What's That Coming Over the Hill? Quiz

Answer: Moridin

Moridin, previously known as Ishamael, ultimately becomes Nae'blis and leads the Forsaken, using Cyndane and Moghedien as his errand girls. In the Age of Legends, he was a philosopher called Elan Morin Tedronai, and his more philosophical side comes out when he is reincarnated as Moridin.

As Ishamael, he was the leader of the Forsaken in the War of Power and equal to Lews Therin Telamon, and was only partially sealed away, unlike the other Forsaken. He has fire coming out of his eyes and mouth, torments Rand and repeatedly orders him to join him and serve the Shadow.

He also calls himself Ba'alzamon, a Trolloc name meaning 'Heart of he Dark'. Rand kills him with Callandor, but not before Ishamael manages to stab him in the side. As Moridin, he has a spiritual connection to Rand and Rand uses this to swap bodies with him after the two fight in Shayol Ghul.

Answer: Corlan Dashiva

Originally named Ishar Morrad Chuain, Aginor was a biologist with a penchant for experimentation, which led to the creation of Trollocs - savage human/animal hybrids obsessed with killing and eating their victims - and other vile creatures. He became twisted into a hideous figure due to being sealed close to the edge of the Bore, resembling a withered old corpse.

He dies in 'The Eye of the World' after overusing the One Power and being burged to death, and is resurrected as Osan'gar, a slightly unhinged scruffy man who infiltrates the Asha'man under the name of Corlan Dashiva.

He and a group of Darkfriend Asha'man attempt to kill Rand in 'The Path of Daggers'. Dashiva dies a rather undignified death in 'Winter's Heart' during the cleansing of the taint when Elza Penfell, an undercover Black Ajah member, does not realise he is actually on her side and kills him before he can unleash balefire on Rand.

Answer: He wanted to learn every song ever written and get revenge on his rivals.

Asmodean is arguably the least evil of the Forsaken (not that that's much of an achievement) and a talented composer and musician whose name in the Age of Legends was Joar Addam Nessosin. He turned to the Shadow because he wanted to become immortal and thereby learn every song ever written and be recognised for his genius, and also to get revenge on his rivals.

The son of an Aes Sedai, he stilled his mother and handed her over to the Myrdraal (who have a penchant for raping and murdering human woman).

He teams up with Rand - who is well aware that Asmodean isn't a good guy - in 'The Shadow Rising' and trains him on Lanfear's instructions, after Rand severs him from the Dark One. He later dies for good while looking for refreshments and running into a familiar person; his last words are, "You? No!" Fans speculated for ages who the 'you' was, but in 'Towers of Midnight', it is revealed that Graendal was the one who murdered him.

Answer: He used to be called Ared Mosinel.

Balthamel's name in the Age of Legends was Eval Ramman (Ared Mosinel was Rahvin). An anthropologist, historian and extreme womaniser, he ran an intelligence network and breeding camps for humans to be raised as food for the armies of Trollocs. Like Aginor, he was sealed close to the edge of the Bore and this caused his head to rot away, meaning that he has to wear a mask and is unable to speak.

In 'The Eye of the World', the Green Man kills him by causing plants to sprout all over his body. He is resurrected in a female body as Aran'gar, although she is still able to use saidin rather than saidar (which alerts Eben Hopwil to the fact that there is something off about her in 'Winter's Heart').

She infiltrates Egwene's rebel Aes Sedai camp under the name of Halima Saranov and interferes with her dreams by giving her neck massages under the pretence of curing her headaches (although she is actually causing Egwene's headaches).

She murders two of Egwene's maids, sets Moghedien free and kills Anaiya Carel and her Warder by suffocating them with Air, but is killed herself by Rand when he attacks Graendal's castle with balefire.

Answer: Moiraine Damodred

Be'lal, a skilled swordsman and lawyer, was previously known as Duram Laddel Cham and joined the Shadow out of jealousy of Lews Therin Telamon (a problem both Demandred and Sammael also had, although unlike them, Be'lal had a habit of being jealous of people more powerful than him in general).

He manipulates his way into the Tairen elite by posing as the High Lord Samon, and plans to get Callandor off Rand by luring him into the Stone of Tear, a giant fortress. While fighting Rand in 'The Dragon Reborn', he is on the receiving end of a balefire attack, courtesy of Moiraine, and cannot be resurrected as a result as balefire interferes with the fabric of time itself.

Answer: The Sharans

Demandred, aka Barid Bel Medar, appears sporadically in the books up until 'A Memory of Light', where he is one of the few remaining Forsaken and a force to be reckoned with. A popular fan theory was that he and Mazrim Taim were the same person, though this was later debunked (although Demandred was responsible for Taim being installed as M'Hael, leader of the Asha'man, which also becomes Taim's Forsaken name when he joins them late in the series). Like Rand, he is a 'chosen one'; in this case, he is Bao the Wyld, a heroic figure who, according to Sharan prophecy, would walk the path of Angarai'la, the River of Souls, enter the Hearttomb and find a piece of the Sakarnen, a powerful male sa'angreal shaped like a sceptre. Demandred does all of this and leads the Sharan forces in the Last Battle.

