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Well... Sidious Send a noteboard - 11/12/2009 06:55:17 AM

Time to admire some rather intelligent thinking from two of the Forsaken in the Prologue...

Mesaana

1. "But think of what Semirhage might reveal!... she is one of the Chosen. It is our duty to aid her."

Mesaana doesn't really get this whole Forsaken thing, does she? How did she last so long? The other Forsaken relish a fallen comrade, but Mesaana acts more like one of Rand's allies than a person sworn to the Dark One.

2. "You saw the wisdom is agreeing to meet with us. Surely that was because you are as shocked as we are. We do not have the resources to help her ourselves; she is bound to be well guarded by Aes Sedai and those Ash'aman. You need to help us free her."

It must have been truly shocking for Mesaana and Demandred that Semirhage failed to capture a live Dragon Reborn, when all her allies failed trying to kill him. Not only that, but she took a few damane along against him, and a collection of the most powerful channelers in the world. Semirhage's tactical brilliance seems to be common to her little trio of evil.

Secondly, we saw what an awesome guard Semirhage had, and most of the rescuing was left to Elza. I can see how it would be difficult for two channelers of their skill and power to rescue her, especially since these so called Aes Sedai and Ash'aman only have a fraction of their ability and knowledge. It's obvious that they're being cowards and are afraid - Mesaana hasn't learned from the Cleansing, and Demandred is just a bag of hot air no matter what he says.

3. "The White Tower and those fools who rule it will shortly be mine. I will deliver not just a broken White Tower to our Great Lord but an entire brood of channelers..."

This one worked out well.

Demandred

1. "I want Lews Therin... Semirhage knows that. She also knows that if she'd killed him, I would have found her and claimed her life in retribution."

I'm sure Semirhage couldn't give a rat's ass. Everyone knows he wants to kill Lews Therin, but Aginor, Be'lal, Ishamael, Sammael, Rahvin, Lanfear and Asmodean tried anyway. I wonder if this threat carries to them too. Hell, we can even add Fain, the Black ajah and the Whitecloaks.

2. "Nobody kills al'Thor. Nobody but me."

Yawn. Seven years in the War of Power, and three since he was reborn and no results yet. And let's not forget that Rand was untrained for a large part of that. During the Cleansing, the pinnacle of AOL knowledge was released as a bolt of lightning blocked by Cadsuane. Is this the most impotent threat ever? It's high up on my list - after Lanfear's desire to get married to Rand and give each other Choedan Kal keys for wedding gifts, and then usurp the Creator (she should have usurped Moiraine first if you ask me).


Sanderson has to try and do a lot of things while getting his stamp in right from the word go.

He has to portray Graendal as a psychological analyst. He does so by having her analyse each of the Forsaken as best she can.

He has to portray the Demandred, Semirhage, Mesaana alliance, and does so with an obvious error by showing Graendal's pride at having seen through their non-existent "secret". This despite Graendal and Arangar previously openly discussing the alliances among the Forsaken in KoD.

He has to try and portray Demandred's arrogance and sense of mystery and lethality, and he has to demonstrate Demandred's obvious hatred for Lews Therin.

He does this by having Graendal articulate every reader's obvious vexation at Demandred's mysterious location. And then he has Demandred make a rather uncharacteristically direct statement which shows his hatred for Rand and portrays his arrogance and a hint of lethality all in one.

To conclude: Is this how RJ would have written it? No.
Is it a particularly good Forsaken scene? Not really.

In truth, it was not necessary for Sanderson to re-emphasize the key personality traits of all the Forsaken so starkly. But for him it was probably something new and fresh, even if it is old news for us.

Anyway, your original post was a bit tongue in the cheek in any case, so a serious analysis of this chapter was probably not what you were looking for.



