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Moghedien
Moh-GHEH-dee-ehn
Nationality:
Age of Legends, unknown
Year of Birth:
Approx. 150 years prior to the drilling of the Bore
Gender:
Female
Hair Color:
Dark
Eye Color:
Dark
Other Names:
Lillen Moiral, The Spider, Forsaken, Chosen, Gyldin, Marigan
Article Author:
Daraus Sedai
Page Contents
Basic Information
Actions During the Story (Spoilers)
Character Summaries (Spoilers)
Basic Information
Appearance
Moghedien has dark hair, loose to her shoulders, large dark eyes and a melodious voice. Standing about 5’5” she appeared to be less than her middle years with strong, even striking features, but was not considered beautiful.
Personality
Even before the War of Power, Moghedien exhibited behavior that was out of character from what we know of the Age of Legends, especially for Aes Sedai of the time. Having been an investment advisor of some kind during this time Lillen Moiral had been warned on numerous occasions and disciplined at least once for violation of the ethics and laws surrounding the profession.
Moghedien was known for being a coward, hanging back in the shadows waiting for her moment to strike when least expected. She found open confrontation foolish and would avoid such behavior unless she was certain of victory. She despised those that took open risks but envied their success and hated them because she knew they thought her weak for hanging back in the shadows. Despite her nature, Moghedien was quite successful and even feared by more powerful opponents, several of whom she engineered the destruction of during the War of Power.
As one of the Chosen/Forsaken, Moghedien appears very commanding in the presence of modern age characters, taking full advantage of her position when dealing with lesser darkfriends or shadowspawn, however, even in these situations Moghedien will hang back until she has as much information as possible, approaching only when she is certain of success.
Spoilers Below!!!
Actions During the Story
Actions Before the Story
Lillen Moiral was born approximately 150-200 years before the Bore was drilled into the Dark One’s prison, being considered young for an Aes Sedai at around 200 years old when she, along with twelve other high ranking Forsaken, was sealed away at Shayol Ghul more than 3,000 years before the events of the books. Moghedien was deep within the Bore and did not age or dream while imprisoned, being in a form of suspended animation.
During the Age of Legends and the War of Power Moghedien, like all the Forsaken, schemed against her rivals in the Shadow as well as the forces of the Light. Moghedien ran an intelligence and sabotage network that was responsible for as many deaths as some of the military operations. She served as a spy for the Shadow, securing a mid-level position on Lews Therin Telamon’s command staff. She engineered the destruction of a form of public transportation killing thousands of people to cover her escape when her presence was detected.
The name Moghedien is given to her because her nature is the same as a small spider from the Age of Legends that lived in hiding but had a poisonous bite that could kill within seconds.
New Spring
Moghedien is still imprisoned within the Bore and does not appear within the book.
Actions Between the Books
Moghedien is still imprisoned within the Bore.
Eye of the World
Moghedien is still imprisoned within the Bore and does not appear within the book. It is likely that Moghedien along with the remaining Forsaken are freed around the events happening at the Eye of the World.
The Great Hunt
Moghedien does not appear within the book but has been freed from the Bore. Her actions and whereabouts are unknown.
The Dragon Reborn
Moghedien does not appear within the book but has been freed from the Bore. Her actions and whereabouts are unknown.
The Shadow Rising
Moghedien’ s first mention in the series is made by Lanfear while telling Rand that several of the Forsaken, including Moghedien, would attempt to destroy him while he was still weak, possibly even while he slept, and that even one of the female Forsaken would take Callandor if they could to deny Rand it’s power and potential to use as a bargaining chip with one of the males. Later Lanfear mocks an unknown male Forsaken in Rand’s dreams for being as cowardly as Moghedien, the Spider herself.
Moghedien first appears on screen in Chapter 38, Hidden Faces. She is in disguise as a servant in Tanchico, Gyldin, who is spying on the Black Ajah group led by Liandrin. She overhears conversations about the group’s search for a device capable of controlling Rand and the various ter’angreal they have in their possession, specifically the fluted black rod that produced balefire. The group is concerned that they have been getting conflicting orders from other darkfriends and this may indicate factions within the Forsaken, leaving them in a precarious position should they get caught in the middle.
