Line #12 Awesome/InheritanceCycle


1	The series is largely sold as "a teenage boy's idea of what a cool fantasy would would be like," and it delivers!
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3	[[foldercontrol]]
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5	[[folder: Eragon]]
6	* The first time he uses magic, and a SignatureScene - Eragon and Brom have come across a village massacred by the Urgals, including [[DeathOfAChild a baby impaled on a corpse pile.]] They go looking for supplies and Eragon gets cornered by two Urgal scroungers. He's out of moves, still-amateur, and believes he's going to die just like the baby. But in a moment of instinct, recalling the word without knowing what it means, he yells "Brisingr!" - "Fire" - while aiming his last bowshot, and it ignites the arrow with blue fire that when launched, kills both his opponents.
7	* Eragon learns how to be a surpassingly good swordsman by training with Brom. Brom kicks his ass the first half-dozen times. But after most of a year of sparring every night with someone who ultimately is one of the great badasses of this setting, Eragon gets good enough to beat him ... with his left hand! Brom himself says there are only a few people in the world who could beat him ''ever.''
8	* While they're escaping from Gilead with Arya Murtagh shoots Durza through the head and successfully disembodies him after he beat Eragon easily.
9	* An offscreen one - Ajihad recognizes Durza because Eragon confirms there was a long scratch along his sword. Ajihad reveals that he knows about it because he's the one who put it there. He, a mortal man with no powers, tangled with a super-strong vampire and survived.
10	** The battle for Farthen-Dûr. Thousands of Urgals lining up to attack, and the combined human and dwarvish Varden forces standing against them. Eragon gets armor and his dragon and wreaks havoc up and down the lines.
11	** The climax:
12	*** The Urgals are tunneling under the city with Durza at their head to get behind the rebel lines and kill them from behind. Eragon and Arya are the only ones who can get there fast enough, but Saphira is too large to get down to the ground level. Eragon leaves Arya with her and slides down to ground level only to get there in time to see the Urgals and Durza break through. He challenges Durza to a duel despite knowing he can't win, but Durza accepts.
13	*** They fight, and Eragon puts up a good showing, but gets his ass beat.
14	*** Durza is about to kill him. Eragon can hear Saphira crying for him in his mind. And then the ceiling - which is carved DIAMOND - shatters, and Saphira descends through the air, Arya atop her, breathing fire for the first time. And Durza is so distracted by this that Eragon takes the opportunity, lunges to his feet, and stabs him through the heart. He's down for the count.
15	*** This is also awesome because it fulfills a previous beat. After rescuing Arya, Eragon found out that she'd been tortured as much as someone possibly could be and still survive - burned, punctured, drugged, branded. The only thing they didn't do was rape her, which Durza presumably had no desire for. But Eragon is so disgusted that he swears he's going to kill whoever did it. And he did.
16	[[/folder]]
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18	[[folder: Eldest]]
19	* Eragon has a new nickname in the aftermath of Farthern-Dûr - Shadeslayer! From here on out, he's addressed as this, and even his enemies keep the appellation.
20	* Eragon finally gets to train with some proper teachers. The reveal of his teacher is especially great - another Dragon Rider has survived! The elf Oromis and his dragon Glaedr. He isn't alone in the world anymore!
21	* Deuteragonist Roran not only rallies the village into taking up arms against a squad of trained military soldiers and a pair of human-like condors who eat flesh, but afterwards convinces nearly the ''entire village'' to abandon their home, march over freezing mountains, steal a cargo ship from a guarded city, sail through a whirlpool, and join a rebel movement.
22	* The final battle - the empire has rallied 100,000 troops to attack the Varden in Surda. The Varden combined have maybe 8,000 troops. They're up against the wall. But they're gonna go for it anyway. Everyone gets a chance to chip in:
23	** Before the battle, Angela goes over the line into enemy territory and poisons "anything I could get my hands on." The poison is even very painful, so in the hours before the battle, the enemy suddenly hear some hundreds of their comrades dying in agony from an unknown cause. Cruel, but very effective psychological warfare.
