The Lord of Chaos...His Rule is Secure ;)

[Fliggerty]

I decided to start my own thread instead of derailing the already solidly going current Demandred argument. :)

 

It is well established that Demandred seems to think he always plays second fiddle to Lews Therin, and despises it. And an attitude like that can really wreak havoc on a person's perceptions....after all, that is why he went over to the Dark One in the first place when it comes down to it.

 

So I have a suspicion that when Demandred was told to "let the Lord of Chaos rule," he didn't interpret it as most of us did and hear "let Rand run amok." Or any of the myriad other common Theoryland interpretations of that which abound. Perhaps he heard "you will rule as the Lord of Chaos!" And that is what he meant later when he said "my rule is secure."

 

I did a full read-through, paying very close attention to all things Demandred, and am now starting again (just at the end of TEOFTW) and am paying very close attention to all references to activities of the dark, and also those seemingly off-hand rumors that seem to have little bearing to the story...until much later if at all. I think there are a number of these, specifically in Lord of Chaos, that could very well pertain to Demandred. For example, there is a scene in which some Wise Ones are speaking of rumors of war and strife happening in Shara. It never has any bearing on any events in the story, but it certainly does fit in the category of "chaos."

 

There are so many little things that happen throughout that book, that supposedly can be attributed to one person or another....but are never really established. Like the Whitecloak assassination attempt on Rand for example. And things like the various rebellions against Rand beginning or really taking hold at this time, and Masema really starts to cause an uproar, and on an on and on. It's just one thing after another, and this really is just the beginning; or rather a beginning.

 

 

To sum it all up, I don't think Demandred has been in any one specific place that we can point to, or impersonating any one person. Perhaps he has been somewhere raising an army, or several. That's sort of beside my point. I really don't think that his identity has remained a mystery so much because RJ has enjoyed making it a mystery, but rather because there hasn't really been a mystery to hide. He's just been off doing his own thing, poking his nose in here and there, being sneaky and making a mess of things, and being stealthy about it....in the way that we've been told Demandred does things (by proxy, right?) Demandred is The Lord of Chaos, and it does indeed seem that his rule is secure!

[Elan Tedronai]

his rule is secure? where it is? i havent seen it yet? Kindly point it out to me. I must have missed it for the last 10 years. Oh he is a sissy now eh? where once he commanded armies and fought LTT inch by inch he now resorts to a coward game of proxies.

 

But i cant blame him since his buddies ishy and rahvin met their end quite spectacularly

[Durinax]

well we know shara is graendals things, she took both leaders, causing it to be plunged into civil war

[SylvanFox]

That idea sounds kind of cool. If he has several armies, instead of just one, and they are hidden amongst other armies... They wouldn't necessarily have to be DFs. He could have duped them somehow.

[Mr Ares]

I decided to start my own thread instead of derailing the already solidly going current Demandred argument. :)

 

It is well established that Demandred seems to think he always plays second fiddle to Lews Therin, and despises it. And an attitude like that can really wreak havoc on a person's perceptions....after all, that is why he went over to the Dark One in the first place when it comes down to it.

 

So I have a suspicion that when Demandred was told to "let the Lord of Chaos rule," he didn't interpret it as most of us did and hear "let Rand run amok." Or any of the myriad other common Theoryland interpretations of that which abound. Perhaps he heard "you will rule as the Lord of Chaos!" And that is what he meant later when he said "my rule is secure."

Let the Lord of Chaos rule" does not mean to let Rand run amok - that's not an interpretation that fits with the use of the phrase in the series (such as Semi and Taim's uses in KoD, Prologue and Epilogue respectively). Let the Lord of Chaos rule is a directive to spread chaos. Also, Demandred didn't need to interpret the phrase, because he received instruction from Shai'tan. I realize that this might seem a little tangential to your main point, but I feel it is worth bearing in mind nonetheless.

[Alric]

I interpreted it as letting Rand do his thing as long as he was the Lord of Chaos. If he got his act together or started to have any sort of control or direction in the grander scheme, that plan would have to be replaced by another.

[Terez]

Brandon seemed surprised that anyone thought there was a mystery on this point. Some help:

 

The Feast of Fools

Celebrated in Tammaz (in Arad Doman and the Borderlands) or Saven (everywhere else), the exact day varying according to locality. A day in which all order is deliberately inverted; the high perform lowly tasks (running errands, serving at table, etc.) while the low do no work and give orders to their usual superiors. In many villages and towns the most foolish person is given a title such as the Lord/Lady of Unreason/Misrule/Chaos or the King/Queen of Fools. Not an honor sought, but for that one day everyone has to obey whatever orders, however foolish, are given by the chosen one. (Called the Festival of Unreason in Saldaea; the Festival of Fools in Kandor; Foolday in Baerlon and the Two Rivers.)