Last time I was of course referring to the population of Tronjheim, not Farthen Dur. Also I have discovered most criticism in Wikipedia originates at anti-shurtugal.com
Description of the battle
This battle is much simpler than the Burning plains. The Varden/dwarves are waiting at three holes they have dug out the enemy. We are led to believe that the three holes emerge over rather flat terrain. At dawn the Urgals come out in three parts and attack the three different formations. We are led to believe that three symmetrical rather independant battles take place at the same place in the same time, kind of like the battle of Kilkis-Lahanas in the second Balkan war. The first wave is burned by tar. The next waves face and defeat the pikemen of the front line then storm the hastily built defences (suffering losses all the way) and then face the main body of their enemies. The Varden/dwarves are driven back towards Tronjheim, which is rather empty. Eragon and Saphira fly at crisis points to plug breaches in the three formations and attack the Urgals from unexpected directions (without any strategic consequences, the Urgals are not turned back). After several hours Eragon, Saphira and Arya are called to Tronjheim to stop Urgals from tunneling in: This is a trap. Eragon, with Arya's help, kills Durza but both are seriously wounded. The Urgals turn on each other and break their formations fleeeing into the tunnels. Over the next three days the dwarves and Varden hunt them. On the third day Ajihad is killed by Urgals who, under the control of the Twins, capture Murtagh and defect to Galbatorix.
Critique
Durza, Ajihad and Hrothgar display bad generalship from the strategic level. More likely though it was Paolini who at the age of 15 or 18 when he wrote the scene did not know how a battle was really waged. The Urgals charge on despite the prepared defences, the dwarves do not use the hillsides of Farthen Dur to their advantage, war machines are completely absent, too much needless killing takes place. On my next installment (probably on Friday) I will give a critique by side which, I must say will not be pretty. Nasuada proves a way better general at the Burning Plains than her father at Farthen Dur...
mercredi 28 février 2007
jeudi 22 février 2007
Website up and running
The site I wanted to create, I just did. It's link is http://eragonmil.topcities.com I'll add it near the top soon
lundi 19 février 2007
Battle under Farthen Dur Ib
I'm sorry that I am late in updating my blog but Real Life is getting in the way. This will have to be a short update...
Last time I just gave my conclusion on the numbers at Farthen Dur without giving upper and lower ranges. At the lowest range, if there are 2500 Varden there are twice as many dwarves and thus 7,500 overall. At the upper edge with 3,000 Varden there can be as many as 6 or 7 dwarves for every one of them giving as many as 21,000 dwarves, something not very likely since it wouldn't be realistic to have Jormundur commanding the third line.
What do the numbers of the dwarven army tell us about the population of Farthen Dur? Very little because simply we do not have demographic ratios for the dwarves. At Plataea most southern Greek city states sent something like 30% of their total population, that is every able bodied male between 18 and 50. We do not know even if that happened, because many could have fled to other cities and in any case we do not know what is the maximum age at which a dwarf can hold arms. Hrothgar is over 100, but how much older than that we never know. We are unaware at the average life expectancy of the dwarves in any case. If it was 30% of the Farthen Dur dwarves forming the army and they numbered 9,000 men then the total population of the city is 30,000 people and, assuming fove dwarven cities of similar size, the entire people numbers 150,000 individuals. This seems rather small, and is nothing but a half-educated guess. Next time, we will advance on the battle
Last time I just gave my conclusion on the numbers at Farthen Dur without giving upper and lower ranges. At the lowest range, if there are 2500 Varden there are twice as many dwarves and thus 7,500 overall. At the upper edge with 3,000 Varden there can be as many as 6 or 7 dwarves for every one of them giving as many as 21,000 dwarves, something not very likely since it wouldn't be realistic to have Jormundur commanding the third line.
What do the numbers of the dwarven army tell us about the population of Farthen Dur? Very little because simply we do not have demographic ratios for the dwarves. At Plataea most southern Greek city states sent something like 30% of their total population, that is every able bodied male between 18 and 50. We do not know even if that happened, because many could have fled to other cities and in any case we do not know what is the maximum age at which a dwarf can hold arms. Hrothgar is over 100, but how much older than that we never know. We are unaware at the average life expectancy of the dwarves in any case. If it was 30% of the Farthen Dur dwarves forming the army and they numbered 9,000 men then the total population of the city is 30,000 people and, assuming fove dwarven cities of similar size, the entire people numbers 150,000 individuals. This seems rather small, and is nothing but a half-educated guess. Next time, we will advance on the battle
vendredi 9 février 2007
Battle under Farthen Dur I
Looking back at the Burning Plains there is little to add. I did not discuss cavalry tactics (but then again we are not told anything about them) I did not question thouroughly whether the fortifications were manned, but these are theoretical rather than practical question, worthy perhaps of a later mention or better yet of more commentary after I set up my projected webpage.
