Demandred
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[edit] Appearance
He is hook nosed and handsome, but he never smiles.
[edit] History
During the War of Power, he finally was the equal of Lews Therin at something; a great military commander, he won important victories for the Light. However, when Lews Therin was appointed commander of the forces of Light, he was furious. Believing himself the superior, he calculated that with Lews Therin at the command of the Light, the Shadow would triumph. Ironically, Demandred was right, if Lews Therin Telamon and The Hundered Companions had not sealed up the Bore, The Shadow would have indeed been victorious. In jealousy and contempt, the logical move was to proclaim for the Shadow, siding with the other Chosen in the third year of the War. Graendal herself took him into the Pit of Doom to take his oaths for the Dark One. During the War, he fed two entire captured cities to the Trollocs, feeling that they had slighted him when he was still fighting for the Light.
Believing himself also the superior of the other Forsaken, he put himself in conflict with particularly Sammael, both wanting to be the one to personally defeat Lews Therin.
Leading forces together with Be'lal, he approached the constuction sites of the Choedan Kal. Barely holding the forces of Shadow at bay, Lews Therin decides to strike at Shayol Ghul itself together with the Hundred Companions. Sealing the Bore, the Companions also by happenstance managed to trap the thirteen most powerful of the Forsaken, among them Demandred, in a deep sleep for three thousand years.
[edit] Release
Since his release, very little is known of what Demandred has done. It is known that he has been spoken to by the Dark One about him becoming nae'blis. Allying himself with Mesaana and Semirhage, he is following the orders of Moridin. Other than ordering the death of Rand al'Thor at least once, his plans have yet to be revealed. Demandred is the only Forsaken whose whereabouts and cover identity are totally unknown.
Sammael once thought to himself that "events to the south" were almost certainly the work of Demandred; he was in Arad Doman at the time. This could mean the presence of the Seanchan in Tarabon (although, at the risk of making assumptions about the role of the Forsaken, the Seanchan seem to be Semirhage's domain so far), the upheaval within the Children of the Light, or the Prophet Masema and his Dragonsworn. We have since learned that the Seanchan were being, at least in part, controlled by Semirhage. However, since it is known that Semirhage is allied with Demandred and Mesaana, it is possible that the "work of Demandred" could have referred to some part of Semirhage, Demandred and Mesaana's plan which was of Demandred's devising but which was carried out by Semirhage.
It was once widely suspected that Mazrim Taim was Demandred, but Robert Jordan has stated to the contrary. Also, during the cleansing of saidin, Demandred saw Damer Flinn, one of Taim's first Black Tower recruits, and didn't recognize him. He also orders Raefar Kisman, Manel Rochaid, Charl Gedwyn and Peral Torval to kill Rand. It is also stated by Kisman that Taim orders the four to kill Rand as well, like the two didn't know each others orders. The only open action he has taken so far was to appear at the Battle near Shadar Logoth when al'Thor cleansed saidin, nearly getting himself killed by some of Rand's guards.
He attends the meeting with the other Chosen in Tel'aran'rhiod, which is made to look like the Ansaline Gardens. There he is told that Rand is not to be harmed and that Matrim Cauthon and Perrin Aybara are to be killed if found.
While there has been no suggestion that any particular character is, in fact, Demandred in disguise, the actions of the other Forsaken suggest that Demandred would have also assumed a false identity as a part of his plan (as did his allies, Semirhage and Mesaana). The most likely candidate for this is Charlz Guybon, partially due to his physical similarities to Demandred (tall and handsome), but also because Guybon is described by Elayne as: "...his face seemed suited to smiling. He looked as if he had not smiled in too long." This, coupled with the description of Demandred as a man who "never smiles", seems to provide a better fit than other potential candidates.
| Spoilers: Information ahead comes from The Gathering Storm; please be careful if you have not read that book yet! |
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| He is summoned to the Blight to meet with Moridin and Mesaana and is forbidden by Moridin to rescue Semirhage from Rand. During the meeting he also states the his rule is secure and he gathers his troops for war. |
