Ranking all 13 of the Forsaken from the Wheel of Time, from worst to best
"Her floor-length white dress bore no embroidery, and she wore no jewelry. A scholar to the core. Sometimes Graendal thought Mesaana had gone over to the Shadow because it offered a more interesting opportunity for research." #WoTWednesday #TwitterOfTime pic.twitter.com/2bGoYx8T4Z
— The Wheel of Quotes (@wheel_of_quotes) September 11, 2019
12. Mesaana
A capable administrator that spends many novels working quietly from the shadows to orchestrate a civil war among the Aes Sedai, Mesaana is one of last Forsaken to fall before the Last Battle. She is one of the weaker of the Forsaken and sometimes thought of by her fellow villains as second-rate. However, her infiltration of the White Tower is successful, and she manipulates the Aes Sedai very effectively using the sisters of the Black Ajah as her secret weapons. Her scheme to destroy the Aes Sedai with a bloody civil war nearly comes to fruition but is foiled at the last second by Egwene al-Vere, the incredible Amyrlin Seat that Mesanaa had once helped instate as a pawn.
Still in the bottom ranks of the Forsaken, Masanaa nonetheless goes out in one of the better climactic moments of the last few books, battling Egwene across the World of Dreams. It is likely that Mesaana has been cut from the TV adaptation.
Do you guys think they’re gonna keep all 13 Forsaken?
— Ace Sedai 🌙 — Baldur’s Gate III Era (@ace_sedai) December 1, 2021
Because honestly you could totally just fuse Bel’al and Sammael into Rahvin.
You could fuse Mesaana and Graendal into Moghedien.
And you could totally just cut Aginor and Balthamel completely.#TheWheelOfTime pic.twitter.com/ftHiMXjfe9
11. Be’lal
Known as “the Envious” and “the netweaver,” Be’lal is one of the more mysterious Forsaken. Serving as a villain in The Dragon Reborn, he is killed by balefire, one of the few things in The Wheel of Time universe that can destroy a Forsaken so completely that they can’t be resurrected.
Be’lal successfully takes over the nation of Tear from the inside, posing as one of its high lords and using his powers to manipulate the others. His schemes in the third novel in the series are extremely effective as he captures Rand’s friends Egwene, Elayne, and Nynaeve and uses them as bait, along with the legendary sword Callandor, to draw Rand into a trap. Rand falls for the trap and is nearly defeated, only for his advisor Moraine to suddenly appear and slay Be’lal.
As once observed by his fellow Forsaken, Be’lal’s greatest weakness is that he wants “the world in a day” and takes massive risks to get it.
Next: Cut but not forgotten