Personally I think that order was off the cuff
darius_sedai Send a noteboard - 17/06/2010 08:55:28 PM
RJ mentioned Lanfear as the third impressive Forsaken and as the first women among the females:
"Some of those Forsaken the Dark One killed were every bit as high-ranking as the thirteen who were remembered, and who you might say constituted a large part of the Dark One's General Staff at the time of the sealing. With the Forsaken, where treachery and backstabbing were an acceptable way of getting ahead, the turnover in the upper ranks was fairly high, though Ishamael, Demandred, Lanfear, Graendal, Semirhage, and later Sammael, were always at the top end of the pyramid. They were very skilled at personal survival, politically and physically."
This suggests that Lanfear is at least as able as the others among the mentioned Top 6, probably only surpassed by Ishy and Demandred.
"Some of those Forsaken the Dark One killed were every bit as high-ranking as the thirteen who were remembered, and who you might say constituted a large part of the Dark One's General Staff at the time of the sealing. With the Forsaken, where treachery and backstabbing were an acceptable way of getting ahead, the turnover in the upper ranks was fairly high, though Ishamael, Demandred, Lanfear, Graendal, Semirhage, and later Sammael, were always at the top end of the pyramid. They were very skilled at personal survival, politically and physically."
This suggests that Lanfear is at least as able as the others among the mentioned Top 6, probably only surpassed by Ishy and Demandred.
Not an actual ranking ... this very ranking is why I only listed these 6 as the ones who were truly more impressive than her ... and IMO the books bear that out. Lanfear just comes across as a cliche villain to me. I can't say that we've seen her do much other than simple be strong in the OP, woo hoo, I don't think that makes her more than lucky to have been born that way. But I'm not really talking about OP here. She's the only one of this bunch who was not acclaimed in the AoL prior to the Collapse, and IMO likely was only in the elite because of her strength and skill with the OP. The others were all skilled in many other areas, or had specific specialties that made them truly fear worthy. Semirhage as a torturer, Graendal as a manipulator, Sammael and Demandred as Generals, Ishamael as a pseudo-religious figure...
I just don't see that she actually did much outside of obsess over LTT, assassinate a few people and bitch about what should have been hers. Since returning, the other "Top 6" have all carved out power bases, sown chaos and in general have all been far more interesting villains (IMO). Lanfear managed to accomplish nothing at all except to end up a slave, no better off than Moghedien.
Honestly she seems the type to have laid claim to TAR simply because it was a rather ridiculous claim. She can't be there at all times to enforce "her rule" and she's not even the most accomplished master of the realm! If she was truly the "queen of TAR" as she liked to claim, why could she not even keep the others from using it whenever they wished? Honestly it's just like giving herself her own name, simply a way to make herself believe that she is more impressive than she really is.
All OP Strength and just about nothing else.
Domani Drag Queen in the White Tower ... Aran'gar watch out!
Forsaken translations
- 17/06/2010 09:16:36 AM
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Yeah...
- 17/06/2010 09:31:15 AM
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Semirhage is named as "The Lady of Pain" in KoD, by Rand...
- 17/06/2010 11:14:56 AM
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Do Semirhage & Bel'al actually mean those things or are they other nicknames?
- 17/06/2010 11:38:18 AM
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Nice ideas!
- 17/06/2010 02:10:43 PM
1510 Views
The beauty of a re-read is that there are so many little gems I'd forgotten
- 17/06/2010 02:48:19 PM
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Re: The beauty of a re-read is that there are so many little gems I'd forgotten
- 17/06/2010 04:43:48 PM
1433 Views
Gai'shain = those sworn to peace in battle
- 17/06/2010 09:22:02 PM
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Gaidin = Brother to Battle ... which is what I think the OP meant to use
- 17/06/2010 09:32:20 PM
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I always thought Lanfear probably translated to something closer to a Moon translation
- 17/06/2010 02:43:04 PM
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it's the other way around...
