an attack, I also have no doubt that RJ intended Aran'gar to die in that attack. I can't believe anyone would let BSand play around with major characters in such a way. I can't see RJ not leaving notes behind on how each of the Forsaken were to meet their sticky end.

I do agree that the scene itself was obviously written by Sanderson. I imagine based off of notes like:

"Graendal tricks Aran'gar and escapes letting Aran'gar get Balefired"

I mean come on did anyone really think Aran'gar was going to survive her partnership with Graendal? It was hinted at a number of times that Graendal made several alliances and proceeded to kill off her partners during the AoL ... Aran'gar was going doomed from the start!

Had RJ written the TOM scene I imagine Graendal would have been far more subtle than slamming a shield on Aran'gar in a panicked moment. But overall I didn't find anything in the actual scene too out of the blue, several posters, myself included, had postulated for months that Graendal used Delana for the compulsion.

I just think Sanderson doesn't get Graendal ... she's gone from stupid to brilliant and from bold to terrified one too many times to fit. RJ always made her sly/crafty/cunning, highly manipulative and just dramatic enough to be amusing ... with the understanding that everything she put out up front was a false image of the real woman. BSand didn't quite master the false image piece IMO.

It's kind of the same thing that he does with Mat. Makes his POV too overt. Mat would never have thought openly about using his smile to manipulate a woman. RJ would just slip in a comment like "Mat gave her his best smile" and the understanding was that Mat was trying to pull the wool over someone's eyes. Or we'd hear from another character that Mat was a charmer or some such. Mat doesn't actually think of himself in these terms.

Much like Graendal under RJ never actually walked us through every though process she had going on ... she would generally just state what she had gleaned from the situation and give us hints about why. RJ would simply have had her seize the doves mind with a unique weave to the TP and observe al'Thor ... no mucking around with feeling ill and no bitching about not being able to hear properly. She would have flown in seen what she needed to and have quickly devised a plan to trick Aran'gar into staying behind. Or would have used Compulsion on Aran'gar rather than throwing a shield on her ... anyway ... I am just rambling now