in his story brom said that as galby cut off vreals head power came to him and he made himself king
so maybe he gets strength from deaths of riders

i agree I think he might get it from the souls of people the raz'ac have killed... hence the vault of souls

I think that it is a possibility that galby gets power from killing other riders, but you have to remember that it has been a long time since he has killed any. In the book it says that his power has grown each year. If he only gained power from killing other riders, he would have stopped gaining strength when the last rider was killed.

i gotta go with the vault of souls theory. he would gain strength by drawing spirits he can control from the vault, and taming them somehow and transmitting their power into himself. but it costs him dearly in the terms of magic. an eye for an eye, you know, so he only gains so much power a day.

this might also explain the evil spirits presence at Durza's downfall. Galby may have let the spirits out and found a way to draw the kid into using the magicians magic ways and the spirits he thought were weak were the ones to envelop him and create the being known as Durza. maybe...

Yay! people like my theory... i think...

I agree with your Vault of Souls theory,too, *Angela*!

[im lazy it being christmas and all!] Please refresh my memory what is the vault of souls?



after my memory is refreshed i can put in my opinion [which probably isnt much different] ;]

He could just be putting little spells on himself to make himself stronger and stronger

yes, but that would be a lot of spells

It would not work, becase first he is getting stronger even after there are no riders, and he has not fought in a battle for a very long time. I think it is the vault of souls.

one rider died recently at any rate-brom- and so he could get strength from that.
because remember what islanzadi said that some riders had died that century.

I don't know about the Vault of Souls.

I think that Galbatorix gets his power from Shruikan. Remember how Eragon and Saphira can fuse their minds? Like that, but maybe on a bigger level, since Galby and Shruik have been together a longer time. Shruikan grows every year, making Galby's strength grow along with it.

Just my theory. I'm not too obsessive, so I haven't looked around every corner to make sure it's absolutely plausible.

I think its the vault of souls because its sick and twisted like galby. It also explains why no other riders have been able to match his abilities.

no i think he obsorbes the energy of all the people in alageasia everytime someone dies, which could be well related to the vault of souls.

I like this idea of he has absorbed other riders energy/souls. I am wondering if since Eragon has jewels to store energy in to sustain himself in battle, is it possible that Galby and or Murtagh have other peoples or dead riders energy/souls either stored in jewels or in there minds? That would explain why they are so powerful if they have these massive amounts of energy and experience from past riders to draw upon.

That is definitly one of the most possible theories, creepy, but good.

thats a good theory but explain how theyd survive and how hed get energy from people at the other end of the empire

I say he gets his strentgh from the Vault of Souls.

there could be a simple answer
eragon got better as he practised, and stronger so galby could just spend a alot of time practising
and get stronger. plus the shruikian fact and i think maybe the rock of kuthian is actually a energy storer and he could use that

well then how does he get stronger every year? there hasn't been a rider's death in over a hundred years.

i reacon every person the razac kill their soul goes to the vault of souls and then galby absorbs the souls and uses their power