On to Farthen Dur. Basically it is a much simpler battle and we know fewer things. The entire battle, including Durza's end takes only one chapter in Eragon while the aftermath takes another at Eldest without adding much new knowledge. If at Farthen Dur we had one bad general, right here we have several bad generals, which I will explain later.
Composition and size of enemy armies
About the general composition of the Varden and the dwarves I have discussed earlier. Basically the Varden are rather lightly armed: it is implied that they fight unarmoured while the dwarves have mail armor. Of the Urgals a good description is not given at the chapter, but earlier we are told that they protected themselves with a shield at Yazuac (if I remember correctrly) while we are told Garzhvog is only wearing a loincloth (rather than armor). Their offensive weapon is in most cases the sword though a few spearmen do encircle Saphira at some point.
For the Urgals we are not told number and they do not really matter anyway. They were simply massively more than the Varden and the dwarves. For the Varden we know they number about 4,000 at Farthen Dur, according to Orik. This number definitely includes non-combatants. How many of the Varden are non-combattants we are not told but we can guess. Jormundur has a wife and child with him, while the council of elders has 2 female and 3 male members. While women were generally evacuated this is not absolute: magic users took part in combat as we are told in Eldest. In any case we do not know if the 4,000 number includes children. In any case if the ratio of the council is an indication 3/5 of the 4,000 are men thus 2,400. I would round this to 3,000 since at desperate times even women took arms, like Nasuada and the magic users.
The Varden/dwarves are arrayed in three lines, one led by Hrothgar that inludes only dwarves (or at least that was Eragon's impression when he came to aid them) and two led by Ajihad and Jormundur. In Jormundur's formation fight Eragon, Arya and Orik (probably for dramatic effect). We are told that it includes both humans and dwarves. Since Ajihad leads the third line it must also include humans. It seems possible that these two lines have more humans than dwarves since humans are leading them but this is not necessary: the dwarves definitely lack experienced fighters. Eragon comments earlier lead us to believe that the villagers of Carvahall
think that dwarves are fictional, implying that they do not leave their cities often to attack the Empire like the Varden. Orik is ordered by Nassuada at the Burning Plains to take control of the dwarves, implying that they lack leaders with war experience, even at such a late hour!
If the three lines are equal in numbers and the Varden are evenly split between the two and in these two there are equal number of humans and dwarves then the Urgals are facing 9,000 fighters. However Arya's (and Eragon's but to a lesser extent since he is more mobile) presence makes Jormundur's line stronger than the rest. There is no reason to do so ans in any case it seems more likely to me than there are more dwarves at Jormundur's line than humans for the simple reason that the dwarves at Tronjheim far outnumber the humans, as we saw during Saphira's and Eragon's procession towards Ajihad. Hence I am inclined to believe that there are 3 dwarves for every human in the battle (to reflect the demographic difference) and the Urgals are facing about 3,000 humans and 9,000 dwarves overall. More to come next week
On to Farthen Dur. Basically it is a much simpler battle and we know fewer things. The entire battle, including Durza's end takes only one chapter in Eragon while the aftermath takes another at Eldest without adding much new knowledge. If at Farthen Dur we had one bad general, right here we have several bad generals, which I will explain later.
Composition and size of enemy armies
About the general composition of the Varden and the dwarves I have discussed earlier. Basically the Varden are rather lightly armed: it is implied that they fight unarmoured while the dwarves have mail armor. Of the Urgals a good description is not given at the chapter, but earlier we are told that they protected themselves with a shield at Yazuac (if I remember correctrly) while we are told Garzhvog is only wearing a loincloth (rather than armor). Their offensive weapon is in most cases the sword though a few spearmen do encircle Saphira at some point.
For the Urgals we are not told number and they do not really matter anyway. They were simply massively more than the Varden and the dwarves. For the Varden we know they number about 4,000 at Farthen Dur, according to Orik. This number definitely includes non-combatants. How many of the Varden are non-combattants we are not told but we can guess. Jormundur has a wife and child with him, while the council of elders has 2 female and 3 male members. While women were generally evacuated this is not absolute: magic users took part in combat as we are told in Eldest. In any case we do not know if the 4,000 number includes children. In any case if the ratio of the council is an indication 3/5 of the 4,000 are men thus 2,400. I would round this to 3,000 since at desperate times even women took arms, like Nasuada and the magic users.
