The best (living) swordsman in WoT

[Entreri]

I would say Lan is the greatest blademaster not only of this Age but of any Age.

 

In the end, that granite willpower puts him over the top. I can see Lan fight with almost any type of injury (s) and complete exhaustion and winning.  

 

Aiel are the best fighters (3000 years of evolution under the Waste), Rhuarc is the best of the Aiel (Lan=Rhuarc, according to Perrin in book8), after the death of Moraine, Lan has surpassed any Aiel (according to Aviendha in book7).

 

Rand is #2, would have  beaten Toram Riatin with difficulty.  Bear in mind that Rand was playing with him, with gloves and shirt that his movement (as Toram stated)...so no, Toram would not have beaten Rand in a real battle even without ta'avern luck.

 

Lan killed Toram easily. So there is a significant gap between Lan and Rand, SIGNFICIANT.  Lan can probably kill both Galad and Gawyn at once. 

 

I hope Lan gets to face 2 Mydrraal or 12 Trollocs (or 12 humans) at once in AMOL. He can beat them, he is that good IMO.   

 

AOL blademasters:

LTT was likely the greatest blademaster in AOL, not just merely the greatest channeler (He is the Creator's champion and the greatest human of his Age, Rand's natural fighting prowess strongely implies LTT was truly UBER). Be'lal stated they took up the sport and learned to kill with it. Whatever LTT takes up, he tends to be the best at it (thus his arrogance in AoL)...main reason why all the Forsaken fear and envy him and Shai'tan wants him as Nae'blis. 

 

Likley Demandred was #2 blademaster in AOL, he was "almost" LTT, that is why he is so envious and wants to prove himself the better man. Almost as strong in the Power, almost as tall, almost as pretty, almost as skilled a blademaster, almost as smart...Mr. Almost. 

 

Hopefully in AMOL, he will prove why he was considered almost as good as LTT and not just die pathetically. The Forsaken have proven to be very impotent. 

 

I can definitely see Lan beating either LTT or Demandred, minus ta'avern luck. 

 

Age of Legends:  LTT, Demandred, Be'lal and Sammael.  I have no reason to put Be'lal over Sammael, just a hunch. Rand was shocked at how good Be'lal was. 

 

Current Age: Lan, Jearom, possibly Rand two-handed (minus LTT memories).

[Suttree]

Current Age: Lan, Jearom, possibly Rand two-handed (minus LTT memories).

Curious as to why you guess Lan is better than Jearom? Hammar would have obviously known Lan very well and in his opinion Jearom takes the top spot.

[Entreri]

 

Current Age: Lan, Jearom, possibly Rand two-handed (minus LTT memories).

Curious as to why you guess Lan is better than Jearom? Hammar would have obviously known Lan very well and in his opinion Jearom takes the top spot.

 

When was the last time Hammar saw Lan pratice the sword? Likely  20 years ago, when he just joined the WT. 

 

Not like Moraine would stay at the WT...Moraine and Lan tend to be lone wolves.  Hammar may not have seen Lan fight in eons either. 

 

Of course Lan has gotten MUCH better since the days of Ryne. 

 

So yes, Lan is better than Jearom.  If they fight, I would wager the house on Lan. 

[Suttree]

So yes, Lan is better than Jearom.  If they fight, I would wager the house on Lan.

I guess my question is what do we know about Jearom to even make an educated guess? Just seem like wild speculation given the evidence available.

[Entreri]

 

So yes, Lan is better than Jearom.  If they fight, I would wager the house on Lan.

I guess my question is what do we know about Jearom to even make an educated guess? Just seem like wild speculation given the evidence available.

 

The difference between Lan and Rand (#2) and Aviendhda's comment regarding him.

If Lan survives long, I think his fighting prowess will be prominently displayed in AMOL, given what he will be fighting against (impossible odds).

[Knivy]

 

Early on in the series Galad was better than Gawyn, but after the splitting of the Tower Gawyn gained experience that Galad did not.  Both are incredibly dangerous and would cut any of us to ribbons, but I would have to go with Gawyn over Galad(and I like Galad more).

I've never understood why some fans seem to think more screen time=enough of an experience leap to jump Gawyn over Galad. We have an author quote stating Galad is still better after ToM so really there is no argument. Galad was much better early on, we have a number of characters stating how much better he was(more natural, things come easier, learns faster etc.), and we have no way to say how either would do in the others fights. Bottom line there is zero evidence that he has surpassed Galad.

 

Well, there is the benefit of the warder bond now... So not zero...

[Suttree]

 

 

 

 

Early on in the series Galad was better than Gawyn, but after the splitting of the Tower Gawyn gained experience that Galad did not.  Both are incredibly dangerous and would cut any of us to ribbons, but I would have to go with Gawyn over Galad(and I like Galad more).

