Best Villain In The Wheel Of Time?

[@DanielGreeneReviews]

Who’s your favorite WoT villain??

[@henryc6632]

Cenn Buie

[@shienar8264]

Paitr

[@elifsertkaya7120]

Padan Fain, Gholam ,Aelfinn and Eelfinn .

[@itamarreina4234]

Olver.

[@craigh5236]

Hard to say that its one of the Forsaken as they drop like flies early on, they are more like boss battles in a video game.

[@TwistInMC]

I think your sleeping on Demandred, toward the end of the series I was almost completely immune to the intimidation of the Forsaken. However, when Demandred’s appears at the last battle with his army he had me shook. Maybe it’s just me but I have a special place in my heart for Demandred for being the first Forsaken to legitimately intimidate me in a long time.

[@hartzy7425]

I've always thought he was the one to really be wary of. You know basically nothing about him the entire series. No idea where or who he his, and that is truly terrifying. *Knowing* one of the most powerful Forsaken roaming the world while not having any idea where they are. They could be anyone, anywhere. That's true fear, I think.

[@TwistInMC]

Hartzy thank you exactly

[@_DaemonCleaner]

I'm in the Demandred camp too. He did his job, and overdelivered. His plotting gave the Shadow hundreds of devoted channelers and an enormous army. In a very real way he WAS the Last Battle. What the hell did Lanfear contribute?

[@GeorgeKinsill]

Yep, same here. The best thing about Damandred showing up is the realization that Rand really f*(ked up in forgetting about Shara. While he always thought himself the defender of 2 Rivers, Andor and such, it took him a while to get in his mind that the whole world mattered, i.e. Seanchan. And then right when those Sharans entered the waygates, and later saw Damandred announce himself, the true horror set in. It is also the perfect meta-narrative for him. Damandred was always ignored in favor of the Dragon Lew Therin, and had Lews Therin not been there, he likely would have been the Dragon and protag. Therefore, it is very appropriate that while Rand is fulfilling the prophecies of the dragon, Damandred is fulfilling the prophecies Rand forgot about in parallel, creating the most professional and skilled army in the world. Damandred is the perfect cautionary tale of the dangers of envy, and shows all of the pitfalls that Rand faced throughout the series.

[@sanin3213]

@Krish Nair which loses all meaning because Lan does actually win

[@LocallyConstantDuck]

The word count. He is undefeated

[@frking100]

I wonder how much of a percentage is just descriptions of dresses and copy pasted descriptions if symbolic mannerisms.

[@lyunardo]

@@frking100 Everyone complains about the dresses. But he describes men's fashion in just as much detail. As well as hair, food, and sometimes accent. I see it all as clues to how the world has been scrambled by The Breaking, and cultures from our Age have been mixed and reassembled. Ilianers are kind of like Italians, but talk sort of like the Scottish. Aiel look like our image of Vikings, but like like African/Arab nomads, in a setting like the American Indian mesa area, with a philosophy like Ninja clans. Etc... I find it all fascinating! But I get that a lot of people just roll their eyes.

[@frking100]

@@lyunardo Sorry i misused the word dresses what i actually meant was clothing in general Jordan goes way into depth with his obsession of clothes. I personally dont remember him describing food very intricately other than the seanchan have horrid tasting stuff but it has been some time since my last re read.

[@brianlinden3042]

In the end, even Robert Jordan himself couldn't defeat him.

[@lyunardo]

@@frking100 I was thinking of Tanchico, and the scene with thin strips of food eaten with chopsticks. And the Aiel, who eat spicy stew with lizard and snake meat. Gilded fish in Ebu Dar. Etc... My point is, I think it's all part of his world building mechanics. Some folks like me enjoy the detail. Lots of others don't. No right or wrong here.

[@DanielGreeneReviews]

Y’all notice how I said profit and not prophet. Cause I just had it pointed out to me and now I hate this whole video.

[@caveman7608]

Nonsense you were just being funny cause we all know how he didn’t like money or worldly possessions. You silly man 😁

[@FMR------------------psst]

GREED is the Best Villain :E

[@Neph-00]

1) Witness Rand battle Ishamael in the the sky at Falme 2) ??? 3) Prophet!

[@joshcowart2446]

Don’t feel bad. I went to regionals in spelling in HS UIL and was always proficient in English yet when I’m typing I regularly swap homonyms and have to correct it

[@ervin0072002]

Ya ya ya... I almost commented but wanted to see if someone had pointed it out first. Lol

[@thelmahannah1327]

Lanfear wanting to use the Choedan Kal to challenge the dark one is a plot line I really wish RJ had pursued, she was just crazy enough to try it.

[@kyleellis9177]

Really wish she and Taim tried, making Rand and one of the ladies take them down.