24	** Eragon has become strong enough that he can afford to place wards near people he cares about like Arya, Orik, Saphira, and more. He's effectively a magical powerhouse if he can do that now. During the fight, he mentions a rock from a catapult bouncing off one of his wards and blinking at the loss of energy. [[SuperStrength But he can still keep fighting!]]
25	** Eragon and Saphira get in the mix and he describes the battle as so fierce and their minds so united that he loses track of which one is breathing fire and which one is chopping off heads.
26	* The climax, which is also a planned win for Galbatorix:
27	** After they've been fighting all day, riding the edge of exhaustion, an enemy horn sounds ... and a new dragon rider appears from the opposite side. It's [[RedIsViolent red]]. Its rider is [[NothingIsScarier helmeted]]. And then he casts a single spell that lances through the air and kills the dwarf king Hrothgar. It's noted that as a king, he's heavily warded; his magicians will actually all ''die'' before the strike kills him. But they all do die. That is how powerful this guy is.
28	** Eragon jumps into the mix and he and Saphira fight the two in the air, whirling above the battlefield. The enemy dragon is a bit smaller, and much less experienced, but purposely didn't show until the heroes were exhausted. But Eragon refuses to consider defeat. He simply yells to Saphira "Catch me!", then severs his safety straps and jumps off of her, past the enemy dragon, and manages to cut a wicked long cut into its tail that leaves it in agony. Saphira catches him before he goes splat and the two make it to the earth, some space away from the battlefield.
29	** Then the follow-up. The enemy follows them down. The rider dismounts, inspects the grievous injury ... and heals it with one spell. Even with all he knows now, Eragon knows that would still take weeks to heal normally and more energy than ''any'' one person would have to heal immediately. But the rider isn't even shaking.
30	** The rider then turns to Eragon, and they fight. Once again, Eragon is exhausted, but still puts up a good showing. But then he realizes he's fought like this before. He recognizes a flourish the rider does with his sword, realizes what's happening, angrily closes and tears his helmet off ... revealing Murtagh, who was seemingly carried off and killed at the start of the book. Even Murtagh doesn't seem to have expected Eragon would do this.
31	** Murtagh is relatively unfazed, though. He finishes kicking Eragon's ass, leaves him alive, and takes his magical sword Zar'roc for good measure, quipping that Morzan's sword should go to his [[TitleDrop eldest]] son, [[LukeIAmYourFather not his youngest.]] Returning from the dead, killing a king, kicking ass, and drops a bombshell on your greatest personal obstacle like it's nothing. Even if he's villainous right now, you've got to respect the hustle.
32	[[/folder]]
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34	[[folder: Brisingr]]
35	* The start of the book - Eragon and Roran finally team up to kill the Ra'zac and rescue Katrina. They'll finally have avenged their uncle/father's death, and they'll rescue the woman Roran did all of this for - Katrina. They then successfully kill one ''and'' their mounts.
36	* A grim, heroic one - Eragon discovers that the Ra'zac kept Sloan alive, though they [[EyeScream blinded him]]. Sloan was a dick to Eragon and Roran, and more importantly, betrayed the village in Eldest and got all their homes destroyed, all in what he would ultimately admit was pettiness over not wanting Roran or his daughter Katrina to go against his wishes. Eragon would be justified in leaving him to rot or just killing him personally. But that's not what a good Dragon Rider should do. At great personal sacrifice, Eragon makes Roran and Saphira and Katrina leave without him, so he can stay behind and handle Sloan. As well as kill the last Ra'zac, who he knows is lurking in the shadows waiting for him to come find it.
37	* Their final stand-off. Eragon waits outside Sloan's cell, not bothering to search. With their mounts dead, the Ra'zac can't depart Helgrind's peaks. There is no escape. [[FaceDeathWithDignity The only thing left to to do is come find him.]]
