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smodean Knew Too Much
by Macster: 2011-03-11 | 6 out of 10 (4 votes)
Previous Categories: Who Killed Asmodean
This may seem rather pointless now, knowing what we do from Towers of Midnight, but I think it worthwhile enough to bear out explicating the theory, seeing it is something I have never seen remarked upon anywhere else. I may be wrong, or it may just be so self-evident no one bothered to mention it, but I am a completionist and this point has always nagged at me since I first discovered all the various "Who Killed Asmodean?" theories out there.
So, without further ado, let’s begin with a quick recap of what we know so as to satisfy all the previous points which were always addressed in such things, via the excellent and comprehensive article on the subject from the WOTFAQ.
Graendal killed Asmodean. We know this, and we know it was her personally. As for the requirements which must be satisfied for her to be the murderer:
1. Means: She could both Travel and use balefire. It’s already been well-established that neither Rand nor Aviendha, nor any other channeling woman, was near Asmodean when he died, and we don’t know how far away such usage can be detected. With channeling Wise Ones around, no one might have thought anything of it even if they did notice, especially if the amount used was small. And it could well have been, if Graendal only used enough balefire to kill him without trying to burn his actions from the Pattern by any significant amount. And she wouldn’t have used a huge amount if caught by surprise; see point 3. As for a Traveling gateway, Rand might have actually felt it, which is why he believed Asmodean ran away.
Lastly, we learn in the Prologue: Distinctions of Towers of Midnight that Graendal has been granted use of the True Power. Yes, she says this was a gift to her from Moridin, but she then corrects herself to "the Great Lord" and tells Aran’gar that "once the Great Lord’s favor in this regard was not confined to the Nae’blis." (ToM p. 26). Which means this gift could have been given as long ago as TFoH. And yes she thinks she can "channel only a thin trickle of it" (p. 25), but that might well be enough to still make a gateway or, as stated, a small amount of balefire. And the True Power cannot be sensed by anyone.
Aside from wanting to use it so as to remain undetected, Towers of Midnight also shows that regardless of the dangers of the True Power, Graendal does in fact enjoy using it: "Graendal opened herself and accepted the Great Lord’s dominance of her, feeling the thrilling ecstasy of his power, his passion, his very substance. It was so much more intoxicating than the One Power, this raging torrent of fire" (p. 25).
From the sound of it, using the True Power feels as good to the Chosen as simply bathing in the Dark One’s presence at Shayol Ghul.
2. Motive: to become Nae'blis by getting rid of a traitor, as well as simply gaining more power than the other Chosen while also eliminating a rival. And one other motive, which I’ll get to shortly.
3. Opportunity: Graendal had been meeting with Rahvin, Sammael, and Lanfear in the Royal Palace, so she is far more likely to Travel there unannounced than any other Forsaken outside that group. And once news that Rand was coming to Caemlyn was announced (we know Darkfriends must have told because Rahvin had Trollocs and One Power traps ready in the city), it was likely planned that they would come together and link so as to take Rand out, as the plan originally was set for Sammael in Illian. If they did not, in fact, know of Rand’s attack (or if only Rahvin did), then Graendal had even more reason to Travel to Caemlyn: believing Rahvin still ran the city, she would be coming to check on the status of the plan, and its conspirators, not knowing he was already dead and Rand ruled Caemlyn. In other words, this is the "Asmodean discovered his murderer by chance" motive, which explains why he was killed when he was: because before this, Graendal had no idea where he was, or had no opportunity to kill him while surrounded by Rand’s entourage. Recall her always being very careful in her scheming, taking "one solid step at a time…never stretching too far at any step" (Prologue, "The First Sparks Fall", TFoH, p. 37).
4. Be a person Asmodean recognized, who he didn't expect to see, and of whom he was terrified: The first one is obvious since she's a Forsaken, as well as for another reason I‘ll soon get to. Second one: as far as he knew, she was in Arad Doman and never left there. As for the third, read and find out...
