Blademaster Worthiness

[Elan Tedronai]

ranking are worthless at the moment. The word of god is useless because the real author died years ago without any updated information on sword rankings and the current author is well..... let's just say i cant take his rankings seriously....

 

Sorry Elan, that doesn't fly, you aren't privy as to when RJ last updated his notes...

 

 

trust me my dear. I have a sixth sense for such matters

[Entreri]

And Mat and Rhuarc > all :P

 

After Mat's role is completed in saving the world, I would definitely take Lan over Mat. Lan is just too good. Mat is just too lucky for anyone ever to beat, unless by a much superior/critical ta'avern/Rand. Lan will probably fall on his sword by 'accident'.

 

Lan=Rhuarc according to Perrin in book 4.

 

Lan after Moraine's death has moved beyond that. Avienhda does say that she has never seen a more dangerous man than Lan (book 7).

 

Keep in mind that Rhuarc is portrayed as one of the elite, if not the #1 fighter amongst the Aiel. The Aiel as a nation are the best fighters on earth, and the elite Aiel=best Warder/Lan (book 4).

 

Lan may have overtaken Jearom after Moraine's death.

[Jon Paul]

Whilst Mat's luck is something to factor in, you can't underestimate his natural talent (he was one of the best with a quarterstaff in the Two Rivers) which is also aided by all of his memories. He'd give Lan a great fight even without his luck.

[Beer Rot]

Hmm... I wonder, is Bonded Gawyn now better than Galad?

 

No.

Gawyn has been better then Galad for a long time. I think he'd fight Lan to a stand still.

[Beer Rot]

 

Lan may have overtaken Jearom after Moraine's death.

 

We have nothing about Jearom to measure by.

 

And I stand by my above statement. Gawyn, Lan, and Rand are the top blade masters and roughly equal in skill.

[capuga]

 

Lan may have overtaken Jearom after Moraine's death.

 

We have nothing about Jearom to measure by.

 

And I stand by my above statement. Gawyn, Lan, and Rand are the top blade masters and roughly equal in skill.

 

Not according to the authors. Look back a few posts to see the Word of God rankings.

[Entreri]

Whilst Mat's luck is something to factor in, you can't underestimate his natural talent (he was one of the best with a quarterstaff in the Two Rivers) which is also aided by all of his memories. He'd give Lan a great fight even without his luck.

 

Mat is certainly one of the top fighters in WoT, even without his luck, likely top 5. With it, he might be either #1-3 among the humans (Lan, Rhuarc).

 

Mat did beat both Galad and Gawyn when he was nearly dying of hunger.

 

 

Mat certainly thought he would get killed by Lan: "After a moment Lan nodded, and Mat breathed a small sigh of relief. It would be just like Nynaeve to get him killed by her husband".

[Pandemonium]

I can't believe you guys think you have enough evidence to say Gawyn is better than Galad. RJ did not provide us enough info on how good Valda was. For all we know Valda may have been the best swordsman alive. Morgase certainly had the opinion that Valda was one of the best swordsmen alive. Most of us think of Valda as being a weak swordsman due to his odd weaknesses, but Valda was pretty much owning Galad for most of that fight. I think RJ could have done a better job hyping up Valda's skill with the sword, because the fight did not describe Valda in his best light.

 

Anyway, I think we may see Galad embroiled in a major sword fight in AMOL. I would wager a lot of money both Gawyn and Galad will have sword duels in AMOL. However, I am still curious who Galad will duel in AMOL.

[Suttree]

I can't believe you guys think you have enough evidence to say Gawyn is better than Galad. RJ did not provide us enough info on how good Valda was. For all we know Valda may have been the best swordsman alive.

 

Since people don't seem to be catching the list from earlier in the thread.

 

Yes we do know Valda was not the best swordsman alive and we also know he is somewhere below Gawyn. Per RJ the rankings for the best goes...

 

Lan>Rand(pre hand loss>Galad>Gawyn

[Smittyphi]

ranking are worthless at the moment. The word of god is useless because the real author died years ago without any updated information on sword rankings and the current author is well..... let's just say i cant take his rankings seriously....

 

Sorry Elan, that doesn't fly, you aren't privy as to when RJ last updated his notes...

 

 

trust me my dear. I have a sixth sense for such matters

 

So you can speak to RJ's ghost? Impressive

[Elan Tedronai]

ranking are worthless at the moment. The word of god is useless because the real author died years ago without any updated information on sword rankings and the current author is well..... let's just say i cant take his rankings seriously....

