Worst Fates

[Never]

Ishamael is like Jamie Lannister, in that no one will ever recognize his greatest feat for what it is. While that is sad, I would much rather have no one knowing how I saved a poor ducling from drowning, that being caught by Semirhage.

 

Jaichim Carridin's death, as mentioned by someone above, was kind of horrible. I don't know exactly what it was, it just felt horrible.

Nynaeve's fate, as someone also mentioned above, is very, very sad, but nothing imo compared to Verin. Death is the Dark One's domain, and those who have sworn their souls to the shadow.. well, let's just say Verin took one for the team by dooming herself to endless tortur by the Dark One's hand.. I think that makes her the single most brave character in the series, closely followed by Moiraine. I loved Moiraine, but I think Mat and Thom should have failed to bring her out. Mat lost the eye, but Moiraine still died. That would have been much more awesome.

 

 

This thread just reminds me of the fact that PEOPLE DON'T DIE in WoT. The ONE time we were given a main char's death, we learn later that she survived and she returns. I mean, come on? Anyone read Game of Thrones? The constant fear, the unpredictability (is that a word), the plottwists and the losses; I just don't feel the same way when, say, Eban dies!

[Deadsy]

Anyone read Game of Thrones?

Yes, and I don't like it. Didn't get past the 2nd book. If I wanted to read a story where things are as bad as they are in real life, I wouldn't be reading fantasy. A happy medium (as far as deaths) between RJ & GRRM would be my preference. If there were a few more deaths in RJ, just one or two even, we would be worried. But GRRM kills way too many.

[Never]

Fair point. To be honest, I don't really like reading the books because the writer has a weird style, and I haven't finished GoT yet. But even so, main characters dying makes my stomach tie up in a knot. Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Elayne or Nynaeve - atleast two should be dead by know.

 

 

Let me list up main characters from Memory

 

Rand - lives, but he kind of had to.

Mat - lives, could have been dead if not for the "three ta'veren plot shield"

Perrin - lives, but same as Mat. Actually, I think Perrin should have died. Would have added something to him!

Egwene - lives, but could have died.

Elayne - lives, and we know that she cannot die, at least not for some time

Nynaeve - lives, and could have died

 

Some of the ones of a little less importance:

 

Moiraine - lives, but really, REALLY should have died.

Siuan Sanche - wasn't a major char at the time, but even a deposed and still Amyrlin manages to escape certain death.

Lan - lives, may be dying but I feel he's gonna survive this.

Gawyn - lives, which is a shame; it also would have made more sense had he died after saving Egwene. Would have made for some good reflection for Egwene as well.

Galad - lives, the Hand of the Light isn't that big a deal when you have a plotshield.

Min - lives, but could have died at Rand's hand due to Semirhage. That would have been cool!

Aviendha - lives. Maybe not important enough to make the list.

Tam al'Thor - lives. Min survives, Tam survives. One of them should have died in tGS imo.

Morgase - lives. At this point this is starting to seem like a pretty clear pattern.

Narishma - lives.

Logian - lives.

Rhuarch - lives.

Cadsuanne - lives.

 

 

The only person I can think of is Verin, but she wasn't really one of the main characters anyway.

[bobarose]

padan fain he's lost the most of anyone in the series.

i hope he finds some sort of redemption.maybe he'll

stand by rand at the last battle.

[Ashaman Ryel]

What about Tylin? That was not pleasant business.

[tlburchhardt]

Perrin's whole family got killed by Padan Fain. That had to suck. How about the Amayar performing mass suicide. That's not cool either.

[Apple13]

A really minor character that captured my attention: Ryma Galfrey

 

We don't get many scenes of her really, but she's the only Aes Sedai we see who gets completely broken and made into a damane (on screen).

 

A more general answer would be all of the damane, especially the ones who were Aes Sedai/Windfinders/Wise Ones/Apprentices because they had to lose all of their identity to become damane.

[Luckers]

Galina got me... in kind of a good way, admittedly, but still, the moment she breaks...

[Goldstar]

Herid Fel. He didn't even really realize what he was doing for the world, and was ripped apart limb from limb. And he called Min pretty.

[mackoY-kun]

LTT... he was given a few lucid moments of sanity just to let him realize that he had killed everyone he ever loved in his madness.

[tlburchhardt]

What about that farm boy who was ripped away from everything he knew and loved just to find out he was what everyone on earth feared.

[Kara]

This thread just reminds me of the fact that PEOPLE DON'T DIE in WoT. The ONE time we were given a main char's death, we learn later that she survived and she returns. I mean, come on? Anyone read Game of Thrones? The constant fear, the unpredictability (is that a word), the plottwists and the losses; I just don't feel the same way when, say, Eban dies!

 

I have read and re-read ASoIaF. Have you noticed that a lot of characters that 'die' are not always really 'dead'? I am not sure how far into the series you are so I wont list any specifics.

[Apple13]

This thread just reminds me of the fact that PEOPLE DON'T DIE in WoT. The ONE time we were given a main char's death, we learn later that she survived and she returns. I mean, come on? Anyone read Game of Thrones? The constant fear, the unpredictability (is that a word), the plottwists and the losses; I just don't feel the same way when, say, Eban dies!

 

I have read and re-read ASoIaF. Have you noticed that a lot of characters that 'die' are not always really 'dead'? I am not sure how far into the series you are so I wont list any specifics.

