How Many Currently-Living *BladeMasters* Are There? - I Thiiink *4* - Right?

[The Fisher King]

This is who I can think of that are currently living in the wake of Blademaster Eamon Valda's Death in Book 11 (Which Made a BladeMaster of Galad):

 

1 Galad Damodred

 

2 Lord Luc

 

3 Rand Al Thor

 

4 Lan Al Mandragoran

 

 

 

Am I missing any?

 

 

 

Fish

[Muad Cheade]

5. Gawyn.

 

He defeated Hammar, a blademaster during the fight over Suian.

 

6. Tam al'Thor.

 

Earned it during his soldiering career.

 

On an off note, Mat probably is due to the memories and skills of the soldiers and adventurers he has in his head. Probably won't see him pick up a sword though.

 

EDIT: Unspoilered myself.

[Reyoru]

Na, the real clincher is who is the BEST blademaster out of them all...

 

My money's on Lan  ;D

[deepak_dragonreborn]

Maybe one of the 5 Great Captains of Randland is a Blademaster.

[OptimusPrime]

I am the Dragon Reborn. Denying won’t change it. Wishing won’t change it. I’m not the man you knew back in Emond’s Field. Do you understand now? Do you?”      Rand

 

 

Is that from TGS?

[moroten]

I am the Dragon Reborn. Denying won’t change it. Wishing won’t change it. I’m not the man you knew back in Emond’s Field. Do you understand now? Do you?”       Rand

 

 

Is that from TGS?

 

No I think its from Lord of Chaos when Rand meets Bode and the girls in Caemlyn.

[The Fisher King]

Thanks for all the input everyone...I'd like to comments on a few of ya'lls remarks:

 

 

1 Muade Cheade ... Thanks for reminding me of Gawyn Trakand and Tam. .... Your thoughts about Mat interest me. I see your point that just based off his *Memories* of Blademaster-Quality Swordcraft he may qualify in terms of knowledge, but he has practiced very little with a sword. He is a Staff/Spear/Ashanderi kiind of guy...plus, of course, hes never defeated a Blademaster in a Duel.

 

 

2 Deepak...Interesting. I have often wondered myself if Rodel is a Blademaster. ... Of course, you don't have to be a Master Swordsman to be a great general/captain (Ask Mat/Comadrin, he doesn't believe a general should even be CLOSE to the action lol!!!)...but I DO still wonder about Rodel.

 

 

 

3 Revron...Lan is a GREAT choice, imo...maybe Galad (of course, we have suuuch limited exposure in the boooks on this. But, Galas HAS been veeery impressive.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Beren]

I am trying to remember if Toriam Riatin died. I remember he was a blademaster.

 

I also have wondered about the Sea Folk and their Master of the Blades. Is it just a position of authority or is there more to it?

[The Fisher King]

Good Call on Toram, Beren - He was indeed a definitely acknolowledged BladeMaster in the text.

 

As far as if he is dead or not...My take is that he is Definitely Dead and Gone.

 

We all know what happens when Masshadar get ahold of you. RJ even used the word ''Toast.''

 

And, in Book 7, Toram Raitin definitely gets gobbled up by Masshadar....

 

 

So....it looks like to me that, currrently alive in the series as of TGS, we have 6 Blademasters:

 

 

1 Gaywn Trakand.

 

2 Tam Al Thor

 

3 Galad Damodred

 

4 Rand Al Thor

 

5 Lan Al Mandragoran

 

6 Lord Luc

 

 

 

 

Fish

 

[Reyoru]

Rodel Ituralde is a blademaster.

 

I don't think Luc is a blademaster.

[Swigaro]

Good Call on Toram, Beren - He was indeed a definitely acknolowledged BladeMaster in the text.

 

As far as if he is dead or not...My take is that he is Definitely Dead and Gone.

 

We all know what happens when Masshadar get ahold of you. RJ even used the word ''Toast.''

 

And, in Book 7, Toram Raitin definitely gets gobbled up by Masshadar....

