I’m still figuring out how to use this site, so I apologize for formatting mistakes. Also, I'd appreciate pointers.
I recall Paolini saying in an interview that he had no idea how to end the series, but when he got to the final book, he fortunately had all the necessary elements in place (or something along those lines). I agree; he did have the means to kill Galbatorix in a logical way. Then he gave up and just stole someone else’s ending.
Here’s a list of resources Eragon forgot to use against Galbatorix:
· The freaking entire elvish race, the supposed best spellcasters alive. Ergy should have at least tried to find a way to fight Galby with the full might of the elves behind him. Instead he went in with, what, a dozen? Did they ever replace Wyrden?
· The drug that makes someone unable to use the ancient language. Could Eragon not have tried to poison Galby with it? Or at least Murtagh or other enemy magicians?
· The magic-blocking gems the priests of Helgrind used against Eragon. This one wasn’t introduced until the last book, so it might have come across as a Deus-ex-Machina. But at least the protagonists would have seemed slightly smarter if they hadn’t forgotten about the gems in the next scene.
· Oromis told Eragon in Eldest that it was theoretically possible to pull energy from a direct source like light or heat, but no one knew how. Eragon could have pursued the idea or asked some other spellcasters to. But he didn’t. Because he needs to be handed all his solutions instead of thinking for himself.
· The Raz’ac. Quite some time ago, someone on this site suggested using the Raz’ac as assassins. Galbatorix wouldn’t have been able to detect them, and according to the priests of Helgrind, they didn’t like him. The Raz’ac would have been exceptionally useful allies.
It really does come across like Paolini forgets the details of his own world, and he’s just making things up as he goes along. Admittedly, he did establish the Vault of Souls beforehand, but he did it in a way that felt too obvious. Was there anyone who didn’t guess that it was full of Eldunarya? I was eight when I first read the books, and I saw that one coming a mile away. I wish he would have made that a red herring and forced Eragon to come up with some other plan.