5. Be able to dispose of the body: See point 1. As to why she would, be patient...
6. Must know Asmodean's fate: Her thoughts and comments during her talk with Sammael in Lord of Chaos, where she insisted he was dead, give this away.
Which just leaves unexplained why this was kept secret so long, and how it was "intuitively obvious" Graendal was the killer. The explanation for this, for why Asmodean was terrified when he saw her, and why she destroyed the body rather than leaving it to warn the other Forsaken about what happens to traitors, is all explained by another, more personal, enterprising motive she had for killing him besides surprise and becoming Nae'blis.
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Please direct your attention to the following points, from The Shadow Rising and The Fires of Heaven:
When Rand dreams of swimming in a waterhole with Min and Elayne, Lanfear shows up to get jealous, then Asmodean. She chastises him for almost giving their game plan away:
"Risk," she sneered. "You fear risk as much as Moghedien, don’t you? You would creep about like the Spider herself. Had I not hauled you out of your hole, you’d still be hiding, and waiting to snatch a few scraps" (Chapter 50, "Traps," TSR, p. 825).
What hole might this be?
Much later, when Rand is talking to Asmodean about channeling and linking, we have this unusual revelation:
"The thirteen weakest women in the Tower could overpower you or any man, and barely breathe hard. I came across a saying in Arad Doman. ‘The more women there are about, the softer a wise man steps.’ It would not be bad to remember it" (Chapter 3 "Pale Shadows", TFoH, p. 104, emphasis mine).
The implication, of course, is that he had spent time in Arad Doman, and that was the "hole" in which he'd been hiding when Lanfear found him. But what was he doing there? Well, who do we know who spent all her time there?
Consider that Asmodean was the weakest of the Forsaken, meaning a) he'd want to be as far from Rand and his allies as possible and b) he'd want to attach himself to a powerful Forsaken, both for protection and to help increase his own standing and further whatever plots or designs he might have. At the same time, he would not work with anyone he hated or feared. The two most powerful Forsaken, Lanfear and Ishamael, he feared. (Plus at that point Ishamael was dead.) From comments made by him and others, he seemed to greatly dislike Demandred and Sammael, and the feeling was mutual. He also feared Semirhage, and seemed to have little interest in Mesaana, probably because she was neither as powerful nor as successful in her schemes as the other Chosen. Moghedien, even if he could have found her, was not trustworthy enough and simply was held in contempt by pretty much all the Forsaken.
But Graendal had always been the most powerful Forsaken, after Ishamael and Lanfear—not in terms of the One Power (though she was strong) but in terms of her influence, information, and political/manipulative skills. He never expresses fear of her, either. We learn from her thoughts in Towers of Midnight (Chapter 5, "Writings") that she was once a good person, unlike most of the Forsaken; so was Asmodean, something they had in common. Lastly, the sort of retreat she created, one filled with beautiful people, fine things, relics of the Age of Legends (recall how eager he was to find angreal in Rhuidean--perhaps to replace what he‘d lost prior access to?), and overall a sense of culture and the elite, would appeal very much to a bard such as he. Not to mention it would be a bastion of safety in a country racked by civil war and anarchy, as Sammael noted.
So, either one of two things happened. Either he was outright allied with, and a part of, Graendal's coterie until Lanfear absconded with him (likely via the World of Dreams) to make him Rand's teacher, or he had simply ferreted out where she was hiding. The latter sounds rather out-of-character, both in terms of his abilities (Asmodean was not a spy or sneak, nor very good at either) and his personality (a weaselly coward who wouldn't take the risk of being discovered). But either way, Graendal knew (or figured out) he knew where she was.
Note that no other Forsaken , aside from Sammael, knew where she was hiding, at most only suspecting. Sammael himself thinks as much, and being closer to her than most other Forsaken, he should know:
"Of course, he did not think she had let any others of the Chosen know where she had established herself. That she trusted him with the knowledge made him wary" (Chapter 6, "Threads Woven of Shadow", LoC, p. 173, emphasis mine).
