Asmodean's filter for the taint was destroyed and he never showed up at SG with an explanation, and he wasn't dead.

The Dark One knew Asmodean was either a traitor or a prisoner.

I think he knew more than that. Remember those "supernatural" darkhounds who circled Asmodean's rooms and tried to kill Mat and Rand?

Lanfear claimed Rahvin sent them, which makes absolutely no sense. Rahvin had Melindrah in place to kill Mat, and he intended to go on with Lanfear's plan. So did Sammael, who did his bit to bait Rand to Illian in Cairhien.

Lanfear lied. She told Rand it was Rahvin, the same way she told him before some Forsaken wouldn't wait to come and kill him (including Moghedien, of all people!). She wanted Rand to feel he was surrounded and joining her side was his only way out. Eventually she would have told him Rahvin, Sammael and Graendal had ally against him and Asmodean would have confirmed that his only chance to defeat them was to link with Lanfear.

So who sent those "super" DH, and were they really a new breed? I don't think they were a new breed at all. I don't think any DH but these two can recreate themselves out of a pool of blood and the True Power a near godly feat, and Rand was right they stood over the OP symbol on purpose, in defiance, in hatred of the OP IMO. Not your typical Shadowspawn behaviour. What I think happened is that those DH were similar to Shaidar Haran, the other "super" shadowspawn. They were part of Shai'tan, a small part of Shai'tan,s will was impressed on them. Shai'tan tracked down Asmodean to the place where he got his filter destroyed, and saw he was no prisoner. And he tried to confront Rand, and got his asses whooped with balefire.

Mind you, I think Shai'tan must have gotten the "whole story" from Asmodean's killer later, or at least from Sammael (maybe) and Graendal (for sure) but then I'm sure it's one of the two who killed Asmo, and it's not Sammael... After Lanfear, Moghedien, Rahvin and Asmodean "died" all on the same day, Graendal and Sammael had to cover their asses. I think Sammael delayed because he believed Lanfear had betrayed them, and didn't see the urgency to report. Graendal, however, knew something had gone very wrong with a plan in which she was involved, and she went to Shai'tan before Shai'tan called them to get explanations. Furthermore, she had a good news for him: Asmodean had made al'Thor very dangerous, and they failed to capture Rand despite their alliance and maybe Lanfear and Moghedien have died beside Rahvin, but at least she had gone to Caemlyn to investigate what happened and managed to kill Asmodean while there.

Demandred in LOC is puzzled that Shai'tan already knows the news he brought. Someone went to report to SG before Demandred did the day after Rahvin's death.




I think you make it complex for nothing. The killer obviously already held the source (she had a few seconds of forewarning that someone was coming in), but Asmodean had the time to see the weave forming. He didn't say "No!" first, so I'd presume he saw the person first and the weave still forming after.

He didn't sensed the weave (saidar or saidin), he saw balefire forming.

I think it's balefire notably because he said "No!" instead of spending that second defending himself. Mind you, that can also simply point to his shock or slow reflexes, or perhaps he couldn't channel enough to defend himself from the weave he saw forming (but if it was saidar, he wouldn't see the other killing weaves but the fireball type, or balefire and the other weaves that have a visible effect when they form).