The QP I submitted asked who the 2nd most powerful Forsaken is, after Ishamael. The two most popular answers were Demandred and Lanfear.
Jordan named Ishamael, Demandred, Sammael, Lanfear, Graendal and Semirhage as the top Forsaken in the Shadow - who were always near to the top of the Shadow hierarchy due to their skills in the physical and political world.
My own personal theory is that these six Forsaken are pretty similar in the One Power - so similar that dueling will probably lead to unpredictable results. I don't think that they are similar in strength - Ishamael could be considerably strong in saidin compared to Graendal or Semirhage. However, they all have special skills which make them powerful Forsaken. None of them hid like Moghedien, and all of them have shown that they are prepared to openly challenge a threat of equal power.
All of those six are extremely powerful in the One Power, with Ishamael and Lanfear showing the highest possible levels attainable, and the other four with slightly less. Regarding individual skill, Demandred is generally skilled in most things, and Graendal and Semirhage are among the most skilled in their fields who have ever lived. All six are equally willing to kill an opponent, and are all established mass murderers. Lanfear, Sammael and Semirhage are openly aggressive Forsaken who devastate first and ask questions later. Ishamael, Demandred and Graendal shy away from direct conflict if they can and use precision strikes and uncommon skills to undermine their opponents.
In summary I think that those six Forsaken are close to the top of everything - strength, skill, attitude towards battle. Where one has great strength in something it is balanced by a weakness somewhere else. Ishamael is probably the single most powerful of the thirteen overall, which is pretty much hinted at in the books on several occasions. The other five are probably all on a relatively level playing field.
Demandred, Lanfear, Semirhage, Graendal and Sammael could probably duel one another with unpredictable results, and the result would be 50-50 if they dueled a hundred times. It makes them inferior to Ishamael and Lews Therin, but not to each other.
Wheel of Time board admin
Fan of Lanfear
Fan of Lanfear
The top 6 Forsaken - similar in the One Power
12/09/2009 09:27:20 PM
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The Big White Book says...
12/09/2009 11:46:43 PM
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Not Aginor
13/09/2009 08:36:37 AM
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Re: Not Aginor
13/09/2009 03:16:13 PM
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Re: Not Aginor
13/09/2009 05:47:14 PM
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Fact is, the bwb is untrustworthy
13/09/2009 05:54:28 PM
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But, RJ himself said that the BWB was written from the standpoint of a scholar
14/09/2009 04:42:59 PM
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It all depends on how you define "powerful"
14/09/2009 02:30:31 AM
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So is graendal similar to lanfear then?
13/09/2009 05:41:42 PM
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Graendal could fight Lanfear and win
13/09/2009 06:01:57 PM
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Graendal herself says...
13/09/2009 09:08:46 PM
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Lanfear was more powerful than Graendal, but Cyndane has less power
13/09/2009 10:19:35 PM
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Re: So is graendal similar to lanfear then?
13/09/2009 06:05:11 PM
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Compulsion=any other deadly weave. Doesn't really change matters
13/09/2009 10:23:40 PM
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But it did give her an edge, and against two forsaken. *NM*
13/09/2009 11:12:09 PM
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Not at all
14/09/2009 04:51:48 AM
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But Graendal confronted her... twice! *NM*
13/09/2009 07:48:29 PM
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Apparently only the third time counts
*NM*
13/09/2009 08:00:37 PM
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But the third time's supposed to be lucky. So that won't count either. *NM*
13/09/2009 11:26:18 PM
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Really?
13/09/2009 08:36:33 PM
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No falsely...
13/09/2009 11:25:40 PM
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And, of course, the male and female OP strength ranks might not even correlate that much
14/09/2009 04:41:58 PM
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They correlate on some critical points
14/09/2009 06:57:43 PM
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That's not exactly what I'm referring to.
15/09/2009 04:36:29 PM
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But then we are discussing the same thing
15/09/2009 06:59:04 PM
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I think, outside of semantics, our main disagreement doesn't lie amid the higher tiers
16/09/2009 03:53:09 PM
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Probably
16/09/2009 06:31:27 PM
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I only disagree on one point, I think they are all rather equal in potential, incl. Ishamael
14/09/2009 04:28:12 PM
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I do think Ishamel is special
14/09/2009 07:04:03 PM
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He's special the same way any individual is special.
14/09/2009 11:36:42 PM
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Re: He's special the same way any individual is special.
15/09/2009 08:36:20 AM
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Re: He's special the same way any individual is special.
15/09/2009 03:48:34 PM
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Re: He's special the same way any individual is special.
15/09/2009 04:39:39 PM
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The more interesting question is...
14/09/2009 06:34:11 PM
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Hmmm
14/09/2009 07:04:34 PM
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I think we'll see Graendal vs. Aran'gar.
14/09/2009 07:31:16 PM
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Ah yes, that makes sense, and would be great! *NM*
14/09/2009 07:40:29 PM
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Yeah. Though I think its no competition. Graendal has got to be better than a walking tree!
14/09/2009 07:50:09 PM
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They do imply that Graendal is a lot more dangerous than she looks
14/09/2009 09:08:43 PM
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I've never underestimated Graendal
14/09/2009 09:42:49 PM
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Yeah... her frivolity was always a red flag for me too.
14/09/2009 10:18:40 PM
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To me, she is the most lethal.
15/09/2009 05:18:10 PM
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I still like Lanfear more
15/09/2009 06:51:03 PM
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Graendal did not beat me and Moghedien
15/09/2009 05:59:39 PM
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Agreed
15/09/2009 06:36:48 PM
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Ummm... how do we know?
15/09/2009 06:40:57 PM
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