Rewriting Eldest

[ultramega10]

Hey everyone.
Remember back when I said it was impossible to repair Inheritance as a whole. Scratch that, I have found a way to fix Eldest with minimal changes to the basic story.

Eldest opens with Eragon and Murtagh tracking down a sizeable urgal war party. With them are Arya and Saphira. Together the three of them crush the contingent of urgals and save a village. This establishes them as heroes and gives us an idea of everyone’s personality and role. However, Murtagh is planning on leaving the Varden. First, because nobody trusts him despite his efforts. And second, because he doesn’t believe in the cause. He put off leaving to help hunt down the urgals, but now he wants out.

So he leaves. Eragon wishes him well and accepts his decision with good grace. This demonstrates that Eragon has matured from the young farmboy he once was. Murtagh leaves, and there is a time skip of a few months.

During this time, Ajihad has been away on a secret with the twins. He had been negotiating with King Orrin of Surda to try and get him to secede with Varden support. Surda is a vassal kingdom of Galbatorix that wants out. Orrin is hoping to be able to get free, now that Galbatorix has lost Durza.

Ajihad and his bodyguards are ambushed and murdered on their way back, however. Eragon gets there too late, and Ajihad asks Eragon to take care of his daughter, Nasuada. He does not entrust him to take charge of the Varden. It is then revealed that the Varden started out as a sort of french foreign legion. Ajihad agreed to shelter Brom and his warriors. In exchange for they helped them fight encroachments into their lands. The Varden, however, grew to be influential. Brom relocated them to the dwarven capital and ceded his control of them to Ajihad.

Now there is a dispute. The Varden want Jormungsk to rule since he’s the guy that was Ajihad’s second in command. But the Council of Elder’s from Ajihad’s people want a guy named Fadawar to rule. Fadawar was ’Ajihad’s nephew, and since women can’t inherit in their society, heir. Eragon is asked for input, and he suggests putting Nasuada up as a compromise candidate. Jormungsk runs the military stuff. Meanwhile, the Elders have someone from their own people in charge. Nobody completely wins, but everybody gets something. Better still, messages are received from Orrin. He says that they are still on schedule for revolution.

Arya then tells Eragon that he has put off going to Ellesmera long enough and needs to head there. So Eragon agrees. Orik the dwarf Prince requests leave to travel with them, wanting to see Ellesmera. Eragon agrees, over Arya’s objections. They do not go through the dwarf lands. Instead, they fly straight there on Saphira. But on the way, they are ambushed by a mysterious red dragon rider who attacks them. Eragon finds himself completely outmatched and is nearly killed. Saphira manages to run away but is injured. They make it to Ellesmera and have to take the rest of the way by river.


They go to elfland, and there we get some training. Elfland is very nice, but sort of creeps Eragon out. Orrik is treated rather poorly and becomes frustrated. His attempts to get the elves to join the fight are futile. Eragon doesn’t like how Oromis is more or less trying to force him to abandon all his beliefs. He also finds their hedonistic society disturbing. He does get one cool thing, in that Oromis reveals the truth about Brom’s ring, and it contains lots of power.

As the date of Orrin’s revolution draws near, Eragon receives a message from Nasuada. She requests that Eragon go to aid Surda, she believes that a dragon rider alone could turn the tide. Eragon explains this to Oromis, but Oromis says he should stay. Eragon is incredulous. He asks Oromis how they intend to defeat Galbatorix if they let this chance slip by. Oromis tells him that Galbatorix is too powerful right now. Eragon stands no chance of beating him. Instead, he should remain with the elves for the next hundred years or so. He will train himself to greater power and then defeat Galbatorix. From there he can rebuild the order. Eragon refuses, and he goes from guest to prisoner. Eragon has no means of escaping.

But Orrik manages to devise a clever escape plan, freeing Saphira. Arya chooses to help Eragon as well, and together they head to Surda. Just in time too. They arrive to aid Orrin in battle and join him. Orrin is characterized as a progressive ruler who wants what is best for his people. He plans to push through a great many reforms that Galbatorix has been blocking. He is also a bit of a scientist. There is then a huge battle and Eragon and company fight alongside the men of Surda. Yet little by little, they are being overwhelmed. Then the dwarves arrive and join the fray, and a massive battle begins. Things are going in their favor, and then the red dragon rider returns. He smashes the dwarven ranks, killing Hrothgar and slaughtering them by the hundreds.

Then he moves on to kill King Orrin. Eragon tries to stop him, and they fight. Eragon has gotten much stronger and fights with his enemy for a time. In spells, Eragon is stronger. However, his Eragon is defeated in fair combat when it comes to swordplay. In this situation, however, Murtagh’s motives are also somewhat mercenary. He doesn’t believe in either the Varden or the Empire. However, he does believe that overthrowing the Empire would cause chaos. He also stands to benefit from working for the Empire, where the Varden treated him with contempt. That is why Murtagh revealed Ajihad’s travel schedule to Galbatorix to buy his way back into his service. Now he has a dragon, eternal life, and a chance to make changes in the empire that he so desires. Murtagh subdues Saphira and Eragon using a stone that Galbatorix gave him. The stone alone contains a spell that sends Saphira into a sleep. The spell is so powerful that nothing Eragon can do can break it. As this happens, the empire overwhelms Orrin’s forces.

The King is killed, his army is routed. Orik sounds the retreat, and valiantly holds off the imperials so the army can escape. The Imperial army begins to sack the city. Eragon demands Murtagh stop them, but Murtagh says that his men have paid a dear price to take Surda. He intends to let them have a reward for it and set an example in the process. Murtagh doesn’t let Eragon go, however. Instead, Arya comes in and fights him in single combat, distracting him and freeing Eragon. Dragon manages to use ’Brom’s ring to break ’Galbatorix’s spell over Saphira to free him and Saphira. Together they manage to escape, and as they do they look down at the blazing inferno that is Surda’s capital. Galbatorix has completely won this round. The great hope of starting off a massive rebellion is crushed. The characters have lost on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level. But they are alive and vow to not let it end here.

Oh and maybe there is an offhand mention of Carvahall getting burned to the ground. It isn't as though the place is important.

And that’s a wrap.