Who would you take to the LB?

[Barid Bel Medar]

I thought it would be fun to have a little "who would you chose" thread. Since I havent seen Fish around lately (damn, I miss the guy, come back!) I thought, eh, ill create one myself.

 

This is not "who is your favorite" although favorites of course will make a big impact on the decision. It is basically, the LB is here. Be you of the Shadow or Light, you, for some reason, have access to all the Forsaken and are allowed to choose 3 of them, however you like, to be under your command. They cant betray you, (lets say...bound by a binder) so they would be totally loyal.

 

A few points, to make it different.

 

1. You can choose any of the Forsaken, and choose what form they take. (eg- you can choose Ishamael or Moridin. But you cant have both in at the same time)

 

2. Whatever power bases they had in the story do not count. So if you chose Sammael, you wouldnt have Illian.

 

3. Continuing number two, basically, this is about the Forsaken's talents, not what they have done (although, of course, that will play a part in the decision, if oyu think what they have done is cool.) But is is basically based on them being good at Compulsion, being a good general, Dreamer, access to the TP etc...

 

4. One last thing, while Moridin would still have access to the TP in this theoretical scenario, he would not be Nae'blis. Same with any other privilages the DO gave to any other Forsaken.

 

 

 

 

Alright, having said that, here is my three:

 

Demandred: As you may have guessed . Basically, I would choose Demandred because he is all round awesome. He was second only to LTT. If LTT hadnt been born, Demandred would have been the greatest man of the age. Considering what we know of Rand/LTT (absolutely freaking awesome) just one step behind that is pretty damn good. Great General to lead whatever forces I may have, great channeler, stronger than almost all others barring 3. Demandred gets my vote.

 

Lanfear: Most powerful woman channeler in the world, possibly ever. A master in TAR, she claims the world of dreams as her own. She is possibly the most skilled weaver in the series. Possibly a Dreamer (prophetic dreams). She is bold and not afraid of much. Lanfear gets my vote number 2.

 

Aginor: The Kenny of WoT. Well, even if he is not a great fighter, he is second strongest after Ishamael in the OP, that counts for something. But mainly, Aginor is a mad scientist. He created Shadowspawn, the biggest threat to the Light. if there were no shadowspawn, i doubt the LB would be much. One of the main reasons I would pick Aginor: He could make me some Gohlam. Enough said. Vote number 3 for Aginor.

[alykyn]

Hey!

 

I'm a little confused about the point where you said I could be of the Shadow or the Light, but I'll just go with the Subject and pick my three Chosen to command.

 

1) Lanfear - I feel she's the most dexterous with her weaves of anyone and (with

strength being anywhere near another channeler's strength) dexterity

counts for A LOT in my opinion. She also is extremely powerful in

T'A'R and could fight there as well. Not to mention she's the

strongest female channeler (period).

 

2) Moridin - Much less psycho than Ishamael, and with full access to the TP.

I would make him use that to unbalance everyone. I would have him

attempting shields against everyone. Must be more difficult to fight

off a Shield that you have absolutely no way to sense coming. Plus

he just has the most raw power for a man.

 

3) Graendal - Compulsion seems like a hard weave to counter, even more difficult

than a Shield. In fact I don't think we've ever seen anyone counter

it. The closest I can think of is in T'A'R and that wasnt necesarily

real Compulsion. Certainly not from Graendal.

 

Between Moridin's TP Shieldings and raw power, Graendal's extremely strong Compulsions and Lanfear massive dexterity and T'A'R abilities I think this is the Ultimate Team.

 

P.S. If we're allowed to choose someone else from the Dark (non forsaken) I'd choose Shaidar Haran instead of Moridin IF his ability to negate Saidin/Saidar worked on non Dark peeps, if not then I stick with Moridin.

[Mordaunt]

I only need one: Aginor. I'd have him crossbreed a Myrddraal and a Gholam, then set it loose. A One Power-resistant super fast, super strong man whose very gaze inspires fear and can travel between shadows. Then I'd give it a Bloodknife ring, for the lols.

[Smittyphi]

Lanfear is a bit too moody for me.

Ishamael monologues too much.

Moridin is too scary and unpredictable.

Aginor, Balthamel and Moghedien are wimps battle-wise.

I don't need Asmodean to play the harp while I'm in battle.

Semirhage wouldn't betray me as a rule but if I were somehow injured, she would make me suffer. Out.

Mesaana got pwned it TAR by Egwene, buh-bye.

That leaves Rahvin, Sammael, Graendal, Be'lal and Demandred

 

I would have to go with Demandred, Graendal and Sammael. Rahvin would be next and then Be'lal.

 

**Forgot Moridin

[futurehermit]

Demandred has been, imo, the most successful forsaken (though it is hard to measure because of lack of screen time), so he's in. Since being reincarnated, Moridin has been very successful as well, so he's in. Then it would be a toss up between Aginor and Lanfear, for the reasons mentioned above. I'd probably side with Lanfear because Aginor apparently isn't able to do as much in this age with his talents as he was in past ages.

[T00thbrush]

Moridin - brains

Demandred - power

Lanfear - charisma

[coolpool]

Moridin- as you all know, he has his obvious advantages, no need to list them as most of them have all been said above already like

 

Be'lal- what can i say, i feel sorry for the guy, and it seems he is good at making traps and battle stragigy which is important for battle...

 

Asmodean- one of my favourite charaters of the books, so he is defo in my team, doesn't matter that hes not top dog, he plays music and the harp and he is just.. cool and his contibution deffo made TFoH my fav. He will defeat everyone with his epicness alone!!!

[ryanphlp2002]

Lanfear is a bit too moody for me.

