When the perpendicular wavelength of the shear Alfven wave becomes comparable to the electron inertial length, electron inertia parallel to the magnetic field becomes important. Inertial Alfven waves have a component of the electric field parallel to the magnetic field, which can efficiently accelerate electrons in a way that demands the structure characteristic of the discrete aurora. I will present a brief tutorial on inertial Alfven waves and describe results of simulations showing electron acceleration that were presented at the 3rd Alfven conference. I will then review pertinent observations of Alfven waves midway between the plasma sheet and auroral ionosphere. Finally, I will show how these auroral Alfven waves are generated and how they are formed. A major conclusion is that we close to a fundamental understanding of the discrete aurora.