[@MyBoomStick1]

@@kyleellis9177 not a bad idea

[@hsdurfee]

The ending scene between Rand and Shai Tan is incredible. Probably the best resolution to a fantasy series I’ve ever read. LotR is up there though. Instead of a cliched all out physical or magical battle it’s just a battle of will and philosophy. Rand coming to terms with the idea that he can’t get rid of people’s ability to choose to do good over evil is fantastic.

[@Robbedem]

it also fits perfectly with the name of the series. ;) Since the ending allows everything to start over again.

[@MrWhangdoodles]

I saw it coming though. It was eminently predictable. There was no other way to wrap it up. It also reminded me too much of the LOTR ending.

[@michael305m3]

@@MrWhangdoodles how was it remotely like the lord of the rings ending

[@bondini101]

That is based on the Christian God giving humanity free will. If you have read the bible than you would know of the schism and fall. It was predictable as it has been told for millenia. Free will, the right to do good or evil was given to humanity per the bible, even the right to reject God.

[@therabbithole993]

@@bondini101 throughout history their as always been great resets with the rise and fall of various empires so it kinda makes sense in a poetic way almost a metaphor for real life

[@stevenangell3343]

Fain nailing the Mryddraal to the door with spikes was my fav earlier moment for his character. We get Fades' built up early as the Nazguul-esque badguy; able to kill anyone, slip into the shadows, a monster that hunts the heroes from the get-go. Then BAM, they find one nailed to a door, scratch marks and boot-scuffs from its obvious death thrashing at being crucified alive to a door. Then the scene with Fain having one tied up in his tent, its fear and horror and eventual torture, from the hands of what it probably sees as a mere human. Awesome.

[@crystalhamrick740]

Rand during his dark period of almost becoming a Darth Vader type character is one of the scariest villains because of the stakes and how far he had come from the innocent and honorable sheepherder. Loved his arc and made him different from typical fantasy tropes.

[@lawlesscb]

Nothing beats Slayer to me, him killing THE GOOD BOY scarred my soul.

[@benjiray1995]

I just got to that late last week as I'm listening through on audible and it hit me real hard

[@sage7149]

Actually sobbed and I’m sobbing again now.

[@johnny2003]

Slayer was just killing wolf souls cuz he could. I was more personally angry at him than anyone.

[@osoisko1933]

To help with your analytics I put the video on mute and let it run since I've only read the "Eye of the World".

[@arleenm7367]

Semirhage was the cruelest. Not a lot of time in the books but to me she was the scariest because she liked to torture.

[@lilclever51]

Yeah she gave me nightmares

[@thelmahannah1327]

The scene where she tortures that wander is just chilling.

[@ikaikaotteman7723]

Arlene M she should be in the top 5 forsaken

[@andrewgero8174]

yeah, for me she is Nightmare City!! The scene when she kills the Warder with PLEASURE! How twisted is that??

[@ssmmav10]

Semiraghe destroyed Seanchan Graendal allowed Demandred to subvert Shara Two of the most dangerous Forsaken Rest really didn’t do anything close to these 2

[@lyunardo]

Ishamael: "Please allow me to introduce myself I'm a man of wealth and taste..."

[@jasonwalker5287]

IMO the best villain of the series was the Seanchan, as an entity. Seeing what they did to Egwene at the start of the series, and seeing how unstoppable they seem to be, capturing the channelers of their enemies, I was more afraid of them than the Shadow for the whole series.

[@kyleellis9177]

Hmm, for me it was a relief "normals" could beat channelers. Interesting.

[@nHautamaki]

I agree. They were scarier than the shadow because as a reader you have a meta-expectation that the shadow will be defeated by the good guys. But as a human in the real world you know that defeating and even eliminating some bad guys doesn't actually remove evil from the world. As Solzhenitsen said, the line of good and evil cuts through the middle of every human heart. The Seanchan were the evil that was bound to remain, that had to be somehow contested with, even after Rand did whatever he had to to do to deal with the Dark One. You can safely commit genocide on shadowspawn and a bunch of psychopaths that willingly and knowingly sold their souls to evil incarnate, but what about a culture of real, actual human beings who commit unspeakable atrocities but truly believe it's for a higher and nobler good than you could ever understand? If you wipe them out, you are now just doing the Dark One's work. If you let them be, you are tacitly condoning the future atrocities they will commit. If you use your force and power and strength to hold them at bay in a kind of enforced peace, that only lasts as long as your own power; eventually, you grow old and die, things change, and they may gain their freedom from your restrictions before they willingly give up the parts of their culture that are abhorrent. It's the paradox of tolerance, and it's realistic, and that's what makes them scarier than even the Dark One.

[@neriumsuitedher]

I absolutely hated them on my first reading, but after my recent reread I rather appreciate them.

[@Valheru4]

For the longest time (especially before series was finished) I had the theory that Rand Al'thor was going to use the Choedan Kal to balefire Lanfear which would have undo the drilling of the hole in the Dark One's prison ... but also break the world in the process killing over half of the population. If that had happened Rand would have been the greatest villain and hero at the same time.

[@lewisevans4556]

What a creative and cool idea!