Yet Asmodean did know. Even further implication that he’d been hanging out at Natrin’s Barrow with her. (Why would she let him know? Because as the weakest of the Forsaken she saw him as no threat, while at the same time appreciating the resource he’d be if they ever linked.)
Now, put this together with his later 'treachery', and Graendal's further motivation for killing him becomes clear. In Path of Daggers, she reveals why she dared go to Illian, aside from the chance to go through Sammael’s stash of angreal:
"And she had not wanted to risk anyone being able to draw a line from Sammael to her. Yes, she must increase the pace of her own plans, and distance herself from Sammael’s disaster" (Chapter 12, "New Alliances", PoD, p. 290).
If she was so worried about being linked with Sammael because he had failed (and tried to kill Rand), how much more would she have been worried about being linked with Asmodean, the greatest traitor of them all?
On the one hand, Asmodean was the only one who could give away where she was hiding, both to Rand and the other Forsaken. Until Moridin sends Cyndane, Moghedien, and Shaidar Haran to rein Graendal in, the only other Forsaken we've seen who knew where Graendal was hiding was Sammael. He was no threat to her because he clearly hated Rand/LTT and would never betray her in favor of him. Asmodean, however, had been revealed as a traitor by Lanfear. So do you really think Graendal wouldn't take the chance to get rid of him when she ran into him, to prevent him from telling Rand where she'd been hiding? She didn't know at that point that he had already told him, and the fact Rand hadn't come after her yet might have made her think she still had a chance to prevent the information from being passed on.
It is true that, at least according to Sammael,
"[i]f Al’Thor ever discovered her, she would simply abandon everything and re-establish herself elsewhere--or else surrender before he could strike a blow, then begin convincing him that she was indispensable" (Chapter 6, "Threads Woven of Shadow", LoC, p. 175).
But that didn’t mean she wanted to leave her hideout if she didn’t have to, to go through all the work of building a new secret lair, or that she wouldn’t fight to prevent its loss:
"Hundreds of beautiful men and women, the finest she’d gathered, gone. Her stronghold, dozens of items of Power, her greatest ally among the Chosen. Gone. This was a disaster" (Prologue, "Distinctions", ToM, p. 32).
And she speaks, twice even, of her fear of balefire:
"We die one by one, and al’Thor grows stronger. Lands and people gather behind him. And we die. Immortality is mine. I do not want to die…Frightened? Yes, I am frightened. I intend to live forever, not meet Rahvin’s fate" (Chapter 6, "Threads Woven of Shadow", LoC, p. 177).
While it is likely at least some of this was meant to frighten Sammael, particularly with her keeping Asmodean’s death from him so that he would fear the ‘renegade’ coming after him, her reaction to the balefiring of Natrin’s Barrow suggests the fear was very real.
On the other hand, if I am correct and Asmodean had not merely discovered where Graendal was but had been allied with her for a time, the fact he seemingly defected might have cast suspicion on her loyalties too, particularly with their common bonds (a once good past). Kill him, and she looks like a loyal Chosen to the others as well as to the Dark One, should they ever learn what happened to him.
The Recognition Factor, "You? No!" and Obviosity
This explains why Asmodean would be terrified when he saw her: because he knew she was there to silence him and/or punish him for giving her away to Rand, as well as for turning traitor. In TFoH, when Asmodean tells Rand of Graendal’s location, he says, "Graendal was in Arad Doman for a time, but I expect she has gone now; she likes her comforts too well" (Chapter 3, "Pale Shadows", TFoH, p. 105). Considering the fact he, like Sammael, would know how much Graendal enjoys remaining hidden away with her beautiful servants and fine things, as well as her secrecy, he should also have known she would not leave said comforts and was actually more inclined to stay in one place. In which case his comment "I expect she has gone now" sounds more like trying to convince himself--he hoped she had gone, otherwise why would he have dared reveal her location to Rand? Which in turn means that the minute he opened that door and the two of them surprised each other, of course he would be frightened: his only thought would have been "She knows I gave her away, and she’s come to cover her tracks and punish me."
