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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 1742 Views
Some thoughts about Semmy - 12/09/2009 09:59:50 PM 929 Views
Re: Some thoughts about Semmy - 13/09/2009 08:33:28 AM 978 Views
Of course... - 13/09/2009 08:36:39 AM 788 Views
I've been thinking the same for years - 12/09/2009 11:25:02 PM 890 Views
The Big White Book says... - 12/09/2009 11:46:43 PM 957 Views
Not Aginor - 13/09/2009 08:36:37 AM 964 Views
Re: Not Aginor - 13/09/2009 03:16:13 PM 858 Views
Re: Not Aginor - 13/09/2009 05:47:14 PM 896 Views
Fact is, the bwb is untrustworthy - 13/09/2009 05:54:28 PM 817 Views
We must either use all the quotes from the BWB or none of them - 13/09/2009 06:07:46 PM 866 Views
Or... - 13/09/2009 08:41:23 PM 812 Views
Re: Or... - 14/09/2009 04:46:52 AM 780 Views
But, RJ himself said that the BWB was written from the standpoint of a scholar - 14/09/2009 04:42:59 PM 803 Views
Re: Not Aginor - 13/09/2009 08:17:28 PM 776 Views
It all depends on how you define "powerful" - 14/09/2009 02:30:31 AM 894 Views
I agree 101%. *NM* - 14/09/2009 03:49:51 AM 449 Views
I think power is much more than raw strength - 14/09/2009 05:00:10 AM 781 Views
I agree for the most part, but disagree on one thing. - 14/09/2009 07:52:10 PM 901 Views
Re: The top 6 Forsaken - similar in the One Power - 12/09/2009 11:48:03 PM 827 Views
the other reason - 13/09/2009 03:24:24 PM 758 Views
So is graendal similar to lanfear then? - 13/09/2009 05:41:42 PM 764 Views
Graendal could fight Lanfear and win - 13/09/2009 06:01:57 PM 1300 Views
Graendal herself says... - 13/09/2009 09:08:46 PM 782 Views
Re: Graendal herself says... - 14/09/2009 04:48:37 AM 806 Views
Doesn't Graendal have an Angreal now? - 17/09/2009 03:29:10 AM 821 Views
Re: Graendal herself says... - 15/09/2009 05:36:53 PM 694 Views
Lanfear was more powerful than Graendal, but Cyndane has less power - 13/09/2009 10:19:35 PM 765 Views
Re: So is graendal similar to lanfear then? - 13/09/2009 06:05:11 PM 903 Views
I agree with this - 13/09/2009 06:15:24 PM 918 Views
Compulsion=any other deadly weave. Doesn't really change matters - 13/09/2009 10:23:40 PM 783 Views
Excellent point *NM* - 13/09/2009 10:35:08 PM 464 Views
But it did give her an edge, and against two forsaken. *NM* - 13/09/2009 11:12:09 PM 438 Views
Hm? When? *NM* - 14/09/2009 09:04:10 PM 362 Views
tPoD, when she compelled Cyndane and Moghedien. *NM* - 14/09/2009 10:19:23 PM 414 Views
Not at all - 14/09/2009 04:51:48 AM 843 Views
Using Compulsion on someone doesn't seem mechanically different - 14/09/2009 09:03:41 PM 690 Views
I'm not so sure about that - 14/09/2009 09:36:45 PM 793 Views
Totally agree - 14/09/2009 10:26:07 PM 595 Views
I don't agree. - 15/09/2009 04:33:04 PM 906 Views
Re: So is graendal similar to lanfear then? - 14/09/2009 04:34:24 PM 740 Views
But Graendal confronted her... twice! *NM* - 13/09/2009 07:48:29 PM 390 Views
Apparently only the third time counts *NM* - 13/09/2009 08:00:37 PM 423 Views
Really? - 13/09/2009 08:36:33 PM 753 Views
No falsely... - 13/09/2009 11:25:40 PM 981 Views
That's pretty much my opinion in a nutshell - 14/09/2009 04:56:15 AM 910 Views
And, of course, the male and female OP strength ranks might not even correlate that much - 14/09/2009 04:41:58 PM 721 Views
They correlate on some critical points - 14/09/2009 06:57:43 PM 809 Views
That's not exactly what I'm referring to. - 15/09/2009 04:36:29 PM 669 Views
But then we are discussing the same thing - 15/09/2009 06:59:04 PM 810 Views
I think, outside of semantics, our main disagreement doesn't lie amid the higher tiers - 16/09/2009 03:53:09 PM 684 Views
Probably - 16/09/2009 06:31:27 PM 830 Views
Re: Probably - 16/09/2009 07:19:03 PM 796 Views
Re: Probably - 16/09/2009 08:59:31 PM 748 Views
Re: Probably - 18/09/2009 07:03:09 PM 1082 Views
Ahh the old debate... - 17/09/2009 12:42:36 AM 767 Views
Re: Ahh the old debate... - 17/09/2009 05:26:52 AM 714 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 770 Views
I do think Ishamel is special - 14/09/2009 07:04:03 PM 855 Views
He's special the same way any individual is special. - 14/09/2009 11:36:42 PM 813 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. - 15/09/2009 08:36:20 AM 792 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. - 15/09/2009 03:48:34 PM 777 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. - 15/09/2009 04:39:39 PM 771 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. - 15/09/2009 04:53:00 PM 751 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. - 15/09/2009 06:47:45 PM 730 Views
The more interesting question is... - 14/09/2009 06:34:11 PM 723 Views
Hmmm - 14/09/2009 07:04:34 PM 749 Views
I think we'll see Graendal vs. Aran'gar. - 14/09/2009 07:31:16 PM 822 Views
Ah yes, that makes sense, and would be great! *NM* - 14/09/2009 07:40:29 PM 615 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 709 Views
They do imply that Graendal is a lot more dangerous than she looks - 14/09/2009 09:08:43 PM 737 Views
I've never underestimated Graendal - 14/09/2009 09:42:49 PM 788 Views
Yeah... her frivolity was always a red flag for me too. - 14/09/2009 10:18:40 PM 769 Views
To me, she is the most lethal. - 15/09/2009 05:18:10 PM 594 Views
Yup... - 15/09/2009 06:39:20 PM 638 Views
I still like Lanfear more - 15/09/2009 06:51:03 PM 723 Views
Bah! She's an idiot! - 15/09/2009 07:06:06 PM 736 Views
only in love *NM* - 15/09/2009 07:23:29 PM 702 Views
Graendal did not beat me and Moghedien - 15/09/2009 05:59:39 PM 817 Views
Agreed - 15/09/2009 06:36:48 PM 713 Views
Ummm... how do we know? - 15/09/2009 06:40:57 PM 836 Views
Re: Ummm... how do we know? - 15/09/2009 06:56:21 PM 757 Views
Hmmm... - 15/09/2009 07:07:45 PM 917 Views

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