He forms an enormous magical circle, kills Gawyn, defeats both Galad and Logain and calls for Rand to come and fight him, but it is ultimately Lan Mandragoran who kills him, taking a hit from Demandred in order to get close enough to cut his throat. Lan then decapitates Demandred and shows his severed head to the enemy, throwing them into disarray, while Moghedien burns Demandred's corpse.

Answer: Morgase Trakand

Rahvin was a diplomat in life who used Compulsion to manipulate regions into surrendering to the Shadow. In the present day, he manipulates his way into Morgase's confidences by posing as Lord Gaebril and putting riots down in Caemlyn, supporting the pro-Morgase faction.

She appoints him as her chief advisor, replacing Elaida do'Avriny a'Roihan, and Rahvin uses Compulsion to turn the unfortunate queen into his puppet and make her fall in love with him. Under Rahvin's control, she sends Gareth Bryne into exile and has several allies flogged.

She eventually escapes the palace and Rahvin plots to claim the throne. In 'The Fires of Heaven', he stalks Rand through Tel'aran'rhiod and attempts to turn him into an animal, but Nynaeve stops him via Moghedien (who she is controlling with an a'dam).

He kills Asmodean, Aviendha and Mat with lightning, but their deaths are undone when Rand kills him with balefire.

Answer: Illian

Sammael, known as Tel Janin Aellinsar in the Age of Legends, was a sportsman, general and friend of Lews Therin Telamon, whom he later turned against. He has a scar on his face that Lews Therin gave to him, which he refuses to have healed until he has killed Lews Therin.

As Sammael, he becomes the military dictator of Illian under the name of Lord Brend, turning food supplies over to its army, and collecting angreal and sa'angreal. He hears of a cache in Ebou Dar and orders Jaichim Carridin, a Whitecloak turned Darkfriend, to find it and has his family fed to the Trollocs to make him comply.

In 'A Crown of Swords', Sammael teams up with Graendal under the name of Caddar and uses the Shaido Aiel, dispersing them all over the continent, which gets several of them killed and has the side effect of making Rand look bad because of his affinity with the Aiel.

He and Rand fight in Shadar Logoth, with Moridin helping Rand as he wants to keep Rand alive for the Last Battle (and also has a score to settle with Sammael for falsely claiming to be Nae'blis). Sammael's fate is left uncertain as the killer fog Mashadar closes in on him. (Robert Jordan later confirmed that Sammael was, in fact, dead.)

Answer: Therapist

As Kamarile Maradim Nindar, Graendal was a talented therapist who could heal any mental disorder and an extreme ascetic, and a perfectionist to boot. Realising that nobody could meet her impossibly high standards, she went to the opposite extreme and embraced hedonism, using her Compulsion skills to create a brainwashed harem of men and women (with the Compulsion on them being so strong that if it were to be removed, it would turn the victims into mindless shells).

Her job has given her an excellent understanding of the human mind.

She teams up with Lanfear, Sammael and Rahvin to try and turn Rand to the dark side, and later kills Asmodean. She has a narrow escape from Rand when he attacks her castle with balefire after using Ramshalan as bait, teleporting out while leaving Aran'gar and Delana Mosalaine of the Black Ajah to die.

She tries and fails to kill Perrin, and killed for her failures and resurrected as an ugly old crone called Hessalam. As Hessalam, she causes chaos among the Forces of Light by placing the Five Great Captains under Compulsion, although one of them, Rodel Ituralde, figures out what is going on and allows Elyas to capture him.

She fights Aviendha and tries to compel her, but gets a taste of her own medicine when Aviendha accidentally blows up her gateway and makes Hessalam's attack rebound onto her, causing her to worship Aviendha.

Answer: Rand al'Thor

As Mierin Eronaile, Lanfear was the ex-girlfriend of Lews Therin Telamon and repeatedly tried to win him back from his wife Ilyena. She was one of the world's most powerful female channellers and part of the group of researchers who inadvertently freed the Dark One by drilling a hole into his prison, while trying to find a source of power that did not have the gender divisions of the True Source.

In the present day, she is obsessed with Rand, due to him being Lews Therin reincarnated, to the point where her loyalty to the Dark One is somewhat questionable, and temporarily teams up with him in 'The Great Hunt' under the name of Selene.

She appears in Rand's dreams from time to time. She is extremely jealous and does not take kindly to hearing that he has slept with Aviendha, skinning the bearer of the bad news alive.