[@annahall4088]

I..actually really like this take. Would it break the world again? Would it fix everything? Would that much balefire just unravel the pattern entirely? I mean he would have to use a massive bolt of balefire to Ctrl+Alt+Dlt her three thousand years, give or take, right? I have questions.

[@wilson1728]

@@annahall4088 Using that amount of balefire would be no different than just destroying the entire world like Rand contemplated on Dragonmount I reckon

[@MusMasi]

his infinity gauntlet.

[@reksteren10]

Damn not even second spot. Congratulations on your new full time job.

[@kathic6402]

My favorite scene with Lanfear is when she is talking to Rand. She tells him Lews Therin loved her and Rand replies that she loved power.

[@paulenan9636]

For me, for some reason, one of the best villains is Mellar, Elaynes "bodyguard". He is a sick bastard who is only in it for himself and his petty reasons that aren't really aiming high. But he is also just a human. He has no magical powers, isn't immortal, possessed by the spirit of a bloody city or even an exceptional fighter. He is just some bloke who has to rely on his malice and the knowledge about how to stab people effectivly. And he knows that following his sick interests will help the shadow (other than, for example, Sevanna, Elaida, those whitecloaks...) so his motivation isn't "being stupid enough to get the entire world killed". He does make mistakes and needs help then and again. But he is also surprisingly resourceful, so the good guys often need some "bigger means" to bring him down than some simple street thug should justify (the best thief of Andor, Birgitte being resurrected...). I found it also telling that he outlives all(?) the black ahja agents in Caemlyn, most of whom most likely saw him as some expendable muscle. When Mellar escaped prison, with two anti-magic-devices no less, I kind of felt sorry for Elayne. She is a queen and a powerful magic user, bound to the dragon reborn (for some reason), able to craft devices of power and has a literal hero of legends as her bodyguard, but that guy that just escaped feels like a real threat, like some twisted equal to her(Also tells a lot about Elayne). And as it shows in the end: Had it not been for the horn, some ordinary bloke without special traits, who takes part on the literal final battle of light, shadow, fate and what not, only to follow his own petty reasons and do horrible things to a queen, could have made the shadow win. (Due to this whole "berserk button binding" thing). Without even realizing it. Like, how many Forsaken can claim to have been only stopped by the Horn of Valere?

[@marsanna]

I agree, he gave me the serious heebie jeebies, because he was like oh yeah let’s just cut out her unborn children so I can take the Queen for myself. Like wtf dude.

[@paulenan9636]

@@marsanna yeah. He is a petty little man designed to make you throw up whenever we get to view the world through his eyes, and yet he is somehow a match to some of the most powerful beings of the age.

[@riignis5126]

We barely even saw her but Semirhage is possibly my favourite/scariest. She got so close to braking rand.

[@mikahkilgore4972]

She’s fucking terrifying, mostly because of that fact.

[@MarisuSedai]

I’ve always assumed it was Lanfear who activated the Portal Stone as well.

[@nestrior7733]

It just makes so much more sense. I know, it's early on and not everything is quite as fleshed out as it becomes, but I very much doubt that Rand did that with only Spirit. The only of the five you can actually channel in your sleep.

[@thehoogard]

Agreed. Why would Lanfear even be in that other world if she didn't plan it. And if she planned it she most likely did it herself.

[@dennicaid7682]

Absolutely. Honestly I'm surprised anyone DOESN'T think it was her.

[@lyunardo]

Am I the only one who remembers a lot of "flicker, flicker, flicker..." when Rand was in that vicinity? Even before he went to sleep. It was pretty obvious to me that he started unknowingly interacting with the portal stone as soon as they arrived in the area. The fact that he was drawn to curl up right next to it was a pretty good sign that it was calling to him on some level. I think this is another situation where Lanfear deliberately rescued him from his own ignorance. Then taught him how to fix what he'd accidentally done.

[@dennicaid7682]

@@lyunardo "An exhausted sleep finally came, and with sleep, unbidden, the void surrounded him, flickering with an uneasy glow that disturbed his dreams." That's the flickering, but it looks to me more like it was dropped in to keep it from being super obvious that Selene was a channeler. When he finally does operate a portal stone intentionally, it is a lot more complicated than he could have done in his sleep. As for being drawn to it, on rereading it looks like he only chose to sleep there because Hurin bedded down there while Loial was inspecting the ruins, and things were tense with Mat and Perrin since they'd just found out he could channel.

