healer, keeps watch over them. Eragon works carefully because he wants to avoid any accidental mishaps (as when he unintentionally placed a curse on a young girl named Elva. He weaves the spell into a song from his childhood, and at the end of the night, the infant is fully healed. He returns the baby to her father, Horst, who decides to name her Hope. People gather to look at her, including Elva herself, who nods her approval of Eragon’s work.
Chapter 11 Summary: “No Rest for the Weary”
Roran is summoned by Nasuada, who orders him to ride to Aroughs, a city that the Varden have unsuccessfully been trying to take. His task is to end the siege once and for all. Roran asks to take some of the Carvahall men, as well as a magician named Carn.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Dancing with Swords”
While Eragon and Saphira wait for the Varden army to complete their preparations and depart from Belatona, the young Rider practices his sword-fighting skills. He spars with one of his Elf guards, then asks Arya if she wants to train with him. Despite Eragon’s increased skills, Arya bests him. She tells him that he has grown complacent by fighting only humans on the battlefield. Eragon decides to start training with other Elves as well.
Chapter 13 Summary: “No Honor, No Glory, Only Blisters in Unfortunate Places”
After stealing some horses on their way to Aroughs, Roran and the five men he has enlisted are now pursued by guards and hounds. They try to evade their pursuers by riding through thickets and hiding. Carn also casts a spell to confuse the hounds and lead the men astray. The ploy is successful.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Mooneater”
In the Varden camp, Eragon stumbles upon the witch Angela, who is telling stories to a group of Urgals and Werecats gathered around a fire. He listens until she concludes her story. When Nar Garzhvog, the Urgal chief, mentions a well-known Urgal tale, Eragon admits that he has never heard of it. The Urgals are offended because it is the story of their greatest victory against Galbatorix during the war of dragons. The Urgals set out to find human storytellers and teach them about Urgal history so that the Urgals’ deeds will be sung across Alagaësia. Left along with Angela, Eragon asks the witch about Grimrr Halfpaw’s hostility toward her. She explains that she once cast a spell on Grimrr to make him chirp for a week.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Rumors and Writing”
Chapters 1-15 Analysis
The first part of the novel emphasizes The Ruinous Effects of Tyranny as Eragon and his companions continue to battle against the widespread damage that Galbatorix has caused. While working to free parts of the Empire that languish beneath the despotic rule of Galbatorix and underlings like Lord Bradburn, Eragon and the Varden demonstrate their commitment to The Importance of Balancing Power with Service, for they do not seize territory for their own sake. Instead, they work toward the grander goal of restoring the realm to a calm, prosperous, and equitable state of being. As the protagonists find themselves embroiled in new conflicts stemming from the events at the conclusion of Brisingr, when the Varden army set out to march on Urû’baen, Paolini deliberately begins the novel in medias res in order to create narrative tension and to emphasize the book’s role as the action-packed finale of the series.
Throughout these early chapters, Eragon’s behavior exemplifies his reliance upon Empathy as a Moral Compass, for even in the midst of his onerous responsibilities, he never loses his deepest instinct to take care of others before himself. For example, when Roran is buried under rubble, an aghast Eragon briefly believes him to be dead, and his anguished thoughts reveal his family-oriented priorities. Caught up in the urgency of the moment, Eragon even uses his enchanted belt—a precious artifact originally meant to aid in the defeat of Galbatorix—to help Roran. Later, Eragon’s compassion is further depicted when he heals Elain’s newborn baby, Hope. By taking extreme care over the construction of the magical spell and ensuring that he meets the highest possible ethical standards, Eragon exhibits the true extent of his emotional growth, which has waxed considerably over the course of the series. These interpersonal skills serve him well as his military and political responsibilities increase in this final installment of The Inheritance Cycle.
Notably, these early scenes with the infant Hope also allow Paolini to reintroduce the issues surrounding the character of Elva, whom Eragon once accidentally cursed when he attempted to bless her without sufficient magical knowledge. With the introduction of Hope to the narrative, the author creates an implicit parallel between Eragon’s botched blessing of Elva and his successful healing of the newborn. As the narrative states:
Not a word did [Elva] say, nor did she attempt to slow or stop him. Nevertheless, Eragon understood her warning, for her very presence was a rebuke to him. Once before he had tampered with the fate of an infant, and with dire consequences. He could not allow himself to make such a mistake again, not only because of the harm it would cause, but because if he did, Elva would become his sworn enemy. Despite all his power, Eragon feared Elva. Her ability to peer into people’s souls and divine everything that pained and troubled them—and to foresee everything that was about to hurt them—made her one of the most dangerous beings in all of Alagaësia (72).
This section serves a variety of narrative purposes, for in addition to delivering a succinct reminder of Elva’s backstory and abilities, it also reflects the nuanced ethical considerations that lie at the very heart of the series: the injunction to use power wisely and responsibly and to heal rather than to harm. Painfully conscious of Elva’s scrutiny as he once again works magic on behalf of a helpless child, Eragon cannot escape a barrage of anxious thoughts about the ethical implications of his actions.
At the beginning of the story, the Varden’s unorthodox alliance with the Werecats emphasizes the multicultural nature of the resistance to Galbatorix, allowing Paolini to introduce fresh narrative threads and interactions into the existing scope of the series. For example, the Werecats, as the keepers of a prophetic message, will later galvanize the plot’s momentum when Eragon uses their information to find the mythical Rock of Kuthian: a discovery that will have grand implications for the collective future of Dragons and Riders. However, at this early point in the narrative, the Werecats merely add another group identity to the already diverse army of humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Urgals, and their presence makes it clear that the Varden’s cause appeals to groups all across Alagaësia. In this light, Galbatorix’s status as a universal nemesis is even more firmly cemented in the world-building of the novel.
However, despite the rebels’ relative sense of solidarity, Paolini’s descriptions also introduce potential schisms or points of conflict. A prime example occurs with King Orrin’s evolution from Nasuada’s supporter to a more critical character, and his shift in political stance also introduces new complexities into the protagonists’ balance of power. As Nasuada notes, “The change had made [King Orrin] more dangerous as a rival; in his current mood, she could quite easily imagine him attempting to displace her as leader of the Varden” (55). Likewise, the tension between King Orrin and the other leaders of the Varden creates an element of uncertainty, given that the army’s resolve becomes somewhat fractured by conflicting personal interests. However, Nasuada’s actions and opinions are already setting her up as the more competent leader, particularly when she emphasizes the importance of being “stronger than [one]self” in order to be “worthy of [the] responsibility” (58) of leading armies and nations alike.
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By Christopher Paolini