 

Toram wasn't gobbled up by Mashadar, he was killed by Lan in WH when he and Rand went in to kill the remaining renegade Asha'men in Far Madding.  While Rand was fighting Fain, Lan was fighting Raitin.

[The Fisher King]

Swigaro...You Say:

 

Toram wasn't gobbled up by Mashadar, he was killed by Lan in WH when he and Rand went in to kill the remaining renegade Asha'men in Far Madding.  While Rand was fighting Fain, Lan was fighting Raitin.

 

 

I respect your opinion on this, but i'm afraid i have to disagree with you on this one.

 

 

Fish

 

 

 

 

[The Fisher King]

Reyoru...You Say:

 

Rodel Ituralde is a blademaster.

 

I don't think Luc is a blademaster.

 

 

On the first point, I don't disagree with you, I just have a terrible memory: Could you please remind me how we KNOW that Rodel is a BladeMaster?

 

Regarding your second point...I am 99.9% certain that Luc is. He carries a heronmarked-blade, and while I understand that he could have stolen it, or come by it though other means, i think the text makes it pretty clear indeed that this is not the case and that Luc is indeed BladeMaster.

 

 

Fish

[crazyfool]

Im pretty sure there are more blademasters in the world than readers have heard about. But the list of the ones we know seems pretty good.

 

AS for the best, I'd say Lan. The guy was raised from the cradle with a sword. Even the Aiel call him an exceptionally dangerous man.

[Rinkai]

I got the feeling that blade masters are about as rare as high ranking black belts are in America. So, I'm guessing 100-150ish.

 

Side note. It's weird how easily Tam was bested on winter night. He wasn't out of commission too long, you'd think that at that level Sword fighting would be like riding a bike. Also, it's strange that he gave up sword fighting when he got back home. I imagine that to get to that level you have to enjoy it, so why not do it for fun/ relaxation.

[crazyfool]

I got the feeling that blade masters are about as rare as high ranking black belts are in America. So, I'm guessing 100-150ish.

 

Side note. It's weird how easily Tam was bested on winter night. He wasn't out of commission too long, you'd think that at that level Sword fighting would be like riding a bike. Also, it's strange that he gave up sword fighting when he got back home. I imagine that to get to that level you have to enjoy it, so why not do it for fun/ relaxation.

 

Yea I was thinking the same thing about blade masters.

 

As for Tam, he probably hadn't practiced in 15-18 years, you gotta be alittle rusty. He gave it up because he's smart and realized being able to kill people isn't something to be proud of, and its not something you need in the Two Rivers

[Talmanes]

I just wanted to add that there are most likely some blade masters in Seanchan. We have already encountered one and can probably assume there are more.

[crazyfool]

on a different but related topic, does anyone have thoughts on why Rand still wants to be a Blademaster? It's not like he needs it unless he's shielded.

[Muad Cheade]

Side note. It's weird how easily Tam was bested on winter night. He wasn't out of commission too long, you'd think that at that level Sword fighting would be like riding a bike. Also, it's strange that he gave up sword fighting when he got back home. I imagine that to get to that level you have to enjoy it, so why not do it for fun/ relaxation.

 

Well, you have to remember that he hasn't picked up a sword in about 20 years.

 

Also, it seems to be a recurring theme that no one fares that well in their first fights with Trollocs as most people see them as folktales and myths and fighting against them is as if you're watching your nightmares become flesh.

[Rinkai]

From the perspective of someone who is taking martial arts and knows a few very high level black belts: to get to that level, you're art becomes a part of you. You operate on muscle memory, which is not easily forgotten.

 

That kind of goes back to the fun part of the last post. To get to that level, you have to find your art fun and relaxing or else you won't get to that level. Martial arts have other benifits than being able to kill people. You can kill people with a bow and  arrow, but Tam still uses that.

 

This brings me  to another note. If Tam is the best shot in the Two Rivers, he must be VERY good. Why would he be a foot soldier if he was a ridiculous archer?

