WoT Favorites: Forsaken

[Dionysus]

The polls are all done, if you haven't voted in any of them you better do so quickly. On Sunday, April 9, the finals will begin.

 

The tenth poll question is Who is your favorite foreigner?

 

note: Loial isnt really a foreigner to Randland, but Ogier are seperate societies, and I havent been able to place him in a poll question yet, so I made this one specifically to put him in, and some more of the Aiel which have been under represented (Aviendha).

 

Poll 1: Who is your favorite Forsaken

 

Poll 2: Who is your favorite Military Leader

 

Poll 3: Who is your favorite Aes Sedai

 

Poll 4: Who is your favorite Land Ruler

 

Poll 5: Who is your favorite Post-Breaking Pre-Rand Character

 

Poll 6: Who is your favorite Blademaster

 

Poll 7: Who is your favorite of the original travellers

 

Poll 8: Who is your favorite warder

 

Poll 9: Who is your favorite Asha'man

 

Poll 10: Who is your favorite foreigner

[Dionysus]

I voted for Lanfear because she is the complete package. She's one of the most beautiful women in the world, the strongest women, and she is extremely motivated and power hungry. If I were Rand I wouldnt have had to think long before accepting her offer to rule the world together.

[Briakale Nirene]

Gotta say, Mesaana is my favorite of the Chosen :D She is so secretive and sneaksy in her plotting...she really knows how to be careful in her undertakings.

[Guest Egwene]

second attempt... my first was interupted by a black out in the aerea :evil:

 

I have voted for Demandred. We haven't seen much of him as yet so I can imagine him coming up with some interesting schemes and providing lots of entertainement.

 

Second fav would have been Moggi. She has already provided us with heaps of fun working in tandem with Nyn :D

[Kadere]

I CAN'T BELIEVE RAHVIN, BE'LAL, AND ASMODEAN DIDN'T MAKE THE CUT!!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!! Well I still would have voted for Lanfear anyway, I have a MAJOR crush on her! She can convert me to the Dark One anytime! :D

[BenTGaidin]

I'm casting a no-vote for Asmodean. *grins*

 

 

Ben

[Graendals favourite]

My mistress will do for me, though I used to prefer Be'lal. I just say that that's what you get for dying. Graendal is the sneakiest of them, and she will yet make it to Nae'blis, I say.

[Guest cwestervelt]

Demandred won the coin toss between him and Mesaana. Mainly because they are the only ones that so far haven't been stupid enough to give themselves away and get burned for it. Sure, Graendal hasn't either gotten herself killed yet either, but she's just a minor character playing second fiddle to the others.

[Dionysus]

I think Graendal has played a larger role than both Demandred and Mesaana so far in the series.

[Marak]

Aginor. I had a larger post detailing how he created all the Shadowspawn, and fed countless millions of people to his creations, despite his combat inadequacy, but.. DM and my computer apparently don't mix. Especially concerning longer posts.

[Guest Majsju]

Marak, ctrl+C is your best friend when posting on DM

[Guest cwestervelt]

I think Graendal has played a larger role than both Demandred and Mesaana so far in the series.

 

Maybe Demandred because we don't know much about what he was up to, but Mesaana was pulling Elaida's strings for several books. Nothing went throught Elaida that wasn't approved by Alviarin, and nothing was approved by Alviarin that didn't originate with Mesaana. Graendal just doesn't do anything unless someone else either cons or forces her to. If you removed her from the books, you wouldn't loose that much.

[alCal]

I'd say Demandred. As cwestervelt said, he hasn't been stupid enough to reveal himself yet, and I think he will play a major role in the next book. I think that it will come as a shock when we find out where he is and what he's been doing.

Also, his history of beeing very close to LTT, both in strenght with the Power and other things, is cool. He will be the most difficult of Rand's enemies.

 

And, most important of all, he's got the coolest name (Lanfear not counted).

[Graendals favourite]

Yea, Demandred has not done badly. I like the Borderlands and Murandy theories.

 

But to, "if Graendal were removed, naught was lost", much would be lost. Discarding all mays and mights, Asmo wouldn't have died, Taim wouldn't be where he is and certainly not have rescued Rand, Noal wouldn't be accompanying Mat, Sammael might be alive, perhaps saved by Moridin, and Moridin would have a more difficul time manipulating the others.

[Guest cwestervelt]

Yea' date=' Demandred has not done badly. I like the Borderlands and Murandy theories.

