Ultimate Brisingr/Book IV Theories Page

Skul

Skul

Active member
With the announcements concerning Brisingr and Book 4 of the Inheritance Cycle that have transpired in the past few months, I have been elected by the Order of Dragon Riders to write a theories page for the remaining two books in Inheritance. This is a thread concerning those theories. If you have theories of your own, feel free to post them here. If you have more theories you would like me to address, please PM me with the topic.

Caution: Contains a few mild spoilers, though they are hidden throughout the theories.

Topics I will be discussing:

1. The identity of the third Rider
2. The weapon under the Menoa tree
3. The Vault of Souls
4. Brom’s seven words
5. The new dwarf king
6. Eragon’s love
7. Galbatorix’s death
8. The new king of Alagaësia
9. The identity of who dies at the end of Brisingr
10. The fates of Murtagh and Thorn
11. The end of Book IV
12. The final words of the Inheritance Cycle
13. The title of Book IV

I have a separate theories page—The Fate of Saphira—elsewhere on the forum, which concerns Saphira’s death and mate. Please read that theories page before proceeding. Thank you.

This thread submitted to The Dancing Lawn by Skulblaka_Shur’tugal.
 
Last edited:
The identity of the third Rider

Let’s review what we know:
1. Christopher Paolini said in a recent interview that the third—and as of yet unhatched—dragon will be green. Up until the announcement of Book IV, this dragon—commonly nicknamed Greeni—was supposed to appear on the cover of Brisingr (then called Book III).
2. No dwarf can be a Rider
3. Saphira longs for a mate, and the dragon inside of Galbatorix’s egg seems to be her only hope at the moment.

This levels down the list pretty far. To level it down further, the Rider would likely be an adult and already familiar with magic. This brings it down to three people: Roran, Vanir, and Arya.
As Saphira has stated, if Eragon has an affection for someone, she would have a similar—but not identical—emotion for that person. The same is true reversed; if Saphira likes someone, Eragon would like them too. This disqualifies Vanir, because Eragon extremely dislikes him already.
Note that all Riders up till now have been male. This is very unbalanced, and Paolini has stated that there are major hints throughout Eragon and Eldest on who the third Rider will be. Now, Roran didn’t appear much in Eragon—just for the first several chapters. On a different scale, Arya was there from the beginning, and has been a major character since the Prologue to Eragon.
To push Arya even further up the chart, Paolini has concurred the fact that all Riders have magic the color of their dragons. One of the most-repeated personalities about Arya is that her magic is green. Hence, a green dragon would fit.
There are other reasons, but I think I’ve provided enough evidence to determine that Arya will be Rider Number Three.
 
The weapon under the Menoa tree

Refer to Solembum’s words in Eragon: “When the time comes and you need a weapon, look under the roots of the Menoa tree.”
I know what you’re thinking: Now that Eragon is stripped of Zar’roc, I think this qualifies as a time he needs a weapon. So, what does he do? He obeys Solembum and goes to the Menoa tree. After digging for a few hours, he finds a sword. Right?
Wrong.
There are quite a few definitions to the word “root”. In my dictionary, one definition says “The origin of an object or person”. And the origin of the Menoa tree, according to Arya, was the elves. The sword-maker Rhunön said that two swords exist, and they belong to the elves. So, one goes to Eragon, and the other to Greeni’s Rider.
Yeah, I guess that sums it up.
 
The Vault of Souls

Solembum’s next phrase was for Eragon to speak his name at the Stone of Kuthiam to open the Vault of Souls.
I’ll avoid the technical gibberish and be more direct. What Christopher Paolini told me was that the Vault of Souls is either in or beside Helgrind; he hadn't written that part yet, so it could be either.
So, we know its location. But what is it? If we took the phrase literally, it’s a vault containing hundreds—no, thousands—no, tens of thousands—of souls. This is the likely solution to the riddle on why Galbatorix becomes seemingly impossibly stronger each year: he’s draining the vault of its souls. Perhaps this is also why Murtagh beat Eragon so easily at the end of Eldest.
This is why Eragon has to open the Vault: to both boost his strength and handicap his enemies.
Okay: Vault in Dras-Leona, helps Eragon against Galbatorix and Murtagh. Sounds simple, is simple.
 
