Of the Blademasters, who are the top 5?

[TheAngryDruid]

"Blademaster" applies only to those who fight with swords, so Mat, Perrin, Rhuarc, and other deadly fighters aren't in the discussion.

 

1. Lan. Remember, he didn't lose to Ryne, he won. And he's had 20 years practice since.

 

2. Galad. Go re-read the riot scenes again with Galad leading them to the boat. And the duel with Valda. He's #2.

 

3. Gawyn. Moving up the charts.

 

4. Other Warders: Jovi/Sleete.

 

5. Other Blademasters: Ituralde, Bashere, Byrne.

 

I'd be on whomever is the Captain of the Guard at the WT knows his way around a sword and would be on the list as well.

 

[chuckievi]

Rand got beaten by the blademaster outside Cairhien when he goes there in disguise.  So putting Rand in the top 3, especially given his current situation is ill advised.  Rand was clearly skilled during his practice sessions in Caemlyn, but he never was able to reach his full potential due to his multiple, severe injuries. 

[Thor]

Riatin beat Rand pretty convincingly, Lan killed Riatin with hardly a heavy breath (but did he get gashed or something?)

[Crael123]

Riatin beat Rand pretty convincingly, Lan killed Riatin with hardly a heavy breath (but did he get gashed or something?)

 

small one on cheek. Lan is the best

[Romanoff]

Riatin didn't beat Rand. In the middle of their duel a bubble of evil struck that distracted Rand and Riatin took advantage of... even then it was fain that struck the blow that brought Rand down.

[Crael123]

Riatin didn't beat Rand. In the middle of their duel a bubble of evil struck that distracted Rand and Riatin took advantage of... even then it was fain that struck the blow that brought Rand down.

 

yes true

[Skeeve the Great]

Riatin beat Rand pretty convincingly, Lan killed Riatin with hardly a heavy breath (but did he get gashed or something?)

 

There are several issues against it:

1) Rand was wearing gloves to hide his tatoos;

2) Rand was not fighting, but practicing, which was obvious by the way he approached the duel;

3) Bubble of evil distracted him that Riatin was able to deliver the last blow.

 

So, I'd say it's not correct example.

[The Fisher King]

@ TheAngryDruid: 5. Other Blademasters: Ituralde, Bashere, Byrne.

 

Those 3 are ''Great Captains'' - not ''Blademasters'' ;)

 

 

Fish

[chuckievi]

Riatin beat Rand pretty convincingly, Lan killed Riatin with hardly a heavy breath (but did he get gashed or something?)

 

There are several issues against it:

1) Rand was wearing gloves to hide his tatoos;

2) Rand was not fighting, but practicing, which was obvious by the way he approached the duel;

3) Bubble of evil distracted him that Riatin was able to deliver the last blow.

 

So, I'd say it's not correct example.

 

I'd call those excuses not issues.  Either he is or isn't the best, and he lost.  :)

[Crael123]

i think that it only matters that Lan can still kick every1s ass even though hes 40 or 50 now.

[DPT24]

  I'm guessing Lan was a blademaster before WT, because it's possible to be raised a Blademaster if you're good enough, and I'm guessing he was.  Plus, we don't know if he's killed a blademaster before New Spring or in between NS and EoTW. 

[Hadilmir]

I'd call those excuses not issues.  Either he is or isn't the best, and he lost.  :)

#3 was an issue. #2 was an excuse for why #3 was an issue. Had Rand wanted to win, he would have continued fighting. Instead he broke off from a practice duel to see if someone needed help.

[Pariah]

I'll have two list; List 1 - pure sword, List 2 - all blades. I would also like to state even I have certain people that I am on the fence about or people that could be swapped for someone above/below them. This is something I've thought about for quite a bit over the books.

 

List 1: Purely Swords

 

1) Lan - Raised from birth to not only weild his One Power wrought blade but to BE his blade. Lan wasn't playing with the toys of his peers, but weapons of all kind since he could walk.  His passion and focus to live his war(even before Moiraine) was engraved in his soul. The ko'di is symbolic of not a state of being for him, but the way he lives his life. Visualize al'Lan Mandragoran and you achieve a nightmare for both men and Shadowspawn.  His level of mastery is NOT in question. Simply put, his level of experience is unrivaled. Being a Blademaster is like being any other master. What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.

