Big Demandred news

[Terez]

Transcribing a signing. Full transcript soon, but for now:

 

Loialson: Does Demandred even have an alter ego?

Brandon: Yes, he does.

 

Full transcript of that question:

 

Question: Okay, great. Second question. Does Demandred even have an alter ego?

Brandon: Yes, he does.

Question: Okay, cause we've been trying to figure out who the heck is it, and we can't figure it out. We're thinking Roedran, but it's like, too obvious.

Brandon: Here's the thing: Robert Jordan said that Demandred did not appear until Knife of Dreams, and so I have been very hesitant about saying whether or not he'd appeared—I think I've said whether or not he'd appeared on screen in my books—but the reason is, if I give you a yes or no—if he's appeared, yes or no—then that narrows it down to like just a few characters, that are introduced [in mine?], so I've been very hesitant about answering that. Demandred does have an alter ego. He has been up to some very cool things. There are people online who have guessed correctly. And so, I will say that much.

Question: Is he in Randland?

Brandon: I won't say whether or not he's in Randland.

Fan: He's not in Shara! He can't be in Shara!

Fan: Okay, next question.

[TootThatHorn]

Hoping there was a follow up to if he has more than one? But this is big news, I am excited.

[Terez]

Not really; Brandon just goes on to say things he's said previously about how he doesn't want to narrow it down too much.

[TootThatHorn]

Still awesome, and thank you for your work. I'm excited, Demandred is one of the things I have been most excited about without out too much of a clue.

 

Edit: Until knife of dreams or up to and including? I'm assuming the latter, since that has been the general understanding.

[Terez]

Brandon was clearer in other interviews. RJ said after the release of COT that his alter ego had not been seen on screen. Brandon extended that to KOD, and later he also mentioned that Demandred had not been seen at all in TOM. That left us with TGS being the only book not explicitly disqualified, but we knew from a list of characters seen only in TGS that it was extremely unlikely Demandred's alter ego was seen on screen there, either. And his comment here seems to verify that, since he lumps all of his books together. So it's pretty safe to say his alter ego has never been seen on screen.

 

We also know from both RJ and Brandon that we do have enough clues to figure it out. RJ's comment was in 2001, we know that we have enough clues as of WH to figure out. That disqualifies things like the murderer ruling in Seandar and (along with other clues) makes Roedran the only real possibility.

[Barid Bel Medar]

Nice to know. Roedran is the best candidate.

 

I am more interested to see what other "cool things" he has been up to at the moment, I think Murandy will be the least of his deeds. It shall be interesting to see what he does with it though. The possibilities are good, I would think Murandy would be teeming with Shadowspawn now, or at least very, very soon. Right in the middle of the map, it iis an excellent position to mess things up.

 

Even if it isn't Roedran, it at least confirms that he has human armies (although it was pretty much already clear) which shall be interesting. With Sammael and Rhavin etc.. they just dominated the kingdoms, they never actually did much, except Illianers fighting Rand, but that was them defending Illian (they didn't know who Sammael was).

 

It will be interesting to see how and if Demandred gets them to fight for the Shadow.

[Tiberius]

It will be interesting to see how and if Demandred gets them to fight for the Shadow.

This is something that has bothered me about him being Roedran. Even if he had Joseph Goebbels working for him, how would he convince human armies to fight humans once they arrive and see what's really happening?

[Terez]

Because they'll be fighting against Andorans and the Band—their enemies—not alongside Shadowspawn. Presumably.

 

Also, full transcript of the WoT questions is finished:

 

http://www.theorylan...read.php?t=7372

 

The full transcript will be posted by 17th Shard when it's done.

[Barid Bel Medar]

Thanks Terez! Good work as usual.

[GB]

off topic just read the WoT transcript (cheers Terez for the link)

[Duskfire]

We also know from both RJ and Brandon that we do have enough clues to figure it out. RJ's comment was in 2001, we know that we have enough clues as of WH to figure out. That disqualifies things like the murderer ruling in Seandar and (along with other clues) makes Roedran the only real possibility.

