Demandred - Edit 2
Before modification by Shannow at 28/11/2010 09:31:00 PM
While there wasn't nearly as much information on Demandred in ToM as I had hoped, a few things nevertheless caught my attention.
Firstly, the little bit about Demandred forming the 80 and 1 during the War of Power was very interesting. This seemed to add another link to his attempts to counter and better Lews Therin at every turn.
Sanderson provided a VERY interesting tidbit on twitter:
Question - How often does Demandred contemplate killing Moridin?
Brandon Sanderson: Less than the other Chosen. He is focused on Rand. He contemplates Moridin, but mostly he wants Rand.
This, to me, is very revealing. It reinforces Sandersons emphasis on Demandred being aimed directly at Rand. It also negates a whole host of theories surrounding the Moridin/Graendal alliance - espoused in particular by DomA when KoD came out, as I recall.
In a nutshell it has been argued that most of Moridin's manipulations of Graendal and Mesaana were aimed at weakening Demandred, who was seen as his direct rival for power amongst the Chosen. Apparently everything from Graendal choosing the setting of the meeting in KoD (the Ansaline Gardens, if I recall), to Mesaana's humiliation and the refusal to rescue Semirhage was all part of a grand plot by Moridin because he knew Demandred was his biggest rival.
As it turns out, Demandred was hardly thinking of Moridin as anything more than an annoyance, with his main focus always being on Lews Therin. If Moridin was indeed wasting all of this time and effort to prevent Demandred and his cronies (Semirhage and Mesaana) from overthrowing Moridin's gang, then he was expending his effort needlessly.
Demandred wasn't planning to get rid of him nearly as much as Graendal or Arangar was. Demandred wanted to deal with Rand first, and only THEN was he interested in taking care of Moridin.
In any case, coupled with Sanderson's earlier statement that Demandred's identity is the biggest secret in the series, and that the long wait would pay off in the end, as well as the fact that Demandred's plot was STILL not revealed in ToM, as well as the fact that Graendal - the supposed REAL danger among the Forsaken has been mindtrapped, it is now crystal clear that Demandred's arrival will be a large part of the end game of the series, and he will arrive with a BANG.
In fact, I am at this point contemplating whether Demandred might not be the " Lord of the Evening" whose arrival is imminent according to the Dark Prophecy - given that this is such an obvious counterpoint to Lews Therin, who is the Lord of the Morning.
I have decided that this is not the case, seeing as this Lord of the Evening will be the ONLY one worshipped by the Darkfriends, according to the prophecy. It therefore has to be the Dark One himself. But Demandred's big move might well be a large part of what heralds the arrival of the Lord of the Evening.
In any case, Demandred has outlasted all of the Forsaken. Every last one that has not yet died, has failed miserably on more than one occassion - including Ishamael himself.
Demandred is the last one with a chance to redeem the Forsaken - even if only in a small way, and of course, only temporarily.
I have the hope that his "Let the Lord of Chaos Rule" plan from the opening scene in LoC is STILL operational, and will come into full fruition when the Seals are broken.
In any case, I can now predict without a shadow of a doubt that Demandred's plan WILL be revealed in the next book!
Firstly, the little bit about Demandred forming the 80 and 1 during the War of Power was very interesting. This seemed to add another link to his attempts to counter and better Lews Therin at every turn.
Sanderson provided a VERY interesting tidbit on twitter:
Question - How often does Demandred contemplate killing Moridin?
Brandon Sanderson: Less than the other Chosen. He is focused on Rand. He contemplates Moridin, but mostly he wants Rand.
This, to me, is very revealing. It reinforces Sandersons emphasis on Demandred being aimed directly at Rand. It also negates a whole host of theories surrounding the Moridin/Graendal alliance - espoused in particular by DomA when KoD came out, as I recall.
In a nutshell it has been argued that most of Moridin's manipulations of Graendal and Mesaana were aimed at weakening Demandred, who was seen as his direct rival for power amongst the Chosen. Apparently everything from Graendal choosing the setting of the meeting in KoD (the Ansaline Gardens, if I recall), to Mesaana's humiliation and the refusal to rescue Semirhage was all part of a grand plot by Moridin because he knew Demandred was his biggest rival.
As it turns out, Demandred was hardly thinking of Moridin as anything more than an annoyance, with his main focus always being on Lews Therin. If Moridin was indeed wasting all of this time and effort to prevent Demandred and his cronies (Semirhage and Mesaana) from overthrowing Moridin's gang, then he was expending his effort needlessly.
Demandred wasn't planning to get rid of him nearly as much as Graendal or Arangar was. Demandred wanted to deal with Rand first, and only THEN was he interested in taking care of Moridin.
In any case, coupled with Sanderson's earlier statement that Demandred's identity is the biggest secret in the series, and that the long wait would pay off in the end, as well as the fact that Demandred's plot was STILL not revealed in ToM, as well as the fact that Graendal - the supposed REAL danger among the Forsaken has been mindtrapped, it is now crystal clear that Demandred's arrival will be a large part of the end game of the series, and he will arrive with a BANG.
In fact, I am at this point contemplating whether Demandred might not be the " Lord of the Evening" whose arrival is imminent according to the Dark Prophecy - given that this is such an obvious counterpoint to Lews Therin, who is the Lord of the Morning.
I have decided that this is not the case, seeing as this Lord of the Evening will be the ONLY one worshipped by the Darkfriends, according to the prophecy. It therefore has to be the Dark One himself. But Demandred's big move might well be a large part of what heralds the arrival of the Lord of the Evening.
In any case, Demandred has outlasted all of the Forsaken. Every last one that has not yet died, has failed miserably on more than one occassion - including Ishamael himself.
Demandred is the last one with a chance to redeem the Forsaken - even if only in a small way, and of course, only temporarily.
I have the hope that his "Let the Lord of Chaos Rule" plan from the opening scene in LoC is STILL operational, and will come into full fruition when the Seals are broken.
In any case, I can now predict without a shadow of a doubt that Demandred's plan WILL be revealed in the next book!