The Varden/dwarves are arrayed in three lines, one led by Hrothgar that inludes only dwarves (or at least that was Eragon's impression when he came to aid them) and two led by Ajihad and Jormundur. In Jormundur's formation fight Eragon, Arya and Orik (probably for dramatic effect). We are told that it includes both humans and dwarves. Since Ajihad leads the third line it must also include humans. It seems possible that these two lines have more humans than dwarves since humans are leading them but this is not necessary: the dwarves definitely lack experienced fighters. Eragon comments earlier lead us to believe that the villagers of Carvahall
think that dwarves are fictional, implying that they do not leave their cities often to attack the Empire like the Varden. Orik is ordered by Nassuada at the Burning Plains to take control of the dwarves, implying that they lack leaders with war experience, even at such a late hour!
If the three lines are equal in numbers and the Varden are evenly split between the two and in these two there are equal number of humans and dwarves then the Urgals are facing 9,000 fighters. However Arya's (and Eragon's but to a lesser extent since he is more mobile) presence makes Jormundur's line stronger than the rest. There is no reason to do so ans in any case it seems more likely to me than there are more dwarves at Jormundur's line than humans for the simple reason that the dwarves at Tronjheim far outnumber the humans, as we saw during Saphira's and Eragon's procession towards Ajihad. Hence I am inclined to believe that there are 3 dwarves for every human in the battle (to reflect the demographic difference) and the Urgals are facing about 3,000 humans and 9,000 dwarves overall. More to come next week
vendredi 2 février 2007
Battle of the Burning Plains VI
This is to be my last major comment on this battle, which is the most complex battle in in the Inheritance trilogy so far. I will continue in the future with the other major battle in the series, that taking place under Farthen Dur, a general commentary on the Varden as a military force, the rise of Galbatorix, the dwarves and the Elves and other comments. I will try to set my writings in the form of a web-page so that they can become more accessible. Do not expect me to update as often as I did for my firs article series.
Casualties
Basically anybody's guess is good. Before the invention of gunpowder battles would produce 3 dead for every wounded. In the age of gunpowder this ratio was reversed. In this battle, with Eragon's advanced magical knowledge, many magical healers, defections to and from and unknown troop numbers everything is open. We are told that the bulk of Galbatorix's army escaped beyond the river. The bulk can mean anything upwards of 2/3. Eragon and Saphira are shown to kill by the dozens, while of his bodyguard 2 of the 4 Kull and 3 of the 7 dwarves get killed, something not surprising since they were the front line crack troops. In most historical battles before gunpowder it was harder to have more than one casualty per enemy soldiers, unless we are talking about true tactical blunders by enemy commanders and defections like Plataea or Cannae.
In one of the largest military disasters that befell Athens, the battle of Delium, the Athenians lost 22% of their forces and the winning Thebans 8%. In Cannae the losing Romans lost 55% of their force and the winning Carthaginians less than 10%. Something over 10% casualties for the joint anti-Galbatorix force would be a surprise since the dwarves probably suffered little due to their late arrival. If I would have to place a max on Galbatorix's dead it would be 20 to 25%. At the end of the battle most of Galbatorix's force has escape beyond the river, no longer forms an army but is still alive. We are not told if they can be rallied into a new army (but are led to believe they cannot) but Galbatorix probably needs in any case to snd new officers to lead them. He might as well raise a knew army to replace them, this might even be simpler.
Respone to unfair criticism
This is to respond to the unfair criticism written at the bottom of the battle's page in Wikipedia:
1.It is humanly impossible to run 800 meters in full gear: In Marathon the Athenians run 1500 meters in heavier gear. In any case it depends on the meaning of run: We cannot expect them to do the distance in under 1 minutes like Olympic runners but have them walk at three times the normal pace could be called running and would have taken under 15 minutes
2.The Varden leave prepared defences to fight a numerically superior army Nassuada decided to take the initiative. Probably she wanted to catch her enemy unprepared (which she mostly did), perhaps she wished to keep the morale boost given by Eragon before it dropped, perhaps she knew from the Durgrinst snt earlier that the dwarves were near.
3The Kings cavalry is forgotten. Not quite. Eragon, not Orrin is the focus of the book. We are told that they throw themselves at the flank like the cavalry before them, implying the cavalry is still ther fighting at the side.