 

Sorry Elan, that doesn't fly, you aren't privy as to when RJ last updated his notes...

 

 

trust me my dear. I have a sixth sense for such matters

 

So you can speak to RJ's ghost? Impressive

 

Yes and he tells me sanderson is just a useless author.

 

Seriously though how can galad be the second best swordsman in the land when he was getting thrashed by valda? How can can some shepherder whose barely old enough to leave his mouldy village beat a seanchan blademaster?

 

Rankings are shit. End off

[Bob T Dwarf]

ranking are worthless at the moment. The word of god is useless because the real author died years ago without any updated information on sword rankings and the current author is well..... let's just say i cant take his rankings seriously....

 

Sorry Elan, that doesn't fly, you aren't privy as to when RJ last updated his notes...

 

 

trust me my dear. I have a sixth sense for such matters

 

So you can speak to RJ's ghost? Impressive

 

Yes and he tells me sanderson is just a useless author.

 

Seriously though how can galad be the second best swordsman in the land when he was getting thrashed by valda? How can can some shepherder whose barely old enough to leave his mouldy village beat a seanchan blademaster?

 

Rankings are shit. End off

 

I may go back and re-read that part of the Prologue, but from memory, Galad's plan was to lead Valda into becoming fatally overconfident by appearing far more clumsy and amateurish than he really was.

 

Your point about the fight itself being fertilizer is well taken. Real swordfights usually begin and end with a single stroke.

[Entreri]

 

Lan may have overtaken Jearom after Moraine's death.

 

We have nothing about Jearom to measure by.

 

And I stand by my above statement. Gawyn, Lan, and Rand are the top blade masters and roughly equal in skill.

 

You would be 100% wrong, as stated by the authors they are not equal.

 

Gawyn himself admits that Galad is better.

 

 

Jearom was said to have beaten 10 at once. As of yet, this feat is unmatched. So yes, we will have to wait as see if anyone matches or beats that.

[Entreri]

ranking are worthless at the moment. The word of god is useless because the real author died years ago without any updated information on sword rankings and the current author is well..... let's just say i cant take his rankings seriously....

 

Sorry Elan, that doesn't fly, you aren't privy as to when RJ last updated his notes...

 

 

trust me my dear. I have a sixth sense for such matters

 

So you can speak to RJ's ghost? Impressive

 

Yes and he tells me sanderson is just a useless author.

 

Seriously though how can galad be the second best swordsman in the land when he was getting thrashed by valda? How can can some shepherder whose barely old enough to leave his mouldy village beat a seanchan blademaster?

 

Rankings are shit. End off

 

Rand is a 6'6" beast of a man and who can say what memories have drifted from LTT (probably the #1 blademaster amongst the AoL AS). He is in his physical prime and someone like the Seanchan High Lord is not used to disobedience = easy and soft life. Of course against Be'lal, he got owned.

 

 

These are the current rankings...Valda is dead. Valda might have been ranked #2 or #3 in the world before his demise. He was certainly better than Galad, but it is unlikely Galad has peaked (typically occurs around 30-35 years of age in the real world).

 

I believe Morgase was surprised that Galad killed Valda...that just shows what kind of blademaster Valda was.

[baalsmistress]

 

I believe Morgase was surprised that Galad killed Valda...that just shows what kind of blademaster Valda was.

 

And that surprise could be founded on her being surprised that he would consider that fighting him at all was the right thing to do for a child of the light.

[lostcause]

Wow there are some startling opinions in this thread. So startling I felt I had to make an account and add my 2 cents.

 

 

 

I don't get it, why the big importance about wether Gawyn is better than Galad? Does it make him an inferior character that he isn't as good? Does that make Lan the best character in the books, since he's by word of the authors, the best physical fighter in the world?

 

At the end of the day, the authors have stated the rankings for physical swordsmanship already, because it was a matter of interest to some readers. These rankings are of course canon until it states that one has surpassed the other, that it ruins some peoples inner rankings of their favourite characters is just tough.

 

Elan: "Rankings are shit. End off" really? Why do they make you so upset then? If those rankings had Gawyn as best swordsman in the world, you'd be defending them tooth and nail :)

 

 

Just relax and enjoy the story people

[baalsmistress]

Mat would, of course win a fight with any of them, if only because he'd have the brains to have 6 crossbowmen concealed nearby to shoot them before he took a cut. Or failing that, something like his opponent slipping and accidently stabbing himself in the belly with his own sword would happen.

