The Forsaken: Moridin

Moridin

What We Know of Moridin

his name means "Death"

he uses the True Power

he holds two mindtraps, Moghedian's and Cyndane's

he had been a master of the game sha'rah, a complex game from before the War of Power

he considers the people of this time "primitive"

he has been named Nae'blis, the Great Lord's Regent on Earth

he is a born-again Chosen

Clues from the Text

[ACoS: 25, Mindtrap, 417-19]

"The speaker [Moridin] was a tall, broad-shouldered young man in black boots and breeches and a flowing white shirt unlaced at the top, who watched her with startlingly blue eyes from a deep, cushioned armchair in front of a marble fireplace where flames danced along long logs."

"Moghedian gasped. Not for the name; any fool could call himself Death. But a tiny black fleck, just large enough to see, floated straight across one of those blue eyes and then across the other in the same line. This Moridin had tapped into the True Power, and more than once. Much more. She knew that some men who could channel survived in this time aside from al'Thor--this fellow was much of a size with al'Thor--but she had not expected the Great Lord to allow one that particular honor. An honor with a bite, as any of the Chosen knew. In the long run, the True Power was far more addictive than the One Power; a strong will could hold down the desire to draw more saidar or saidin, but she herself did not believe the will existed strong enough to resist the True Power, not once the saaappeared in your eyes..."

[TPoD: 2, Unweaving, 81-4]

"In all three places [Tar Valon, with al'Thor, and the rebel Aes Sedai] he had eyes, some that did not know they served him."

[WH: 13, Wonderful News, 319]

The man was Nae’blis for now, but perhaps matters could be aranged so he did not get another body the next time he died. --Demandred

[WH: 35, With the Choedan Kal, 646]

The man had always terrified him, from the very beginning. He had been mad with power before they were sealed into the Bore, and since they had been freed, he seemed to think that he was the Great Lord. --Osan’gar

Who is Moridin?

Unlike my theories on Osan'gar and Aran'gar, I titled this one "Who IS...?" because I don't believe that Moridin ever was another of the original Chosen (like Aran'gar and Osan'gar). Why?

First of all, I don't believe that Moridin is a born-again-Chosen simply because the Dark One has not shown that much sympathy toward the Chosen. If Osan'gar and Aran'gar truly are Aginor and Balthamel (respectively), then I believe that is as far as the Dark One's mercy would go. Just look at them. They now obey Shadar Haran, the more-than-ordinary Halfman, yet Shadar Haran seems to serve Moridin, or at least respects (?) him as an equal. Haran goes to "visit" Graendal in TPoD to "convince" her to serve Moridin. Moghedian has certainly failed him; she's now being held by a mindtrap (again, by Moridin). Asmodean was killed, apparently by an agent of the DO (or so one would assume). No, I'm afraid that the DO has not been such a merciful overlord in the past. Much less, I don't believe that he would grant someone who has failed him (all of the dead Chosen) to be named Nae'blis.

Furthermore, Moridin has given no indication in his thoughts or words that indicate that he is born-again. RJ made quite sure in the brief intro to Osan' and Aran' that they were reincarnations.

Who is Moridin, then? I think that perhaps he is someone from the Age of Legends that we have never seen before, and I believe this because of a small, but perhaps significant change in the Glossary entry for "The Forsaken." It states: "While it has long been believed that they alone abandoned the Light during the War of the Shadow, in fact others did as well; these thirteen were only the highest ranking among them." Coincidence? This is also the first Glossary entry to include Moridin's name among the Forsaken. Again, coincidence?

If he isn't a born-again-Chosen, then what the he** is he? That, my friends, I don't know. (I never said I knew everything.)

Updated!!!

Okay, I admit it, I was wrong. It would seem that Moridin is in fact a reborn Ishamael. Just look at those last two entries.

The first one seems to state quite matter-of-factly that he has been reborn once before. The second one, the one about the madness, leads directly to Ishamael. He had been mad for years, before and after the Bore, and it would seem that some tinges of that still remain. After all, only someone that mad would be so blase about handling the True Power.

Updated 01/18/01