The Greatest Swordsman - Will the Show Echo the Books

[Lenny8088]

A long long time ago, before the rain, before the snow ... I had wonderfully intense discussions with the readers back then on who really was the greatest swordsman in the books. 

Not greatest melee fighter - I think its pretty easy to say that goes to Matrim - but rather, the most skilled at with a sword. 

 

Is there answer? I maintain,  20 years after the start of that discussion, that its Galad ... but there are so many great answers that I acknowledge there may not be a true answer. 

 

Skilled swordsmanship was a big part of the reads for me - I enjoyed the details. Will the TV show focus on those or will they just be one of the many details a book can highlight and a show cannot? 

 

-Lenny

[Harldin]

warning spoiler.
 

Sorry but i was left in no doubt that the best Swordsman was Demandred, only Lan’s unorthodox move defeated him in the end. 

[mistborn82]

Demandred never for Rand after his memories returned.

[king of nowhere]

17 hours ago, Harldin said:

warning spoiler.
 

Sorry but i was left in no doubt that the best Swordsman was Demandred, only Lan’s unorthodox move defeated him in the end. 

not exactly clear. it was made clear that Demandred was winning his duel with Lan, but Lan was tired for a full day fighting, while Demandred was drawing power through the circle and was still relatively fresh. It's not sure if he'd been the best had they both been fresh. In any case, if a tired Lan managed a protracted fight, it means the difference was hair-thin anyway.

So, Demandred ≥ Lan > Galad >> Gawyn >> Sleete, and Sleete was already extremely badass on his own.

It's also not clear how good would be Rand in all that. Nor how Tam would figure in the whole equation. Though, given that they are not primary swordsmen, it would make sense for them to be behind in pure sword skill.

Also, I wouldn't call it clear that the greatest melee fighter is Mat. He beat Galad and Gawyn, but they were both in training at the time, and they both weren't taking it seriously at first. I'd still put my money of Lan.

[Lenny8088]

1 hour ago, king of nowhere said:

Also, I wouldn't call it clear that the greatest melee fighter is Mat. He beat Galad and Gawyn, but they were both in training at the time, and they both weren't taking it seriously at first. I'd still put my money of Lan.

 

Digressing ... I put Mat at the top cause of his luck, falling back on the old adage, I'd rather be lucky than good - Mat may not be the most skilled, though by the end I think it could be argued he is, you just never want to toss the dice with him

[mistborn82]

Remember, Mat also killed Couladin and fought the Gholam to a draw several times. Mat is the best melee and I think either Lan, Demandred or Rand, post veins of gold are the best swordsmen.

[Saine]

If we are talking about feats from the books and not rumor or secondhand it has to go to Lan.  He was fighting for days.  Demandred had to use the power to get a leg up.  Straight up fights no power: Lan is better than them all with proven feats.  

[Lenny8088]

23 minutes ago, Saine said:

If we are talking about feats from the books and not rumor or secondhand it has to go to Lan.  He was fighting for days.  Demandred had to use the power to get a leg up.  Straight up fights no power: Lan is better than them all with proven feats.  

Can you elaborate a little on what you mean by "feats" ... my mind keeps going to Pathfinder and the crunchy goodness of choosing feats - but I am not sure how to apply it to WoT ... is there a WoT DnD world? Did they give the stats of Lan? 

[SinisterDeath]

25 minutes ago, Saine said:

If we are talking about feats from the books and not rumor or secondhand it has to go to Lan.  He was fighting for days.  Demandred had to use the power to get a leg up.  Straight up fights no power: Lan is better than them all with proven feats.  

No "Power", so then begs the question. What of the Warder Bond in terms of "equalization"?