SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Chapters Read:
- XI. Anticipation
- XII. The Bad Sleep-Well
- XIII. Nightmare
- XIV. Uvek
Well, these chapters were... intense. Seriously gritty. Quite depressing. Rough. Murtagh has not always made the greatest choices ever, but man he's been used and abused a ton. Throughout all of it he's tried his best. How is it that he has been deeply involved with two of the most evil and powerful people in and now outside of Alagaësia? I mean can someone give this guy a break? And his magical education level is not even as strong as many! This guy is literally just kind of winging it at times. I mean he's excellent at a lot of things don't get me wrong, he's far from incompetent but sheesh. Plus everyone but a handful of people hate, dislike, or are neutral towards him. I mean, who actually likes Murtagh or Thorn? Even the ones that might like him a bit, aren't willing to support him in public.
Don't even get me started on Thorn man, the abuse this guy has gone through occurred literally from birth. He was apparently fighting wolves at just a few days old... Bro Galbatorix was awful.
This post is a bit out of order to the events of these four chapters but, meh, it's not like there's rules here and I just had to get that off my chest quick. Because Murtagh and Thorn go through a lot in these chapters.
Yeah, um Bachel has really shown to be a PROBLEM. She was not bluffing as far as I can tell in regards to her power/magical ability. She's seemingly more powerful than Galbatorix. The gap may not be massive but it's not insignificant. More than that though, she was essentially puppeteering like, everything in regards to the Forsworn and the fall of the Riders and dragons. Well, nearly the fall of course.
Essentially there is a scenario where Galbatorix DOESN'T become evil or perhaps not nearly to the extent he did so. At first he literally blamed Bachel and the Dreamers for the death of his dragon Jarnunvösk, but with her plethora of sneaky, sly tactics and likely due to Galbatorix's sheer grief of losing Jarnunvösk...it was just the perfect storm to brainwash Galbatorix to an extent.
Galbatorix was sent to locate Bachel, and urgals ended up killing Jarnunvösk. I'm unsure how or why that confrontation occurred, maybe it was Bachel's orders or a trap, maybe Galbatorix provoked them, maybe it was bad luck in general.
It's rather curious to ponder what would have become of Galbatorix had the Riders given him a new dragon. As soon as he wasn't granted one, it seemed to confirm everything Bachel was probably telling him about the Riders.
A person became evil due to a potentially more evil person, and Bachel herself may be being used by whatever the heck this 'Dreamer' entity is?
🤯 😳
I don't know if Galbatorix was directly being ordered by Bachel or under a type of spell. But....
Above all else, Bachel is absolutely maxed out in cunning and charisma stats and this can't be overstated. Then you combine that with her access to this Dreamer entity and being half elf and whatever else I'm forgetting or will learn about her....yikes. Big yikes. The way she kept her aura mysterious and vague for the longest time with Murtagh only to confirm every negative possibility about her was just....eerie. Ruthless.
Galbatorix and Morzan AND the Shade Durza all lived in Nal Gorgoth for a few years. She manipulated them to a large degree to help end the Riders. So she can start a new era of her own. The Riders were apparently always scared of Bachel and the Dreamers but it seems she was always hard to locate.
I mean I'm still processing all of this. My thoughts may sharpen and clear up in the future.
It was nice to finally get some clear cut answers. It was thrilling to learn so much FINALLY.
Anyway, kind of back to where I began this post. Murtagh explored that cave and I suppose that's a natural area where 'The Dreamer' is or can be accessible to an extent? I have no idea. But.....
Murtagh got caught. My heart absolutely sank when Bachel and her right hand man Grieves seemingly came out of nowhere right behind him. He was caught by literally tripping but this magical 'breath' that Bachel possesses was already having an impact. It was also two on one so any small mistake was going to be problematic.
Thorn was of no help which was incredibly depressing. He could not enter the tunnels due to his claustrophobia. Big bummer.
So yeah, BOTH of them end up becoming apprehended and yeah...they're utterly screwed and imprisoned AGAIN.
They could have just left man! Gosh...
He's (Thorn as well of course) been getting tortured ever since, with nightmares due to this dream vapor and a drug that makes him move sluggishly and doesn't allow him to cast spells.
I mean, these dreams bro...they're absolutely brutal. Him recapping what Galbatorix put him through.... absolutely brutal. Thorn as well of course. Galbatorix controlled both of their lives... pretty much entirely.
The chapter 'Nightmare' may have been one of the darker chapters I've read ever in this series, and could be up there for all time that I've read. Like I've read some gritty stuff, but just the context of what is going on is just... pretty savage.
The mental turmoil Murtagh goes through just feels relatable.
For a lack of a better word, some of these chapters were kinda just scary.
This book is really awesome man. There was one mildly wholesome moment in this chunk I read. Murtagh writes poetry throughout the book and I think his best poem came in the chapter 'Anticipation'.
This book has been just really cleverly constructed. Each part has had it's own vibe. Pretty action packed and makes the entire 'Inheritance Cycle' more fascinating. It really enhances it I feel and I'm not even done yet.
In his prison, he met this Urgal named Uvek. The chapter name was Uvek so I imagine he'll be important to some degree. He seems cool and is also able to do magic to an extent. The urgals are simply so fascinating. Back in Eragon they were mostly just seen as scary brutes. They've come a seriously long way in terms of how they're perceived.
Let's see what happens next....
