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You can't have it both ways.... fionwe1987 Send a noteboard - 02/10/2009 06:47:21 AM

I'm saying they're generally difficult to kill, which they are. But the Forsaken themselves haven't managed to kill a single major protagonist. Sorry, I don't care that there's anarchy in Seanchan, or that Eben and Cabriana died. We're intimately involved with the main characters and our emotions are seated with them. There's nothing more poignant than Rand recalling fallen comrades who died fighting these people - but we'll never see that now, unless Leah gets your heart going. Too bad, you'd have to have your head read to join the Shadow... apart from the obvious reasons. Nynaeve can rest assured - with almost every Forsaken dead, and every darkfriend dead in a grave, she's the safest woman in the world.

Either they are competent and capable or lame. Just because you don't have an emotional response to the results of their competence, you cannot call them lame!

Fair enough, you don't care about millions of deaths, you want a few deaths among the fifteen or so major characters you're reading about. The rest of the deaths are insignificant to you. But a Forsaken's, or any villains, competence can hardly depend on the number of people he kills who you care about!

RJ has chosen, so far, to not have any of the major protagonists killed. Personally, I don't see why they have to die to make the story interesting, but that's a personal preference. You can criticize RJ for not having major characters killed. But why heap scorn and blame on the Forsaken? Many of them have died after exciting fights where they've certainly done a great job, and it is a combination of unfortunate (for them) circumstances that lead to their defeats.

And while you don't care, they have also spread chaos in the world, resulting in who knows how many deaths.

And all this despite being in a world that is far removed from the one they grew up in and having access to none of the technology they are used to.
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Are women really bad generals? - 01/10/2009 07:05:03 PM 1521 Views
I think that all we can conclude from this... - 01/10/2009 07:39:49 PM 816 Views
No. - 01/10/2009 07:41:35 PM 956 Views
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Re: Ishamael's destroyed Civilization twice - 02/10/2009 03:48:13 PM 680 Views
but you are difficult to please - 02/10/2009 05:10:13 AM 730 Views
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You can't have it both ways.... - 02/10/2009 06:47:21 AM 767 Views
Why not? - 02/10/2009 08:45:35 AM 725 Views
Re: Why not? - 02/10/2009 04:27:00 PM 626 Views
Re: Why not? - 03/10/2009 06:34:16 AM 747 Views
Re: Why not? - 03/10/2009 07:40:16 AM 687 Views
Re: Why not? - 03/10/2009 05:07:51 PM 662 Views
Yeah - 01/10/2009 09:57:01 PM 716 Views
Re: Yeah - 01/10/2009 10:40:28 PM 750 Views
I thought the same in the past... - 02/10/2009 07:01:18 AM 727 Views
Gah! Hate! - 02/10/2009 04:11:49 PM 739 Views
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Yeah, I can understand that! - 03/10/2009 12:23:25 PM 576 Views
Unless... - 01/10/2009 10:49:55 PM 781 Views
Re: Unless... - 02/10/2009 05:07:14 AM 811 Views
Well, it's entirely hypothetical, - 02/10/2009 06:31:32 AM 692 Views
Re: Or RJ just loves stacking ridiculously unfavourable odds against the male Forsaken generals... - 01/10/2009 09:51:30 PM 800 Views
What about Mat and Ituralde? - 02/10/2009 04:28:49 AM 755 Views
Re: What about Mat and Ituralde? - 02/10/2009 03:52:24 PM 695 Views
Good points! Also, these "generals" haven't actually fielded any troops - 01/10/2009 11:23:40 PM 683 Views
Further... - 02/10/2009 12:14:44 AM 713 Views
But as individuals they are meant to be deadly too - 02/10/2009 05:09:21 AM 675 Views
Just one point ^_^ - 03/10/2009 12:51:50 AM 701 Views
nope - 01/10/2009 08:06:57 PM 806 Views
Re: nope - 01/10/2009 09:32:38 PM 902 Views
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Birgitte's not a soldier though. - 01/10/2009 10:10:50 PM 701 Views
She says she's not, but so does Mat. - 01/10/2009 10:34:04 PM 618 Views
Mat's not a soldier, either - he's a general - 01/10/2009 10:51:29 PM 760 Views
Right, which was what we were discussing at first. - 02/10/2009 04:13:43 PM 704 Views
Yeah, I'm supporting your point about them both being generals - 02/10/2009 06:10:31 PM 712 Views
true, but she does pretty good - 02/10/2009 01:06:03 AM 755 Views
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Right. - 02/10/2009 01:36:59 AM 692 Views
Well said. (And its short and to the point.) - 02/10/2009 03:54:23 AM 809 Views
Birgitte is too cautious to be better than an adequate tactician. - 02/10/2009 04:22:45 AM 739 Views
Isn't this more of an outgrowth or her respective specialty? - 07/10/2009 08:40:46 PM 661 Views
My opinion - 02/10/2009 01:30:12 AM 1107 Views
That's a poor excuse - 02/10/2009 11:59:42 AM 643 Views
That's a poor argument - 02/10/2009 04:02:53 PM 866 Views
Re: That's a poor argument - 03/10/2009 04:26:55 AM 724 Views
I disagree - 02/10/2009 04:26:28 PM 743 Views
Re: I disagree - 02/10/2009 08:31:29 PM 940 Views
Oh, puh-lease. - 02/10/2009 09:09:30 PM 887 Views
Re: Oh, puh-lease. - 03/10/2009 04:52:37 PM 707 Views
Re: Oh, puh-lease. - 03/10/2009 08:26:27 PM 599 Views
Re: Oh, puh-lease. - 05/10/2009 05:08:27 PM 3161 Views
I always know I've out-argued an idiot when they fall back on the tired old "RJ wanted it that way" - 06/10/2009 04:42:11 AM 750 Views
um - 08/10/2009 07:36:52 PM 992 Views
Monday morning quarterbacking at its worst - 04/10/2009 07:28:36 AM 798 Views
Men and football. - 05/10/2009 04:49:35 PM 719 Views
It's the only thing men are allowed to do in Randland - 02/10/2009 03:09:19 AM 732 Views
My thoughts - 02/10/2009 03:12:46 PM 663 Views
.... - 04/10/2009 03:38:44 AM 652 Views

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