But I will say this: as "cool" as it may have been, there's a part of me that doesn't buy Arangar dying like that. It may be some residual pull for resolution - I'm not sure, honestly. Still, I don't understand why Arangar was trapped so easily.

For one thing, Rand holding a massive amount of saidin would make a Forsaken stand at attention. Arangar could sense what Rand was doing and didn't take hold of the saidin his/her/whatever-self? People are much harder to shield when they are holding the Power, and I can't imagine Arangar acting like a Muggle, to mix things awfully, as a big pile of hurt like Rand gets close. Our bi-gender Forsaken would likely have been weaving a gateway for 'gar-self.

Even as I was impressed by what I was reading, I still thought: there's no way! Arangar just gets punked? Wow, I sure would have liked to have had some damn inkling about what this Forsaken had been up to, at least by the point I read their desmise!

I took the author(s) at face value and thought Graendal was gone. I'm happier to have her around, actually. It's hard to complain, from some silly fan perspective, since (if you have to be like that) one Forsaken did die. And even if you don't keep score, I'm not saying it's a bad scene.

Yet, there's no reason why a thinking person would believe that making a weave with saidin would help convince Rand of Graendal's presence, I just thought that the moment made less sense from what I would expect of the characters. "Confuse them further?" To what end? No, really? "There's saidin there! Graendal is up to something!"

For one thing, if Rand senses a saidin-woven Compulsion, that should speak in favor of a not-Graendal channeler. I'm not really sure what reaction that would get from 'al Thor, but it decreases the "Graendal hiding place" conclusion that either the hunter or pursued here seemed to want. Graendal's chummy Chosen would also know that Rand detecting saidin might be a little suicidal.

The Forsaken Formerly Known As Balthamel, a little later on, would be all a-tizzy at the massive amount of saidin building up nearby. Graendal was, and she couldn't sense it. That feeling would heighten if it's the ~5 Forsaken-killing Dragon at the door, heaving back really deep with a big light appearing at the end of its cavernous throat. I'd hardly buy it from something equally nifty, like several Black Ashaman; aw, hell, some have shown lots of disrespect and underestimation of Rand, so it's not impossible.

I wouldn't think 'gar would trust Graendal so completely, and, while probably in touch with an inner sluttiness, I've rarely had reason to doubt the Forsaken being at least decently protective of themselves... "So much Power! What is he doing?" Yes, Arangar, what indeed? Maybe that wall will protect you!

Graendal supports my own problems with this. How? By internal narration that states that both Compulsions - specifically, the one made with a Power that Graendal can not access - must disappear in order for Rand to think that Graendal is ghost.

I'm not really believing that one...

PS - slight, but not insulting laughter at BS for "She'd been played." It's not like RJ wouldn't write that, nor that Graendal couldn't have such a thought (I suppose). It's just that my mind starts to imagine the alternatives. "She'd been turning about like a klute engraving in a comty-domty contest!" "She'd mistaken day for night, like a jar-jar bird when its napthalmalene coverlet had been removed!"

might be the reason that she's still alive. As someone said, Graendal seems to be about infodump and BS went to some effort to prevent her from dying whereas Aran'gar went down the hole for the second time without much fuss.

Of course, I'd like Graendal to play a much bigger role still, and I suspect she might be the second last to fall before Moridin (which would nice since she was the second to join the Shadow). Until then I'm hoping she muses on how she snuffed Aran'gar and links it to her other memorable murders.