4The Battle is physically impossible to have lasted the whole day. This is what happened in Cunaxa, the 10,000 Greek mercenaries attack and fought all day without even having eaten breakfast. Many battles have lasted an entire day before gunpowder.
5 Eragon leaves at the height of the battle over a ship. Eragon could have smote down the ship on his own before it became a threat to anybody. Nobody else is simply capable of doing so
6 The Deus ex machina dwarves. Nasuada has some idea when they are expected to arrive. Perhaps she chose to battle on that day for this reason, knowing that the Empire could have neutralised her forces first and the dwarves in succession before they could unify, and hope that by wearing down the imperial forces they cannot threaten the dwarves who are expected soon and could catch the imperials weary. In any case Deus ex machina is common in fantasy battles, see Helm's Deep of the Pellanor Fields in the Lord of the Rings.
Characterisation
In a nutshell Nassuada is good (but not great) and lucky, her counterpart horrible and Hrothgar unlucky. The Burning Plains are far greater a victory than Farthen Dur which was fought in an obscure (for those living in the Empire) place by two non-human races. That the Urgals are fighting for Galbatorix is unknown to most living in the Empire, on the other hand here is a major victory against a known enemy by known foes. Whatever the result of Murtagh's appearance if Galbatorix is as unpopular in the South as in the North he should be facing major upheavals on his path and have trouble from now own concentrating his forces, even more since he should be facing an Elvish invasion.
Perhaps this will be Nassuada's Granicus: After that battle (and combined with brilliant tactical moves) Alexander the Great found himself in control of the biggest part of Asia Minor, more than any Greek general before him had even hoped to dream. We need to wait and see when in the next book what will the influnce be to nearby cities: will they surrender, will they resist. We will find out together with the publication of book III, whenever that is to happen.
Casualties
Basically anybody's guess is good. Before the invention of gunpowder battles would produce 3 dead for every wounded. In the age of gunpowder this ratio was reversed. In this battle, with Eragon's advanced magical knowledge, many magical healers, defections to and from and unknown troop numbers everything is open. We are told that the bulk of Galbatorix's army escaped beyond the river. The bulk can mean anything upwards of 2/3. Eragon and Saphira are shown to kill by the dozens, while of his bodyguard 2 of the 4 Kull and 3 of the 7 dwarves get killed, something not surprising since they were the front line crack troops. In most historical battles before gunpowder it was harder to have more than one casualty per enemy soldiers, unless we are talking about true tactical blunders by enemy commanders and defections like Plataea or Cannae.
In one of the largest military disasters that befell Athens, the battle of Delium, the Athenians lost 22% of their forces and the winning Thebans 8%. In Cannae the losing Romans lost 55% of their force and the winning Carthaginians less than 10%. Something over 10% casualties for the joint anti-Galbatorix force would be a surprise since the dwarves probably suffered little due to their late arrival. If I would have to place a max on Galbatorix's dead it would be 20 to 25%. At the end of the battle most of Galbatorix's force has escape beyond the river, no longer forms an army but is still alive. We are not told if they can be rallied into a new army (but are led to believe they cannot) but Galbatorix probably needs in any case to snd new officers to lead them. He might as well raise a knew army to replace them, this might even be simpler.
Respone to unfair criticism
This is to respond to the unfair criticism written at the bottom of the battle's page in Wikipedia:
1.It is humanly impossible to run 800 meters in full gear: In Marathon the Athenians run 1500 meters in heavier gear. In any case it depends on the meaning of run: We cannot expect them to do the distance in under 1 minutes like Olympic runners but have them walk at three times the normal pace could be called running and would have taken under 15 minutes
2.The Varden leave prepared defences to fight a numerically superior army Nassuada decided to take the initiative. Probably she wanted to catch her enemy unprepared (which she mostly did), perhaps she wished to keep the morale boost given by Eragon before it dropped, perhaps she knew from the Durgrinst snt earlier that the dwarves were near.
3The Kings cavalry is forgotten. Not quite. Eragon, not Orrin is the focus of the book. We are told that they throw themselves at the flank like the cavalry before them, implying the cavalry is still ther fighting at the side.
4The Battle is physically impossible to have lasted the whole day. This is what happened in Cunaxa, the 10,000 Greek mercenaries attack and fought all day without even having eaten breakfast. Many battles have lasted an entire day before gunpowder.