Why did she destroy the body? Well, aside from instinctively using balefire when they surprised each other, because leaving it to be found would make Rand wonder why he was killed, and thus he would lend more credence to any information Asmodean had given him as being true. And telling the other Forsaken about it would give away she was trying to curry favor so as to become Nae'blis, as well as removing the specter of him possibly lying in wait for them somewhere.
Hiding the fact she and Asmodean had been allied, as well as that she was offing a traitor not on the Dark One's orders, but so as to impress him and become Nae'blis, is why this was kept secret. And the fact he knew she was in Arad Doman when nobody else did, coupled with him having been "hiding in a hole" somewhere, should have made it obvious to the reader that she would be the one to kill him, to prevent him from telling Rand where she was.
As to why none of this was mentioned, for example, in any of the meetings between the Forsaken in Tel'aran'rhiod in book five this could be because a) it had already been discussed prior to Nynaeve listening in or us getting to witness the talks b) Graendal didn't know Lanfear took Asmodean, just that he vanished, so while she might guess what happened after Lanfear suddenly has knowledge of Asmodean's treachery, she can't confront her and prove it, or c) as we knew from her thoughts and comments in Lord of Chaos and has now been confirmed in Towers of Midnight (Chapter 5, "Writings", p. 118), Graendal does not like to share her plots with others. So she would never admit to allying with Asmodean or killing him (let alone to Lanfear having snatched him away from her), even if she weren‘t trying to keep the others frightened and on their toes.
So...long story short, we know she was there (because she had Alteima among her Compelled slaves, she must have picked her up when she came to remove any sign of her presence, just as she did in Illian after Sammael's death). But her being the "obvious" killer can be reduced to the simple fact she was in Arad Doman, Asmodean had been in Arad Doman and knew she was there, and nobody else knew this but Sammael. Yes, he also had knowledge of Sammael’s location, but Rand already knew this, and Sammael knew he knew if he was indeed the one sending Darkhounds and Trollocs after Rand in the Waste (and that’s even assuming he didn’t know that Moiraine had discovered his location back in TDR). And even if Asmodean had known and told where Rahvin was, he wasn’t trying to hide his location. Graendal was--from everyone, not just Rand.
We didn’t learn Sammael knew her location until LoC, so at the instant Asmodean died, the only person we knew had any knowledge of Graendal (and was thus a threat to her) was Asmodean, which should have made her "obvious" to us. The main reason she was in the Royal Palace was to meet with Rahvin for the plan, not knowing he was already dead; she encountered Asmodean by surprise; and not knowing he was shielded, she would instantly have balefired him to save herself. But the one further reason she should have been obvious to us as the killer was not logic or process of elimination, but the personal connection she had to Asmodean, a connection no one else had to her. A connection which had to be eliminated at the first opportunity.
She notes to Sammael, when taunting him about Rand coming after him, that "[t]here doesn’t seem to be any doubt that he is going after you next. Soon, I would say. I’ll face no armies here…" (Chapter 6, "Threads Woven of Shadow", LoC, p. 176). Why was she so certain of this? It couldn’t be because of the chaos and fighting in Arad Doman; there were plenty of armies in Caemlyn and Illian, but that didn’t stop Rand from going after Sammael and Rahvin. It had to be because, as far as she knew, she had killed the only person who could and would (as a traitor) blow the whistle on her and tell Rand where she was: Asmodean.
Sammael was absolutely right to think, in regards to Graendal letting him know where she was, "That she trusted him with the knowledge made him wary." Not only did she conceal the true nature of Demandred’s message from the Dark One, so that Sammael would kill Rand for her and then be killed himself for disobedience, not only did she eventually turn on him too by abandoning him to Rand in Illian and Shadar Logoth, but she had already killed once before a Forsaken she had trusted with such critical knowledge--Asmodean, the man who knew too much.