#conclusions

But also when I defend him, im BARELY defending canon Caine, cause in my opinion, after ep 7 he’s just not well written with the whole MANIPULATION SHIT, so defending him or UNDERSTANDING why he did ANY of that just feel pointless- but thats my own Forth Wall gripes

I think his self centeredness is misattributed to ego, and is more accurate to DESPERATION like his refusal to communicate or admit theres an issue, to me, is less out of needing to be the biggest guy in the room, and is more needing this SHOW TO KEEP GOING by any means necessary. And he wants to be the one to fix it because thats what he’s SUPPOSED TO DO. Like he’s really hung up on the “supposed to do” thing.

That’s a very under-appreciated/under-analyzed aspect of his character from my perspective: is his conditioning on how to view his job. Of course everything he does is for “his benefit” thats how the game is supposed to work, whats his benefit is theirs, he gets rewarded for Doing A Good Job, if he doesn’t feel good he’s not DOING good!

And of course all of that is no excuse and he needs to take accountability in some spaces, but the way I read his character is just UNFAIR, he’s “been given no opportunity to change” not in the literal sense, but in the “he has Learned Helplessness deeply engrained in his soul” sense.

The only person that can make him change is himself, and I think he’s MORE than deserving of that chance

What I really like about Caine is (a lot of things, and) this theme of Playing A Character, how who he is is just a set of rules and regulations and none of his actual opinions, and at what point does that STOP MATTERING? He has so many things he’s SUPPOSED to be, he’s SUPPOSED to be wanted, he’s SUPPOSED to be relied on and have everything under control, and so far all of those things have been in a horizontal negative spike for the last 30 years.

At FIRST none of that was his fault, but then he refused to pivot, and the blame has slowly shifted over to him more and more because YEAH getting trapped wasn’t his fault, but what about doing literally ANYTHING ELSE after that?? Well so far all he’s ever done with his life is making adventures so just…keep doing that???

I also have it in my head that him being Cut Off was a thing that just HAPPENED because the game was getting canceled, but he saw that as a punishment and is now trying to do The Good Thing to get his reward, to get it BACK because during development he’d always be punished but then rewarded! what is this if not a thing he can…somehow reverse. If he’s just. good enough at his job?

1. Why not remove viruses?

My first guess is that they do not know the true name of most viruses. To remove a virus without the true name, you would have to do one of two things. Either you have to be extremely specific, or you have to use a generalization. Both of which would be very dangerous. Why? Because either way—if you’re not detailed enough or if you’re too general—you could risk also targeting positive bacteria and such in your body. You could easily do harm to yourself in the process. And it could go beyond bacteria, depending on what level understanding of the body is in Alagaësia. I believe Paolini said the elves have an understanding of at least cells. But if you generalize cells? You could kill yourself with that spell! An example of not having enough specific information to prevent consequence would be a deleted scene from Brisingr (I believe it’s posted on Paolini.net) where Eragon removed a woman’s tumor cells with a spell but had the spell target ‘unnatural’ or ‘not belonging’ forms in the body beyond a certain size, possibly rendering the woman permanently unable to have children, because the spell could attack a fetus. Could this be the reason they don’t heal viruses? Or maybe they don’t even fully understand the concept of viruses yet? We know at this point in their history they understand things can be contagious, but we don’t really know beyond that.

2. What do you do about symptoms you don’t ‘heal’?

Ex: Phlegm. You can heal the irritations that causes the production of phlegm, but you’d still have phlegm in your system. Do you break it up with a spell? Can you flush it out entirely? How does this work? Sores, sore throats, ulcers, irritation, inflammation—those could all be healed, and things like abscesses and tumors can be removed with magic as well. But other than preventative spells being placed in the first place (as obviously not everyone has access to magic) how do you bring down (fluid-related) swelling? Do you just, like, extract it from the pores?

3. Can chronic conditions be healed?

As someone with a chronic condition, I feel like this should be on the list. It is abnormal function in the nerves/blood vessels, causing pain. Plainly, the small blood vessels over-dilate and the nerves misfire to send signals of tingling, heat, and pain. Could something like this be healed? If so, how? As I see it, perhaps you could address the symptoms—constricting the blood vessels, perhaps. But what about the nerves? Can you block nerve messages? You probably could with the right knowledge and skill, but it’d be too easily to block to much and cause actual harm, especially if you enacted it as a permanent spell (which are difficult, if not impossible, to remove) instead of a temporary one during an episode. What about the cause itself? How would you even address that? Searching it, some cases are supposed linked to mutations in a gene that affects sodium channels in nerves, leading to over-signaling pain. You could remove/nullify that mutation, possibly, but Alagaësia is nowhere near at a point, medically, where that knowledge would even exist—let alone be available to a magician. And what about things like POTS? Or epilepsy, considering how delicate the brain is and how much even the elves avoid touching the brain for fear of destroying a person’s mind entirely. Can magic even be progressed to a point the irregular signals could be remedied, or at least adjusted not to cause the reactions they do? Things like heart disease I could see being addressed (with great care, of course). Blockages could be removed, tears and strains and irritation healed, and maybe spells could even be placed to help keep heartbeats even or strong. But other conditions seem more… difficult. And, especially considering Paolini’s magic system heavily relies on science, Orrin and the other science nerds out there would have century worth of progress to make before they can really leap in the magic-medical field unless those progressions are considerably sped up (likely by magic.)

Which makes me wonder what else can be done. Like major surgeries. Appendicitis, for example. You could remove the appendix (like Eragon did the woman’s tumor) and heal the remaining tissue damaged by the removal with magic—possibly with very little pain/recovery time. Or, maybe they could heal and remove the infection itself entirely, no surgery needed—magical or otherwise. Maybe other surgeries could be done the same.

4. What about nerve damage?

Nerves are, obviously, extremely delicate, and we see examples of this throughout the Inheritance Cycle—the most prevalent of which would be Eragon’s back, which was a mixture of nerve damage and Durza’s magic. When Arya damaged her hand in Dras-Leona, Blödhgarm (an extremely talented healer, which is important to note here) healed the damage, but some of the nerves refused to seal properly, leaving Arya with a patch of skin at the base of her thumb that had no feeling or sensation in it. It is not mentioned whether she felt nerve pain or agitation later. This implies that nerves might be prone to not rejoining and healing. Maybe they’re resistant, or maybe the knowledge needed to handle them properly just isn’t there, or maybe it’s just too easy to reseal them in such a way as to cut off or accidentally modify or hinder signals. The fact that Eragon was offered little to no healing in Ellesméra, where healers were likely a dime a dozen, also gestures at this fact. They may not have have any way of removing the curse, but helping the nerve damage might have at least helped with the agony involved with the seizures.

Are nerves too difficult? Too complex? Those would be my best guesses, though I am curious about if there is anything that actually is genuinely naturally resistant to magic.