Yes. BS had to cover all the bases with the Forsaken, and it wasn't done with subtlety.
Wheel of Time board admin
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Two idiot Forsaken in the Prologue - 10/12/2009 04:31:10 PM 1486 Views
Oh you are being unfair! - 10/12/2009 04:49:31 PM 631 Views
LOL. Are you implying Mesaana killed Asmodean? *NM* - 10/12/2009 07:13:27 PM 235 Views
That would be a funny twist, but in reality I think we all know - 10/12/2009 08:10:16 PM 497 Views
Yes; this pretty much matched my expectations - esp. for Demandred. - 10/12/2009 04:56:32 PM 640 Views
Mesaana was motivated out of... - 10/12/2009 07:16:43 PM 546 Views
Ah, then she would be more of an idiot than I thought. 2nd Rate indeed. *NM* - 10/12/2009 08:19:05 PM 213 Views
Re: Yes; this pretty much matched my expectations - esp. for Demandred. - 11/12/2009 06:47:43 AM 593 Views
But BS said that Shaidar Haran couldn't do things in the physical world without aid. - 11/12/2009 03:20:59 PM 498 Views
I think that just proves SH isn't gay! *NM* - 11/12/2009 04:07:47 PM 225 Views
Or it could just prove - 11/12/2009 05:42:33 PM 474 Views
Re: Or it could just prove - 11/12/2009 07:00:57 PM 421 Views
I agree, but I think it's about the DO being totally random - 11/12/2009 07:07:17 PM 497 Views
I don't ever want to find out who Demandred is - 11/12/2009 02:47:58 PM 440 Views
Imagine how bad it would be if - 11/12/2009 11:22:56 PM 435 Views
I would say... - 10/12/2009 04:58:15 PM 549 Views
he hasn't really done anything - 10/12/2009 05:25:03 PM 544 Views
But the point is valid - 10/12/2009 05:32:12 PM 687 Views
I'm pretty sure he did something... - 10/12/2009 05:33:04 PM 529 Views
Re: I'm pretty sure he did something... - 10/12/2009 07:51:25 PM 423 Views
Yeah, but now Graendal is dead, while Demandred is still alive. *NM* - 10/12/2009 08:29:24 PM 436 Views
Re: Yeah, but now Graendal is dead, while Demandred is still alive. *NM* - 11/12/2009 12:17:54 AM 389 Views
I tend to agree - 11/12/2009 06:52:51 AM 550 Views
I think Demandred is pretty smart... - 11/12/2009 11:45:58 AM 439 Views
of course he's never set foot anywhere close to anything long enough - 11/12/2009 02:11:19 PM 418 Views
Is it smart to take a risk... - 11/12/2009 02:22:18 PM 408 Views
I think your making a lot of assumptions - 11/12/2009 05:40:47 PM 444 Views
Well... - 11/12/2009 06:04:47 PM 432 Views
Re: Well... - 11/12/2009 07:15:06 PM 553 Views
I agree that Demandred will fail in the end. - 12/12/2009 11:00:59 AM 430 Views
Either a Channeler or Mat - 12/12/2009 03:41:09 PM 358 Views
According to RJ... - 12/12/2009 12:32:12 PM 514 Views
makes you wonder - 12/12/2009 03:39:08 PM 428 Views
Re: makes you wonder - 12/12/2009 03:47:18 PM 407 Views
Thanks for the BS quote, that's new news to me! - 12/12/2009 03:55:37 PM 398 Views
Moridin didn't want to betrayal Sammael... - 12/12/2009 04:07:49 PM 397 Views
It amounts to the same thing - 12/12/2009 04:12:42 PM 426 Views
Then you could also say... - 12/12/2009 04:22:30 PM 391 Views
no actually you cannot - 12/12/2009 04:46:03 PM 399 Views
Ah, I give up... - 12/12/2009 04:50:07 PM 393 Views
thanks for your permission - 12/12/2009 04:53:01 PM 412 Views
To be fair, Mesaana's brood of channelers promise could still come to fruition. *NM* - 10/12/2009 04:58:28 PM 246 Views
Yup, especially if she is a higher-up AS in the tower. - 10/12/2009 05:57:12 PM 453 Views
Sanderson's first attempt at portraying the Forsaken based on character summaries in RJ's notes... - 10/12/2009 05:29:51 PM 618 Views
Well... - 11/12/2009 06:55:17 AM 452 Views
That was RJ's biggest flaw, IMO - 11/12/2009 02:45:41 PM 467 Views
I'll respond to someone who wants to say that - 11/12/2009 05:19:52 PM 501 Views
Ya. Fain's a good exception. I still have hopes for him. And... Thereva was scary, but... - 11/12/2009 08:32:38 PM 411 Views
Slayer/Luc/Isam is also pretty cool. - 12/12/2009 04:16:14 PM 407 Views
One theme of tGS was "The Forsaken are actually pretty lame" - 11/12/2009 05:12:55 PM 452 Views

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