 

Not really. I have thought for years that Demandred is on the Seanchan continent, probably around CoT or so. Process of elimination really, as well as a few other tidbits here and there. I am most likely wrong, but just pointing out that Demandred being on the Seanchan continent isnt neccessarily a recent theory, and the murderer ruling is just further development of that theory.

[Terez]

You're missing the point. We had enough clues by WH at the latest to figure out who his alter ego is. Unless you have a specific character on the Seanchan continent to offer up—a character that was introduced by WH—then you don't have a theory.

[Terez]

Gonzo filled in a bunch of holes on the transcript. It makes more sense now, but we still have a few missing bits, if anyone can help.

 

http://www.theoryland.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=7372

[Neophyte]

I'd have to agree with Barid Bel Medar (who ought to know, after all) that Roedran is now far and away the best candidate for Demandred's alter ego.

 

Also, I'm just a wee bit disappointed that Demandred bothered to impersonate someone. Ah well.

[Maleshub]

If Demandred starts AMoL in control of the Royal Palace in Andor (after Elayne goes back and retrieves her small items of power cache) with a huge army of shadowspawn and a 100,000 Darkfriends and mercenaries, he'll fulfill the bushels and droves promise. Roedran by himself in his small kingdom doesn't rise to Demandred's standards.

 

But we know that Demandred's game is bigger than that. Moridin had to charge Moghedien with helping Demandred lead and army than needed a leader. Thus, the army in Andor is not his only one.

 

Could Graendal's hunch on a link with the Borderlanders be true? Would be interesting if Demandred is playing at multiple fronts.

[Terez]

I think his armies are: Murandy, the Legion of the Dragon, and perhaps the 10,000 mercenaries outside the city. Talmanes got a small group of those. There are also 10,000 Andoran retainers outside the city, unless Elayne took them with her. But I think the bushels and droves comment might refer mostly to the mercenaries. The intent is not just to take Caemlyn, but to attract Rand's armies to deal with the situation, and then the battle truly begins.

[MarkDiLillo]

That still doesn't seem like a big enough punch to warrant the big Demandred build up.

[Maleshub]

I think his armies are: Murandy, the Legion of the Dragon, and perhaps the 10,000 mercenaries outside the city. Talmanes got a small group of those. There are also 10,000 Andoran retainers outside the city, unless Elayne took them with her. But I think the bushels and droves comment might refer mostly to the mercenaries. The intent is not just to take Caemlyn, but to attract Rand's armies to deal with the situation, and then the battle truly begins.

 

Most likely; but the motive for my assumption of a bigger game is the need for one of the few remaining Foresaken to help Demandred lead an army that needs a leader. Demandred's famed military genius can easily handle all the numbers around Caemlyn (around 70K troops ... same size as Perrin's army).

 

What would warrant another Foresaken is an army in a different theater, Randland Seanchan or Borderlands. Maybe one of Demandred's armies managed to overrun Kandor or Arafel and needs Moghedien there!

[Terez]

Dom at RAFO suggested that Moghedien is to watch over an opposition army, rather than one of Demandred's armies.

[MasterAblar]

I'd have to agree with Barid Bel Medar (who ought to know, after all) that Roedran is now far and away the best candidate for Demandred's alter ego.

 

Also, I'm just a wee bit disappointed that Demandred bothered to impersonate someone. Ah well.

 

Same here, I don't see why he'd bother impersonating Roedran, if he has so many things to do, and apparently he liked using proxies, so I always figured Roedran was just a darkriend.

 

I think his armies are: Murandy, the Legion of the Dragon, and perhaps the 10,000 mercenaries outside the city. Talmanes got a small group of those. There are also 10,000 Andoran retainers outside the city, unless Elayne took them with her. But I think the bushels and droves comment might refer mostly to the mercenaries. The intent is not just to take Caemlyn, but to attract Rand's armies to deal with the situation, and then the battle truly begins.

 

When you say the Legion of the Dragon, do you mean every soldier or just the officers in charge? Because I have a hard time believing that every soldier would be a darkfriend, considering most of them are just men picked up by BT recruiting parties.

