Trust me, no one in the whole world understands what you are saying better than I do. The lack of decent villainy is my greatest disappointment in the series. When I first read WoT I was enthralled by the potentially legendary villainy who have all been thrown down the toilet without the loss of a single main character of the Light. The theme that good always wins is so saccharin it can knot even the strongest stomach.

That said, this is why I'm convinced I'm right and you're not - because I've accepted now that this is how RJ views the world, and his own fantasy world too. The Forsaken have never achieved anything of note despite his ridiculous contention that they're winning the race. Why should Demandred be different? He won't be. You're totally right that the series needs an act of supreme villainy but I don't think it will happen. It's just too much to ask for when RJ has humiliated/castrated/killed/snuffed almost every other villain of note. The Shadow are more of a parody than a true organization of terror. Consider how ridiculous Mesaana has become. I truly used to have some high regard of her as a villain, but she's a total idiot now and she speaks like a child. In LoC she was a considerably easier villain to read about.

Forsaken deaths are almost always humiliating, but thematic as to the nature of evil and good. It all started when we were introduced to Balthamel who couldn't even deflect a Nym from killing him. After that Aginor actually burnt himself out - and we were told right then that he was 2nd only to LTT. Even then I recall my stomach groaning as the inevitable sewer for villainy opened and the FS number decreased to 11. After that we saw Be'lal die to a 3rd Age AS which opened the floodgates to all future FS deaths... Cadsuane could do the same to Demandred for all we know. We saw Rahvin burned by Nynaeve, we saw Sammael eaten by Mashadar, Aginor killed again etc. I waited for five years for the terror of Semirhage to show her face, but she shot a single fireball and that was it. We saw an almost untrained Nynaeve defeat Moghedien with all her 2nd age knowledge. In short, it's a joke.

I'm only consoled by Lanfear, who luckily is my favourite character, who put on the most spectacular of duels with Rand. She killed everyone who was not Rand, or severely injured them, and then put him on his knees with almost shakespearean drama. It was everything I ever wanted from the series, and she didn't even die - she merely vanished. Had Lanfear been knifed by Moiraine or the equivalent, there is no doubt that I would have stopped reading the series.

Now the second greatest man from the AOL is a feat which is appealing, and that's why I do think he'll show his strategic vision and prowess. As a channeler I don't think he's better than Lanfear, Sammael, Semirhage or Graendal - so I don't think you'll get much more there. The Cleansing threw the Forsaken into the battleground and they all suffered to greater or lesser extents. If there was any evidence that Demandred was set up to be the grand display at the end of the series, I would almost welcome it, but I think he hasn't been shown to be superior to the other six, and RJ will give him a parallel plot, which is always disappointing to me. But it always happens. After Semirhage, I don't have much hope for anything. I don't think Graendal will achieve much, but she'll probably die in this book.

I understand your emotions and your obsession with Demandred becoming something. You have such high hopes for him as a villain, but surely the other Forsaken taught you a lesson of what to expect?