38	** Eventually, it appears, knowing it's about to die. But it makes a final bargain - if I give you what I know, promise you will remember my kind in your people's tales of ''fear.'' Eragon agrees, and the two have a brief fight that ends with Eragon victorious. He finally killed the bastards that killed his uncle. It's over.
39	* Then, even more impressive, and what he truly came for - he rescues Sloan and gets off Helgrind. How does he descend the obsidian towers with no discernible path? He essentially ''scree-slides'' down the towers, letting gravity guide him but also levitating himself with the "Up" magic word to hop over bad patches. All while carrying the adult man Sloan on his back without dropping him.
40	* That evening, Sloan calls Eragon out in a truly spectacular WhatTheHellHero moment, which those who have a less-than-good opinion of Eragon may find gratifying.
41	* Eragon, in turn, thinks on it at length and gives Sloan a proportionate punishment. For his crimes of betraying the village, personally killing a watchman he knew his whole life to do so, getting the village burned down and exiled, and being a shitty dad to Katrina, Sloan is never allowed to talk to her again. He lays a spell on him ensuring he will never be able to get her attention or get close to her. But he also lays spells on him ensuring he'll always be able to find food and that he'll know the route to walk. If he follows the route he now knows, eventually, he'll arrive in the stronghold of the elves. And if he makes it there, they'll be able to heal his eyes. And he'll have permission to live there in peace for the rest of his life. In ways it's a fate worse than death. And in ways it's more than he deserves.
42	* When she finds out Eragon didn't come back with Roran and Saphira, Arya personally hikes deep into enemy territory to find him. She does such a good job of blending in that when Eragon spots her in a bar, [[IdiotHero he remarks how crazy it is that this girl looks just like Arya.]] It turns out that she's used magic to make her ears round.
43	* During their trek back, the two are cornered by a large patrol of men - thirty or more - and get their cover blown. However, even though he doesn't have his dragon or his magic sword, Eragon is still a [[BullyingADragon now-super-strong, super-fast warrior with mindreading, magic, and a whole lot of swordfighting skill.]] And Arya is still a hundred-year-old elven warrior with enormous experience. Their cover gets blown, and Arya starts jumping from horse to horse, killing the men on them with her bare hands, and Eragon pulls a sword and his biggest problem is chasing down one guy who can run faster than him.
44	* Elva gets a similar moment to Sloan later on in the book. When Eragon attempts to strip her powers from her, she calls him out for his self-righteousness, and points out that he has no right to do something like that to her simply because he didn't approve of her. "That way lies the depraved pleasure of controlling others for your own satisfaction. [[NotSoDifferentRemark Galbatorix would approve]]." Eragon is so shocked that he is ''brought to his knees'' and is ''unable to even phrase a reply'', because he can't think of anything to defend himself against her accusations.
45	*** Elva also punctuates it with a truly badass TrueNeutral speech.
46	*** And after Elva leaves, Angela ''slaps Eragon in the face''. Yes, she-the eccentric human spellcaster-slaps Eragon, the Dragon Rider with the super-fast reflexes and enough strength to smash through an armoured man's chest. (Well, "human".)
47	** A soldier in Feinster continued the example when he confronted Eragon, by refusing to back down, standing his ground against Eragon despite his elven powers, and calling him a selfish glory-seeker. "Well, I curse you, Shadeslayer! I curse you with all my heart! May you leave this land and never return!"
48	* Nasuada gets a good one herself. Her tribal clan has returned and their support is required for an upcoming event, but they're deciding to challenge her personally and even deride her as a traitor. So she ups the ante and institutes the Trial of the Long Knives. What is that? The challengers stand opposite each other with ceremonial knives and ''take turns cutting themselves!'' The one that folds first is the loser. All of this as a way of symbolizing how much pain you're willing to suffer to lead the tribe to victory. Despite being younger, less experienced, and weighing less, Nasuada wins. Afterwards, she notes that she can't let one of her magicians heal the cuts with magic, since it's understood that part of the pain of the trial is also during natural healing.
