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Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. RugbyPlayingAshaman Send a noteboard - 15/09/2009 04:53:00 PM
I tend to think Lews Therin was made the First because of his leadership abilities - he seems to have had some rare Talents, but none of which were as impressive as the skills possessed by the Forsaken and some of Rand's Third Age companions. Perhaps he was a consensus builder, and a capable leader (ie: somewhat like a Blue Ajah Amyrlin - one of their greatest Sisters was considered to be Eadyth who was said to be "one of the most capable Blues in the last one hundred years"...as an Ajah, they seem to prize versatility). Because choosing your leader on the basis of One Power strength doesn't seem to gel with their society, in which strength wasn't as important due to the uniquitousness of Circles. If people referred to leadership qualities, I'd not raise any objections, but the reasons people trot out for Lews to be awarded "Best Man Ever!" always have to do with Talents, OP strength and t'a'veren status - none of which have anything to do with his personality or skills.


I agree and disagree. I also think that LTT was chosen as the First among Servants because of his leadership skills - he was akin to a world leader anyway. There is another dimension, though, and that is the One Power. I think that the Aes Sedai in the Age of Legends paid quite a lot of attention to ability with their gifts. For instance, the only reason that Balthamel wasn't fired from his job was because of his strength in the Power. This means that they placed influence on the person's ability, which isn't very utopian at all. It's also convenient that Lews Therin is the strongest possible channeler in the Power, which means it's difficult to say that his ability in saidin wasn't relevant. Furthermore, I find it difficult to believe he wasn't a very skilled man too. Even you say that the Forsaken were very skilled and Talented, and yet none of them ever managed to overcome him, and still consider him to be their toughest physical opponent.

That said, Ishamael still lurks somewhere in the evil supervillain category. Basically, he sucks. And I haven't seen anything to prove otherwise. His whole backstory revolves around being defeated again and again - we don't even have any stories of his successes during the War of Power, unlike the other Forsaken. The only "success" he had was turning Hawkwing against Aes Sedai and the formation of the Black Ajah - both of which are rather lackluster in comparison to Lews Therin, Latra Posae or a Rashima Kerenmosa. So his only claim to villainy is being a philosopher who is somewhat of a nihilist (?).


Well it's obvious why Ishamael is like that - his victory would mean the end of the Light, and no story for us to read. If he defeated Lews Therin at the duel, or Rand at any stage, that would kind of be the end of everything. He may be unable to defeat Lews Therin but that doesn't mean he's a total loser - he might just be 2nd to Lews Therin. There's a fictional component to this villainy.


Which makes Demandred 3rd in line, and gives credence to the overall feelings of impotence and lack of coherence among the characters - why isn't Demandred upset that Ishamael ranks over him? I believe it is because RJ overlooked this somewhat, because logically, someone who doesn't like being second would hate even more to be third, and Demandred as a character is somewhat compromised by this. We don't need Ishamael to kill Rand - we just need him to do something besides gloat and appear with saa in his eyes.
"Those who think they have no time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness."
