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Personally I think that order was off the cuff darius_sedai Send a noteboard - 17/06/2010 08:55:28 PM
RJ mentioned Lanfear as the third impressive Forsaken and as the first women among the females:
"Some of those Forsaken the Dark One killed were every bit as high-ranking as the thirteen who were remembered, and who you might say constituted a large part of the Dark One's General Staff at the time of the sealing. With the Forsaken, where treachery and backstabbing were an acceptable way of getting ahead, the turnover in the upper ranks was fairly high, though Ishamael, Demandred, Lanfear, Graendal, Semirhage, and later Sammael, were always at the top end of the pyramid. They were very skilled at personal survival, politically and physically."

This suggests that Lanfear is at least as able as the others among the mentioned Top 6, probably only surpassed by Ishy and Demandred.


Not an actual ranking ... this very ranking is why I only listed these 6 as the ones who were truly more impressive than her ... and IMO the books bear that out. Lanfear just comes across as a cliche villain to me. I can't say that we've seen her do much other than simple be strong in the OP, woo hoo, I don't think that makes her more than lucky to have been born that way. But I'm not really talking about OP here. She's the only one of this bunch who was not acclaimed in the AoL prior to the Collapse, and IMO likely was only in the elite because of her strength and skill with the OP. The others were all skilled in many other areas, or had specific specialties that made them truly fear worthy. Semirhage as a torturer, Graendal as a manipulator, Sammael and Demandred as Generals, Ishamael as a pseudo-religious figure...

I just don't see that she actually did much outside of obsess over LTT, assassinate a few people and bitch about what should have been hers. Since returning, the other "Top 6" have all carved out power bases, sown chaos and in general have all been far more interesting villains (IMO). Lanfear managed to accomplish nothing at all except to end up a slave, no better off than Moghedien.

Honestly she seems the type to have laid claim to TAR simply because it was a rather ridiculous claim. She can't be there at all times to enforce "her rule" and she's not even the most accomplished master of the realm! If she was truly the "queen of TAR" as she liked to claim, why could she not even keep the others from using it whenever they wished? Honestly it's just like giving herself her own name, simply a way to make herself believe that she is more impressive than she really is.

