You brought up the question of why was Semirhage's death handed to the reader almost causally, while Graendal's was something else. Semirhage was killed off because ultimately her purpose had been served. Think of how much time was actually spent with Semirhage on screen. For every page of her, we probably have 5 of Graendal. Graendal had complete chapters told from her point of view. Semirhage did not.

Yes, Semirhage's character/reputation were built up for books. She was the Forsaken that make other Forsaken uncomfortable. She was horror personified. Look at what she ultimately did. She was a hair's breath away from completely breaking Rand. She had him dead to rights....and Shaol Ghul bound. She had Rand terrorized to the point that he actually reached out to the Dark One for power.

As for Graendal...what would her death indicate? That Rand all of a sudden was able to outsmart a Forsaken by not playing her game? How do we know that despite everything, that Rand isn't getting played right now? We have zero proof that she's the one who did the Compulsion. Rand uses the absense of a weave as proof. That's much akin to trying to prove a negative.

To use a law example....prove that I didn't open a wot book within the last month. Its extremely difficult to prove a negative...which is why you should attempt to prove a positive. If Rand really wanted to confirm Graendal's death, he should have noted something that she did hours or days ago that he could confirm that she did. Balefire the palace...and then check if it was un-done or not.

~Jeordam