Inheritance discussion

David wrote: "Cory wrote: "I agree with all those holes except one, the one about Galbatorix waiting while the Varden creeped closer through war. He explains in the end of Inheritance when they confront Galbator..."

For the third one, they could still possibly have true names but to themselves they were unnamed. The dragons took away the Forsworn Dragons' ability to name themselves. That's why everyone else could still describe them, but they themselves were still reduced to animals.

The principal plot hole for me, and google seem unable to help, is HOW MURTAGH LEARNED THE NAME OF ALL NAMES !
Was Galbatorix stupid enough to tell him?

The rest of the story is ok for me, would have prefer an epic battle... but whatever.

I do agree with Titousky; but I understand the logic from he writer's perspective, it had to be Murtugh because he needed a way to redeem himself; and for him to stay alive (and heal Nassuada) that was the only way. Keep in mind that with the empathy spell (very crafty I must admit, not even I had thought of that) it is unlikely Galbatorix would have had any defense for considering it was not technically speaking an attack. But even without Murtagh's intervention the empathy spell alone should have sufficed.

In any case, too many plot holes far worse than those mentioned
First let us extrapolate how many rider there should have been keeping in mind they had their own island, and they had an outpost (which would make tactical and logistical sense)
with 2-3 eggs per year it means 2-3 riders per year. How long did they rule? A minimum of 200 to a maximum of 800 years. It should be longer but let us stick to logic for now

That gives us 400 to 2000 riders mostly elven. We can safely assume the "corrupt" ones would be human.

Improbables & plot holes

1.
What happened to the first Eragon? His would be one of the most powerful Eldunari. And he should be one of the wisest. As an immortal he would be still alive - though it is hinted that even after too many years alive they would succumb to ailments of the flesh.
if he lived to old age, the rider order must have survived longer (closer to 800 or more years) if less we can postulate that there were more rider leaders with each ruling for 100-150 years each.

2.
We have a great many (elder) riders, they have a store house of power (Eldunari) against 14 human riders. They fail. Doesn't seem probable. This is obvious to anyone. But look at the higher improbable. Brom was responsible for many of the forsworn's deaths. Of all these riders, only Brom had some tactical sense? Considering Brom was thought by Oromis.

3.
Galbatorix loosing his first dragon with an errant arrow. On one hand we have Eragon and Saphira who at 1 year of experience, in many battles and skirmishes go practically unscathed. When he learns about wards he protects her. Galbatorix is at least 16 when he ventures into the spine...remember he has finished his training and started training when he was 10 and I can only assume he is being prepared for adulthood. Yet he forgets lessons about protecting his dragon? Seriously?

4.
Saphira infers she could perceive Eragon's character. One can postulate that eggs would only hatch for specific type of people which would explain why they would be leaders in their own right. So it so happens that there were 14 bad eggs? If then it is possible, in their years the riders would have had he chance to see the phenomenon before and attempt to correct it.

5.
Galbatorix steeling an egg which had just hatched. Now I concede the cleverness of Paolini that if Galbatorix could make an egg hatch for him, he could make eggs hatch for anyone he pleases. Thus he had to steal an egg which has just hatched. But think about it. This would or should be a chamber full of people! The elves are very responsible for their young and obviously the eggs under their responsibility, We are led to believe that an open door is all it takes to steal and kill with impunity!

6.
No man hunt. Galbatorix commits the most heinous crimes possible. Murder of a child (riders are chosen at a very early age 10-11) and murder of an elder. Egg stolen from responsibility of Elves. I would assume Elves and Riders would mount an extensive manhunt. Yet powerless! Remember...at least 400 riders and thousands of elves and (if child was human) thousands of humans too.

7.
No buddy system. There is a war of contention between the riders. Yet the riders don't even constitute the buddy system (each rider should never fly alone). Keep in mind that as Oromis drills into Eragon, logic is a requirement in their teachings.

8.
Defense; so many riders have fallen...how many before the riders regroup? Not even the most stupid general would allow so many of his forces to fall without trying to regroup. Imagine, 100 riders have fallen, does it sound reasonable that you keep your riders doing what they did knowing that your enemy is definitely getting stronger? You know that eventually he has to attack Vroengard and your biggest advantage will be that he will need to expend a lot of energy to fly there. Even with the Eldunari. (Keep in mind Galbatorix would have to recharge his 13 allies)

9.
Backup plan: Ingenious to build the vault of souls. This would have taken time. And in all that time they only thought of defeat? to be saved by just 1 rider? very illogical. At least send some riders away..try to send them out of the empire

10.
Ancient language name: main complaint. In thousands of years elves and riders...no idea. Galbatorix takes only 40 years. And Galbatorix learns it, but what about those who thought him about it?

11.
Ancient language name: since magic is intrinsic, the elves with the help of the dragons could have created another name for the language and did not need to look for the name! It would have been a logical step because the original name would still work (ie Galbatorix search would not have been for nothing) but Eragon would have been armed with the same power.

12.
Fixing Vroengard: I assume that the release of energy through suicide creates a radiation like poison effect similar to atomic bombs.It would explain strange creature emerging etc. Now the elves had a cure for Uraban after Galbatorix's suicide. So in theory it was possible to fix and repopulate Vroengard which would still have verified Angela's prediction. Though technically not a plot hole...call it injured pride (that is what I expected to happen because it would still fulfill Angela's prophecy, keep Arya/Eragon relationship in question and give Alagaseia independence)

13.
The Dauthdaert: a weapon created by elves against dragons. Why would it need to avoid wards since dragons did not cast spells? I can understand that they would be unaffected by dragon magic. But against all magic? Why would the elves design something which eventually could be used against them? Keep in mind at the time they where the most powerful beings besides the dragons!