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The top 6 Forsaken - similar in the One Power Sidious - 12/09/2009 09:27:20 PM 1934 Views
Some thoughts about Semmy Lordling - 12/09/2009 09:59:50 PM 1105 Views
Re: Some thoughts about Semmy Sidious - 13/09/2009 08:33:28 AM 1179 Views
Of course... Digital_Eon - 13/09/2009 08:36:39 AM 972 Views
I've been thinking the same for years Dragonsworn - 12/09/2009 11:25:02 PM 1097 Views
The Big White Book says... Yvves - 12/09/2009 11:46:43 PM 1160 Views
Not Aginor Sidious - 13/09/2009 08:36:37 AM 1157 Views
Re: Not Aginor NaClH2O - 13/09/2009 03:16:13 PM 1066 Views
Re: Not Aginor Sidious - 13/09/2009 05:47:14 PM 1108 Views
Fact is, the bwb is untrustworthy Shannow - 13/09/2009 05:54:28 PM 1028 Views
We must either use all the quotes from the BWB or none of them Sidious - 13/09/2009 06:07:46 PM 1061 Views
Or... Shannow - 13/09/2009 08:41:23 PM 1002 Views
Re: Or... Sidious - 14/09/2009 04:46:52 AM 980 Views
But, RJ himself said that the BWB was written from the standpoint of a scholar RugbyPlayingAshaman - 14/09/2009 04:42:59 PM 1049 Views
Re: Not Aginor NaClH2O - 13/09/2009 08:17:28 PM 969 Views
It all depends on how you define "powerful" Lanfear - 14/09/2009 02:30:31 AM 1084 Views
I agree 101%. *NM* Yvves - 14/09/2009 03:49:51 AM 536 Views
I think power is much more than raw strength Sidious - 14/09/2009 05:00:10 AM 986 Views
I agree for the most part, but disagree on one thing. Lanfear - 14/09/2009 07:52:10 PM 1154 Views
Re: The top 6 Forsaken - similar in the One Power Bulgakov - 12/09/2009 11:48:03 PM 1008 Views
the other reason NaClH2O - 13/09/2009 03:24:24 PM 931 Views
So is graendal similar to lanfear then? Shannow - 13/09/2009 05:41:42 PM 943 Views
Graendal could fight Lanfear and win Sidious - 13/09/2009 06:01:57 PM 1514 Views
Graendal herself says... Shannow - 13/09/2009 09:08:46 PM 973 Views
Re: Graendal herself says... Sidious - 14/09/2009 04:48:37 AM 1024 Views
Doesn't Graendal have an Angreal now? Rurouni_Kenshin - 17/09/2009 03:29:10 AM 1055 Views
Re: Graendal herself says... Lanfear - 15/09/2009 05:36:53 PM 907 Views
Lanfear was more powerful than Graendal, but Cyndane has less power beetnemesis - 13/09/2009 10:19:35 PM 962 Views
Re: So is graendal similar to lanfear then? Watcher - 13/09/2009 06:05:11 PM 1130 Views
I agree with this Sidious - 13/09/2009 06:15:24 PM 1115 Views
Compulsion=any other deadly weave. Doesn't really change matters beetnemesis - 13/09/2009 10:23:40 PM 1000 Views
Excellent point *NM* Shannow - 13/09/2009 10:35:08 PM 548 Views
But it did give her an edge, and against two forsaken. *NM* fionwe1987 - 13/09/2009 11:12:09 PM 514 Views
Hm? When? *NM* beetnemesis - 14/09/2009 09:04:10 PM 454 Views
tPoD, when she compelled Cyndane and Moghedien. *NM* fionwe1987 - 14/09/2009 10:19:23 PM 492 Views
Not at all Sidious - 14/09/2009 04:51:48 AM 1042 Views
Using Compulsion on someone doesn't seem mechanically different beetnemesis - 14/09/2009 09:03:41 PM 895 Views
I'm not so sure about that Sidious - 14/09/2009 09:36:45 PM 976 Views
Totally agree Shannow - 14/09/2009 10:26:07 PM 826 Views
I don't agree. RugbyPlayingAshaman - 15/09/2009 04:33:04 PM 1110 Views
Re: So is graendal similar to lanfear then? RugbyPlayingAshaman - 14/09/2009 04:34:24 PM 927 Views
But Graendal confronted her... twice! *NM* fionwe1987 - 13/09/2009 07:48:29 PM 464 Views
Apparently only the third time counts *NM* Sidious - 13/09/2009 08:00:37 PM 511 Views