All OP Strength and just about nothing else.
Domani Drag Queen in the White Tower ... Aran'gar watch out!
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Forsaken translations - 17/06/2010 09:16:36 AM 2200 Views
Yeah... - 17/06/2010 09:31:15 AM 1492 Views
Semirhage is named as "The Lady of Pain" in KoD, by Rand... - 17/06/2010 11:14:56 AM 1823 Views
You are right... - 17/06/2010 11:31:05 AM 1390 Views
Do Semirhage & Bel'al actually mean those things or are they other nicknames? - 17/06/2010 11:38:18 AM 1241 Views
On Be'lal - 17/06/2010 11:42:31 AM 1167 Views
Nice ideas! - 17/06/2010 02:10:43 PM 1297 Views
Gai'shain = those sworn to peace in battle - 17/06/2010 09:22:02 PM 1125 Views
Gaidin = Brother to Battle ... which is what I think the OP meant to use - 17/06/2010 09:32:20 PM 1067 Views
Presumably he meant "Dai Shan", or "Battle Lord", as he said. - 17/06/2010 10:37:07 PM 1143 Views
or that *NM* - 17/06/2010 10:45:49 PM 657 Views
About Aginor - 17/06/2010 12:50:04 PM 1441 Views
Great! - 17/06/2010 02:11:47 PM 1269 Views
Some Old Tongue translations - 17/06/2010 01:34:18 PM 1168 Views
ah Thanks! *NM* - 17/06/2010 02:12:00 PM 672 Views
Good luck with that - 17/06/2010 02:36:36 PM 1227 Views
Re: Good luck with that - 17/06/2010 03:24:52 PM 1056 Views
Very interesting! - 17/06/2010 08:34:36 PM 1136 Views
As always, - 20/06/2010 02:25:07 PM 1063 Views
I always thought Lanfear probably translated to something closer to a Moon translation - 17/06/2010 02:43:04 PM 1350 Views
it's the other way around... - 17/06/2010 02:58:33 PM 1121 Views
good point - 17/06/2010 03:13:17 PM 1114 Views
Re: good point - 17/06/2010 04:05:50 PM 1174 Views
Not to mention she STILL hasn't earned a 3rd (or in 4th) name - 17/06/2010 04:16:57 PM 1158 Views
What about Cyndane - 17/06/2010 04:48:03 PM 1049 Views
It must be her favorite one, since it's the only one she actually earned *NM* - 17/06/2010 05:43:41 PM 585 Views
Well she earned Mierin *NM* - 17/06/2010 08:27:05 PM 733 Views
how so? I figured mom and dad gave that one too her *NM* - 17/06/2010 08:36:24 PM 613 Views
she earned it by being born... ha! gotcha *NM* - 17/06/2010 08:39:10 PM 573 Views
HA! But technically I think her mother earned that *NM* - 17/06/2010 08:58:30 PM 501 Views
well she earned Eronaile by virtue of her genetics *NM* - 17/06/2010 09:04:36 PM 589 Views
Tee hee ... I'd credit her father on that one *NM* - 17/06/2010 09:31:19 PM 630 Views
Re: good point - 17/06/2010 04:47:01 PM 1169 Views
Again, a self-proclaimed ownership aimed at making her seem more impressive - 17/06/2010 05:55:12 PM 1076 Views
I disagree - 17/06/2010 06:20:08 PM 1183 Views
Personally I think that order was off the cuff - 17/06/2010 08:55:28 PM 1291 Views
Re: Personally I think that order was off the cuff - 17/06/2010 09:02:06 PM 1260 Views
Disagree - 17/06/2010 09:28:51 PM 1205 Views
Re: Disagree - 17/06/2010 09:41:23 PM 1142 Views
I'm not being very clear - 17/06/2010 10:14:10 PM 1146 Views
Re: I'm not being very clear - 18/06/2010 08:06:56 AM 3515 Views
Re: I'm not being very clear - 18/06/2010 03:33:12 PM 1157 Views
Re: I'm not being very clear - 18/06/2010 04:35:12 PM 1011 Views
The point isn't if Lanfear has the skill, it's that it was poorly shown. - 18/06/2010 05:31:11 PM 1133 Views
I think it's shown well - 18/06/2010 06:10:55 PM 1262 Views
your own examples show only OP prowess though! - 18/06/2010 06:54:38 PM 1252 Views
How can you say Semirhage didn't achieve anything? - 18/06/2010 01:59:44 AM 1200 Views
I'm partial to Sammael myself. - 18/06/2010 02:24:49 AM 1005 Views
The statement makes clear that those 6 were all quite impressive - 17/06/2010 10:51:49 PM 967 Views
I don't see that bearing out in the text at all - 17/06/2010 10:57:36 PM 1177 Views
Well, with this point I don't disagree.. *NM* - 17/06/2010 11:10:34 PM 1016 Views
- 17/06/2010 11:12:58 PM 1146 Views
Lanfear's motives were never Shadow-driven - 20/06/2010 06:47:22 PM 1145 Views
not ballsy, just psycho - 20/06/2010 07:25:46 PM 1162 Views
Like Etzel I don't agree - 17/06/2010 08:30:37 PM 1039 Views
I think she's a weak villain - 17/06/2010 08:58:01 PM 1012 Views
Re: I think she's a weak villain - 17/06/2010 09:03:47 PM 1095 Views
Semirhage has done more than anyone since Ishy destroyed the Ten Nations - 18/06/2010 02:06:30 AM 1128 Views
Regarding "Demandred" ... - 17/06/2010 04:51:43 PM 1117 Views
I always thought it was a coincidence - 17/06/2010 08:32:39 PM 1208 Views
Lan/Lanfear isn't a coincidence... - 18/06/2010 12:19:58 AM 1058 Views
Wow. I'm not quite sure where this came from... *NM* - 18/06/2010 05:24:25 PM 556 Views
Re: Lan/Lanfear isn't a coincidence... - 20/06/2010 07:01:55 PM 1220 Views
No, it was supposed to be a joke. - 20/06/2010 07:23:19 PM 1130 Views
Re: No, it was supposed to be a joke. - 21/06/2010 06:36:44 AM 1177 Views
Re: I always thought it was a coincidence - 18/06/2010 05:20:11 PM 1170 Views
Perhaps Lan-fear meaning Night-Daughter would make more sense - 17/06/2010 06:00:35 PM 1106 Views
Interesting *NM* - 17/06/2010 08:33:03 PM 654 Views
Re: Perhaps Lan-fear meaning Night-Daughter would make more sense - 18/06/2010 04:23:38 PM 1327 Views
Regarding "Far Dareis Mai" ... - 18/06/2010 05:28:41 PM 1056 Views
We also have din in Mera'din/Brotherless and far in Far Madding - 18/06/2010 08:16:14 PM 1158 Views
Re: Regarding "Far Dareis Mai" ... - 20/06/2010 03:56:38 AM 1279 Views
And Dragon translations... - 17/06/2010 10:53:02 PM 1225 Views
Re: And Dragon translations... - 17/06/2010 11:01:25 PM 1098 Views
But of course the NT word for Dragon isn't Dragon - 18/06/2010 05:45:34 PM 1303 Views
Ah yes, that sounds reasonable. *NM* - 18/06/2010 08:28:54 PM 617 Views
If "aman" is the Old Tongue name for Dragon, maybe "DEMANdred" contains a reference to Dragon too... - 20/06/2010 08:13:35 PM 1325 Views
"Dragon Wannabe" *NM* - 20/06/2010 09:23:09 PM 458 Views
Lizard? *NM* - 20/06/2010 10:04:21 PM 620 Views
"Scaled Worm"... though I doubt he'd take that name up in pride . *NM* - 22/06/2010 01:23:03 AM 551 Views
It's probably too much to attempt to guess at the meanings of words... - 17/06/2010 10:58:06 PM 872 Views
A nice article about the Old Tongue and my ramblings - 18/06/2010 11:14:24 AM 7297 Views

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