 

But to, "if Graendal were removed, naught was lost", much would be lost. Discarding all mays and mights, Asmo wouldn't have died, Taim wouldn't be where he is and certainly not have rescued Rand, Noal wouldn't be accompanying Mat, Sammael might be alive, perhaps saved by Moridin, and Moridin would have a more difficul time manipulating the others. [/quote']

 

I don't see anything in that list that has any Graendal involvement. Definitely not that can be satisfactorily proved. That list requires more "mays and mights" to be discarded than it has facts to support it.

[Graendals favourite]

No, it's just some of my pet theories there :) . But goes to show there's a lot of things one can suspect her of, though not necessarily provable. There's things in the books that suggest those things anyway.

[Guest cwestervelt]

It's all part of what makes the series so good. Who knows what is real and what is just another red herring. We know there's got a be at least a few in there, but how to tell what they are. :D

[Graendals favourite]

Yea, unbelievable is what this series is. So many things that could be. It's last book next, and we know next to nothing really about what the Shadow is up to, but undoubtedly it's all be said somewhere there already.. :D

[Nygma]

Semirahge.

 

I don't like the idea of torture. It's just so... pathetic. Apart from the ethics of the thing, the idea that you basically take someone who's helpless, already subdued, and can't hurt you, and you start hurting them, getting a kick out of it, while knowing they can't possibly strike back at you...

 

LOOOOOOOOOSEEERRRRRRRRR!!!!

 

So I was never a Semi fan before KoD. But KoD changed my mind. Her strikes against the Seanchan empress are the most impressive and most dangerous yet. Randland security is child's play compared to what we've seen of the Seanchan. Yet she tore apart the Seanchan government which had endured since Artur's time, then made the boldest and most daring strike at Rand we've seen yet. Who cares that she failed? The deck was stacked in ways she couldn't have anticipated. The whole torture thing? Merely an eccentric hobby.

 

Prior to KoD was Lanfear by a wide margin. But the emergence of Cyndane has kinda cooled my previous admiration for the cold blooded lover of LTT. It seems like being held by the 'Finns and being mind trapped has made more permanent the psychotic outbreaks we all knew and loved when they were more occasional. Guess they really needed the cool, in control, beautiful fascade to set them off to best advantage.

[girl-in-the-army]

hiding in the white tower right under everyones nose, and it seems that possibly one of the biggest mysteries out there besides who killed the whimpiest forsaken ever......gotta be!!

[MsDanya]

Graendal is awsome.. she just is..

[valheru]

of the surviving forsaken my vote would go to Demandred-largely for the reasons espoused by alCal .

 

On a personal level I've always had a fondness for Rahvin.Of all the Forsaken he seemed the most rounded in his abilities(able administrator,daring ,strong in the power and- according to the BWB- an able general).Aside from one "weakness"(a liking for the ladeeez)he appeared (other than moridin and demi)to be the most capable opponent for Rand.As for his "weakness"-well whats the point of being an evil immortal if you cant enjoy some of the finer pleasures in life!

[gaishain]

Why is Asmodean not on the list? I liked him a lot because he really wasn't THAT evil. He taught Rand a lot of the things he needed to know... Asmodean was a musician and had a poetic soul I believe.

[Dionysus]

I left out Asmodean because he never really did anything except have a mysterious death. The only two I could see Asmo replacing are Aran'gar / Osan'gar.

 

Aginor created the Trollocs, was one of the first Forsaken Rand meets and fights, placed himself in the Black Tower, etc etc.

 

Aran'gar again was one of the first to confront Rand, has a lot of story time in the Salidar Aes Sedai camp, frees Moghdien, and most importantly makes Egwenes life a living hell.

 

I've still acknowledged that I made a mistake, and if I could redo the poll I would replace Aran'gar with Asmodean, but you can't without restarting the poll, and there wouldn't have been much of a difference anyways.

[Guest cwestervelt]

Why is Asmodean not on the list? I liked him a lot because he really wasn't THAT evil. He taught Rand a lot of the things he needed to know... Asmodean was a musician and had a poetic soul I believe.

 

If I remember correctly' date=' Asmodean deliberately severed his own mother. That takes quite a lack of conscience to do.

 

According to the BWB he took part in harvesting people for Aginor, and making use of Mesaana's "schools" the same as all the other Foresaken. The BWB also mentions one thing that has been "overlooked" because of the limited numbers.

Artists of all sorts of whom he disapproved were blinded and/or otherwise maimed. Any artist - writer, musician, any at all - could become an object of Asmodean's displeaure, but it was most particularly aimed at musicians and composers whe had been considered his rivals before the war. The horror of this can only be compounded by the fact that there was no torture involved, as such; the unfortunate was simple made incapable of producing his or her art again and then released.