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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 2165 Views
Some thoughts about Semmy Lordling - 12/09/2009 09:59:50 PM 1186 Views
Re: Some thoughts about Semmy Sidious - 13/09/2009 08:33:28 AM 1293 Views
Of course... Digital_Eon - 13/09/2009 08:36:39 AM 1040 Views
I've been thinking the same for years Dragonsworn - 12/09/2009 11:25:02 PM 1157 Views
The Big White Book says... Yvves - 12/09/2009 11:46:43 PM 1242 Views
Not Aginor Sidious - 13/09/2009 08:36:37 AM 1231 Views
Re: Not Aginor NaClH2O - 13/09/2009 03:16:13 PM 1131 Views
Re: Not Aginor Sidious - 13/09/2009 05:47:14 PM 1199 Views
Fact is, the bwb is untrustworthy Shannow - 13/09/2009 05:54:28 PM 1105 Views
We must either use all the quotes from the BWB or none of them Sidious - 13/09/2009 06:07:46 PM 1154 Views
Or... Shannow - 13/09/2009 08:41:23 PM 1087 Views
Re: Or... Sidious - 14/09/2009 04:46:52 AM 1078 Views
But, RJ himself said that the BWB was written from the standpoint of a scholar RugbyPlayingAshaman - 14/09/2009 04:42:59 PM 1135 Views
Re: Not Aginor NaClH2O - 13/09/2009 08:17:28 PM 1067 Views
It all depends on how you define "powerful" Lanfear - 14/09/2009 02:30:31 AM 1152 Views
I agree 101%. *NM* Yvves - 14/09/2009 03:49:51 AM 575 Views
I think power is much more than raw strength Sidious - 14/09/2009 05:00:10 AM 1092 Views
I agree for the most part, but disagree on one thing. Lanfear - 14/09/2009 07:52:10 PM 1266 Views
Re: The top 6 Forsaken - similar in the One Power Bulgakov - 12/09/2009 11:48:03 PM 1087 Views
the other reason NaClH2O - 13/09/2009 03:24:24 PM 1021 Views
So is graendal similar to lanfear then? Shannow - 13/09/2009 05:41:42 PM 1008 Views
Graendal could fight Lanfear and win Sidious - 13/09/2009 06:01:57 PM 1605 Views
Graendal herself says... Shannow - 13/09/2009 09:08:46 PM 1058 Views
Re: Graendal herself says... Sidious - 14/09/2009 04:48:37 AM 1126 Views
Doesn't Graendal have an Angreal now? Rurouni_Kenshin - 17/09/2009 03:29:10 AM 1156 Views
Re: Graendal herself says... Lanfear - 15/09/2009 05:36:53 PM 974 Views
Lanfear was more powerful than Graendal, but Cyndane has less power beetnemesis - 13/09/2009 10:19:35 PM 1057 Views
Re: So is graendal similar to lanfear then? Watcher - 13/09/2009 06:05:11 PM 1235 Views
I agree with this Sidious - 13/09/2009 06:15:24 PM 1197 Views
Compulsion=any other deadly weave. Doesn't really change matters beetnemesis - 13/09/2009 10:23:40 PM 1083 Views
Excellent point *NM* Shannow - 13/09/2009 10:35:08 PM 597 Views
But it did give her an edge, and against two forsaken. *NM* fionwe1987 - 13/09/2009 11:12:09 PM 555 Views
Hm? When? *NM* beetnemesis - 14/09/2009 09:04:10 PM 503 Views
tPoD, when she compelled Cyndane and Moghedien. *NM* fionwe1987 - 14/09/2009 10:19:23 PM 545 Views
Not at all Sidious - 14/09/2009 04:51:48 AM 1133 Views
Using Compulsion on someone doesn't seem mechanically different beetnemesis - 14/09/2009 09:03:41 PM 992 Views
I'm not so sure about that Sidious - 14/09/2009 09:36:45 PM 1083 Views
Totally agree Shannow - 14/09/2009 10:26:07 PM 906 Views
I don't agree. RugbyPlayingAshaman - 15/09/2009 04:33:04 PM 1211 Views
Re: So is graendal similar to lanfear then? RugbyPlayingAshaman - 14/09/2009 04:34:24 PM 1020 Views
But Graendal confronted her... twice! *NM* fionwe1987 - 13/09/2009 07:48:29 PM 519 Views