5 Eragon leaves at the height of the battle over a ship. Eragon could have smote down the ship on his own before it became a threat to anybody. Nobody else is simply capable of doing so
6 The Deus ex machina dwarves. Nasuada has some idea when they are expected to arrive. Perhaps she chose to battle on that day for this reason, knowing that the Empire could have neutralised her forces first and the dwarves in succession before they could unify, and hope that by wearing down the imperial forces they cannot threaten the dwarves who are expected soon and could catch the imperials weary. In any case Deus ex machina is common in fantasy battles, see Helm's Deep of the Pellanor Fields in the Lord of the Rings.
Characterisation
In a nutshell Nassuada is good (but not great) and lucky, her counterpart horrible and Hrothgar unlucky. The Burning Plains are far greater a victory than Farthen Dur which was fought in an obscure (for those living in the Empire) place by two non-human races. That the Urgals are fighting for Galbatorix is unknown to most living in the Empire, on the other hand here is a major victory against a known enemy by known foes. Whatever the result of Murtagh's appearance if Galbatorix is as unpopular in the South as in the North he should be facing major upheavals on his path and have trouble from now own concentrating his forces, even more since he should be facing an Elvish invasion.
Perhaps this will be Nassuada's Granicus: After that battle (and combined with brilliant tactical moves) Alexander the Great found himself in control of the biggest part of Asia Minor, more than any Greek general before him had even hoped to dream. We need to wait and see when in the next book what will the influnce be to nearby cities: will they surrender, will they resist. We will find out together with the publication of book III, whenever that is to happen.
jeudi 1 février 2007
Battle of the Burning Plains V
Several more questions follow:
5. Why where the burning plains chosen by Nasuada as the battleflied? We are only told that the army was sent up the Jiet River to stop Galbatorix's river from going down the river to invade Surda
6. Why did the imperial army did not include cavalry? This, more than all others is the reason why the imperial army lost. Historically the cavalry is owned and manned by the aristocracy of a country. Is it that the empire no longer has an aristocracy after the slaying of the Forsworn? Did Galbatorix or his unknown general believe it was not necessary? Could it be (something supported by the existance of war machines) that the army was mainly intended for siege rather than for battles in open field? Does that mean that the imperial general or Galbatorix believe that the Surdans would just lock themselves up behind their walls and just weather the siege?
7. Why did the dwarves (and Eragon who joined them for his 8th attack) attack from the flank rather than the back? I might be repetitive but attacks from the back are more effective than from the side or the front. Encirclement would have been another option but it seems that even after the addition of the dwarves the imperial army maintained superiority. As Sun Tzu states never cage a beast, always leave a path of escape (and slaughter them as they escape).
Basically the battle has a high degree of realism, something that cannot be said about Farthen Dur. Saphira misses the dwarven army but this is understandable considering that if she flies over where it was camped it was during the night. The generals make mistakes, but these are mistakes people can be expected to do, not blaring ommisions from the writer.
Unlike Tolkien where we learn of places long before they become important (Gondor, Mordor, Rohan, Isengrad and Moria get mentioned at the council of Elrond if not earlier, long before they become important, let alone battlefields) Paolini's places seem to come out of the blue (with the exception of Ellesmera), but then again they are not public knowledge. The Shire is quite unknown to the inhabitants of Rohan and Gondor. It would have been better if the Burning Plains were mentioned before they became a battlefield (again), but we are quite ignorant of the battlefields of the Fall. I will try to examine scenarios of what would have happened had other events taken place.
What if
1. What would happen had the dwarves not arrived?
More likely the Varden would have retreated behind their fortification with Eragon covering their retreat. The breach would have been sealed somewhat, Eragon probably covering this sector with Arya, and a slow attack of the imperials would have followed. It ending would more likely be a Pyrrhic imperial victory, something quite acceptable to Surda that had reinforcements at the cities. A second battle inside Surda could have taken place leading to a defeat of the imperial army if it was not reinforced
2. What would happen had Eragon not arrived that day?
More likely that the battle would have awaited for Eragon's arrival. The imperial general is also aware of Eragon's arrival, he chose his arrival to announce his rejection of Surda's terms. Could it be that he was waiting for more troops like cavalry? Perhaps he chose to attack now fearing Surdan reinforcement that indeed arrived in the form of the dwarves.
3. What would happen had Murtagh arrived at the beginning of the battle?
More likely Eragon and Murtagh would have fought in single combat. When Eragon was not tired he could definitely defeat Murtagh in a sword duel, and with the jewelry fully charged victory in magical combat would have been a strong possibility if not certainty. Arya might have lent her strength, too. With their rider defeated the imperials might have even melted away without a fight.