[Kahsm]

Mat would, of course win a fight with any of them, if only because he'd have the brains to have 6 crossbowmen concealed nearby to shoot them before he took a cut. Or failing that, something like his opponent slipping and accidently stabbing himself in the belly with his own sword would happen.

 

But luck doesn't count in rankings apparently, so where does Mat fall then?

[baalsmistress]

Mat would, of course win a fight with any of them, if only because he'd have the brains to have 6 crossbowmen concealed nearby to shoot them before he took a cut. Or failing that, something like his opponent slipping and accidently stabbing himself in the belly with his own sword would happen.

 

But luck doesn't count in rankings apparently, so where does Mat fall then?

 

Mat will fall wherever it's most advantageous for him to trip over.

[pointerksl]

I can't believe you guys think you have enough evidence to say Gawyn is better than Galad. RJ did not provide us enough info on how good Valda was. For all we know Valda may have been the best swordsman alive.

 

Since people don't seem to be catching the list from earlier in the thread.

 

Yes we do know Valda was not the best swordsman alive and we also know he is somewhere below Gawyn. Per RJ the rankings for the best goes...

 

Lan>Rand(pre hand loss>Galad>Gawyn

 

Regarding the whole Lan>Rand(two hands)>Galad>Gawyn thing, and correct me if I'm wrong, but is this a list of the top four blademaster's in the world or is it simply ranking them according to skill when compared against each other? We don't know how good Valda was or how good anyone is other than these four relative to each other. It could very easily be as such:

 

Lan > Rand (pre hand) > Valda > Leonardo (ninja turtle)> Galad > Gareth Bryne > Zorro > Gawyn.

 

My point is that we have no idea who is better than whom outside of these four (and that Lan is the ultimate BM badass of the time). All RJ's quote really says is; if Lan fights Rand, Rand = dead. Rand vs Galad, peace out Galad. And so on. We have no idea if there are people out there better than Rand but not as good as Lan or that would whoop Galad but get stuck by Rand.

 

Again, if I've misunderstood let me know. If RJ specifically said THESE ARE THE TOP FOUR IN THE WORLD OKBAI! Then my point it moot.

[lostcause]

I can't believe you guys think you have enough evidence to say Gawyn is better than Galad. RJ did not provide us enough info on how good Valda was. For all we know Valda may have been the best swordsman alive.

 

Since people don't seem to be catching the list from earlier in the thread.

 

Yes we do know Valda was not the best swordsman alive and we also know he is somewhere below Gawyn. Per RJ the rankings for the best goes...

 

Lan>Rand(pre hand loss>Galad>Gawyn

 

Regarding the whole Lan>Rand(two hands)>Galad>Gawyn thing, and correct me if I'm wrong, but is this a list of the top four blademaster's in the world or is it simply ranking them according to skill when compared against each other? We don't know how good Valda was or how good anyone is other than these four relative to each other. It could very easily be as such:

 

Lan > Rand (pre hand) > Valda > Leonardo (ninja turtle)> Galad > Gareth Bryne > Zorro > Gawyn.

 

My point is that we have no idea who is better than whom outside of these four (and that Lan is the ultimate BM badass of the time). All RJ's quote really says is; if Lan fights Rand, Rand = dead. Rand vs Galad, peace out Galad. And so on. We have no idea if there are people out there better than Rand but not as good as Lan or that would whoop Galad but get stuck by Rand.

 

Again, if I've misunderstood let me know. If RJ specifically said THESE ARE THE TOP FOUR IN THE WORLD OKBAI! Then my point it moot.

 

No I think you have it right, RJ was making the ranking for those 4 compared to eachother. I'm sure there are some Aiel masters that might mix up those ranks a bit.

[Suttree]

I can't believe you guys think you have enough evidence to say Gawyn is better than Galad. RJ did not provide us enough info on how good Valda was. For all we know Valda may have been the best swordsman alive.

 

Since people don't seem to be catching the list from earlier in the thread.

 

Yes we do know Valda was not the best swordsman alive and we also know he is somewhere below Gawyn. Per RJ the rankings for the best goes...