- 17/06/2010 02:58:33 PM
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good point
- 17/06/2010 03:13:17 PM
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Re: good point
- 17/06/2010 04:05:50 PM
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Not to mention she STILL hasn't earned a 3rd (or in 4th) name
- 17/06/2010 04:16:57 PM
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What about Cyndane
- 17/06/2010 04:48:03 PM
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- 17/06/2010 04:48:03 PM
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It must be her favorite one, since it's the only one she actually earned
*NM*
- 17/06/2010 05:43:41 PM
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*NM*
- 17/06/2010 05:43:41 PM
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Well she earned Mierin
*NM*
- 17/06/2010 08:27:05 PM
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*NM*
- 17/06/2010 08:27:05 PM
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how so? I figured mom and dad gave that one too her
*NM*
- 17/06/2010 08:36:24 PM
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*NM*
- 17/06/2010 08:36:24 PM
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she earned it by being born... ha! gotcha
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- 17/06/2010 08:39:10 PM
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*NM*
- 17/06/2010 08:39:10 PM
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HA! But technically I think her mother earned that
*NM*
- 17/06/2010 08:58:30 PM
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- 17/06/2010 08:58:30 PM
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Re: good point
- 17/06/2010 04:47:01 PM
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Again, a self-proclaimed ownership aimed at making her seem more impressive
- 17/06/2010 05:55:12 PM
1313 Views
I disagree
- 17/06/2010 06:20:08 PM
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Personally I think that order was off the cuff
- 17/06/2010 08:55:28 PM
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Re: Personally I think that order was off the cuff
- 17/06/2010 09:02:06 PM
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Disagree
- 17/06/2010 09:28:51 PM
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Re: Disagree
- 17/06/2010 09:41:23 PM
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I'm not being very clear
- 17/06/2010 10:14:10 PM
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Re: I'm not being very clear
- 18/06/2010 08:06:56 AM
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Re: I'm not being very clear
- 18/06/2010 03:33:12 PM
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Re: I'm not being very clear
- 18/06/2010 04:35:12 PM
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The point isn't if Lanfear has the skill, it's that it was poorly shown.
- 18/06/2010 05:31:11 PM
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The statement makes clear that those 6 were all quite impressive
- 17/06/2010 10:51:49 PM
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I don't see that bearing out in the text at all
- 17/06/2010 10:57:36 PM
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Like Etzel I don't agree
- 17/06/2010 08:30:37 PM
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I think she's a weak villain
- 17/06/2010 08:58:01 PM
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Re: I think she's a weak villain
- 17/06/2010 09:03:47 PM
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and slaughter the Seanchan empress on her own throne thowing the empire into chaos
- 17/06/2010 09:30:27 PM
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Semirhage has done more than anyone since Ishy destroyed the Ten Nations
- 18/06/2010 02:06:30 AM
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Regarding "Demandred" ...
- 17/06/2010 04:51:43 PM
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I always thought it was a coincidence
- 17/06/2010 08:32:39 PM
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Lan/Lanfear isn't a coincidence...
- 18/06/2010 12:19:58 AM
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Re: Lan/Lanfear isn't a coincidence...
- 20/06/2010 07:01:55 PM
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Perhaps Lan-fear meaning Night-Daughter would make more sense
- 17/06/2010 06:00:35 PM
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Re: Perhaps Lan-fear meaning Night-Daughter would make more sense
- 18/06/2010 04:23:38 PM
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And Dragon translations...
- 17/06/2010 10:53:02 PM
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Re: And Dragon translations...
- 17/06/2010 11:01:25 PM
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Why would they call themselves "Spears of the fictional creature"?
- 18/06/2010 12:29:49 AM
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It was meant as a joke, but really it could be some generic term rather than meaning
- 18/06/2010 06:00:36 AM
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Except that they don't know what a 'Dragon' is, except as it relates to Lews Therin/Rand
- 18/06/2010 05:11:30 PM
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like I said, I was just making a joke of it ... you are quite right with "Rand's Spears"
- 18/06/2010 05:32:42 PM
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But of course the NT word for Dragon isn't Dragon
- 18/06/2010 05:45:34 PM
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If "aman" is the Old Tongue name for Dragon, maybe "DEMANdred" contains a reference to Dragon too...
- 20/06/2010 08:13:35 PM
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"Dragon Wannabe"
*NM*
- 20/06/2010 09:23:09 PM
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*NM*
- 20/06/2010 09:23:09 PM
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Lizard? *NM*
- 20/06/2010 10:04:21 PM
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"Scaled Worm"... though I doubt he'd take that name up in pride
. *NM*
- 22/06/2010 01:23:03 AM
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. *NM*
- 22/06/2010 01:23:03 AM
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It's probably too much to attempt to guess at the meanings of words...
- 17/06/2010 10:58:06 PM
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*NM*