Moghedien later senses Nynaeve and Elayne channeling to defend themselves from an attempted abduction by Floran Gelb and goes to investigate the women at the Garden of the Silver Breezes. Placing compulsion on them both she questions them, learning they are in Tanchico without other Aes Sedai to hunt the Black Ajah. Moghedien asks specific questions and learns that Be’lal and who she assumes to be Ishamael have been killed but is not told of the twisted stone ring ter’angreal. She leaves the women, thinking to collect later for her own uses but has left them with only a vague memory of the events.
While following the Black Ajah in tel’aran’rhiod Nynaeve sees a woman in a misty gown staring at a white pedestal and she suddenly has a flood of memories of being compelled, along with Elayne by this woman and in a fury goes to confront her. Birgitte appears and warns Nynaeve that this is one of the Forsaken, Moghedien, and she has seen others within the world of dreams as well. Warning Nynaeve to be wary of crossing paths with them. Gaidal Cain appears and reminds Birgitte about the precepts and about a promise Moghedien had made to Birgitte long ago, that she would make Birgitte weep alone for eternity. Before leaving Birgitte tells Nynaeve that Moghedien is nearly impossible to face directly as the woman will hide in the shadows until she is certain of victory, but not to under-estimate her, especially in tel’aran’rhiod where she was even more proficient than Lanfear. Nynaeve is worried that Moghedien knows which object in the palace is dangerous to Rand and hopes to get the device before Moghedien or the Black Ajah. Waking, Nynaeve tells Elayne everything and they begin planning how to take the male a’dam from the Panarch’s palace before the Forsaken or Black Ajah can take it themselves.
Entering the palace in disguise Nynaeve and Elayne go to find the Panarch, Amathera, who is under the control of the Black Ajah, and the male a’dam. As Nynaeve enters the museum section of the palace she comes face to face with Moghedien and becomes enraged. Attacking the Forsaken before thinking about the ramifications of such a move. Battling the surprised woman, Nynaeve hurls flows of Air and attempts to shield or Still Moghedien, but they are locked in a stalemate due to nearly identical strength in the Power. Moghedien attempts to sidetrack Nynaeve by telling her more of the male a’dam, explaining it is made of cuendillar making it indestructible, but that it was a flawed way to control a male channeler as the taint would eventually seep into the woman (or women) wearing the bracelet and eventually trapping the master as much as the slave. Nynaeve surprises Moghedien with a physical attack and manages to cut her off from the Power, then binds her in flows of Air as the woman attempts to flee. Due to the massive use of the Power Nynaeve has drawn the attention of the Black Sister Jeaine Caide who uses the balefire rod ter’angreal to attack Nynaeve, destroying a swath of the palace before running herself. Moghedien, despite being shielded and bound, has also vanished.
Fires of Heaven
Lanfear, Rahvin, Sammael, and Graendal meet and discuss Rand, Lanfear telling the others Moghedien may be part of a plan to kill or control him, but she is unsure as Moghedien continues to hide in the shadows rather than carve out a power base.
Asmodean tells Rand he believes Moghedien is somewhere in the west but cannot be more certain that this as she is a master of staying hidden.
Nynaeve and Elayne worry about Moghedien coming after them and believe she may be watching them in the world of dreams, but Birgitte, who has been actively looking for Moghedien has not seen her but has seen many other Forsaken. Birgitte thinks it is possible that Moghedien is actively hiding from her but agrees to continue looking for her in tel’aran’rhiod.