 

2) Rand - Destined to make or Break the world. A very young man in fact. A 3,000 year old soul in truth. No mans Mountain is Heaver than Rands. By pure trial and error - some would even say madness - Rand al'Thor has had to mature faster that anyone in the history of the current cycle of the Wheel. Fear. Hope. Uncertanty. Potential. The humanity to fail. The Power to succede. His will to learn ALL that he's been exposed to by accident, ta'vereness or him simply out manouvering his opponents has been driven by something that the Pattern allows for even within Tel'ara'rhiod - Need. His greatest weakness his is mortality. And his greatest strength. Depending upon your perspective, madness comes with a price...

 

Enter Lews Therin Telemon. Most Powerfull of all Aes Sedai in an Age where all things seemed possible w/ the One Power. He was a man of Peace, even discovering the 'sport' of swordplay with one of his peers. No ones fool, the Dragon was reawakened within Rand, allowing spontanious knowledge of weaves - and quite possibly swordplay. With the taint poisoning Rand's mind long enough to be unsure of subconcious thoughts in times of need the Dragon Reborn is failable, but no easy meat.

 

3) Galad - Galant. Gifted. Gorgeous. What more could a knight want? Much less a woman? Galadedred Damodred is Lancelot incarnate. Pure of heart, mind and body. His charisma and  intelligence combined with his athleticism is rarely paired. His casual manner in the way he carries himself - the way he walks, talks and conducts himself in most situations with the  asurety of righteoussness - speaks volumes of his ability to prove he has the mental and physical dexterity to back himself up through education and knowledge - in books and the blade.  HIs physical beauty is in life is a correlation to his ability to deal decisive death.

 

4) Gawyn- Poor Gawyn. . . Always shining just a bit less bright that his half brother Galad. Owing him his life. Lessons in sparring were no break, perhaps because of the former reason.  The middle man in an ongoing battle between loving his half brother and natural sister, whom had a one sided disliking on Elayne's end, he developed an easy manner in dealing with both while accelling at his lessons along side them. Torn between loyalty to his House, his duty. And wanting to become his loves', Egwene's, warder. Being slapped down by the very Aes Sedai he was taught to respect in matters regarding his sister was only adding fuel to the fires within. Also torn by the split in the Tower, the death of his Queen Mother and the accused killer, his sisters love, Gawyn Trakand has been developing a sence of confusion, strife, torment and revenge. All the more pure because he has no control over the rage deep within. These emotions combined, all fed to the Flame inside the Void, are a very dangerous combination which have been manifesting into a drive to take back the things that have been slipping through his fingers. Once he made his decission to take control, no one would stand in his way. And so it continues to be.

 

5) Chosen/Forsaken/Shaidar Haran - The 5th and final spot is one of conjecture because we simply do(can?) not know. We know Be'lal, Sammael perhaps even Demandred are proficient in sword work, but to what degree? When fighting Rand only Be'lal was able fight him blade to blade. Rand being green as he was was due to lose( Be'lal>Rand>Turak). The other fights between Rand and the 13 were w/ the Power. Aes Sedai lived longer in the 2nd Age so who knows which of the 8 male Chosen/Forsaken knew swordplay before the Bore was opened, turned the game into war with blades of Power/alloys and to what degree they took that skill to? The world may never know, but I'm willing to say one of them deserves a spot in my top 5 swords.

 

Now, as for Shaidar Haran, the Hand of the Shadow, who knows what info the Dark One is available to tap into?? Obviously we've seen him handle Chosen/Forsaken w/ no problem and it wouldn'd be far off to say he/it can use the One and True Power both. But what if in Shaidar Haran's future we see one of the legendary Blademasters encounter him? If a channeler Blademaster encountered him he might feel overconfident, shielding him, and clash blades with him. Perhaps knowing who the nonchanneler Blademaster is he decides to just fight the person thinking to have fun? That's neither here nor there, but the possibility is there. I can't in all fairness NOT consider Shaidar Haran a serious threat.