Apparently only the third time counts *NM* Sidious - 13/09/2009 08:00:37 PM 560 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 583 Views
Really? Shannow - 13/09/2009 08:36:33 PM 1063 Views
No falsely... fionwe1987 - 13/09/2009 11:25:40 PM 1302 Views
That's pretty much my opinion in a nutshell Sidious - 14/09/2009 04:56:15 AM 1249 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 1001 Views
They correlate on some critical points Sidious - 14/09/2009 06:57:43 PM 1201 Views
That's not exactly what I'm referring to. RugbyPlayingAshaman - 15/09/2009 04:36:29 PM 955 Views
But then we are discussing the same thing Sidious - 15/09/2009 06:59:04 PM 1102 Views
I think, outside of semantics, our main disagreement doesn't lie amid the higher tiers RugbyPlayingAshaman - 16/09/2009 03:53:09 PM 964 Views
Probably Sidious - 16/09/2009 06:31:27 PM 1117 Views
Re: Probably RugbyPlayingAshaman - 16/09/2009 07:19:03 PM 1064 Views
Re: Probably Sidious - 16/09/2009 08:59:31 PM 1077 Views
Re: Probably RugbyPlayingAshaman - 18/09/2009 07:03:09 PM 1409 Views
Ahh the old debate... fionwe1987 - 17/09/2009 12:42:36 AM 1022 Views
Re: Ahh the old debate... Sidious - 17/09/2009 05:26:52 AM 989 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 1110 Views
I do think Ishamel is special Sidious - 14/09/2009 07:04:03 PM 1177 Views
He's special the same way any individual is special. RugbyPlayingAshaman - 14/09/2009 11:36:42 PM 1129 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. Sidious - 15/09/2009 08:36:20 AM 1085 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. RugbyPlayingAshaman - 15/09/2009 03:48:34 PM 1052 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. Sidious - 15/09/2009 04:39:39 PM 1072 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. RugbyPlayingAshaman - 15/09/2009 04:53:00 PM 1057 Views
Re: He's special the same way any individual is special. Sidious - 15/09/2009 06:47:45 PM 1093 Views
The more interesting question is... AgentOrange - 14/09/2009 06:34:11 PM 973 Views
Hmmm Sidious - 14/09/2009 07:04:34 PM 1074 Views
I think we'll see Graendal vs. Aran'gar. fionwe1987 - 14/09/2009 07:31:16 PM 1118 Views
Ah yes, that makes sense, and would be great! *NM* Sidious - 14/09/2009 07:40:29 PM 943 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 1007 Views
They do imply that Graendal is a lot more dangerous than she looks beetnemesis - 14/09/2009 09:08:43 PM 1023 Views
I've never underestimated Graendal Sidious - 14/09/2009 09:42:49 PM 1046 Views
Yeah... her frivolity was always a red flag for me too. fionwe1987 - 14/09/2009 10:18:40 PM 1111 Views
To me, she is the most lethal. RugbyPlayingAshaman - 15/09/2009 05:18:10 PM 839 Views
Yup... fionwe1987 - 15/09/2009 06:39:20 PM 888 Views
I still like Lanfear more Sidious - 15/09/2009 06:51:03 PM 986 Views
Bah! She's an idiot! fionwe1987 - 15/09/2009 07:06:06 PM 1001 Views
only in love *NM* Sidious - 15/09/2009 07:23:29 PM 965 Views
Graendal did not beat me and Moghedien Lanfear - 15/09/2009 05:59:39 PM 1133 Views
Agreed Sidious - 15/09/2009 06:36:48 PM 968 Views
Ummm... how do we know? fionwe1987 - 15/09/2009 06:40:57 PM 1102 Views
Re: Ummm... how do we know? Sidious - 15/09/2009 06:56:21 PM 1006 Views
Hmmm... fionwe1987 - 15/09/2009 07:07:45 PM 1205 Views
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