49	* Eragon's rematch with Murtagh halfway through the book. It's daylight, he's rested, and he has a team of twelve elite elvish spellcasters pooling their strength with him. While Murtagh pulls out the stops and still manages to avoid capture or death, he's forced to retreat without getting what he wanted. Not bad compared to last time.
50	* While in Farthen-Dûr for the dwarves' coronation, Eragon is attacked by a team of dwarf assassins. He not only stays alive, he SHATTERS his replacement sword killing one. The dwarf clans are so upset by this skulduggery that they banish the instigator from their society, meaning they'll stop him from committing violence on any one of them, but otherwise, they'll never even acknowledge he's in the room.
51	* Roran defies poorly formed orders as a soldier in the Varden and is able to win a battle. When the soldiers are funnelled into a narrow space and only one soldier can stand in line at a time, he takes the line himself and kills ''one hundred-eighty-three'' soldiers alone. When his friend reports the count in front of everyone, he quips that [[CasualDangerDialogue It's a shame it didn't go on a bit longer, he could've made an even two hundred.]]
52	* Then, the unfortunate aftermath - Roran defied orders and singlehandedly saved the day, but he still has to be punished for disobedience. He gets told he can either be executed, or take 50 lashes, a blisteringly high amount. He takes the lashes. For reference, the Bible notes that more than 39 lashes was forbidden for the Hebrews, because more than 40 was likely to ''kill'' a man in that time. Roran's a tough son of a gun.
53	* Back in Du Weldenvarden, Eragon decides he needs to get a new magical sword for real this time. First, he has to negotiate with the Elder tree presence for the MeteoriteIron under its roots, which he nearly fails at. And then he has an even more complex task. The MasterBlacksmith who made ALL the swords swore she'd never make one again. But if she possesses Eragon's body and has HIM do the work, she won't have broken her oath. So Eragon has to work for a week being possessed by someone else! The end result, a sword as blue as Saphira with a beautiful black-wood grip. And then Eragon decides to name it Brisingr - [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall noting that the name is silly, but it's fun and the word is meaningful to him]] - only for it to burst into flames upon saying it. It turns out through the enchantments he laid on it during casting, his connection to Saphira, and a bit of that [[AWizardDidIt "wild magic"]] the dragons always have around them, the sword will ignite into a FlamingSword every time he says its name now. Funny, yes. But also still kind of badass.
54	* Oromis and Glaedr have decided to come off the bench as the elves join the war - the final Dragon Riders have revealed themselves. Eragon worries, since Oromis has a seizure condition that can strike at any time, and is a bit weaker than normal. But Oromis reveals that in addition to other safeguards, ever since he hid away one hundred years ago, twice a week some of the strongest elves in existence have emptied all the energy they could without killing themselves into the jewel on his sword. He's got a LOT of power saved up for this campaign.
55	* The climax - the Varden are besieging a critical city and Eragon, Arya, and Saphira find out the leaders are attempting to create a ''[[GodzillaTheshold Shade]]'' to turn the tide of battle. They break in and kill the summoners, but they're too late - another is created. It [[NeckLift Neck Lifts]] Arya and throws even these two seasoned warriors around, but Eragon manages to distract it and Arya stabs it through the heart, averting what might've been a catastrophic reversal of fortune for the Varden.
56	* Glaedr and his rider not only battling Murtagh and Thorn above Gil'ead, but also holding their own before Galbatorix intervenes. Another mention goes to the elves, who enter the war against the Empire not by marching to join the Varden or sending out messengers, but by capturing ''one of its major military bases.'' And then mocking ''frickin' Galbatorix.''