[@aliabdaal]

I loved the demandred vibe

[@haku8135]

He wins hands down for best game plan. EVERYONE else was dropped into this enormous land full of people of every type and loyalty, prepared to bend it to their whims. Meanwhile he's like "Y'all are dumb" And LEFT! Throughout this entire series NOBODY including the other forsaken can figure out what the hell he's doing. And neither could I, because I never ONCE considered he LEFT. He just picked another land entirely that NOBODY prepared to deal with forsaken went to, created an army THERE, then just waited. Just sit back, relax, and wait. Then he came and massacred tons of ai sedai and soldiers, in a FULL circle of 72 with the second most powerful sa'angreal ever made sans the statues. His ONLY error was his obsession with facing Rand and not just obliterating everyone, which he could totally do. HE'S the reason Egwene died, the reason hundreds of male and female channelers died, the reason Taim turned to the dark in the first place, he was a BEAST. Old fire face had more time and was less successful than him. If he had accounted for Mat the last battle would have been easily lost. But nobody accounts for Mat Bloody Cauthon.

[@ianmohlie]

Semirhage was legitamately frightening.

[@adekunlebademosi6756]

Wasn't Elaida's bad desposition strongly influenced by her interaction with Padan Fain. Even Padan Fain acknowledged that the effect of his taint on Elaida will ensure she never supports Rand.

[@kev4366]

and she was kind of broken between being under Alvarian's thumb and not actually being equipped to deal with the position she pushed her way into.

[@nicademous6396]

YES! Congratulations! I can't wait for more content and watching you expand your craft as a FULL time KZbinr!

[@CanzonE_]

I knew from the start who you were going to choose, and still sat through the entire video. Great analysis!

[@unoewho]

Tylin. She could out villain anyone with Mat's hands tied behind his back... You heard me.

[@Trapsarentgay133]

Michael Hein giggidy

[@georgevelis4651]

if there is one person that I absolutely hated in this series it's her. Every time her name was mentioned in the later books reminded me of how disgusting she was and made me more annoyed that RJ and BS don't treat her like a villain

[@FemkevanDrooge]

@@georgevelis4651 A bit late but absolutely! She was an abuser and a rapist straight out. I feel like she was a plot tool to get us used to Mat falling for powerful women instead of the usual barmaids so he could get with Tuon but I dislike immensely how they went about it

[@johnny2003]

Not enough mat art show pink lace.

[@frocat5163]

I buy the theory Shadar Haran is actually an extension of the Dark One...a small sliver of the Dark One actually extended into the real world. When Rand closed the Dark One's prison, Shadar Haran simply disappeared.

[@joshrowe8629]

Thinking of Lanfear's role in the story, once the series finished, I think I could summarize the whole Wheel of Time with the old adage Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

[@JamesI88]

Wow, I'm early for this. Congratulations that you are now officially full time. I enjoy how so many people have different opinion on this matter, as well as favorite side character.

[@clbmurat]

Since Couladin was given his dragons by Asmodean, I always assumed he was somehow manipulated by Asmodean and Lanfear. I think he actually believed he was the Car'a'carn.

[@samuelrussell5760]

That was what always made sense to me. I see couladin as more of a sucker than straight villain. Between Lanfear, Asmodean, and Sevanna, someone was always pulling his strings.

[@BooksToMovies]

I started reading wheel of time August 27, 2019 immediately after finishing Stormlight Archive which I ended up reading in about a month all together. I’m up to book 5 of WoT now and don’t want to do absolutely anything except keep reading. You have ruined my social life with your recommendations. I no longer care for meetups, nor do I care about my job. Only to see Tarmon Gai’don fulfilled. Damn you Daniel Green. Damn you and your addicting recommendations

[@bozoforce]

dominik dedaj, the wheel of time cost me 6 months of my life and ruined all other fantasies for me.

[@christophercook5007]

liandrin, evertime she appears in the series I feel the anger glands flare up!!

[@infernalrock666]

I love that scene right at the end where Rams offers lamphere one last chance to turn to the light. For everything that has happened for him to even offer, and for just a moment she seems to genuinely consider. Then we see she decides if she can't have it all she'd rather have nothing. We will never know how genuine that brief moment was and how close she may have come to turning back to the light, or if it was all just more manipulation and I think the ambiguity of that is beautiful

[@revpembroke3082]

The gholam is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop - EVER! - until you are dead. Good thing Mat finds something it does fear.

[@SarahDuke01]

I’m sorry to say I’m completely drawing a blank on the gholam. Can you give me a quick recap of who this was, how they died or at least the critical books and chapters?

[@SarahDuke01]

I’m sorry to say I’m completely drawing a blank on the gholam. Can you give me a quick recap of who this was, how they died or at least the critical books and chapters?

[@Pentagathusosaurus]

@@SarahDuke01 it was the thing that hunted Mat, it couldn't be harmed with magic or with weapons and was basically unstoppable. But very conveniently it was the only surviving one left from the war of power, and for some reason it's master didn't want it to draw attention to itself so it mostly didn't attack in public places, and the one major character it was sent to kill just so happened to be the only person in the entire world who had a weapon (Mats foxhead medallion) which could harm it. It would kill people and feed off their blood, it killed Tylin after Mat left her tied up so he could escape Ebou Dar without her falling under blame. I absolutely hated the Gholam, it felt like such an awfully contrived character and I never got much sense of fear from it because it was pretty obvious Mat was going to defeat it.