 

Lan>Rand(pre hand loss>Galad>Gawyn

 

Regarding the whole Lan>Rand(two hands)>Galad>Gawyn thing, and correct me if I'm wrong, but is this a list of the top four blademaster's in the world or is it simply ranking them according to skill when compared against each other? We don't know how good Valda was or how good anyone is other than these four relative to each other. It could very easily be as such:

 

Lan > Rand (pre hand) > Valda > Leonardo (ninja turtle)> Galad > Gareth Bryne > Zorro > Gawyn.

 

My point is that we have no idea who is better than whom outside of these four (and that Lan is the ultimate BM badass of the time). All RJ's quote really says is; if Lan fights Rand, Rand = dead. Rand vs Galad, peace out Galad. And so on. We have no idea if there are people out there better than Rand but not as good as Lan or that would whoop Galad but get stuck by Rand.

 

Again, if I've misunderstood let me know. If RJ specifically said THESE ARE THE TOP FOUR IN THE WORLD OKBAI! Then my point it moot.

 

No I think you have it right, RJ was making the ranking for those 4 compared to eachother. I'm sure there are some Aiel masters that might mix up those ranks a bit.

 

No he isn't right I'm afraid. We have two quotes, one from each author.

 

Question: How do the swordsmen rank against each other?

Answer: Lan>Rand (pre-losing hand)>Galad>Gawyn

 

&

 

sleepinghour on Twitter 8 November 2010

Who is the best swordsman in WoT right now?

Brandon

Lan. Then Galad. Then Gawyn. Gawyn is luckier than he thinks he is.

[lostcause]

I can't believe you guys think you have enough evidence to say Gawyn is better than Galad. RJ did not provide us enough info on how good Valda was. For all we know Valda may have been the best swordsman alive.

 

Since people don't seem to be catching the list from earlier in the thread.

 

Yes we do know Valda was not the best swordsman alive and we also know he is somewhere below Gawyn. Per RJ the rankings for the best goes...

 

Lan>Rand(pre hand loss>Galad>Gawyn

 

Regarding the whole Lan>Rand(two hands)>Galad>Gawyn thing, and correct me if I'm wrong, but is this a list of the top four blademaster's in the world or is it simply ranking them according to skill when compared against each other? We don't know how good Valda was or how good anyone is other than these four relative to each other. It could very easily be as such:

 

Lan > Rand (pre hand) > Valda > Leonardo (ninja turtle)> Galad > Gareth Bryne > Zorro > Gawyn.

 

My point is that we have no idea who is better than whom outside of these four (and that Lan is the ultimate BM badass of the time). All RJ's quote really says is; if Lan fights Rand, Rand = dead. Rand vs Galad, peace out Galad. And so on. We have no idea if there are people out there better than Rand but not as good as Lan or that would whoop Galad but get stuck by Rand.

 

Again, if I've misunderstood let me know. If RJ specifically said THESE ARE THE TOP FOUR IN THE WORLD OKBAI! Then my point it moot.

 

No I think you have it right, RJ was making the ranking for those 4 compared to eachother. I'm sure there are some Aiel masters that might mix up those ranks a bit.

 

No he isn't right I'm afraid. We have two quotes, one from each author.

 

Question: How do the swordsmen rank against each other?

Answer: Lan>Rand (pre-losing hand)>Galad>Gawyn

 

&

 

sleepinghour on Twitter 8 November 2010

Who is the best swordsman in WoT right now?

Brandon

Lan. Then Galad. Then Gawyn. Gawyn is luckier than he thinks he is.

 

All right, fair enough. So these rankings are how the swordsmen compare against eachother.

 

Am I right in assuming the only thing we know in regards of "best physical fighter" - we only know Lan is the #1 presently?

Aiel don't use swords, and I'm sure there are others examples of non-swordsmen, who you could speculate merge into the swordsmen ranks?

 

 

Either way, those 2 quotes pretty much seals it. I think it's safe to say, Sandersons statement of Gawyn being luckier than he thinks, means there is a note about it somewhere.

[Suttree]

All right, fair enough. So these rankings are how the swordsmen compare against eachother.

 

Am I right in assuming the only thing we know in regards of "best physical fighter" - we only know Lan is the #1 presently?

Aiel don't use swords, and I'm sure there are others examples of non-swordsmen, who you could speculate merge into the swordsmen ranks?

 

Correct, this only takes into account "swordsman". Would be cool to see a mixed ranking.

[lostcause]

Correct, this only takes into account "swordsman". Would be cool to see a mixed ranking.

 

I guess that is "only" a question away :)

 

Where is Sanderson most likely to reply to such an enquiry?