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The top 6 Forsaken - similar in the One Power Sidious Send a noteboard - 12/09/2009 09:27:20 PM

The QP I submitted asked who the 2nd most powerful Forsaken is, after Ishamael. The two most popular answers were Demandred and Lanfear.

Jordan named Ishamael, Demandred, Sammael, Lanfear, Graendal and Semirhage as the top Forsaken in the Shadow - who were always near to the top of the Shadow hierarchy due to their skills in the physical and political world.

My own personal theory is that these six Forsaken are pretty similar in the One Power - so similar that dueling will probably lead to unpredictable results. I don't think that they are similar in strength - Ishamael could be considerably strong in saidin compared to Graendal or Semirhage. However, they all have special skills which make them powerful Forsaken. None of them hid like Moghedien, and all of them have shown that they are prepared to openly challenge a threat of equal power.

All of those six are extremely powerful in the One Power, with Ishamael and Lanfear showing the highest possible levels attainable, and the other four with slightly less. Regarding individual skill, Demandred is generally skilled in most things, and Graendal and Semirhage are among the most skilled in their fields who have ever lived. All six are equally willing to kill an opponent, and are all established mass murderers. Lanfear, Sammael and Semirhage are openly aggressive Forsaken who devastate first and ask questions later. Ishamael, Demandred and Graendal shy away from direct conflict if they can and use precision strikes and uncommon skills to undermine their opponents.

In summary I think that those six Forsaken are close to the top of everything - strength, skill, attitude towards battle. Where one has great strength in something it is balanced by a weakness somewhere else. Ishamael is probably the single most powerful of the thirteen overall, which is pretty much hinted at in the books on several occasions. The other five are probably all on a relatively level playing field.

