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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 2274 Views
Yeah... - 17/06/2010 09:31:15 AM 1568 Views
Semirhage is named as "The Lady of Pain" in KoD, by Rand... - 17/06/2010 11:14:56 AM 1908 Views
You are right... - 17/06/2010 11:31:05 AM 1467 Views
Do Semirhage & Bel'al actually mean those things or are they other nicknames? - 17/06/2010 11:38:18 AM 1327 Views
On Be'lal - 17/06/2010 11:42:31 AM 1239 Views
Nice ideas! - 17/06/2010 02:10:43 PM 1372 Views
Gai'shain = those sworn to peace in battle - 17/06/2010 09:22:02 PM 1202 Views
Gaidin = Brother to Battle ... which is what I think the OP meant to use - 17/06/2010 09:32:20 PM 1136 Views
Presumably he meant "Dai Shan", or "Battle Lord", as he said. - 17/06/2010 10:37:07 PM 1216 Views
or that *NM* - 17/06/2010 10:45:49 PM 691 Views
About Aginor - 17/06/2010 12:50:04 PM 1534 Views
Great! - 17/06/2010 02:11:47 PM 1327 Views
Some Old Tongue translations - 17/06/2010 01:34:18 PM 1244 Views
ah Thanks! *NM* - 17/06/2010 02:12:00 PM 704 Views
Good luck with that - 17/06/2010 02:36:36 PM 1289 Views
Re: Good luck with that - 17/06/2010 03:24:52 PM 1145 Views
Very interesting! - 17/06/2010 08:34:36 PM 1231 Views
As always, - 20/06/2010 02:25:07 PM 1136 Views
I always thought Lanfear probably translated to something closer to a Moon translation - 17/06/2010 02:43:04 PM 1431 Views
it's the other way around... - 17/06/2010 02:58:33 PM 1190 Views
good point - 17/06/2010 03:13:17 PM 1190 Views
Re: good point - 17/06/2010 04:05:50 PM 1252 Views
Not to mention she STILL hasn't earned a 3rd (or in 4th) name - 17/06/2010 04:16:57 PM 1233 Views
What about Cyndane - 17/06/2010 04:48:03 PM 1131 Views
It must be her favorite one, since it's the only one she actually earned *NM* - 17/06/2010 05:43:41 PM 616 Views
Well she earned Mierin *NM* - 17/06/2010 08:27:05 PM 766 Views
how so? I figured mom and dad gave that one too her *NM* - 17/06/2010 08:36:24 PM 643 Views
she earned it by being born... ha! gotcha *NM* - 17/06/2010 08:39:10 PM 604 Views
HA! But technically I think her mother earned that *NM* - 17/06/2010 08:58:30 PM 534 Views
well she earned Eronaile by virtue of her genetics *NM* - 17/06/2010 09:04:36 PM 617 Views
Tee hee ... I'd credit her father on that one *NM* - 17/06/2010 09:31:19 PM 666 Views
Re: good point - 17/06/2010 04:47:01 PM 1264 Views
Again, a self-proclaimed ownership aimed at making her seem more impressive - 17/06/2010 05:55:12 PM 1139 Views
I disagree - 17/06/2010 06:20:08 PM 1253 Views
Personally I think that order was off the cuff - 17/06/2010 08:55:28 PM 1367 Views
Re: Personally I think that order was off the cuff - 17/06/2010 09:02:06 PM 1340 Views
Disagree - 17/06/2010 09:28:51 PM 1283 Views
Re: Disagree - 17/06/2010 09:41:23 PM 1215 Views
I'm not being very clear - 17/06/2010 10:14:10 PM 1223 Views
Re: I'm not being very clear - 18/06/2010 08:06:56 AM 3596 Views
Re: I'm not being very clear - 18/06/2010 03:33:12 PM 1234 Views
Re: I'm not being very clear - 18/06/2010 04:35:12 PM 1085 Views
The point isn't if Lanfear has the skill, it's that it was poorly shown. - 18/06/2010 05:31:11 PM 1231 Views
I think it's shown well - 18/06/2010 06:10:55 PM 1336 Views
your own examples show only OP prowess though! - 18/06/2010 06:54:38 PM 1335 Views
How can you say Semirhage didn't achieve anything? - 18/06/2010 01:59:44 AM 1278 Views
I'm partial to Sammael myself. - 18/06/2010 02:24:49 AM 1084 Views
The statement makes clear that those 6 were all quite impressive - 17/06/2010 10:51:49 PM 1057 Views
I don't see that bearing out in the text at all - 17/06/2010 10:57:36 PM 1247 Views
Well, with this point I don't disagree.. *NM* - 17/06/2010 11:10:34 PM 1099 Views
- 17/06/2010 11:12:58 PM 1233 Views
Lanfear's motives were never Shadow-driven - 20/06/2010 06:47:22 PM 1225 Views
not ballsy, just psycho - 20/06/2010 07:25:46 PM 1239 Views
Like Etzel I don't agree - 17/06/2010 08:30:37 PM 1115 Views
I think she's a weak villain - 17/06/2010 08:58:01 PM 1091 Views
Re: I think she's a weak villain - 17/06/2010 09:03:47 PM 1184 Views
Semirhage has done more than anyone since Ishy destroyed the Ten Nations - 18/06/2010 02:06:30 AM 1177 Views
Regarding "Demandred" ... - 17/06/2010 04:51:43 PM 1194 Views
I always thought it was a coincidence - 17/06/2010 08:32:39 PM 1309 Views
Lan/Lanfear isn't a coincidence... - 18/06/2010 12:19:58 AM 1151 Views
Wow. I'm not quite sure where this came from... *NM* - 18/06/2010 05:24:25 PM 590 Views
Re: Lan/Lanfear isn't a coincidence... - 20/06/2010 07:01:55 PM 1303 Views
No, it was supposed to be a joke. - 20/06/2010 07:23:19 PM 1210 Views
Re: No, it was supposed to be a joke. - 21/06/2010 06:36:44 AM 1254 Views
Re: I always thought it was a coincidence - 18/06/2010 05:20:11 PM 1240 Views
Perhaps Lan-fear meaning Night-Daughter would make more sense - 17/06/2010 06:00:35 PM 1193 Views
Interesting *NM* - 17/06/2010 08:33:03 PM 687 Views
Re: Perhaps Lan-fear meaning Night-Daughter would make more sense - 18/06/2010 04:23:38 PM 1424 Views
Regarding "Far Dareis Mai" ... - 18/06/2010 05:28:41 PM 1140 Views
We also have din in Mera'din/Brotherless and far in Far Madding - 18/06/2010 08:16:14 PM 1242 Views
Re: Regarding "Far Dareis Mai" ... - 20/06/2010 03:56:38 AM 1368 Views
And Dragon translations... - 17/06/2010 10:53:02 PM 1305 Views
Re: And Dragon translations... - 17/06/2010 11:01:25 PM 1176 Views
But of course the NT word for Dragon isn't Dragon - 18/06/2010 05:45:34 PM 1385 Views
Ah yes, that sounds reasonable. *NM* - 18/06/2010 08:28:54 PM 650 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 1421 Views
"Dragon Wannabe" *NM* - 20/06/2010 09:23:09 PM 488 Views
Lizard? *NM* - 20/06/2010 10:04:21 PM 657 Views
"Scaled Worm"... though I doubt he'd take that name up in pride . *NM* - 22/06/2010 01:23:03 AM 585 Views
It's probably too much to attempt to guess at the meanings of words... - 17/06/2010 10:58:06 PM 946 Views
A nice article about the Old Tongue and my ramblings - 18/06/2010 11:14:24 AM 7390 Views

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