I've never understood why some fans seem to think more screen time=enough of an experience leap to jump Gawyn over Galad. We have an author quote stating Galad is still better after ToM so really there is no argument. Galad was much better early on, we have a number of characters stating how much better he was(more natural, things come easier, learns faster etc.), and we have no way to say how either would do in the others fights. Bottom line there is zero evidence that he has surpassed Galad.

 

Well, there is the benefit of the warder bond now... So not zero...

Brandon said Galad was still better post ToM and the bond. Additionally while it increases vitality and vigor the bond doesn't make one super human all of a sudden.

[Finnssss22]

 

 

Early on in the series Galad was better than Gawyn, but after the splitting of the Tower Gawyn gained experience that Galad did not.  Both are incredibly dangerous and would cut any of us to ribbons, but I would have to go with Gawyn over Galad(and I like Galad more).

I've never understood why some fans seem to think more screen time=enough of an experience leap to jump Gawyn over Galad. We have an author quote stating Galad is still better after ToM so really there is no argument. Galad was much better early on, we have a number of characters stating how much better he was(more natural, things come easier, learns faster etc.), and we have no way to say how either would do in the others fights. Bottom line there is zero evidence that he has surpassed Galad.

 

Well, there is the benefit of the warder bond now... So not zero...

 

I have long suspected that the Warder Bond does not make one faster in the way people think.

What I think it does do is give one their youth back or keep them there.

So where someone like Bryne would see his reactions increase because the Bond is giving him back the reaction time he had in his prime but someone like Gawye, who is already in his prime, wouldn't see an improvement.

The added awareness/perception and endurance gains are of course very real.

[Mr Ares]

Looking on the WoT Wikia, it lists Gareth as a blademaster. I never got that impression from the books. Good with a sword? Sure. He is a soldier and a general. Blademaster? Where does that come from?

It was revealed in TGS.

It also lists Sammael as a blademaster, though I don't know what evidence there is to support this.

None. We don't know how "blademasters", in the way they are known in the Third Age, got started, but we do know the requirements are not skill with a sword, so much as the demonstration of skill - either in front of five others, and gaining their unanimous consent, or through killing one in a duel. So no AoL person - LTT, Sammael or Be'lal - is known or even strongly suggested to be a blademaster, even if they have equivalent skill, because none of them have met these requirements. Also, he was a sportsman, and swords were a sport back in the AoL. The BWB probably would have the information on what his sport was.

 

Rand is #2, would have  beaten Toram Riatin with difficulty.  Bear in mind that Rand was playing with him, with gloves and shirt that his movement (as Toram stated)...so no, Toram would not have beaten Rand in a real battle even without ta'avern luck.

 

Lan killed Toram easily. So there is a significant gap between Lan and Rand, SIGNFICIANT.  Lan can probably kill both Galad and Gawyn at once. 

The problem here is you are attempting to draw conclusions from very slight evidence. It's possible for a better fighter to lose to a worse one - we see evidence of that in the books, and such things happen in reality as well. One fight between Rand and Riatin and one between Lan and Riatin is not enough to draw a reliable conclusion. Any fighter can have good days and bad days. There could be a significant skill gap, or Lan could have caught Riatin on a bad day. Unfortunately, fights to the death tend not to lend themselves that well to rematches.

[pacificflows]

So are we talking about like kendo matches between these guys to determine rankings, or straight up battlefield-style scraps?

 

Might make the difference if Gawyn can throw some sand in Galad's eyes, as Galad himself would presumably never do himself. In a more dojo-like setting, though, who knows? Maybe Galad would reign supreme against any of them.

[Entreri]

 

Looking on the WoT Wikia, it lists Gareth as a blademaster. I never got that impression from the books. Good with a sword? Sure. He is a soldier and a general. Blademaster? Where does that come from?

It was revealed in TGS.

>It also lists Sammael as a blademaster, though I don't know what evidence there is to support this.

None. We don't know how "blademasters", in the way they are known in the Third Age, got started, but we do know the requirements are not skill with a sword, so much as the demonstration of skill - either in front of five others, and gaining their unanimous consent, or through killing one in a duel. So no AoL person - LTT, Sammael or Be'lal - is known or even strongly suggested to be a blademaster, even if they have equivalent skill, because none of them have met these requirements. Also, he was a sportsman, and swords were a sport back in the AoL. The BWB probably would have the information on what his sport was.

 

Rand is #2, would have  beaten Toram Riatin with difficulty.  Bear in mind that Rand was playing with him, with gloves and shirt that his movement (as Toram stated)...so no, Toram would not have beaten Rand in a real battle even without ta'avern luck.

 

Lan killed Toram easily. So there is a significant gap between Lan and Rand, SIGNFICIANT.  Lan can probably kill both Galad and Gawyn at once. 