4. How come Murtagh and his dragon Thorn matched Eragon and Saphira in strength?
When Arya summoned in Eragon the essence of silver she told him that the true name of one should remain hidden else they can be tottaly manipulated. Murtagh and Thorn's strength are in my opinion an example of this type of manipulation.
5 What would happen had Eragon not arrived at all?
Had the dwarves arrived on time and the imperial army waiting for whatever it was waiting Nasuada would have attacked, more likely the next day. Murtagh more likely would not have arrived to join the battle. The outcome would have been more likely than not a loss for the forces supporting Galbatorix since they were badly led and no longer had such a massive numerical advantage.
I have little more to add, stay tuned
5. Why where the burning plains chosen by Nasuada as the battleflied? We are only told that the army was sent up the Jiet River to stop Galbatorix's river from going down the river to invade Surda
6. Why did the imperial army did not include cavalry? This, more than all others is the reason why the imperial army lost. Historically the cavalry is owned and manned by the aristocracy of a country. Is it that the empire no longer has an aristocracy after the slaying of the Forsworn? Did Galbatorix or his unknown general believe it was not necessary? Could it be (something supported by the existance of war machines) that the army was mainly intended for siege rather than for battles in open field? Does that mean that the imperial general or Galbatorix believe that the Surdans would just lock themselves up behind their walls and just weather the siege?
7. Why did the dwarves (and Eragon who joined them for his 8th attack) attack from the flank rather than the back? I might be repetitive but attacks from the back are more effective than from the side or the front. Encirclement would have been another option but it seems that even after the addition of the dwarves the imperial army maintained superiority. As Sun Tzu states never cage a beast, always leave a path of escape (and slaughter them as they escape).
Basically the battle has a high degree of realism, something that cannot be said about Farthen Dur. Saphira misses the dwarven army but this is understandable considering that if she flies over where it was camped it was during the night. The generals make mistakes, but these are mistakes people can be expected to do, not blaring ommisions from the writer.
Unlike Tolkien where we learn of places long before they become important (Gondor, Mordor, Rohan, Isengrad and Moria get mentioned at the council of Elrond if not earlier, long before they become important, let alone battlefields) Paolini's places seem to come out of the blue (with the exception of Ellesmera), but then again they are not public knowledge. The Shire is quite unknown to the inhabitants of Rohan and Gondor. It would have been better if the Burning Plains were mentioned before they became a battlefield (again), but we are quite ignorant of the battlefields of the Fall. I will try to examine scenarios of what would have happened had other events taken place.
What if
1. What would happen had the dwarves not arrived?
More likely the Varden would have retreated behind their fortification with Eragon covering their retreat. The breach would have been sealed somewhat, Eragon probably covering this sector with Arya, and a slow attack of the imperials would have followed. It ending would more likely be a Pyrrhic imperial victory, something quite acceptable to Surda that had reinforcements at the cities. A second battle inside Surda could have taken place leading to a defeat of the imperial army if it was not reinforced
2. What would happen had Eragon not arrived that day?
More likely that the battle would have awaited for Eragon's arrival. The imperial general is also aware of Eragon's arrival, he chose his arrival to announce his rejection of Surda's terms. Could it be that he was waiting for more troops like cavalry? Perhaps he chose to attack now fearing Surdan reinforcement that indeed arrived in the form of the dwarves.
3. What would happen had Murtagh arrived at the beginning of the battle?
More likely Eragon and Murtagh would have fought in single combat. When Eragon was not tired he could definitely defeat Murtagh in a sword duel, and with the jewelry fully charged victory in magical combat would have been a strong possibility if not certainty. Arya might have lent her strength, too. With their rider defeated the imperials might have even melted away without a fight.
4. How come Murtagh and his dragon Thorn matched Eragon and Saphira in strength?
When Arya summoned in Eragon the essence of silver she told him that the true name of one should remain hidden else they can be tottaly manipulated. Murtagh and Thorn's strength are in my opinion an example of this type of manipulation.
5 What would happen had Eragon not arrived at all?
Had the dwarves arrived on time and the imperial army waiting for whatever it was waiting Nasuada would have attacked, more likely the next day. Murtagh more likely would not have arrived to join the battle. The outcome would have been more likely than not a loss for the forces supporting Galbatorix since they were badly led and no longer had such a massive numerical advantage.
I have little more to add, stay tuned
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