[@gingerginger999]

Few people approach Therava level of monsters ..she was an Aiel murderer perhaps a serial killer. She gets away with her plaything and i'm still pissed off over that.

[@johncrofford]

She is the Mitch McConnell to Sevanna's Trump. Without her betrayal of the trust placed in her, Sevanna would have been nothing.

[@renzoborg]

I was always intrigued immensely by Padan Fain and despite his lackluster ending, he's still my favourite villain. Demandred is a close second. The problem with Demandred is the same, he didn't get enough screen time and while the surprise of Shara in the end was cool, I would've actually preferred if we got POV chapters during his time in Shara preparing for the Last Battle. That's one of my few criticisms of Wheel of Time: The villains deserved more screen time. Mazrim Taim/M'Hael is my 3rd. I knew early on he was up to something. I hated Elaida more than anyone though. She's a superb antagonist and I think Jordan/Sanderson did a fantastic job making the reader hate her guys.

[@Willabrador]

Totally agree

[@astusOZ]

Mesaana really sticks out to me but mainly because of auxiliary information from the big book of bad art. The idea of her running these 'schools' in the Age of Legends where these kids were essentially indoctrinated into being psychopaths, turning on family, each other and holding courts where they performed executions is just so twisted. It also carries with it this element of reality that makes it even more unsettling. Mesaana's Children could make for a really good horror miniseries or story. She's effective as essentially the shadow Amyrlin in the series proper but it's almost mundane evil if that makes any sense in comparison to what she was up to in the Age of Legends. I suppose you could say that for a few of The Forsaken though.

[@SpiritStoneWarrior94-yx3gs]

Moridin/Ishamael is like Saruman of the WOT to me. You described him amazingly 👏

[@TimTYT]

Taim was so weird. All the foreshadowing was so heavy handed and over the top that I was certain it was a red herring.

[@andrewgero8174]

I always assumed that Haran was purely and simply an Avatar for the Dark One. Which means it wasn't pure and simple at all. That is why he couldn't stay away from Shayol Ghul for any length of time; the bore was still sealed but the seals were weakening. So, he could access the world through an avatar but only for short periods of time.

[@thedarkonestaint6105]

Give me Andy serkis as padan fain! Best casting choice possible.

[@lyunardo]

Kind of on the nose though. Fain is an homage to Gollum (and Grima, and Saruman I guess). Casting the same actor would feel like a parody.

[@Jeneric81]

Kyle Smith I’d rather go with Robert Carlyle. Although he might’ve had a few too many villain roles by now.

[@thedarkonestaint6105]

Robert Carlyle would be my second choice. Serkis and him were the first two that came to my head as casting choices

[@1993Nautilus]

Actually I think Brad Douriff (Grima Wormtounge, Chucky) is an almost as a good choice of not better. Or maybe even Sam Rockwell (I think he could pull it off)

[@bradgreer2876]

How about Patrick Stewart? That nose...The bald head...I think he would be great.

[@allison3542]

I feel like graendal beats moghedian in the top 5. Graendal is kind of absent in the beginning yeah, but I never felt like moghedian was all that big of a threat. Whereas graendal became a real antagonist. Also, I know this was not one of the categories and we know they're not "evil" but I feel like the seanchan as a whole made a great villain for me.

[@wheelhouse15]

Tiam really was supposed to be Demondred like we all thought until Jordan decided to change it. I think it probably worked out better that way for the Last Battle.

[@AvanToor]

I think Jordan specifically wrote Taim to be a false red herring. We were supposed to overthink him.

[@TheJcpeterman1985]

The real question here is what DID Dav do with that badger.

[@AshOck667]

lol

[@farstrider79]

The Two Rivers, where men are men and.badgers are scared........

[@ajrocks5677]

Personally, I always found Semirhage the most terrifying forsaken, and was surprised to see she wasn't even on your top five forsaken. The fact that she relished in torture made her a villain that was undeniably cruel and evil for the sake of being cruel and evil, and two scenes in particular put her above the others for me. The first is when she is torturing the warder to death with pleasure. It's one of the most messed up ways to kill someone i remember from the series, especially because I'm fairly certain the warders Aes Sedai was alive at the time as well (not sure if that's right, it's been a while). The second, of course, is when she breaks free of Rand's control and puts the black collar on him, then forces him to strangle Min with his own hands. It was such a traumatizing scene in the story, for both Min and Rand. Min, despite knowing Rand didn't want to hurt her, still has an involuntary fear of him, and understandable fear really, because of what he was forced to do. She still loves him, and forgives him logically and emotionally, but fears him instinctively. And Rand is torn apart by this as well, and if i remember correctly, this marks his turn to being cold, unforgiving, and broken, to everyone, especially himself. He hates himself more than ever before, and fears his destiny is only to hurt those he loves, possibly to even destroy the world. No other forsaken, even other character, damages any of the ta'varen so thoroughly, and this scene is one of my favorite in the series because of this. And Semirhage enjoys it. Edit: Okay actually i think this is breaks Rand from his cold and unforgiving act, forcing him to contemplate his reasoning, prupose, and existence. Guess i have to read the book again... oh well!

