WARNING: If you believe Taim is Demandred, then I suggest you turn back now, because you will never understand this theory.

Preface

The greatest mystery in WoT, who killed Asmodean, is always up speculation. In the following paper, I would like to sum up my stance. Hopefully, this will sway some readers to rethink the issue. As Aristotle once said, "Discourse is the mark of intelligence."

The Obvious

RJ states that the murder should be intuitively obvious to a casual observer, so I believe I will state the case with the obvious first and formost. What do we know that is obvious?

At the begining of every chapter, there is a symbol that represents to a degree what goes on inside that chapter. For the death scene chapter, we get the Wheel of Time symbol. No forsaken or fain symbol. This is not a definate answer, simply a clue that niether a forsaken or Fain were involved.

Someone once pointed out to me a very important fact that I missed before. Forsaken don't kill Forsaken. Sure, they are always jumpy when they are around each other, but this is all held in check by the fear of the DO. The question though is, what is Asmodean? After he becomes severed from the DO, is he a Forsaken still? The general answer I get is that no, he isn't. In fact, through his PoV's, he shows no thoughts towards rejoining the DO, just that he still considers the DO the great lord. Does the DO still consider Asmo a forsaken? A casual observer would note that the DO doesn't seem to care wiether or not Asmo died ( LoC : Prologue ). Words like traitor are never mentioned. This is probably because Asmodean is not a traitor of his own free will. He is forced to teach Rand by Lanfear. Whose the real traitor in this case? Lanfear. I believe this combined with her plan to work with Rand to supplant the DO and Creator landed her in the Mind Trap. I do believe that the DO sending out a hit on Asmo is out of the case. This leaves the case of a Forsaken seeing that Asmo needed to be removed because it threatened to make Rand stronger. One problem with that though. The Darkhounds sent by Rahvin in FoH only checked to make sure Asmo was with Rand, not to kill him. This shows that at least one Forsaken didn't want to kill Asmo.

The Road

Mazrim has been long theorized to be at least a darkfriend. 15 years with the power and he doesn't show signs of madness. Adding to this case is the fact that he was freed by the black ajah and the seal he picked up. After he was freed, he fled to Caemlyn followed closely by Bashere. Why did Mazrim go to Caemlyn? I think the obvious answer is Rahvin. Later on, Mazrim takes on characteristics of a Forsaken, so much so that he has been able to fool most of the readers of WoT that he is Demandred. I disagree with the Taimadred theory, and instead point to his time with Rahvin. If Taim isn't Demandred, there where else would he pick up phrases like "So called Aiel." I doubt thats a common term in Saldea. All this points to Mazrim being in Caemlyn before the attack on it by Rand's forces. Another piece of evidence to support that Mazrim was in the Palace itself and a pupil of Rahvin, was the fact that Bashere was not allowed into the palace to talk with Rahvin. That fact points directly to Mazrim hiding inside the Caemlyn palace to aviod capture by Bashere.

Another important aspect leading up to the murder was the fact that Lanfear was the one that reported that Asmodean had betrayed the Dark. Although, to believe Lanfear at her word would be foolish. In fact, most Forsaken simply know that Asmodean is dead, and don't show any emotion either way. So the fact that they could believe Asmodean betrayed them is very weak. Adding to this is the fact that most of the Forsaken knew of Lanfear's affinity for LTT, and I would guess most of them would feel like Lanfear was the most likely candidate to betray the Dark. In fact, that is exactly what happened.

The Pantry

After the attack by Rand's forces, Mazrim would have to flee Caemlyn, because he would be associated with Rahvin for sure if captured within the palace. An interesting side note from a book on castles in the middle ages, is that pantries are usually connected to servant passages to cellars or hidden escape routs. Its very convient that Asmo was looking for the pantry when he stumbled upon someone that would want to kill him. Here we find the biggest clue about who killed Asmo... the death statement. "You? No!" Most people who have analyzed this statement have come up with the basic conclussion that he recognized his killer. Also, the fact that he didn't try to defend himself, and the "You?" points to another conclussion ... that Asmo did not expect to be killed. He as a chosen would have no idea that he was about to get killed. Any intelligent observer would notice that if Asmo bumped into someone that Asmo was afraid of, then the first thing he would probably do is run in the other direction.

Why would Mazrim be recognized by Asmo? Because, duh, he's a false dragon and a darkfriend. In fact, for as long as Mazrim could have been a darkfriend, I'd bet my first 2 cents on the fact that he was at the darkfriend social in the prologue of TGH. A few have theorized that because he could travel, he was the one that took the darkfriends there. Ishy probably couldn't have, because he would have revealed himself to soon to his audience. Also, the fact that he got to hide out with Rhavin would suggest he would be all up to date on current events in the Forsaken's world. This all points to the fact that Mazrim himself, would have recognized Asmo. So Mazrim didn't expect Asmo to be there and Asmo didn't expect Mazrim to be there. Mazrim otherwise, would have been inconvient to Rand. Asmo needed to be taken out if Mazrim was to assume the position of M'hael of the BT, and Rand's right hand man.

The Creator

Before I use this bit of argueing, I would like to state that reports from the field have not always been acurate. In fact, I hate using this because it can only cause problems.

I asked about Asmodean again. He said that yes, we should be able to figure it out the instant he died. He said that he thinks it's obvious now and we should definitely be able to figure it out by the end of [TPOD].-- A. Bergman, report from NYC book signing, 20 October 1998.

Well, can we figured it out the instant Taim died?

Taim was in Caemlyn, as shown by Bashere's statements. He is probably a dreadlord, and would have been able to kill Asmodean. He would then probably have to escape, due to fear of Rand killing him and ran into Taim.

Is it obvious now at the end of TPOD?

Taim has gained the most since Asmo's demise. He is the M'hael, and been trying to kill off Rand. Not to mention the fact that he bossed Dashiva around, and orders the assasination of Rand. Taim can no longer be considered remotely non-dark.

Taim wants to be Rahvin?

When Taimadred died, all the proof that Demandred was Taim died. What happened to LTT's rambling about wanting to kill Demandred whenever Taim was around? Or when MT killed the Gray Man? Or his comments on the Aiel? Or the 15 years he has been channeling with touch of the Taint? Or how quickly he learned to create a gateway, and in fact, knew what it was called? Or how he knew how to do many things Rand couldn't? Or his comprehensive knowledge of the old tongue for a Randlander? So what does all this mean?

That Taim learned from some other Forsaken! And who better than the person he spent with much of FoH, Rahvin. It is my belief, that Taim wants to become a Forsaken, and so he is learning. As we have seen, alot of the BT was a front for allowing MT to put together a dreadlord army. Taim, if he is a dreadlord, is definately moving up among the chosen, simply because it seems he has the most success so far out of all the Forsaken.

Chaos and beyond

Alot of people of people have claimed that Taim is Demandred. When you look at this theory, it seems to break down alot in WH. After the theory was debunked, all the evidence from Taim being Demandred was thrown out. No one wants to touch it. The fact that LTT wants to kill Taim doesn't strike you as strange? I believe that LTT can smell that fact that Taim is very dangerous. If LTT thinks Taim is dangerous, its not far to imagine him being the one that knocked out Asmo. In fact, its downright obvious to me that Taim was the culprit.