antishurtugal_reborn | Murtagh Spork: Part 2 Chapter 10

Hello, everyone. This chapter is quite short.

The chapter starts with Murtagh lying awake at night. He uses his mind powers to check if everyone is asleep, and then creeps to a chest, using the word for quiet, Maela, in the ancient language to make sure the lid doesn’t creak. He then gets his sword and other things out of the chest. He leaves behind the guard uniform because he doesn’t feel comfortable wearing it, although he admits to himself that it could help him avoid attention. We don’t get any clue why he doesn’t want to wear the uniform, let alone why that reason is strong enough to make Murtagh do something to make the mission harder.

He then sneaks out of the barracks. There’s a tense moment where he trips over a cot in the dark and a guard stirs, but he makes it to the archway leading to the tunnels without incident.

He does not use an invisibility spell. Maybe he doesn’t know one. But he also doesn’t use Maela to muffle whatever noises he could make, which is something we know he can do.

Murtagh goes down some stairs and gets to the tunnels, which he thinks are made by humans instead of elves, which is what a minor character had said earlier. He sees a secure door that’s guarded and realizes that’s where he has to go. He needs to get past the guard, though, and the guard is warded against magical attacks. He uses the Name to get past the guard’s defenses, and then puts him to sleep. He catches the guard, but the pike the guard was holding falls on the ground.

Murtagh does not use the quiet spell at this moment either.

He pauses to see if the noise got attention, though no one comes. He watches a spider as he waits at one point, looking at it in disgust. Why he even notices a spider on the wall is a mystery to me. Anyway, no one from the barracks is coming. Given that Murtagh descended an entire set of stairs to get to the tunnels, I wouldn’t be too worried. I do wonder why there aren’t any more guards in these tunnels, though. If I was keeping werecat kittens in a creepy basement, I would definitely make sure the entrance was well-guarded.

Murtagh goes to the door, and it doesn’t open, because it is locked. Murtagh’s about to use magic, but decides to search the guard for keys instead, and, sure enough, the guard has one. I find it funny that he’s an untrained magician, but jumps to magic for mundane things. He opens the door and goes in. The chapter ends.

I don’t really have anything else to say about this chapter. It should have been incorporated into the next one. I don’t really know why this had to be separated out. Also, if I were Murtagh, I would be using the quiet spell everywhere. I can excuse him not using the invisibility spell, since he may not actually know it, but after the first tripping incident, come on.

The chapter also managed to be repetitive, even with this small number of pages. Twice, Murtagh accidentally makes a noise, and waits to see if guards come/anyone is awake. Twice, nothing happens. Makes him seem kinda clumsy, honestly. Also, that’s a moment that kind of needs to be used sparingly. Once was plenty.

Also, there's an elipsis in the chapter title for some reason. It isn't necessary.

Anyway, next up is The Door of Stone with Snarkbotanya

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The chapter starts with Murtagh lying awake at night. He uses his mind powers to check if everyone is asleep,

Thus leaving himself open to a nearby enemy spellcaster, who promptly killed him.

He does not use an invisibility spell. Maybe he doesn’t know one.

He does. He just isn't using it because he's a fucking idiot.

He watches a spider as he waits at one point, looking at it in disgust.

This is just weird, horrible and pathetic. Paotagonists really seem to hate animals.

Murtagh goes to the door, and it doesn’t open, because it is locked. Murtagh’s about to use magic, but decides to search the guard for keys instead, and, sure enough, the guard has one.

Evil Overlord List level stupid mistake right here: do NOT hand out dungeon keys to every random guard!

I find it funny that he’s an untrained magician

EXCEPT THAT HE ISN'T.

A strange gleam leaped into Murtagh’s eyes. “No, not my father. I’m stronger than Morzan ever was. Galbatorix taught me things about magic you’ve never even dreamed of.... Spells so powerful, the elves dare not utter them, cowards that they are. Words in the ancient language that were lost until Galbatorix discovered them. Ways to manipulate energy... Secrets, terrible secrets, that can destroy your enemies and fulfill all your desires.” ~Murtagh in book two, after which he effortlessly kicks Eragon's ass with magic, using multiple different spells

Morontagh in this book: "waaah I don't even know how to do the most basic shit with magic! I get my ass handed to me all the time because I'm so weak!"

I can excuse him not using the invisibility spell, since he may not actually know it, but after the first tripping incident, come on.

He used an invisibility spell right after decapitating Mr Fishy and why is he so clumsy now? He trips over all the goddamn time!

Makes him seem kinda clumsy, honestly.

Not for the last time, either. Talented dancer my arse.

Out of respect and empathy for Anya's current position (that is, being drowned by an avalanche of work and deadlines), Epistler and I rock-paper-scissored for it, and I will be sporking the next one. Epistler knows my weakness: I always play paper.

Expect the next ghost when the clock strikes wine!

... I mean, one! In approximately a week.

Also the penultimate chapter of WWHiE4 soon, but that's a different series.

What a waste of a chapter. Why is an entire chapter dedicated just to Murtagh being clumsy and stupid? This is the kind of pettiness you would expect of middle school kids drawing insulting cartoons of their teacher (complete with stink lines).

If Paolini dislikes Murtagh so much, why even write a book about him?

Good to see this again!

Yes, it's the shortest chapter of the entire book.

We don’t get any clue why he doesn’t want to wear the uniform, let alone why that reason is strong enough to make Murtagh do something to make the mission harder.

I think it is because he doesn't like wearing the uniform of the guard he will be betraying soon. Whether that's worth leaving it behind... I don't know.

Yeah, he does know one, though I wonder if it would work very well here. Silencing himself would work very well, and he really should be doing it. I guess Paolini didn't have him use it because he thought it would make this scene tenser, but making Murtagh competent would do more for that.

He catches the guard, but the pike the guard was holding falls on the ground.

At least he took care not to hurt someone this time?

He watches a spider as he waits at one point, looking at it in disgust. Why he even notices a spider on the wall is a mystery to me.

Maybe he wants to make sure he knows where the spiders are? I can see him be on the lookout for them, at least.

Yeah, Paolini really liked to use sneaking scenes for this book, to the extent that he does get quite repetitive.

Also, there's an elipsis in the chapter title for some reason. It isn't necessary.

I think that one might be because Paolini thought it sounded tense (and it kind of does, but Murtagh is not going to have much trouble now).

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