What did Demandred do in Lord of Chaos?

[Tom Sawyer]

At the beginning of Lord of Chaos, Demandred got some instructions from the DO while at Shayol Ghul.  At the end of the book, he's back at Shayol Ghul and asks "Have I not done well, Great Lord?"

 

Thinking back over the book, I can't think of one thing that happened in it that was Demandred's influence.  Kidnapping Rand was Messana's plot and she'd set it in motion before Demandred told them what the DO's orders were, so it wasn't related to that.  The Shaido were Asmodean's thing and then Sammael picked up the pieces, so he wasn't involved there.  Osangar got sent to the Black Tower and Demandred didn't recognize the Ashaman in Shadar Logoth either by face or uniform and the whole Taimandred thing was just a false flag ot throw attention off of Dashiva, so it doesn't look like he's got anything to do with that place.  Arangar was sent down to Salidar to do all the stuff there, so it doesn't look like Demandred was involved in that place either.

 

I can't think of another major plot point that happened in that book which Demandred could have been involved with.  It's possible that he was off doing something else that didn't get mentioned in the book, but it's a bit nonsensical to have the book start and end with Demandred and not have the guy responsible for anything inbetween.  Anyone have any ideas what he was talking about when he asked if he'd done well?

 

[Elwynn]

Simply put, no one is sure. This is heavily discussed over in the TGS section of the forums, there is some 40 odd pages of theorizing over Demandred and what he is up to. Some pretty good theories too. If you can't go there yet because of the spoilers, read TGS then check it out for any questions you might have.

[Tom Sawyer]

Ya, I'm up to date on most of the theories, but none of them seem to fit with him being at all involved in anything that happened in Lord of Chaos.  The only ones that would are the ones tying him to the Black Tower and I don't buy that one due to it making it irrelevant to send Aginor there and his not recognizing an Ashaman.  I get that Jordan was playing up the "Taim is Demandred" thing for a few books before he let on that it was fake, but he knew at the time that Demandred had nothing to do with the Black Tower, so the "Have I done well?" was referring to something completely different.

 

I just can't think of what he was talking about.

 

[Agitel]

He helped to orchestrate Rand's capture AND escape. As can be seen in the books, the Dark One doesn't want Rand dead. But the DO does want to spread chaos. The game of sha'rah is mentioned at the end of the prologue to The Path of Daggers, and I think it is of utmost importance as to explaining how the Shadow's working. Rand is the Fisher, and sometimes it's easier to play and manipulate the Fisher when he's possessed by the other side. Bear in mind that Demandred has connections to Mesaana in the White Tower and has been shown (in Winter's Heart) to have influence with the darkfriends among the Black Tower ("Kill him," Demandred had commanded later, but he had added that it would be better they died than let themselves be discovered again. By anyone, even the M'Hael, as if he did not know of Taim's order. Out of Thin Air, Winter's Heart)

 

I could add some more details to why this is what Demandred is up to, but they bear some discussion of tGS.

 

[bronnt]

Ya, I'm up to date on most of the theories, but none of them seem to fit with him being at all involved in anything that happened in Lord of Chaos.  The only ones that would are the ones tying him to the Black Tower and I don't buy that one due to it making it irrelevant to send Aginor there and his not recognizing an Ashaman.  I get that Jordan was playing up the "Taim is Demandred" thing for a few books before he let on that it was fake, but he knew at the time that Demandred had nothing to do with the Black Tower, so the "Have I done well?" was referring to something completely different.

 

I just can't think of what he was talking about.

 

 

There's a few things.  Most notably, I think the capture/escape of Rand was a plot schemed up by Demandred and Mesaana.  One of his big contributions is that I believe he was behind the Aiel who stabbed Demira in Caemlyn.  No one has ever really identified who was behind that, but it fits with Demandred's role in the whole thing.  And the failure of the attempt keeps the WT broken-if Rand was in the WT, the rebel Aes Sedai would soon fall apart, so it helps cause chaos.

 

Plus, we get Sammael talking about events in the South and given the timeline, I'm pretty sure he's talking about the mess in Ghealdan that the Prophet is creating.  It's pretty clear that Masema was being manipulated by one of the Forsaken, so Demandred's use of "proxies" fits with Sammael's "events in the south," comment.

 

And I also suspect that Demandred is taking credit for the Seanchan in Tarabon as well, though I'm not sure how.