[@magnus_cockstrong]

i thought it was funny how elaida was presented as a formidable character with the foretelling but ended up just being a fool. It was a good example of the corrupting nature of power, and how being driven to pursue power does not necessarily translate to success as a leader once power is achieved.

[@ultantuffy1194]

I just picked up the eye of the world and its great so far. So excited for this series

[@davewade30]

I really wanted a Last Battle scene featuring Egwene in all her wand wielding glory meeting a collared, broken Elida damane. Oh well, you can't have everything.

[@sarakhlifi5103]

Semirhage is the only one who got anywhere near subduing the Dragon Reborn and only failed due to Rand's link with Moridin which allowed him to channel the True Power.. aside from that she just makes my blood freeze. she once kept a man screaming his every waking hour with pain for five years just to see how long she could keep him sane through it

[@johnny2003]

I love that Perrin just broke lanfear’s compulsion because he was in the wolf dream and decided he wasn’t under compulsion.

[@jayb8934]

If the battle against the Dark One had taken place in the Wolf Dream, Perrin probably would have defeated him easily just by deciding that he was sealed.

[@sprbwlshuffler92]

I thought that Mazrim Taim was going to turn out to be Demandred. Kinda disappointed when it didn't turn out to be that way, but still good.

[@maohpeach1425]

so did i, i really think that was were RJ was going originally, but maybe he changed his mind a book or 2 down the line.

[@TheJcpeterman1985]

He was originally supposed to be but rj changed it midstream

[@bozoforce]

I think Rj changed it because too many fans figured that out.

[@Robbedem]

You also have to consider the beginning. Would Demandred really let himself get caught like that? I don't think that fits well with his character since he doesn't like to take large personel risks.

[@ssmmav10]

Forsaken became free just before TEOTW. Wasn’t Taim active before that?

[@TheJcpeterman1985]

Ive been watching you since you started, I’m Very happy you’re doing so good . Keep posting videos!!!!

[@Danne1886]

Shadar Haran was a villian to the villians of the story. Other then freeing Semirhage he doesn't really do anything to the good guys. He just goes around scaring the shit out of the Forsaken and high level darkfriends, and punishing them when they fail. Rand only sees his corpse and doesn't even realize it's more then just another fade.

[@kaplooeygames8515]

Shai'tan hitting Rand with the THERE IS ONLY ME after showing Rand the possible future where everyone lost their conscience is a top 5 villain moment for me, that had my brain playing background music

[@covi_reads7398]

Thank you for telling me to "get out"

[@robfromjersey7899]

Narg, the greatest villain of all.

[@danakinstreetrider]

Narg no hurt. You put down sword. Narg was just trying to make peace.

[@Moridin69]

BBB H dude you’re forgetting Ingtar.

[@MetalCharlo]

Put down sword Narg wants cheetos and anime

[@shawnduket5417]

For me, Moghedien and Messaana would be on the list. Moghedien because of all her scemes and she literally removed Birgitte from Tel'Aran'Rhiod. She's more of a threat throughout the series than Lanfear. Mesaana only because she was a master manipulator who i think was the driving force in corrupting Elaida. Sure Alvhiarin was the one who basically used her but was doing so on Messaana's orders. Plus she was able to bring darkfriends and possibly could be linked to more events inside the White Tower than previously thought such as the Black Ajah. After all, who knows when any of the Forsaken actually escaped captivity.

[@Makdrey00]

The flaw with Moridan wanting to die, couldn't he just balefire himself and erase himself from existence? Seems like it would achieve the same thing as ending everything.

[@fredricklloyd5300]

Congratulations on your ascension. With the series moving forward, you and Nae'blis are being mentioned as people to go to for Wheel of Time content. Blessings.

[@alexcavoli6191]

Ive always viewed Fain as the back up dark one, in case Rand did manage to "kill" the it. It says its too vast to even attempt to kill but i dont think the balance cares it just prepares for every possibility and impossibility.

[@lindysparty1929]

I agree that Lanfear likely brought Rand into the alternate world via the Portal Stone. She needed to get Rand away from the Shienarans so that she could convince him of how awesome and deserving of power he was. Hard to do with Ingtar running the horses at a quick pace, no spare horses to carry her, and Mat scoffing every time someone says something nice about Rand. Plus if I remember correctly, Egwene Dreams of Lanfear standing over Rand at the Portal Stone the night he's transported over.

[@Adamdidit]

Remember when Daniel was kinda awkward and unsure of himself on the mic? Yeah..that shit passed a long time ago. One of my favorite youtubers and I'm glad we get you this way. Now just go find out what other youtubers you randomly share a city with for more livestreams.