She meets her end when she and Moiraine fall through a portal in 'The Shadow Rising', and is later killed by Moridin, who mindtraps her, and resurrected as Cyndane. She still pursues Rand, but Rand makes it clear he isn't interested.

She then tries to brainwash Perrin during the Last Battle, but his love for Faile overcomes her Compulsion and he snaps her neck.

Answer: The Shadow Amyrlin

Mesaana was formerly a researcher and teacher named Saine Tarasind. During the Age of Legends, she groomed children in regions captured by the Shadow to become bullies, betray their parents and form kangaroo courts, and 'Mesaana's Children' would later grow up to become criminals.

She is known as the 'Shadow Amyrlin' for her activities behind the scenes in the White Tower, where she is disguised as a Brown Ajah sister called Danelle. Alviarin Freidhen, Keeper of the Chronicles under Elaida and Head of the Black Ajah, reports directly to her behind Elaida's back.

After Alviarin is punished by Elaida, she runs to Mesaana in a panic and is about to be punished by Mesaana, only for Shaidar Haran to intervene and torture Mesaana for not answering the Dark One's summons, and place a mark on Alviarin to protect her from Mesaana's wrath.

In 'Towers of Midnight', she attacks Egwene in Tel'aran'rhiod during a meeting and almost captures her with an a'dam, only for Egwene to fight back and destroy her mind in the process.

Answer: Spider

Moghedien is named after a type of spider with a very potent venom, and several characters compare her to one at various points. As Moghedien herself says to Elayne and Nynaeve, her way of dealing with things is 'softly, softly, in the shadows'. In the Age of Legends, she was an investment advisor called Lillen Moirale who co-ordinated a network of spies, an activity she continues in the present time, and infiltrated Lews Therin Telamon's staff. Birgitte Silverbow shoots her with an arrow in Tel'aran'rhiod and Moghedien tears her out of the Pattern in revenge.

She has a vendetta against Nynaeve after Nynaeve put an a'dam on her, so much so that she tries to kill Nynaeve in Ebou Dar in 'A Crown of Swords' by blowing up her boat with balefire (Nynaeve survives, though the men with her are killed).

She is mindtrapped by Moridin and punished by the Dark One for being captured, and is mainly used as a messenger from then on. After Demandred's death in the Last Battle, she takes over leadership of the Sharan forces.

Answer: She was in Seanchan murdering the Empress.

Semirhage, known as Nemene Damendar Boann in the Age of Legends, was a healer who was threatened with severance from the One Power for torturing her patients. She responded by joining the Shadow. She had a reputation for being so relentlessly evil that prisoners willingly committed suicide rather than be taken to her, and her own jailers were so terrified of her that they smuggled her out of prison.

She is also responsible for discovering the Turning method involving 13 Dreadlords and 13 Myrdraal.

She poses as Anath, truthspeaker to the Seanchan princess Tuon, and plots to get Suroth Sabelle Meldarath, a High Lady and Darkfriend, on the throne when Tuon proves too difficult to manipulate. Along with Mesaana, she is one of the few Forsaken who does not rush to Shadar Logoth to stop Rand cleansing the taint, though she has a pretty good excuse - she reveals to Suroth that she has murdered the Empress Radhanan (and there was a lot of blood) and the entire Imperial Court, leaving Tuon an only child and plunging Seanchan into chaos.

She is captured by the Forces of Light after blowing Rand's hand off and humiliated by Cadsuane Melaidhrin, but manages to get hold of the Domination Band after Shaidar Haran releases her, and uses it to force Rand to strangle Min Farshaw. Rand then snaps and kills Semirhage with balefire in revenge.

Answer: The Chosen

Both the Forsaken and Darkfriends in general refer to the Dark One as the Great Lord, and the Forsaken see themselves as specially chosen to serve the Dark One (and they all want to be Nae'blis). They immensely dislike being referred to as 'Forsaken'.

Although they are all powerful channellers with skills in various fields, they are also immensely petty at times and do not get on with each other (and in some cases, even kill each other). Graendal and Sammael, for instance, form an uneasy alliance when they meet with the Shaido Aiel, but Graendal is not happy about working with him and finds him overly cocky. Robert Jordan stated that selfishness was a trait they all had in common.

Answer: 2

The two surviving Forsaken, who are still their original selves, are Mesaana and Moghedien. Although both have been punished by the Dark One, neither died at any point in the series and survived until the end, although Mesaana is effectively braindead as a result of her battle with Egwene. Moghedien survives the Final Battle and is elated, realising that she is effectively the only Forsaken left.

Unfortunately, the Seanchan have other ideas and place an a'dam around her neck, as she is not wearing the ring of the Aes Sedai and is therefore theirs for the taking.

Hessalam survives the final battle, but succumbs to her own Compulsion, while Demandred is killed by Lan Mandragoran and Moridin dies in Rand's body (of the wound he inflicted on Rand, ironically enough).