[Terez]

I think his armies are: Murandy, the Legion of the Dragon, and perhaps the 10,000 mercenaries outside the city. Talmanes got a small group of those. There are also 10,000 Andoran retainers outside the city, unless Elayne took them with her. But I think the bushels and droves comment might refer mostly to the mercenaries. The intent is not just to take Caemlyn, but to attract Rand's armies to deal with the situation, and then the battle truly begins.

 

When you say the Legion of the Dragon, do you mean every soldier or just the officers in charge? Because I have a hard time believing that every soldier would be a darkfriend, considering most of them are just men picked up by BT recruiting parties.

 

Mostly just the officers, but I think the Legion is probably very Darkfriend-heavy, partly because Taim's BT recruiting efforts were (when possible) focused in that direction, and partly because the Legion took in Sammael's most loyal followers in Illian.

[Maleshub]

Dom at RAFO suggested that Moghedien is to watch over an opposition army, rather than one of Demandred's armies.

 

A definite possibility, which hints at a bigger game than Caemlyn.

[Barid Bel Medar]

Also remember that armies are not everything. There is much more he could do without needing to lead armies of soldiers.

Semirhage didn't control armies, but she single-handedly plunged the entire Seanchan continent into chaos.

 

Murandy may be a small nation in arms, but that need not be what he means. Shadowspawn can somehow move through the Ways in huge numbers without being destroyed. This, if it is something he has been up to, is a huge advantage. Add a couple of things of that magnitude - the use of portal stones, some nifty ter'angreal or something, well positioned Darkfriends (like the implication that he helped set up Taim and the Black Tower) and it would definitely suit his statement.

Point being, I think there is too much focus on armies and numbers, when there are other things perhaps even more effective which could have been done.

 

Also, Demandred likely has control over the Shadow's full forces and command of the entire war. The army Moghedien is sent to (if it is one of the Shadow's) doesn't necessarily have to be Demandred's personal army. It could be one of the various armies of Shadowspawn that are attacking, most noteably the force at Caemlyn, in Kandor, Saldaea. Possibly an army outside of Ebou Dar we have seen evidence of (that attacked Tylee) or really anywhere near a Waygate. Personally I would like to think she was sent to Tarwin's Gap. Her feud with Nynaeve would fit. Killing Lan would be something she would be happy about, although I wouldn't like to be her when Nynaeve caught up.

[Terez]

I don't think Demandred needs a bigger game than Caemlyn; his intentions work well enough in the Caemlyn context, especially if he can draw the bulk of Rand's armies there. I think Caemlyn is the main focus because Demandred knows Rand well enough to know that he won't want Elayne to endanger herself, and knows Elayne well enough to know that she will want to try. Demandred's only other plan aside from general warfare is to kill Rand. So what is his bigger game supposed to be?

[Maleshub]

I don't think Demandred needs a bigger game than Caemlyn; his intentions work well enough in the Caemlyn context, especially if he can draw the bulk of Rand's armies there. I think Caemlyn is the main focus because Demandred knows Rand well enough to know that he won't want Elayne to endanger herself, and knows Elayne well enough to know that she will want to try. Demandred's only other plan aside from general warfare is to kill Rand. So what is his bigger game supposed to be?

 

He is one of the Shadow's best generals, the only remaining general after Sammael and Be'lal were toasted. And Graendal says he always like to have armies command:

 

 

 

What was that blasted man up to? She’d have traded all of her knowledge of Mesaana's and Aran'gar's doings for even a hint of Demandred's plans. He stood there, handsome and hawk-nosed, his lips drawn in perpetual anger. Demandred never smiled, never seemed to enjoy anything. Though he was one of the foremost generals among the Chosen, warfare had never seemed to bring him joy. Once she had heard him say that he would laugh the day he could snap the neck of Lews Therin. And only then.

 

He was a fool to bear that grudge. To think he might have been on the other side—might have become the Dragon himself, had things turned out differently. Still, fool or not, he was extremely dangerous, and Graendal did not like being ignorant of his plans. Where had he set up? Demandred liked having armies to command, but there were none left moving in the world.

 

Three things motivating Demandred: Hatred for LTT, likes to lead armies (and is the Shadow's last remaining capable commander); and there must he his ambition to become Na'eblis.