[@gonzalogonzalez2585]

There I was, in the bathroom at 11:47 with noise-canceling earbuds, when Daniel chose to add the horror audio on the Golam section. More than fear came out of me.

[@maxgilbertson1041]

Just finished the series for the 1st time. I started 4 years ago! 10,000 pages later I'm here. Love the chanel!

[@AvanToor]

Demandred! "You good, man? Where are you?" "We'll be ready..."

[@bozoforce]

And by the shadow was he ready. Hope this doesn't count as a spoiler.

[@yodhanhunter]

I did forget about the Dark One. A clear sign of your skill of talking and explaining your views on this topic.

[@khfanboy666]

I always had a massive soft spot for Moghedien. She's understated, sneaky, and above all else, egotistical about HOW MUCH sneakier she is than everyone else. The image of Lanfear, Rahvin, Graendal, and Sammael all meeting up in the realm of dreams, resplendent on the ornate thrones they've conjured for themselves, then panning up to see Mog inconspicuously crouched on the thin air and eavesdropping on them from above was always a favourite of mine. It's the perfect portrait of her character: Quiet, shadowy, but at the same time, you get the sense that she's a bit too proud of both of those qualities, such that it could easily lead to her downfall. You can feel this sort of sad inadequacy coming off of her. She's not as grand or powerful as the others, so she makes up for it by being subtle, but in a way she's kinda UNsubtle since she's overcompensating and trying to arrogantly SHOW OFF how subtle she is, and clearly thinks all the people she's manipulating are idiots. To her credit though, I think she's actually one of the only Forsaken who was willing to assume the role of a "lower" person in order to further her agenda; variously taking the forms of servants, maids, cleaners, and refugees at different points in the series, while the rest of the Forsaken indulge in positions of power as their disguises. Which is pretty cool. Her posing as a slave and influencing the Seanchan from that lowly position was partly how the Shadow kept the Seanchan out of the Last Battle for a while. She also gets put through the wringer a LOT as the books go on, which kinda made me feel sorry for her a bit, even though she had it coming. But even at her lowest, I remember this scene where she was left alone with Nynaeve and, despite being trapped by an A'dam, almost immediately managed to get her groove back and get under Nynaeve's skin. It took Egwene stepping in to cow her back into submission. That's what was good about the Forsaken. In a lot of ways they were pathetic, arrogant, petty assholes who were nowhere near as unstoppable as their legends made them out to be, but every now and then they could still snap and show you how dangerous an arrogant, petty asshole can actually be with the right cards. Also, I want to shout out Sammael for having one of my favourite bits of near suicidal assholery in the entire series, where he made these fake Ter'angreal boxes for the Shaido Aiel, then decided to call them "fool boxes" in the Old Tongue entirely because he wanted to insult how ignorant the Aiel were. Like, it was a move that could either backfire horribly, or at best give him something to laugh about for a few seconds. It's so pointless and needlessly reckless that it's amazing.

[@kennymiller5837]

Has anyone else tried to draw a connection between no one saying the dark ones name, and no one using the emperesses name?

[@justingroth5152]

Your portal stone theory, Egwene's has a Dream that she talks to a Sedi before getting on the river queen. In the dream she mentions a beautiful woman tinkering with the portal stone as Rand sleeps. I think the other two were initially collateral damage but ultimately served Lanfear in pushing Rand to leadership. She wanted him to desire greatness but only through her.

[@MusMasi]

Elaida suffered a fate worse than death, it would be more merciful to die than that.

[@McIovln]

Congrats, man! Your one of the best on KZbin, and I can’t wait to watch you continue to shine! The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, and you, my friend, might just be Ta’veren.

[@McIovln]

P.s. read the Riyria Revelations. I’m dying to know what you think of it! Your reviews are so incredibly insightful. The nuances you pull out of books that go over many heads is one of the many reasons your such a great BookTuber!

[@bethburge6403]

Wanted to watch but haven't finished series. I know I'm late but life happens. Glad I found your videos.

[@jamesalexander4186]

Been here since before you hit 10k. You are one of the main reasons I love fantasy as much as I do currently and the fact that you are now able to pursue KZbin full time is amazing congrats man

[@MrDanialam]

So happy to see other fans of the novel! Love your videos keep up the good work!

[@heywoodjablowme6439]

Congratulations on the move to full time, love the channel and good luck!!🍀

[@kelvinmatson9906]

Grendahl and her compulsion was pretty evil. Like ruining ruark at the end.

[@marsanna]

I forgot about Rhuarc :( I loved him. The compulsion of him was just devastating.

[@brianetie86]

There’s a noticeable difference in your energy in this video. The way that you’re speaking is just so much more engaging and your level of excitement talking about these villains is getting me pumped! It was a great choice to go full time and I’m super excited for this kind of energy in your next video! Tai’shar, booktube!

[@actionms8566]

To me, it would be Bao/Demandred He found his own twisted but relatable reason for doing what he does and actually manages do deal some damage. I also felt he was not completely lost if it hadn't been for his envy of LT. Moridin on the other hand propably hurt more of his followers than his enemys.