But the third time's supposed to be lucky. So that won't count either. *NM* fionwe1987 - 13/09/2009 11:26:18 PM 528 Views
Really? Shannow - 13/09/2009 08:36:33 PM 972 Views
No falsely... fionwe1987 - 13/09/2009 11:25:40 PM 1189 Views
That's pretty much my opinion in a nutshell Sidious - 14/09/2009 04:56:15 AM 1146 Views
And, of course, the male and female OP strength ranks might not even correlate that much RugbyPlayingAshaman - 14/09/2009 04:41:58 PM 908 Views
They correlate on some critical points Sidious - 14/09/2009 06:57:43 PM 1112 Views
That's not exactly what I'm referring to. RugbyPlayingAshaman - 15/09/2009 04:36:29 PM 869 Views
But then we are discussing the same thing Sidious - 15/09/2009 06:59:04 PM 1000 Views
I think, outside of semantics, our main disagreement doesn't lie amid the higher tiers RugbyPlayingAshaman - 16/09/2009 03:53:09 PM 871 Views
Probably Sidious - 16/09/2009 06:31:27 PM 1018 Views
Re: Probably RugbyPlayingAshaman - 16/09/2009 07:19:03 PM 987 Views
Re: Probably Sidious - 16/09/2009 08:59:31 PM 978 Views
Re: Probably RugbyPlayingAshaman - 18/09/2009 07:03:09 PM 1309 Views
Ahh the old debate... fionwe1987 - 17/09/2009 12:42:36 AM 948 Views
Re: Ahh the old debate... Sidious - 17/09/2009 05:26:52 AM 913 Views
I only disagree on one point, I think they are all rather equal in potential, incl. Ishamael RugbyPlayingAshaman - 14/09/2009 04:28:12 PM 1006 Views
I do think Ishamel is special Sidious - 14/09/2009 07:04:03 PM 1081 Views
He's special the same way any individual is special. RugbyPlayingAshaman - 14/09/2009 11:36:42 PM 1033 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. Sidious - 15/09/2009 08:36:20 AM 996 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. RugbyPlayingAshaman - 15/09/2009 03:48:34 PM 987 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. Sidious - 15/09/2009 04:39:39 PM 975 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. RugbyPlayingAshaman - 15/09/2009 04:53:00 PM 967 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. Sidious - 15/09/2009 06:47:45 PM 1008 Views
The more interesting question is... AgentOrange - 14/09/2009 06:34:11 PM 899 Views
Hmmm Sidious - 14/09/2009 07:04:34 PM 989 Views
I think we'll see Graendal vs. Aran'gar. fionwe1987 - 14/09/2009 07:31:16 PM 1023 Views
Ah yes, that makes sense, and would be great! *NM* Sidious - 14/09/2009 07:40:29 PM 849 Views
Yeah. Though I think its no competition. Graendal has got to be better than a walking tree! fionwe1987 - 14/09/2009 07:50:09 PM 899 Views
They do imply that Graendal is a lot more dangerous than she looks beetnemesis - 14/09/2009 09:08:43 PM 926 Views
I've never underestimated Graendal Sidious - 14/09/2009 09:42:49 PM 977 Views
Yeah... her frivolity was always a red flag for me too. fionwe1987 - 14/09/2009 10:18:40 PM 1017 Views
To me, she is the most lethal. RugbyPlayingAshaman - 15/09/2009 05:18:10 PM 767 Views
Yup... fionwe1987 - 15/09/2009 06:39:20 PM 819 Views
I still like Lanfear more Sidious - 15/09/2009 06:51:03 PM 908 Views
Bah! She's an idiot! fionwe1987 - 15/09/2009 07:06:06 PM 916 Views
only in love *NM* Sidious - 15/09/2009 07:23:29 PM 875 Views
Graendal did not beat me and Moghedien Lanfear - 15/09/2009 05:59:39 PM 1012 Views
Agreed Sidious - 15/09/2009 06:36:48 PM 897 Views
Ummm... how do we know? fionwe1987 - 15/09/2009 06:40:57 PM 1034 Views
Re: Ummm... how do we know? Sidious - 15/09/2009 06:56:21 PM 939 Views
Hmmm... fionwe1987 - 15/09/2009 07:07:45 PM 1138 Views
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