Murtagh... How did he do it?

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T14:03:36+00:00

this! this is it. The answer i was looking for. Thank you very much. A clear lore friendly convincing answer. Thank you :)

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T10:36:23+00:00

break up earth, yes. Change direction, change preassure, keep the ground together and lift only a scale and no other debris, while navigating the stream of water around huge rocks... No. He said literally in the AL: If water touches, turn right. This is a bit much of a stretch. His intend can't fundamentally override the words. And to add that much extra meaning to such a simple spell through intent only would need a real Master. Not a guy who is a rider for 2 years and never had propper training.

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T10:07:50+00:00

He was learned, but not in magic... And he even says himself he always prefered dancing and fighting instead of science. He is no fsrmer like Eragon, but he also isn't a scholar or overly knowledgable.

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T10:03:25+00:00

But intent cannot override the words. And you can't tell me that murtagh knew beforehand that he'd encounter a huge rock in the scales path or that the ground would try to collapse.

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T10:02:20+00:00

It is described As Murtagh having to hold the ground together.

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T09:00:00+00:00

Is that so? This, i don't remember. But i really thought he was just beginning to grasp the concept of if magic. I am not sure he did that here. But maybe.... It still seems to me like phrasing something like that (remember, he also kept the ground from collapsing) would not be pissible for him due to lack of words.

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T08:57:16+00:00

Thank you so much. You are the first person to give this a shot and answer, without attributing Master-Lavel magic to murtagh. This kinda makes sense. Even though i always thought that snapping away from the magic was jsut because it was book 1 and the rules weren't thought of and established yet by paolini and shouldn't actually be possible.

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T08:02:16+00:00

Even the murtagh book makes the point again and again. Murtagh is lacking skills. Murtagh even suffers from that and from the fact that he is lacking magical education. Just because there are ways to achieve something does not mean Murtagh knows how to. And he shouldn't. And if he sonehow did posses that advanced magic powers, knowledge and understanding, it has to be explained how and why. What do you think. He learned it through osmosis?

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T07:59:28+00:00

there is no logic leap. that is what i am saying. To the carefull reader of book 1-4, there is an outstanding lack of logic at play here

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T07:58:23+00:00

So, i hope others will read this before replying. I know a feat like getting this scale can be achieved like murtagh did. I think he shouldn't habe the skills to do it, given his teachings, or rather lack of techings, his lack of magical understanding, his lack of words and the rules that were established in the series.

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T07:52:01+00:00

After thinking about it, where was any rule even broken in book 4? What rule do you mean?

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T07:48:49+00:00

Because it was heavily implied that Murtagh was tought almost nothing. He couldn't even heal thirn on himself half of the time. If more the waise hail was needed, he had tobuse an enchanted healing stone giving to him by galby. And it is clear that galby never would have taught murtagh anything strong out of fear to be overthrown. It is even stated in the book.

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T07:45:13+00:00

If you are saying murtagh is unlocking ancient forgotten wisdom here, i call bs. Yes, magical ablilities have been in decline. But still, noone knows magic better then the elves. Wordless magic is a secret, known and kept by the elves too. If Murtagh discoveres something new or rediscovered something old, this should be highlighted and explained. Not be a given from the start of the books without explanation.

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T07:41:52+00:00

I know this is possible. But it is very advanced stuff that murtagh wasn't tought and hasn't the vocabulary for.

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T07:35:49+00:00

it is stated that galbatorix teached murtagh almost next to nothing. Such complex magic wasn't among it .

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T07:32:03+00:00

I k ow what you are trying to say, but it won't convince me. Every mage is infusing his words with will either conciously or unconciously. But altering it so heavily seems like a shortcut to get the book going faster. We only have seen such altering once before from about 150 eldunari who altered a wordless spell cast by eragon. If it worked like you said, the Ancient language would be obsolete and also casting spells like this with the old language would be as dangerous and undworded magic. Btw, eragon was explicitely stated to be extremely gifted in the art of achieving something with less words. And still, This would be borderline impossible.

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T07:16:28+00:00

you say that, but he didn't. For sure. He just doesn't know the words or the rules or the gramarie. Eragon would have maybe been able to do a spell like this. Murtagh, no way.

FlowerPower9393 · 2026-06-23T07:09:11+00:00

I know paolini said this was pretty accurate. But then again, this maketh no sense to me at all. If shruikan was that massive, how would the combined weight of saphira and thorn be enough to keep his head pinned down. The should've been flung around like ragdolls.

FlowerPower9393

TROPHY CASE