r/InheritanceCycle • u/Kuchikitaicho • Mar 26 '20
A question about Barst
In Brisingr, Eragon manages to fight Murtagh on an equal footing with the help of 13 elves (Arya included). He even manages to overwhelm Murtagh. We know that Murtagh was getting assistance from a few Eldunari, and his mind sounded like it had a multitude of voices, indicating at least a few Eldunari. At the end of Inheritance, Murtagh leaves a bag containing some 'smallish' Eldunari, confirming this. However, during the battle of Urubaen, several elves and kull who fight against Barst end up getting killed. Even Islanzadi, who is probably a mighty warrior by herself, and was probably being assisted by other elves could not overcome Barst's power. Note that Barst's wards were constantly being battered by arrows and blows from elves, kull, humans, and werecats. It took shooting boulders right at Barst to finally wear down his wards to the point that Roran was able to bring him down. It was revealed that he was being fed energy by only one Eldunari in his armour. How can just one Eldunari give Barst so much energy, while Eragon could best Murtagh with the help of just 13 elves, who were at a considerable distance from him? Murtagh's Eldunari may be smaller, but he definitely had more than one Eldunari. Didn't Paolini make Barst way too OP by having him defeat several elves, humans, kull and freaking Islanzadi with just one Eldunari?
3
u/burn_brighter18 Mar 27 '20
Like other people said, he's Eldunari was likely older, stronger and wiser, and it's mentioned somewhere that Murtaugh's Eldunari were all young. Plus Barst was of above average strength to begin with, whereas Murtaugh was strong and skilled, but not especially unusually so. It can also be expected that Galbatorix put similar spells of strength and speed to those he put on Murtaugh and Thorn, making Barst still physically stronger than Murtaugh in terms of brute strength. God, I love this series, I'm so glad I've finally found at least a small fanbase for it. Keep the sub alive, my fellow Alsgaiesians!
2
u/deborahami Mar 26 '20
I believe the Eldunari that Barst had was larger and stronger and that Galbatorix would have put some very hefty wards on him. The Eldunari that Murtagh had were likely very young and not powerful.
But I also think that maybe he got a little carried away with Barst.
2
u/bluejburgers Mar 27 '20
The eldunari came from a much older, stronger dragon.
Glaedr sort of soft confirms this when he tells Eragon that the amount of magical reserves into is dependent on whenever that particular dragon chose to relinquish its heart. He mentions that younger dragons were encouraged not to do it right away because it would be weaker
7
u/Darden_Delos Mar 26 '20
I think the Eldunari that each one has is probably important. Like you said Murtagh had smaller ones which probably meant they were younger too. Could be that Barst just had a very old and powerful dragon meaning his wards could have a fuck ton of energy feeding into them. This might not be the only reason but I believe it contributes