The killer could also have pulled Asmodean's body into TAR (not sure if Slayer can do that, and it doesn't fit his M.O. anyway, but plenty of others). That would certainly leave no body behind--not in the real world, anyway. I'm not saying I believe that's what happened (I'm just going to wait for the perp to reveal himself/herself), but it's a possibility that shows that Balefire isn't necessarily what happened.
That or someone could have got rid of the body the same way thousands of non-channelers have done in rl. It is not a hard task when as doma points out the palace was pretty empty.
Sure, body disposal in a fantasy setting is not usually the trickiest thing in the world, dumping him naked into in a cesspit and burning his clothes would more or less do the trick, but there's an assumption he would have been killed with the power, as he still could channel himself, just not much, but still had all the speed and reactions and skill of a forsaken, enough to kill just about anyone normal, so really only a channeler or someone like Mat or Slayer could have pulled it off after he had enough time to recognize them and scream some words. Mat's not really a prime candidate and slayer could probably have yanked him into TAR, but obviously either of them would know how to dispose of corpses in a mundane fashion too. All the other candidates are channelers and powerful enough to simply torch the body, balefire him, gate him elsewhere, etc.
Regardless I can't see someone finding Asmo fresh corpse and not taking note, some time had passed and almost everyone killed inside the palace was balefired or burned to ash, I don't think a lot of corpse removal took place except maybe with a broom and dustpan, and I can't imagine anyone not wearing livery in a palace (and likely them too) could be killed without the servants thinking 'Gee, I don't know this guy, I wonder if he might have come with our new conqueror who might want know what happened to him". Once the servants returned they would have found any dead bodies on palace grounds, and really only a body decaying in a cesspit sans clothing would be able to go long undetected and unidentified, nor is it very likely anyone who didn't have alternatives like channeling and TAR could drag a corpse off palace grounds undetected by the Aiel. RJ didn't usually leave many obvious plot flaws, so I don't think he'd have assumed someone could drag a dead body into the courtyard and bury it undetected then undiscovered by the palace gardeners. The safe bet is his body was destroyed or removed by non-mundane techniques, and that his killer also was gifted, as there is really no one besides Mat who could kill a channeler face to face but otherwise had no special abilities regarding corpse disposal
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
- Albert Einstein
King of Cairhien 20-7-2
Chancellor of the Landsraad, Archduke of Is'Mod
- Albert Einstein
King of Cairhien 20-7-2
Chancellor of the Landsraad, Archduke of Is'Mod
Asmodean
- 22/03/2010 11:53:47 PM
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Re: Asmodean
- 23/03/2010 03:51:38 AM
972 Views
Another thought
- 23/03/2010 04:49:55 AM
777 Views
Re: Another thought
- 23/03/2010 05:12:59 AM
757 Views
Re: Another thought
- 23/03/2010 07:10:53 AM
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