Morzan

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Morzan [1] was a Dragon Rider, and the first of the Forsworn that served King Galbatorix. Although he does not make a physical appearance in the books (having been killed long before they started), his legacy has a lasting impact on Eragon's quest.

Contents 1 Rider 2 Forsworn 3 Children, and the Time Gap problem 4 Speculation 5 Comparisons 6 See also

[edit] Rider

Before his betrayal of the Riders and his service to Galbatorix, Morzan was the best friend of Brom, who held nothing but admiration for him. But, as Brom later said, he was "strong in force, but weak in mind". Galbatorix convinced him of leaving the door open at Ilirea (now Urû'baen). Galbatorix stole a dragon egg and then Morzan followed him to an evil place Riders' didn't go. Morzan had there an obscure teaching. The name of Morzan's dragon is unknown due to the Banishing of the Names or Du Namar Aurboda, a magic spell cast by the dragons to strip the dragons belonging to the Forsworn of their names. It is quite likely that its color was red due to the red color of Zar'roc.

[edit] Forsworn

As the first and last of the Forsworn, Morzan was both powerful and cruel; this is evidenced by the fact that he threw his sword Zar'roc at his three-year-old son, Murtagh, in a fit of drunken rage. He was the only known one of the Thirteen Forsworn to have a child.

[edit] Children, and the Time Gap problem

As revealed in Eldest, it is possible that Eragon may be his son. However, in Brisingr, it was revealed that Brom was Eragon's father, not Morzan. Also in the synopsis of Eragon at the beginning of Eldest, it says that Eragon is fifteen and that Brom and Jeod stole the egg twenty years ago and killed Morzan in the process making a five year gap between his death and Eragon's birth, thus it makes no sense for Morzan to be Eragon's father. However, the same could be said for Murtagh; his 'last birthday' as of Eragon was his eighteenth, which would put his birth a year or two after Morzan's death if the 'twenty years' number is correct. Thus, if the 'twenty years' is not just an estimate or a 'rounded up' number of years (like saying 'last decade' to mean 'seven years ago'), it is impossible for Morzan to have thrown his sword at a three-year-old Murtagh.

In actuality, though, there is no time gap because Brom and Jeod did not kill Morzan when they stole the egg. After the egg was stolen, Morzan was sent to search for it. We don't know how long he was looking before he ended up fighting Brom and dying. It should be safe to assume that Morzan returned to court periodically to report to Galbatorix, possibly to renew his energy and supplies, and to check up on Selena. Therefore the timeframe does work out.

[edit] Speculation

• How Morzan specifically died is unknown, but in the movie adaption of Eragon, Brom said he took Zar'roc (it doesn’t make much sense why Brom would do this other than he somehow lost his own sword during the duel) and stabbed him in the heart.

However, in Brisingr it says Brom lost his sword while fighting on his dragon. So that means he didn't have a good sword, so it is only right that he took Morzans sword, considering he himself did not have one.

• Morzan may have been an elf. This is unlikely, though, since he was weak-minded while elves are assumingly strong in such things.
• Morzan may have also been a Shade. This is because Brom stabbed Morzan in the heart, which is the only way to kill a Shade. Though Brom said a list of names of Shadeslayers, not of which included himself, he may have changed his original name and had been one. He also could have simply omitted his name from the list. (In Brisingr p. 641, Oromis tells Eragon that throughout history, never has there been a Shade who was also a Rider. It is in response to Eragon asking Oromis to teach him to summon spirits. ~NanMcD)

[edit] Comparisons

Since Galbatorix can be compared to Palpatine from Star Wars, Morzan, as a man close to the king (at least having the right to live in the court), can be compared to Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader:

• Both were corrupted and betrayed many of their own Order (Morzan was corrupted by Galbatorix and betrayed and murdered his fellow Dragon Riders, as Anakin was corrupted by Palpatine and murdered his fellow Jedi Knights).

• Both generated children who later turned against their side (Morzan is the father of Murtagh), who turned against the Empire at least for a few months, while Anakin was the father of Luke and Leia, who turned against the Galactic Empire).

• The only two differences are that, while Anakin, then Darth Vader, died to save his son from Palpatine, Morzan died at Brom's hands, and that Murtagh quickly returned to the Empire after only a little while of fighting alongside Eragon.

[edit] See also

• Morzan Family
• Forsworn

Preceded By	Position	Succeeded By
None	Galbatorix's Right-Hand Man	Durza

Preceded By	Position	Succeeded By
None	Holder of Zar'roc	Brom