Ranking all 13 of the Forsaken from the Wheel of Time, from worst to best
The Wheel of Time books by Robert Jordan (and finished by Brandon Sanderson) are a hallmark of the fantasy genre. They span 14 novels in the main series, a prequel novel, and now two seasons of one of Amazon Prime’s highest budget TV shows. The Wheel of Time has a fan base of millions around the world that is only growing as more people are exposed to the story through the TV show.
Central to both versions of The Wheel of Time are the villainous group of channelers known as the Forsaken, all of them channelers able to tap into the One Power and perform impressive feats of magic. Servants of the chief enemy of the world, the aptly named Dark One, the Forsaken travel the world of The Wheel of Time doing the Dark One’s bidding as well as serving their own nefarious ends, often ensnaring each other in their self-serving plots.
The Forsaken were all trapped by the previous Dragon before Rand al’Thor, Lews Therin Telamon, at the end of the Age of Legends, only to be released thousands of years later to fight the Dragon Reborn and his new cohort of heroes. There are 14 Forsaken in the novels. While only three have appeared so far on the TV show, the showrunners have indicated that more (but likely not all) will turn up before the series runs its course.
Below, let’s rank all 13 Forsaken from The Wheel of Time novels. Beware book SPOILERS!
"How much head start did Asmodean have? Did the Forsaken know a faster way to travel? That was the trouble. The Forsaken had all the knowledge; all he had was desperation." #WoT
— The Wheel of Quotes (@wheel_of_quotes) July 15, 2019
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13. Asmodean
Asmodean’s arc is as tragic as the melancholy songs he sings while posing as Rand’s court bard. Asmodean is brought in disguise to Rand by Lanfear, who hopes that he can teach Rand to channel and help turn him to the Dark One. Increasingly frustrated by Rand’s lack of interest in his tales of glory, Asmodean attempts to steal one of the access keys to the most powerful sa’angreal ever made to be wielded by a man. Caught in the act and captured by Rand, Asmodean is forced by Rand with Lanfear’s help to spend the last weeks of his life teaching Rand to channel under duress before his ignominious end at the hands of one his fellow Forsaken.
One down, 12 to go. Click the button below to meet the rest of the Forsaken: