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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 1793 Views
I think that all we can conclude from this... - 01/10/2009 07:39:49 PM 1003 Views
No. - 01/10/2009 07:41:35 PM 1189 Views
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Re: Ishamael's destroyed Civilization twice - 02/10/2009 03:48:13 PM 873 Views
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You can't have it both ways.... - 02/10/2009 06:47:21 AM 969 Views
Why not? - 02/10/2009 08:45:35 AM 942 Views
Re: Why not? - 02/10/2009 04:27:00 PM 873 Views
Re: Why not? - 03/10/2009 06:34:16 AM 939 Views
Re: Why not? - 03/10/2009 07:40:16 AM 931 Views
Re: Why not? - 03/10/2009 05:07:51 PM 902 Views
Yeah - 01/10/2009 09:57:01 PM 960 Views
Re: Yeah - 01/10/2009 10:40:28 PM 942 Views
I thought the same in the past... - 02/10/2009 07:01:18 AM 917 Views
Gah! Hate! - 02/10/2009 04:11:49 PM 935 Views
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Yeah, I can understand that! - 03/10/2009 12:23:25 PM 757 Views
Unless... - 01/10/2009 10:49:55 PM 998 Views
Re: Unless... - 02/10/2009 05:07:14 AM 1020 Views
Well, it's entirely hypothetical, - 02/10/2009 06:31:32 AM 887 Views
Re: Or RJ just loves stacking ridiculously unfavourable odds against the male Forsaken generals... - 01/10/2009 09:51:30 PM 1021 Views
What about Mat and Ituralde? - 02/10/2009 04:28:49 AM 962 Views
Re: What about Mat and Ituralde? - 02/10/2009 03:52:24 PM 877 Views
Good points! Also, these "generals" haven't actually fielded any troops - 01/10/2009 11:23:40 PM 894 Views
Further... - 02/10/2009 12:14:44 AM 924 Views
But as individuals they are meant to be deadly too - 02/10/2009 05:09:21 AM 871 Views
Just one point ^_^ - 03/10/2009 12:51:50 AM 907 Views
nope - 01/10/2009 08:06:57 PM 1066 Views
Re: nope - 01/10/2009 09:32:38 PM 1112 Views
Tylee Kirgan, Birgitte, and one other, Egeanin - 01/10/2009 09:47:00 PM 1327 Views
Birgitte's not a soldier though. - 01/10/2009 10:10:50 PM 908 Views
She says she's not, but so does Mat. - 01/10/2009 10:34:04 PM 819 Views
Mat's not a soldier, either - he's a general - 01/10/2009 10:51:29 PM 951 Views
Right, which was what we were discussing at first. - 02/10/2009 04:13:43 PM 886 Views
Yeah, I'm supporting your point about them both being generals - 02/10/2009 06:10:31 PM 950 Views
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Right. - 02/10/2009 01:36:59 AM 896 Views
Well said. (And its short and to the point.) - 02/10/2009 03:54:23 AM 1023 Views
Birgitte is too cautious to be better than an adequate tactician. - 02/10/2009 04:22:45 AM 962 Views
Isn't this more of an outgrowth or her respective specialty? - 07/10/2009 08:40:46 PM 867 Views
My opinion - 02/10/2009 01:30:12 AM 1399 Views
That's a poor excuse - 02/10/2009 11:59:42 AM 854 Views
That's a poor argument - 02/10/2009 04:02:53 PM 1123 Views
Re: That's a poor argument - 03/10/2009 04:26:55 AM 932 Views
I disagree - 02/10/2009 04:26:28 PM 930 Views
Re: I disagree - 02/10/2009 08:31:29 PM 1172 Views
Oh, puh-lease. - 02/10/2009 09:09:30 PM 1103 Views
Re: Oh, puh-lease. - 03/10/2009 04:52:37 PM 929 Views
Re: Oh, puh-lease. - 03/10/2009 08:26:27 PM 814 Views
Re: Oh, puh-lease. - 05/10/2009 05:08:27 PM 3401 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 1013 Views
um - 08/10/2009 07:36:52 PM 1220 Views
Monday morning quarterbacking at its worst - 04/10/2009 07:28:36 AM 1024 Views
Men and football. - 05/10/2009 04:49:35 PM 963 Views
It's the only thing men are allowed to do in Randland - 02/10/2009 03:09:19 AM 964 Views
My thoughts - 02/10/2009 03:12:46 PM 851 Views
.... - 04/10/2009 03:38:44 AM 861 Views

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