[@nathanjensen2902]

Congrats on going full time man. Just turned on the bell, which is the first time I’ve ever done that for any channel. I’ll watch your vids because you know your wot stuff.

[@JoePauley]

I totally get your conclusion and somewhat agree, but my vote for best villain goes to Lanfear. She uses her beauty and her cunning to great effect on Rand and Perrin, and her moral complexity makes her more compelling to my mind. There were times it almost seemed that she could have been coaxed back to the Light and even her initial "death" and resurrection as Cyndane, with Moridin holding her cour'souvra makes you wonder how much is her own evil and how much is external control. Her final end at Perrin's hands is poetic and well earned on both of their parts and I just felt a real depth and complexity to her story that I felt was missing from the other Forsaken.

[@arisyn6436]

When he was talking about the Dark One I couldn’t help get Ride Into Obsession by Blind Guardian stuck in my head. Don’t ask, I don’t know.

[@luckymandragoran8471]

Congratulations on the full time! You deserve it, your channel is awesome

[@cthulhu6245]

I never really viewed The Dark One as a character, more a corrupting influence. It’s seen and pointed out that the dark one is incapable of learning(or if he does he quickly forgets when sealed back up), we can see evidence of this when he doesn’t know about bale fire and the forsaken he was talking to is noticing confused by this, and I’m not sure if it can really be called a character when it is incapable of change or learning. I think he’s less character and more force of nature, the real planning and what not being done by characters who were corrupted by his influence.

[@garrettwagner5270]

I did forget about the Dark One. You got me. Been here since the start, good to see you make this into a career.

[@pspdownloaderplus]

Congratulations Daniel, I've been watching (and enjoying) your content for quite a while and I'm really happy that you're at a point where you can take this step. Good luck!

[@ericrodriguez9633]

I think it is very cool that who you (and many others) consider to be the best villains are ultimately the “end game@ final villains. Not many series pull that off so well. Thanks RJ

[@matthewbroestl3635]

Congrats on full time man! Don't worry about it, once the show gets closer you will pick up crazy subs.

[@ChiIIChief]

You’ve improved a lot Daniel, I’ve been here for a fat minute and your editing is miles better then it was. Good job man.

[@leandervr]

I feel Shaidar Haran was intentionally not developed further as a character, because he really was 'just' a manifestation of the dark one, and he mainly existed to show that the DO's prison had weakened so far that he could now reach out through the cracks with a small measure of his power.

[@bomber66a]

Congrats on your 1st Pro. Vid!

[@EZ1977]

Congratulations on the full time gig. I imagine if the show blows up, so will your channel. Good luck!

[@Quadzilla41]

Daniel this is a great video. Thank you so much for this :)

[@joemoe650]

Daniel: all of the forsaken were good villain Bel'al: literally gets one shot 2 min after hes introduced

[@leannerose6181]

I've actually had that same thought that Lanfear tripped the portal stone,and not Rand. Enjoying your videos,keep it up!

[@GeektoStudios]

the testament to the worldbuilding and writing of this series. Is the older i get, the better understand why these villains are villanous. And OH BOY, they feel more realistic and thought out. With every year I get older, and each time i read the series again. This applies to the heroes as well, the better i understand people, as i get older. the better i understand the why of the characters in this series. I figure I am never going to age out of this series.

[@arisyn6436]

I have to agree with you on your pick. I need proof and overthink everything so to have a villain logic their way to the dark made it so much more interesting and real for me. The fact that it wasn’t an ethics thing, a right and wrong, it wasn’t out of fear. It was a, I need to do this to survive the last battle, the dark one holds the cards. A villain who has a reason to do what they do I tend to favor more because there isn’t greed or dare I say pettiness, it’s real, it makes sense, and it’s scary to know through logic evil has a higher probability of winning.

[@Michelle-ek5do]

You didn't include the Whitecloaks among the human villains, in particular Byar, Valda & Asunawa. They were definitely hated, especially after trapping Morgaze, and after refusing to help fight literal Shadowspawn attacking the Two Rivers. They were bullies to everyone, did the Shadow's work despite not being Darkfriends (like Masema), hunted Aes Sedai and all channelers, but in particular had a very unique and special hatred for Perrin which was fueled by Byar.

[@Geleswastaken]

I knew your to pick the second I saw the title :) excited to see you go full time! gl!

[@melaniev9446]

Congrats on going full time, can't wait to see what's to come. Also, your mention of Fain makes me wonder, in the TV show do you think they'll try to "fix" any of the issues people (including Sanderson) have found such as Fain's ending? We may want them to stick to the story 100% but let's face it there are some minor issues (WoT is my favorite series ever though) and I wouldn't mind seeing an attempt to fix some of them. Just a thought hehe.

[@101Waylander]

A very good video. Well reasoned arguments for your choices, choices that I cannot fault. Well done.