Who killed Asmodean ?
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"Asmodean pulled open a small door, intending to find his way to the pantry. There should be some decent wine. One step, and he stopped, the blood draining from his face. 'You? No!' The word still hung in the air when death took him." [TFOH: 56, Glowing Embers, 682]
This is one of the most analysed mysteries in the entire Wheel of Time series. Since The Fires of Heaven was first published in late 1993, the identity of Asmodean's killer has been fiercely debated among fans. Robert Jordan has said that the identity of the killer was not meant as a deliberate major mystery, but he was so amused by the commotion over it that he refused to answer who was responsible. He hinted that A Memory of Light would resolve the mystery, or if it didn't he would slip it into the paperback release of the final volume in some fashion. Following Jordan's passing, Brandon Sanderson has confirmed that the final book will answer the mystery and was one of the first things he looked up when he had access to Jordan's notes.
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[edit] Clues
According to RJ he said that the identity of Asmodean's killer should be 'intuitively obvious' and that the character who killed him had appear prior to Asmodean's death. This rules out a certain number of characters. Note that the following lists are not necessarily exhaustive.
[edit] Characters ruled out
- Aran'gar - not introduced until Book 6.
- The gholam - not introduced until Book 6.
- Moridin - not introduced until Book 7. None of the Forsaken knew who he was at first, so Asmodean wouldn't have recognised him.
- Osan'gar - not introduced until Book 6.
[edit] Possible contenders
- Aviendha - was in the vicinity, is ruthless enough to do it, protective of Rand. Her not thinking about it in later POVs suggests she wasn't responsible, though.
- Graendal - had appeared in Book 5. Some evidence she may have been around at the time (see below). Possibly the strongest contender.
- Sammael - introduced in Book 5. Would have recognised Asmodean. Up to a lot of murky schemes with Graendal at the time.
- Slayer - introduced in Book 4. Capable of striking anywhere at will. Known to the Forsaken.
- The unknown servants - Rand passes two servants in the royal palace whilst fighting Rahvin, apparently close to the site of Asmodean's later murder. Some have speculated these servants may have been Graendal and Sammael in disguise.
[edit] Debatable
- Demandred - knew who Asmodean was. Not introduced until Book 6 though, despite occasional prior mentions.
- Lanfear - knew Asmodean's identity. However, was imprisoned by the Aelfinn and Eelfinn at the time and apparently stilled upon her release, only to be Healed later. Fails the 'intuitively obvious' requirement.
- Mazrim Taim - as a (probable) Darkfriend would likely know who Asmodean was and may have had prior dealings with him. However, he did not appear until Book 6, although he was frequently mentioned prior to that.
- Moiraine - knew Asmodean's true identity. However, was seemingly dead or imprisoned by the Aelfinn and Eelfinn at the time, failing the 'intuitively obvious' requirement.
- Shaidar Haran - initially ruled out as he didn't appear until Book 6. However, RJ later confirmed that Haran did appear prior in a less potent form (as the Myrddraal threatening Jaichim Carridin on several occasions). Seemingly fails the 'intuitively obvious' requirement though, as that Myrddraal was not identified as being notably different to the others at the time.
[edit] Theories
It was probably [Graendal], though, there is a chance that none of the Forsaken killed Asmodean, one reason being that in the 6th book, "Lord of Chaos", the Forsaken seem uncertain if Asmodean is dead, and Graendal just presumes that he is dead. Another reason being is that since Asmodean was shielded and only was allowed a small flow of the Power, anybody that was capable of killing that was also familiar to Asmodean, is a culprit. In the prologue of the 6th book, the Dark One mentions that those who betray him die the final death, so the person who killed Asmodean probably didn't need to wield balefire, for the Dark One may have just chosen not to reincarnate Asmodean.
It was more likely to have been Slayer or the gholam, because the Shadow uses both of them as assassins and they both have a nasty habit of popping up where not expected to appear. Slayer is the more likely of the two because the gholam has a harder time traversing physical distances and is presently following Mat. The gholam is also ruled out by not appearing until Book 6, failing the 'intuitively obvious' requirement as well as RJ's assertion we had met the killer prior in Book 5 or earlier.
