There is an essential theme around the Forsaken i.e. their great natural skill but their waste and perversion of it. Therefore, I think I'm the one who's read Demandred properly. You still think of him as one of Lews Therin's gifted generals. In power he's lost little, but in character he's lost everything. It's thus completely accurate to say that he could be taken down by a thorn in his foot. Perhaps Barid Bel Medar would have died in a blaze of glory, but Demandred will get nothing - just like every other Forsaken. Unless, of course, you think death by mashadar is what a man of Sammael's stature was worth?