Brom's Seven Words

Before he died, Brom whispered seven words to Eragon in the ancient language and what they meant. Then he told Eragon to never use them, unless in the most dire of circumstances.
The question is simple: what were they?
Obviously, it’s a spell, one that costs the user a great price. It could be a spell that severs the Rider/Dragon bond, so that if one dies, the other might live. However, this cannot be used in the future, because Eragon has already severed his bond with Saphira. (More on that later.)
The spell could probably heal a dying person. But if it does, why didn’t Eragon use it on Brom? Or Brom on his dragon?
That leaves one choice left: destruction. To be more direct, destruction of the Ra’zac and Lethrblaka.
End of story.
 
The new dwarf king

The question here is simple: Will Orik become the new dwarf king or not?
The answer would be a simple one except for one annoying fact: Orik is pro-dragon, a rarity for dwarves. If he were an anti-dragon sort of person, he’d be elected unanimously. However, since he is so—shall we say, not against dragons, there might be a fight on his hands.
Solution: Saphira to the rescue. She mends the Star Rose, as she promised Hrothgar, and the dwarves start liking dragons. This both fulfills her promise and helps Orik become the new king of his clan.
 
Eragon's love

Like the above topic, this question is simple as well: Will Arya accept Eragon or not?
As she expressed in Eragon and Eldest, Arya does not share Eragon’s love. She’s glad he saved her from Durza, but beyond that, she has no feelings for him.
With that simple fact, one can assume that Arya will not accept Eragon in Brisingr and Book IV, either. However, there is still one hope of Eragon having another chance: Greeni.
Assuming Greeni hatches for Arya, and he falls in love with Saphira, then Arya will share her dragon’s feelings and fall in love as well. Not with the dragon, mind you, but with the dragon’s Rider: Eragon.
It’s assuming an awful lot, but perhaps Arya’s mind will change if she becomes a Rider.
 
what is the fait of Carvahall, the people of carvahal have traveled a long way, but will they be happy with the limited supplyes that the varden have to offer?
 
Galbatorix's Death

Let me say this, before going into the topic: if you think it’s Murtagh who’s going to kill Galbatorix by throwing him into a bottomless pit filled with electricity, please, for the sake of all humanity and dragonity, commit hara-kiri right now.
The options for those killing Galbatorix are a barrel of mixed vegetables. Those that make any sense are Eragon, Saphira, Arya, and Greeni. Those who don’t make an ounce of sense are Shruikan, Orik, Oromis, Glaedr, and Roran.
Let me start with those who are pointless to even consider. Shruikan—no matter what magic power he’s under—is still Galbatorix’s dragon, and believes himself to be Galbatorix’s dragon, and is not, repeat: not, going to kill his Rider. If you object, PM me at your own risk.
Orik is only slightly more likely, but it’d be a major twist in the plot, and Christopher Paolini already has too much on his hands.
Of course, the only way for Oromis or Glaedr to kill Galbatorix would be for them to survive to fight him. Honestly, people, didn’t you ever see Star Wars?
Roran would be on the candidacy list except for one fact: he can’t swing a sword to save his life. Galbatorix is a Rider, and Roran is a farmer. He could only win if he caught Galbatorix by surprise, and I’d die if I found out any Rider could be sneaked up on.
Now, the candidacy list. Eragon is at the top, and at the moment seems to be the best choice, both for Paolini fans and for Alagaësia’s inhabitants.
Saphira is right behind. If she’s captured, she can attack when he’s not expecting it. Also, if Eragon fights Galbatorix, he can distract him long enough for her to fry him to a crisp.
Arya and Greeni share space number three. As Eragon has said, he knows he’s got to fight Galbatorix, so we should expect him to do it. But, why no bring some help along? Of course Saphira, but why not the other Rider and dragon on the Varden’s side?
Of the candidates, Eragon and Saphira have the same plausibility. Unless a new character is introduced in Brisingr, we should expect for Galbatorix to die by either Eragon’s hand or Saphira’s paw.
 
I am stumped. On the one hand, he could join the Varden again. However, next time Eragon spars with him, he is so going to lose. Eragon will have no choice but to either kill him or bring him back to the Varden.
Of the two, rejoining Eragon is the more likely. More on that later.
 
True, and next time they meet, considering CP's plot so far, he'll best Murtagh. Now we'll just have to wait to see if Murtagh dies or rejoins the Varden.
 
The new king of Alagaesia

Finally, a topic worth some dispute. There are theories on all sides, ranging from Eragon to Orik to Roran to Murtagh. Let’s consider the facts: Eragon has stated that he has no intention of becoming king, so let’s get rid of him. Second, we’ve seen what happens when a Rider becomes king, so Murtagh is excluded. Third, Orik has enough trouble on his hands, now that he’s king of his own people. That leaves Roran, as it should be.
My goodness, that was simple.
 
Back
Top