 

-rin

[Haggis]

I suspect there are many blademasters we will never meet. Especially among the lords and soldiers on the border and warders.

 

I suspect Tam didn't bring up his skill as bowman. In army's of the time it's less about individual accuracy and more about releasing waves of arrows at one time. After all with that many targets you don't need to be a good shot. If Tam's skill was known he might end up more a Sniper and that might be to much like an assassin to sit well with him.

[Visar Falmaien]

This brings me  to another note. If Tam is the best shot in the Two Rivers, he must be VERY good. Why would he be a foot soldier if he was a ridiculous archer?

First point,

archers that aren't horse archers Are foot soldiers. They're considered light infantry are they not?  Tam might well have been an archer, and had trained at the sword as well  (When you run out of arrows or the enemy gets too close...example: Agincourt, the English/Welsch bowmen doubled as light infantry, closing in with swords, mallets, maces, daggers, knives etc. to deadly effect).

 

(Edit: thank you Haggis for the volley > individual markmanship in military point, beat me to it.)

 

Another explanation: Tam could have further honed his archery skill, even if he had not been a great archer or an archer at all when he served as a soldier, while he was in the Two Rivers.  Military training or experience aside, being a good shot at hunting and/or at target practice is still a good shot.

 

Back to the blademaster thing, I might suggest that there are fewer than 100 in Randland simply because it is extremely difficult to become one (Council of Blademasters or killing a blademaster) and much more difficult to remain one, what with people wanting to challenge you left and right in deadly contest for the right to bear the heron-mark themselves.  Granted, some might be lucky, like Tam, in disguising the fact that they are blademasters or going out of their way to avoid fights.  Modern-day high-ranking martial arts tests do not require one to fight in earnest with sharp weapons for their lives as far as I know (though simulating this more safely in sparring is no doubt important in some martial systems).  Comparing modern martial training or ranking to historical or in Randland's case fantasy-historical ranks can potentially be tricky.

[moroten]

Swigaro...You Say:

 

Toram wasn't gobbled up by Mashadar, he was killed by Lan in WH when he and Rand went in to kill the remaining renegade Asha'men in Far Madding.  While Rand was fighting Fain, Lan was fighting Raitin.

 

 

I respect your opinion on this, but i'm afraid i have to disagree with you on this one.

 

 

Fish

 

 

 

 

 

I can just hope that you are joking seeing as Toram was killed by Lan in WH.

[Mr Ares]

We all know what happens when Masshadar get ahold of you. RJ even used the word ''Toast.''

Mashadar never got a hold of Toram Riatin. He never went to Shadar Logoth. That was a Bubble of Evil, and Riatin was killed by lan in WH 33.

 

I respect your opinion on this, but i'm afraid i have to disagree with you on this one.

Well, I don't respect your opinion on this. It is wrong. The facts say otherwise. He was in WH. It was a Bubble of Evil.

 

I imagine that to get to that level you have to enjoy it, so why not do it for fun/ relaxation.

People change. Young Tam goes off, looking for glory and adventure. He buys a sword, becomes a soldier. A few wars later, after killing a man in single combat to take his sword, after the Blood Snow, it's not something he sees as adventure, it's not glorious. He goes home, puts the sword away and raises his son, and some sheep.

 

Why would he be a foot soldier if he was a ridiculous archer?

He wasn't just a foot soldier, he was an officer, rising to become Second Captain of the Illian Companions.

 

and much more difficult to remain one, what with people wanting to challenge you left and right in deadly contest for the right to bear the heron-mark themselves.

Don't accept the challenge. I think it requires witnesses, so you can't just stick a blademaster while he hasn't got his sword with him or something.

[The Fisher King]

I just reread...that is not Toram Raitin in WH. I would equate it to what is left of a person after Graendal uses heavy compuslion on them.

 

The real Toram Raitin, the PERSON Toram Raitin, is eaten up by Mashaddar in Book 7, Chapter 36 Blades

 

But its cool, I mean, in spirit you were right.

 

 

 

Fish