 

True, but most main characters who die do stay dead. And some of the ones that do return, come back "wrong", and not their true selves at all (I won't name specifics either). There is a bit more drama in ASoIaF, and more unpredictability regarding characters' fates. I think that's partly because WoT is filled with various prophecies/viewings regarding the futures of almost every main character, but it would be nice to feel a bit of anxiety for a character if they get kidnapped by the enemies, you know. Most of my reactions tend to be "Oh, Elayne gets captured by the Black Ajah, but she'll get saved by Mat/Birgitte/anyone else" or "Faile has been captured for 5 books, but Perrin will save her in the end".

[Turin Turambar]

I believe it has been mentioned already but I still think it would be the guy that turned into beetles.

[tlburchhardt]

Oh yeah, the beetle guy. That had to suck.

[ironisles]

Well call me old fashioned, but I don't want all of the main characters to die. That's one problem I have with GRRM.

[narg75]

Narg. I always get teary eyeed when I read his death. I mean here you have someone who is built for battle and some upstart woolheaded farm boy who never picked up a sword kills him. I imagin Mrs. Narg sitting at the fireplace knitting with little Narglets running around weeping at her husbands death.

[FarShainMael]

 

Tell Mrs Narg not to worry, her hubby's been transmigrated into Shaidar Haran...

[Never]

This thread just reminds me of the fact that PEOPLE DON'T DIE in WoT. The ONE time we were given a main char's death, we learn later that she survived and she returns. I mean, come on? Anyone read Game of Thrones? The constant fear, the unpredictability (is that a word), the plottwists and the losses; I just don't feel the same way when, say, Eban dies!

 

I have read and re-read ASoIaF. Have you noticed that a lot of characters that 'die' are not always really 'dead'? I am not sure how far into the series you are so I wont list any specifics.

 

True, but most main characters who die do stay dead. And some of the ones that do return, come back "wrong", and not their true selves at all (I won't name specifics either). There is a bit more drama in ASoIaF, and more unpredictability regarding characters' fates. I think that's partly because WoT is filled with various prophecies/viewings regarding the futures of almost every main character, but it would be nice to feel a bit of anxiety for a character if they get kidnapped by the enemies, you know. Most of my reactions tend to be "Oh, Elayne gets captured by the Black Ajah, but she'll get saved by Mat/Birgitte/anyone else" or "Faile has been captured for 5 books, but Perrin will save her in the end".

 

 

I'm not that far into it, so maybe some of the ones I thought dead might come back. But, without naming who, let's take someone who gets killed by a little blonde bastard towards the end of GoT. Lulled in my many years as a WoT-fan, I was completely shocked, outraged, sad, basically I was emotional (I'm referring Kara, not Apple). Apple has it very right in that you don't really expect someone to die. Okay, so the three have to be there, but what about Faile, Egwene, Aviendha, Cadsuanne, Moiraine, Min etc. Couldn't at least ONE of the more important chars die for once? Moiraine seemed dead to Rand, but we all knew she would come back eventually. Let's say the rescue-mission had failed, that Thom had died, Mat barely escaping out through a sacrifice by, hell, Moiraine herself? Wouldn't that have knocked you off your feet?

 

aSoIaF,

Littlefingers betrayal

, didn't that twist your stomach? Nothing like that has ever happened in WoT, and even if aMoL will be filled with it, it won't erase the fact that NO ONE IMPORTANT DIED DURING THE FIRST 14 BOOKS. WoT needed like four or five red weddings prior to this point.

[jwood01]

I definitely feel for Tylin. No need for the Mrs. Robinson character to be ripped apart by a Gholam.

[Apple13]

Well call me old fashioned, but I don't want all of the main characters to die. That's one problem I have with GRRM.

 

Neither do I. I'd rather have most of the main characters alive than dead, but I think that WoT and aSoIaF are at the two extremes. One has too many characters dying and the other has none at all (at least none that we care about).

 

Okay, so the three have to be there, but what about Faile, Egwene, Aviendha, Cadsuanne, Moiraine, Min etc. Couldn't at least ONE of the more important chars die for once? Moiraine seemed dead to Rand, but we all knew she would come back eventually. Let's say the rescue-mission had failed, that Thom had died, Mat barely escaping out through a sacrifice by, hell, Moiraine herself? Wouldn't that have knocked you off your feet?

Exactly. I personally thought that Moiraine's sacrifice was the most powerful moment in the series when I first read it. But then we find out that she's really going to come back. What was the point of having her die then? And then Mat and the other two go and rescue her, and the person who dies (Jain Farstrider) wasn't someone who was all that relevant to the main storyline and just a background character that no one particularly adores.

 

It's not that I want to see my favourite characters killed off or anything. But it feels like a bit of a cop-out when people get excited over the Black Ajah and the Forsaken, but they do almost no lasting harm to the main characters.

[Never]

 

Exactly. I personally thought that Moiraine's sacrifice was the most powerful moment in the series when I first read it.

 

 

My favorite moment of the series was the letter Rand receives from Moiraine right before they go down to the docks. At the end, "You will do well". Ah, I love Moiraine so much but she should have stayed dead.

[mikael]

Carridin, I just wish a lightsider or two wouldve suffered the same fate-ish. God damn it, it wouldn't have taken so much. Killed off or turned one or two of the major characters at the hands of forsaken and the whole forsaken suck/plot armor suck issue would've been non existant :(

[bobarose]

Rands fate is the only one that matters really.He will die.

 

and leave three wives pregnant and broke.

 

worse still all three will have twins.

[Alric]

I probably shouldn't even be here to avoid spoilers... but as for worst fates, I feel really, really sorry for Morgase (and she isn't even dead!). I hope she finds happiness and a good therapist.