14.
Elva: I have to admit she is a great addition to the book. A classic to create someone everybody hates/is scared of and I assume Angela would identify with her. I think Angela might be an outcast of the beings who created the structure of magic and did not perish. Anyway I digress. How is it possible that she made herself grow quickly? Paolini went to great lengths to create logic when it comes to power distribution (with magic). But in his mythology Elva developing quicker does not make sense unless she herself was a magician (which she was not)

Common sense:

1) After Eragon visits the Vaults of Souls on Vroengard he should have filled his ring and the gem of his sword with energy..at least drained those 5 remaining Eldunari as much as possible. If you notice the gem of his sword is never referenced as a storage receptacle yet it was a standard for riders as Oromis used his.

2) Eragon should have taken energy from the elves too to fill Aren or his sword not just dying animals

3) If you are facing extinction, and you have the power to do what you like with magic, the easiest thing to do would be to change the spelling/wording of the ancient language. That would have stripped the power from Galbatroix forthwith because any new spells could incapacitate anybody outright. I would have done it with the elves, in their land so they would retain the power too and that's it. All magic users outside would kill themselves with the simplest of spells. Easy peasy. magicians would have to re-learn the syntax/new words. But at least all others are stripped of this power (except the dragons and instinctive users) It is possible that when creating this spell, the casters wold have died (as seemed to have happened with the ancient beings) but at least they would have died for a just cause. Spock (and Oromis) would certainly agree with the logic.

4) Eragon or at least we the readers, discovered Saphira could make diamonds out of stone. Statistically it is improbable that this fact was not known before. This is relevant because a dragon created diamond could be huge and store huge amount of energy. Can you imagine? The riders could have used this technique for defense or offense. Defense...store energy in a large container and draw from it for defense. Offense - smaller containers which explode...mine concept (release of energy=big explosion)

5) At least Eragon could have asked Orin for jewels or ask Saphira to make him one large (or more) diamonds for energy storage

6) The dragons seem to have the power to make anybody use magic (ie all human riders became magicians) so wouldn't it be logical for both Galbatorix and Eragon to create more magicians? More for Eragon and less for Galbatorix of course. It would also have fixed the issue with politics regarding magic because everybody could learn to use magic, and it would be a common trait amongst all races.

Final note:

1.
Many mention the fact that Galbatorix possessing Murtagh as a plot hole. Though I may be wrong, to me this always made sense because I assumed that this was done with the help of spirits - and their special ability IS to possess people. At the end it is mentioned that 12 orbs of lights left Galbatorix (which we can assume are spirits) this would also make sense because technically Galbatorix would not be immortal, and Durza would have been controlling him rather than the other way round

2. In theory Eragon could take energy from anything including people. I read many times both the pro and contra to this argument. Yet I never saw the obvious - if soldiers started collapsing without any apparent reason, this great secret would have come out and any magician ambitious enough could then discover this fact and later become a threat

In the prologue of Eragon, how was it possible that the Urgals arrows felled Arya's bodyguards as easily as they did? In inheritance, the elf that got caught it galbatorix's trap had lost all her wards. She then goes to say she hasn't been without wards since she was a child, quite possibly hundred + years. They never mention Durza enhancing the arrows.

I believe I can answer a few of yours using things that are, in fact, stated in the book, as I have recently finished it for the 3rd time. Also a few details to iron out.
1) Not all of the 13 Forsworn were human. In fact, Oromis and Glaeder were attacked by 2 eleven members of the forsworn.
2) Not all Dragons gave up their Eldunari, as is mentioned in the 3rd book. And so the first Eragon's dragon may not have given theres. That also would explain why the elder riders weren't sitting on a collection of them, and even if they were they would not (at first) have thought to use them as Galbatorix had.
3) Galbatorix had not finished his training, as mentioned in the 2nd and 4th book, as he had never been to Du Weldenvarden. He is said to have left as a young man, as he was confident if his power, but he had not finished his training. So wards, which Eragon only learnt at Du Weldenvarden, may not have been a part of his knowledge at this point. Also, Saphira and Eragon had armour and a large army around them, but were definitely hit a few times in the battle of Farthen Dur. In fact, they get hit quite a bit by Urgals as well as Durza which is mentioned regularly, so this is not a plot hole at all.
4) The issue with the buddy system: when Glaedr tells his story of being attacked, he distinctly says that none of the Riders other than Oromis and Glaedr saw the real threat. However, they did take 2 Riders with them, which is essentially the buddy system you outlined. The issue: the 2 buddies turned out to be members of the Forsworn.
5) Galbatorix did not steal any eggs until after he'd destroyed the Riders. And there were man hunts held by Riders, again mentioned in the 4th book.
6) On your "Saphira can make diamonds" point, they say repeatedly throughout the 4 books that dragons' magic is inexplicable; even they don't know how it works and they cannot use it at will, only when inspired. Also, it is their bond with riders that allows them to use magic, so they can't just make magicians. I think this answers a few of your points on Dragon magic.
There are some good plotholes here that I am considering, but hopefully I've covered a few of these here.

Also, they do mention that Durza uses enchanted arrows when Arya tells the story of how Durza caught her, as Eragin says "How did they pierce your wards?"

there are plot holes so that Christopher can make new books. a series is only finished when it is sealed iron-tight. but I suppose that it is all in your perspective of what a good book is. so.

Eragon has Saphira's egg for a while before it hatches. But if the normal way to weed out riders was for children to line up, just touch the dragon egg for a minute then walk away if it didn't hatch for them, why did she hatch immediately?

Maybe Roran was the real dragon rider? ;)