Demandred, Lanfear, Semirhage, Graendal and Sammael could probably duel one another with unpredictable results, and the result would be 50-50 if they dueled a hundred times. It makes them inferior to Ishamael and Lews Therin, but not to each other.
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The top 6 Forsaken - similar in the One Power - 12/09/2009 09:27:20 PM 1682 Views
Some thoughts about Semmy - 12/09/2009 09:59:50 PM 855 Views
Re: Some thoughts about Semmy - 13/09/2009 08:33:28 AM 909 Views
Of course... - 13/09/2009 08:36:39 AM 716 Views
I've been thinking the same for years - 12/09/2009 11:25:02 PM 817 Views
The Big White Book says... - 12/09/2009 11:46:43 PM 882 Views
Not Aginor - 13/09/2009 08:36:37 AM 883 Views
Re: Not Aginor - 13/09/2009 03:16:13 PM 778 Views
Re: Not Aginor - 13/09/2009 05:47:14 PM 814 Views
Fact is, the bwb is untrustworthy - 13/09/2009 05:54:28 PM 741 Views
We must either use all the quotes from the BWB or none of them - 13/09/2009 06:07:46 PM 797 Views
Or... - 13/09/2009 08:41:23 PM 722 Views
Re: Or... - 14/09/2009 04:46:52 AM 696 Views
But, RJ himself said that the BWB was written from the standpoint of a scholar - 14/09/2009 04:42:59 PM 715 Views
Re: Not Aginor - 13/09/2009 08:17:28 PM 687 Views
It all depends on how you define "powerful" - 14/09/2009 02:30:31 AM 825 Views
I agree 101%. *NM* - 14/09/2009 03:49:51 AM 423 Views
I think power is much more than raw strength - 14/09/2009 05:00:10 AM 698 Views
I agree for the most part, but disagree on one thing. - 14/09/2009 07:52:10 PM 820 Views
Re: The top 6 Forsaken - similar in the One Power - 12/09/2009 11:48:03 PM 751 Views
the other reason - 13/09/2009 03:24:24 PM 676 Views
So is graendal similar to lanfear then? - 13/09/2009 05:41:42 PM 693 Views
Graendal could fight Lanfear and win - 13/09/2009 06:01:57 PM 1227 Views
Graendal herself says... - 13/09/2009 09:08:46 PM 713 Views
Re: Graendal herself says... - 14/09/2009 04:48:37 AM 728 Views
Doesn't Graendal have an Angreal now? - 17/09/2009 03:29:10 AM 743 Views
Re: Graendal herself says... - 15/09/2009 05:36:53 PM 614 Views
Lanfear was more powerful than Graendal, but Cyndane has less power - 13/09/2009 10:19:35 PM 691 Views
Re: So is graendal similar to lanfear then? - 13/09/2009 06:05:11 PM 826 Views
I agree with this - 13/09/2009 06:15:24 PM 846 Views
Compulsion=any other deadly weave. Doesn't really change matters - 13/09/2009 10:23:40 PM 694 Views
Excellent point *NM* - 13/09/2009 10:35:08 PM 433 Views
But it did give her an edge, and against two forsaken. *NM* - 13/09/2009 11:12:09 PM 404 Views
Hm? When? *NM* - 14/09/2009 09:04:10 PM 333 Views
tPoD, when she compelled Cyndane and Moghedien. *NM* - 14/09/2009 10:19:23 PM 386 Views
Not at all - 14/09/2009 04:51:48 AM 768 Views
Using Compulsion on someone doesn't seem mechanically different - 14/09/2009 09:03:41 PM 612 Views
I'm not so sure about that - 14/09/2009 09:36:45 PM 714 Views
Totally agree - 14/09/2009 10:26:07 PM 516 Views
I don't agree. - 15/09/2009 04:33:04 PM 831 Views
Re: So is graendal similar to lanfear then? - 14/09/2009 04:34:24 PM 669 Views
But Graendal confronted her... twice! *NM* - 13/09/2009 07:48:29 PM 362 Views
Apparently only the third time counts *NM* - 13/09/2009 08:00:37 PM 390 Views
Really? - 13/09/2009 08:36:33 PM 679 Views
No falsely... - 13/09/2009 11:25:40 PM 890 Views
That's pretty much my opinion in a nutshell - 14/09/2009 04:56:15 AM 831 Views
And, of course, the male and female OP strength ranks might not even correlate that much - 14/09/2009 04:41:58 PM 646 Views
They correlate on some critical points - 14/09/2009 06:57:43 PM 728 Views
That's not exactly what I'm referring to. - 15/09/2009 04:36:29 PM 596 Views
But then we are discussing the same thing - 15/09/2009 06:59:04 PM 738 Views
I think, outside of semantics, our main disagreement doesn't lie amid the higher tiers - 16/09/2009 03:53:09 PM 613 Views
Probably - 16/09/2009 06:31:27 PM 746 Views
Re: Probably - 16/09/2009 07:19:03 PM 718 Views
Re: Probably - 16/09/2009 08:59:31 PM 670 Views
Re: Probably - 18/09/2009 07:03:09 PM 1004 Views
Ahh the old debate... - 17/09/2009 12:42:36 AM 687 Views
Re: Ahh the old debate... - 17/09/2009 05:26:52 AM 630 Views
I only disagree on one point, I think they are all rather equal in potential, incl. Ishamael - 14/09/2009 04:28:12 PM 690 Views
I do think Ishamel is special - 14/09/2009 07:04:03 PM 783 Views
He's special the same way any individual is special. - 14/09/2009 11:36:42 PM 737 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. - 15/09/2009 08:36:20 AM 722 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. - 15/09/2009 03:48:34 PM 707 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. - 15/09/2009 04:39:39 PM 681 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. - 15/09/2009 04:53:00 PM 670 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. - 15/09/2009 06:47:45 PM 661 Views
The more interesting question is... - 14/09/2009 06:34:11 PM 647 Views
Hmmm - 14/09/2009 07:04:34 PM 667 Views
I think we'll see Graendal vs. Aran'gar. - 14/09/2009 07:31:16 PM 741 Views
Ah yes, that makes sense, and would be great! *NM* - 14/09/2009 07:40:29 PM 530 Views
Yeah. Though I think its no competition. Graendal has got to be better than a walking tree! - 14/09/2009 07:50:09 PM 628 Views
They do imply that Graendal is a lot more dangerous than she looks - 14/09/2009 09:08:43 PM 658 Views
I've never underestimated Graendal - 14/09/2009 09:42:49 PM 690 Views
Yeah... her frivolity was always a red flag for me too. - 14/09/2009 10:18:40 PM 691 Views
To me, she is the most lethal. - 15/09/2009 05:18:10 PM 520 Views
Yup... - 15/09/2009 06:39:20 PM 567 Views
I still like Lanfear more - 15/09/2009 06:51:03 PM 645 Views
Bah! She's an idiot! - 15/09/2009 07:06:06 PM 661 Views
only in love *NM* - 15/09/2009 07:23:29 PM 638 Views
Graendal did not beat me and Moghedien - 15/09/2009 05:59:39 PM 729 Views
Agreed - 15/09/2009 06:36:48 PM 645 Views
Ummm... how do we know? - 15/09/2009 06:40:57 PM 788 Views
Re: Ummm... how do we know? - 15/09/2009 06:56:21 PM 685 Views
Hmmm... - 15/09/2009 07:07:45 PM 839 Views

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