Ishamael monologues too much.

Aginor, Balthamel and Moghedien are wimps battle-wise.

I don't need Asmodean to play the harp while I'm in battle.

Semirhage wouldn't betray me as a rule but if I were somehow injured, she would make me suffer. Out.

Mesaana got pwned it TAR by Egwene, buh-bye.

That leaves Rahvin, Sammael, Graendal, Be'lal and Demandred

 

I would have to go with Demandred, Graendal and Sammael. Rahvin would be next and then Be'lal.

 

Very well put and argued! I'd have Demandred, Moridin and Sammael though. The generals for strategic and tactical ability and Moridin for his ability to "get inside Rand's head" with Be'lal or Rahvin next in line.

[AvroChris]

Demandred and Sammael to fight on the field, and Graendal to sow chaos behind it. Seems like a fair combo to me! Lanfear seems too unpredictable although wreaking havoc in people's dreams while Demandred pulverises them by day seems like it would be quite effective! Moridin and the second tier seem to be more useful in the run up to the fight rather than after open war has broken out. I'd take Moridin over Sammael for the long game but I can't see this fight lasting as long as the War of Power, and certainly not the Trolloc Wars.

[Guest Emu on the Loose]

My choice depends heavily on what form the Last Battle actually takes. Military confrontations? Send a brilliant general, like Sammael. One-on-one duels? Send your best channeler, like Lanfear. Is the World of Dreams a crucial battleground? Moghedien's yer baddie. Need to infiltrate the enemy's citadel? Send a lethal mole like Semirhage. Need a winning contestant for Jeopardy? Ishamael wouldn't win, but it'd be fun to see everybody else lose.

 

I think we can read between the lines to an extent just what Jordan himself thought of the Forsakens' gravitas. The ones that survived longest are the ones he would least like to meet in a dark alley, I bet. There aren't many left, now. Messy, Moggy, Cyndy, Morrie, Demi, Semi, and Adele are the only ones who made it to the endgame, and of those Semirhage is toast for sure, Mesaana almost certainly is, and Graendal probably is. (I expect we may see her return as some kind of automaton, without any will of her own.) The only free agent Forsaken right now are Moridin and Demandred, and Moridin is on Life 2.

 

I think that makes Demandred a good choice by default. Trouble is, he's no match for Rand and no match for Mat.

 

Moridin is a vicious personal enemy to Rand, but for all his successes in history prior to WoT, he doesn't seem all that competent given his preeminence among the other Forsaken and the amount of energy he has put into his schemes.

 

Having power in T'A'R should not be underestimated. She may be mindtrapped, but I think Moggy could be one of the most effective of all the Forsaken. Lapsed financial gurus, after all, are the ones who pose possibly the greatest threat to our own society. Imagine if they could get into our dreams! All that corporate jargon by itself would drive me insane. "Delivering value" this and "monetizing your assets" that. Phooey! So, yeah, I think Moghedien is in.

 

Lanfear is the best channeler there is, more animated than Ishamael and more sincere than Rand. You'd need at least one star channeler for almost any scenarios. So, hey, just to keep it consistent, let's add her.

 

There you have it: Demandred, Moghedien, and Lanfear. Without knowing more about the Last Battle, those are my choices.

[Shaidar]

Nice topic.

 

I'd say:

 

Demandred - as a general and all-round badass.

Graendal - for the Compulsion.

Asmodean - as a pawn that can be cowed; plus, as a weak Forsaken, he will provide an attractive ally for Graendal so that Demandred doesn't get dangerous ideas e.g. dominating Graendal like Sammael tried to.

 

They'll be looking to betray me at every point, binders or no binders, or to off each other for my favors; I don't want all-stars, I want cautious people who will be too risk-aware to make a serious bid to challenge me or each other.

 

Moridin wouldn't be Nae'blis, so wouldn't have the True Power; otherwise, he thinks too much of philosophy, and is a domineering character, and as such is too much of a liability. Lanfear is simply a 100% loose cannon. These two would be great to have on a team on their objective abilities, but psychological factors exclude them.

[Guest Emu on the Loose]

The topic creator stipulated loyalty as a given. If that weren't so, I'd never pick a rank coward like Moghedien or an independent like Lanfear. In that case, I'd go with Semirhage in place of Moghedien, and probably Be'lal or Graendal in place of Lanfear.

[Shaidar]

Those who say loyalty is a given get stabbed in the back. ;)

 

More to the point, it makes the best choices pretty obvious: Moridin; Lanfear; Demandred.

[Smittyphi]

More to the point, it makes the best choices pretty obvious: Moridin; Lanfear; Demandred.

 

I disagree. Lanfear may be powerful, she isn't battle smart. She didn't get beaten with the power, she got shoved. Too bad Moiraine didn't have a frying pan to beat her over the head with.

 

I wouldn't trust Moridin with any army. Channeler vs. channeler, sure. Battle wits vs battle wits, big ol' thumbs down.

[Kiriath Til Asdod]

How about none? They have been shown throughout the series to be incompetent, stubbornly naive (about Rand and his abilities or really anything relating to these primitives), and generally useless. Everyone of them has been given tasks at which they have failed righteously. For the most feared and evil people of the AoL they seem just bad at being destructive or evil or whatever. And why all this love for Demandred? Has there ever been a more over-hyped and under-used villain in the history of writing? I could careless about the forsaken because they have little to no substance outside of Moridin. The rest are just useless. I think it has to do with the fact that they are all bland; none are very polarizing. We hear about all the atrocities they committed during the WoP but see little if any from them in the series. I don't care about them because I don't hate or love them as characters.