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59	[[folder: Inheritance]]
60	* In previewing ''Book IV'', Christopher Paolini actually used the term "crowning moment of awesomeness" in relation to Angela, stating “There is a lot more to Angela than meets the eye. If you like her, you’re in for a treat with Book Four. Angela gets several crowning moments of awesomeness therein.”
61	** Then she does, in her rescue of Eragon and Arya, and battle with the High Priest of Helgrind.
62	* Only mentioned, but the Old Rider Thuviel, who magically converted some of his body's mass directly to energy in the Battle of Doru Areaba, horribly killing himself and poisoning his home with radiation, just to conceal the last dragon eggs and Eldunarya from Galbatorix.
63	** For those out there who don't know what this means, he basically just turned himself into a nuclear bomb.
64	* Murtagh using the True Name of the Ancient Language to strip away Galbatorix's wards.
65	* Eragon defeating Galbatorix, by making him ''feel'' the pain he has ever inflicted on anyone or any dragon, inadvertently or not, over the century he has lived.
66	* Nasuada getting captured by Murtagh and withstanding massive amounts of pain and torture from Galby himself without giving in. And when Galby starts making her hallucinate, she ''plays along,'' and ''laughs as she goes through crazy visions and horrors.''
67	* Roran capturing Aroughs.
68	** He had ''3 days'' to capture the nearly-impregnable city, only 800 warriors (with an insubordinate commander), several trusted villagers, and a magician of modest abilities.
69	*** [[TenMinuteRetirement He slept through the first day.]] [[note]] [[HeroicRROD He was utterly exhausted from riding for several days straight.]][[/note]]
70	*** [[AwesomeByAnalysis He spent the 2nd day thoroughly studying anything of use for his plans.]]
71	*** Then on the 3rd day, he and a force of warriors near single-handedly snuck into the city's waterways with barges, using the city's own waterwheels and river, captured its center, suffered 'only' a sixteenth-level loss of fifty men in the process, through nothing more than sheer determination.
72	** And before this, when a small force is charging towards their camp, he has every single person besides himself hide, with the only addition being a 'shimmer' magic effect on both sides of him. Some time later, this very same force ''retreats away from him, a single man''. He scared an entire cavalry force away with nothing more than words, sheer confidence, and a very simple magician's trick.
73	* From a narrative standpoint, the buildup and TheReveal of [[GiantFlyer Shruikan]]. The reader left's stunned by how big he's ''implied'' to be from outside Uru'baen. When he actually shows himself, you can ''feel'' Eragon's mind [[MindScrew boggling]] at how freaking [[{{Kaiju}} HUGE]] he is, through some surprisingly good wording by Paolini, with only a small bit of PurpleProse.
74	--> 'The dragon was enormous. Eragon at first had difficulty comprehending that the entire shape before them was a single living creature. He saw part of Shruikan's corded neck and thought he was seeing the main part of the dragon's body; he saw the side of one of Shruikan's hind feet and mistook it for a shin. A fold of a wing was an entire wing in his mind.'
75	* The steps Eragon takes at the very end of the series to avoid becoming another "Galbatorix" are pretty amazing as well. He's more than aware of how easy it would be for him to become a powerful, unmatched ruler, and yet he resists all temptation and takes steps to ensure he will not be made king or leader. It may not seem amazing, but turning down power like that isn't easy as it may look.
76	* Not an epic battle, or a well-planned siege, but Roran again and still awesome nevertheless. In ''Inheritance'', Katrina is growing increasingly frustrated doing laundry, when Roran offers to do it to give her a break. She protests because people would think it unseemly, but he ''insists'' on doing it, indicating that he really doesn't care ''what'' other people would think and that it would be good to do something with his hands other than swinging his hammer. Especially since for a medieval setting, this kind of sight would probably be openly mocked because it's not traditional... but try it on Roran, and he'd DeathGlare anyone foolish enough to try.
77	* Waíse néiat - "[[TakingYouWithMe Be]] [[FantasticNuke not]]."
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Context Awesome / InheritanceCycle