The problem here is you are attempting to draw conclusions from very slight evidence. It's possible for a better fighter to lose to a worse one - we see evidence of that in the books, and such things happen in reality as well. One fight between Rand and Riatin and one between Lan and Riatin is not enough to draw a reliable conclusion. Any fighter can have good days and bad days. There could be a significant skill gap, or Lan could have caught Riatin on a bad day. Unfortunately, fights to the death tend not to lend themselves that well to rematches.

 

 

Lan took out 6 at once 20 years ago and he is much better since then.

Rand nearly took out 5 at once in practice in LoC and it was only several months later he fought against Riatin.

Lastly, as good as Rand is and with LTT's memories floating around, he has not had enough time to pratice. At that level, it has to become a muscle memory, you think, you are dead = a lot of pratice.

[John Everyman]

Yeah, we really can't say for sure, but I get the impression it's supposed to be Lan.  After that, most likely Rand, due to his high natural skill in combination with his Aiel training and his memories of Lews Therin. 

 

Of course, the thing about swordfighting is that you can't really rank people and say "the one at the top will always win, no exceptions".  Like someone mentioned, Galad is probably more technically skilled than Gawyn, but Gawyn might win, due to both the warder bond and the fact that he might be willing to play dirty.  Then again, Gawny doesn't exactly play dirty himself. 

 

But regardless, here's my personal impressions. 

 

Lan

Rand/Mat/Perrin (I'm just going to count Mat's his luck as skill; 6 swordsman with knives (in KOD) is pretty ridiculous.  Same for Perrin's "bloodlust": he's not as skilled as the others, but he took out a Fade with minimal training, and can fight multiple Aiel at once)

Be'lal

Galad/Riatin/Valda

Gawyn

Turak

 

Those are the only ones I'm wiling to compare directly.  I'm aware that Mat and Perrin are not "blademasters" in a conventional sense, but I definitely think they're skilled enough to be, if that rank extended to other weapons.  Though if that's the case, I suspect a few Aiel clan chiefs, like Rhuarc and Couladin, would rank somewhere.

[pacificflows]

Are we throwing Talmanes into the mix after his outrageous performance against those myrddraal in Caemlyn?

 

I doubt the ability of at least a couple names on that list to achieve such a thing.

[John Everyman]

Are we throwing Talmanes into the mix after his outrageous performance against those myrddraal in Caemlyn?

 

I doubt the ability of at least a couple names on that list to achieve such a thing.

 

What book does that happen in?  If it's from AMOL I wouldn't know about it. 

 

But yeah, like I said, it's really not possible to realistically rank people based on swordfighting skills and expect it to be consistent. 

[Finnssss22]

Why would Talmanes' skill be questioned now?

He took on Aiel by himself before, while drunk to boot.

Not to say he's a Blademaster or anything but he's hardly unskilled.

[capuga]

No AMOL spoilers in this forum guys.

[joeron bigelow]

Just to stir up the pot...does anyone remember that :"longtooth" taught much of the blade to Lan?

 

If everyone is giving their manlove to Lan...gotta give respect to his teacher - Elyas.  

[Whizbang]

^^ If Tam cannot be considered for the top 10 because he hasn't been practicing for years, and also we haven't seen any dueling from him, then Elyas must also be discounted. He's a badass to be sure, though. I'd love to see his thoughts on Lan nowadays; maybe him watching Lan fight and commenting on it.

[joeron bigelow]

technically have we actually seen dueling from Lan?  We have POVs with galad, rand, and Gawyn slicing people - but none of Lan.  

[Suttree]

technically have we actually seen dueling from Lan?  We have POVs with galad, rand, and Gawyn slicing people - but none of Lan.  

?

 

We have him destroying Toram Riatin, taking down Ryne and defeating multiple swordsman in NS.

[Viperswhip]

We also have plenty of PoVs from others of him calmly dueling Fades way back in Eye of the World and hacking down Trollocs like he is strolling through the park.

[Entreri]

Just read AMOL, the answer will be plainly evident. 

[capuga]

Just read AMOL, the answer will be plainly evident. 

Wonder if that was Brandon throwing the fans a bone. He's knows this has been debated a lot. (P.S. - Won't be able to read the book for another couple of weeks so please don't spoil even if it wasn't against this sub-forums rules.)

[XXX]

We already have the word of God long before the last book was out. Lan is the greatest swordmaster of them all.There is no ambiguity here.

[Entreri]

 

Just read AMOL, the answer will be plainly evident. 

Wonder if that was Brandon throwing the fans a bone. He's knows this has been debated a lot. (P.S. - Won't be able to read the book for another couple of weeks so please don't spoil even if it wasn't against this sub-forums rules.)

I will only say that Lan is very badass and even I was surprised at his skillz.