 

List 2: All Blade Weilders

 

1)Mat - Matrim Cauthon will be the first(and probably only, heh) person to tell you he's no Lord. He's a  man who grew up in the Two Rivers milking his Da's cows and other chores when he could be found to do them. His father - the best quarterstaff user in the Two Rivers - taught him the way of the weapon. After a critical amount of Healing he swiftly dispatched both Galad and Gawyn Simultaniously. At this point he's quite good with his weapon of choice; however, after entering and exiting the ter'angreal at Rhuidean he became the most deadly fighter in the world. With his natural ability to incorperate the additional 1,000 years of fighting assimilated into his mind as if he lived all that fighting first hand his experience is peerless. He also aquired an ashandarei, a quarterstaff with a blade at the end. In addition to being ta'veren, his luck is at such an uncanny level as to have been quoted by multiple people(in the story of course) as the Dark One's own luck. With his charming ease with which he carrys himself, the way he'll shirk off what would appear to be a serious matter and stand up for something trivial to anothers eye, Mat is the kind of danger you never saw coming.

 

I really wouldn't feel right not including perhaps Rhuarc or some Aiel badass, but yeah, Mat sits at the top in my mind of ultimate blade weilding mo-fo's.

[ThreeFoldMan]

Didn't Rand kill two of Erian Boroleos' warders in an escape attempt at Dumai's Wells ? IIRC, he killed the first bare handed, took his sword and killed the second before the AS stopped him. That's FAST. Of course, he had both hands then...

[Ishmayl]

Yet still a destinction that has never been thought about for Lan.

 

Actually, Agelmar says in tEofW something to the effect of, "when you're going to the Blight, you are taking the Best of the Best" in reference to Lan.  (Don't have book, can't find direct quote)

 

Edit: Found quote online:

 

"If you must enter the Blight, and with only a few, there is no better man to take you there, nor to bring you safely out again.  [Lan] is the best of the Warders, and that means the best of the best."

 

Personally, I would take the word of a noted "Great Captain," whose strength of knowledge lies in military concerns and matters of physical prowess, over the word(s) of random Aes Sedai and others any day of the week. :)

[talligan]

It makes me happy that of everyone that we've met in the books Lan is still the awesomest of the awesome.

 

Do you think it'll ever come down to a swordfight between Lan and Elan Morin?

[Hadilmir]

It makes me happy that of everyone that we've met in the books Lan is still the awesomest of the awesome.

 

Do you think it'll ever come down to a swordfight between Lan and Elan Morin?

I'm pretty sure Ishmael was more philosopher and channeller than swordsman. Did I miss something?

[DPT24]

  Not sure about Shaidar Haran... Brandon and RJ have said he's pretty restricted in abilities to non darkfriends, for example, Brandon said he couldn't have placed the male ad'am on Rand's neck.  So I'm not sure how much of a fighter he is, or even can be.

[talligan]

It makes me happy that of everyone that we've met in the books Lan is still the awesomest of the awesome.

 

Do you think it'll ever come down to a swordfight between Lan and Elan Morin?

I'm pretty sure Ishmael was more philosopher and channeller than swordsman. Did I miss something?

 

I thought at one point Ishamael (or was it Sammael maybe?) said something about taking the game known as swords and turning it into a deadly art.

[Hadilmir]

I thought at one point Ishamael (or was it Sammael maybe?) said something about taking the game known as swords and turning it into a deadly art.

That was Be'lal, the only person to ever beat Lews Therin in a game of stones(?), and just behind him in skill with the blade. If Lews Therin is first, Be'lal is second.

[talligan]

I stand corrected.

[Hadilmir]

I stand corrected.

Lol, don't worry. You have to have either an incredible memory or my crazy kind of memory for a series like WoT. I forget important things like the sentence I'm saying halfway through, but I'll remember small details with no real value forever.  :D

[Jon Paul]

That was Be'lal, the only person to ever beat Lews Therin in a game of stones(?)

 

It doesn't say he was the only person to ever beat Lews Therin at Stones, it simply said he was always overtly-proud of that acomplishment.

[Entreri]

All time list:

 

 

1 - Lan/Jearom

 

2 - LTT

 

3 - Rand (Rand did not have all of LTT's memories prior to losing hand, so may not have been as good as LTT)

 

4 - Valda/Ryne/Galad

 

5 - Gawyne/Riatin/Be'lal

[Goldstar]

1) Gawyn

2) Lan

2a) Galad

4) Sleete

5) Rand

 

Galad and Lan are tied, because, honestly, the scenes we've seen of Galad fighting are epic. There's also the possibility of his channeling Saidin as well. Gawyn's an obvious best, being able to take out two (or was it three?) bloodknives at the same time, alone. Others are obvious.