Moghedien has followed Liandrin’s group of thirteen Black Ajah to Amador where she takes command of the group, who have only now realized that she had been disguised as Gyldin in Tanchico. Moghedien tells the women about using Compulsion on the cook in order to remain hidden until she was ready to reveal her plans. She cows the group easily with a few lessons in humility that have even the most sadistic, Temaile, in complete submission to her leadership. Moghedien then informs them that they are to stop any activity they were previously engaged in and that she had plans for them. However, Liandrin realizes that Moghedien might be hiding from the other Forsaken and could be valuable if turned over to them. Also noting that Moghedien was unaware of who the Head of the Black Ajah in the Tower was and files the information away, thinking to herself that the Forsaken were not omnipotent. Moghedien tells Liandrin that she is a half-trained puppy, far beneath the Chosen having never stood in the Pit of Doom to dedicate her soul to the Great Lord or tasted the sweetness of victory at Paaran Disen, or the bitter ashes at Asar Don. Moghedien commands Liandrin to attack her so they can be done with the lesson she would teach Liandrin now. Liandrin attempts a sneak-attack, but Moghedien crushes her effortlessly, forcing Liandrin to beg for mercy and release from the weaves of pain and light Compulsion. After binding all eleven women in Air Moghedien begins to give private orders to each woman. She first summons Rianna Andomeran, then Marillin Gemalphin, Jeaine Caide, Berylla Naron, Falion Bhoda, and Ispan Shefar and sends them away to do her bidding. The remaining five Black Sisters, Liandrin, Asne Zeramene, Chesmal Emry, Eldrith Jhondar, and Temaile Kinderode are kept with Moghedien and questioned about Nynaeve al’Meara who Moghedien knows to be in a village called Sienda just sixty miles outside of Amador.
Moghedien continues to stalk Nynaeve in the world of dreams and follows Elayne, who she assumes will lead her to Nynaeve, to Emond’s Field where she meets with Egwene. Curiously Moghedien lays a trap for Egwene, looking to rid herself of a potential threat in the world of dreams, but is surprised when Egwene is strong enough to escape the weaving of tel’aran’rhiod Moghedien created. Moghedien is more concerned with Nynaeve, Elayne making plans with Birgitte, who in the Age of Legends as a woman named Teadra ruined Moghedien’s plan to destroy Lews Therin.
Birgitte meets Nynaeve in tel’aran’rhiod and tells her she has found Moghedien and to follow her, but to be extremely careful as there are five Forsaken where they are going. The two women find Moghedien spying on another group, Lanfear, Graendal, Rahvin, and Sammael. After listening in on the Forsaken Nynaeve is surprised by Birgitte pulling her away. Birgitte tells Nynaeve the identities of the Forsaken and warns Nynaeve to not let their surface appearances fool her, as they are devious.
Moghedien suddenly appears and attacks the two women. Throwing Birgitte thirty paces into a wagon and shielding Nynaeve, binding her upside down from her ankles. Easily capturing Nynaeve and quickly becoming a commanding personality now that she had the clear upper hand.
Moghedien deduces Nynaeve and Elayne are traveling with a menagerie and is genuinely surprised that Nynaeve came hunting for Moghedien, she begins to torture Nynaeve, contorting her body like an acrobat, boasting of her own abilities, threatening to use Nynaeve as a mounting block and causing her great physical pain. Nynaeve hopes if she angers Moghedien sufficiently that she might just kill so her death could at least serve as a warning to Elayne. Moghedien sees through this ploy and tells Nynaeve she will not kill her, but she will put a binding on her soul in tel’aran’rhiod so that Nynaeve will always be a horse or a mouse of a frog whenever she enters the world of dreams and that she would have Nynaeve and Elayne serve her for years to come. Suddenly Moghedien screams as a silver arrow hits her just below her right breast. A staggering Birgitte attempts to finish Moghedien, but the Forsaken begins to gather in a huge amount of saidar, the halo of Power around her so powerful as to be blinding to Nynaeve. The night folds around Birgitte and the woman vanishes leaving only her bow and clothing behind, later to be found alive and naked in the waking world, somehow transported there in the flesh by Moghedien. The injured Moghedien flees as well, vanishing as though never there.
Waking, Moghedien commands Chesmal to Heal her, who quickly complies. Liandrin, however, sees an opportunity to attack Moghedien. Moghedien crushes Liandrin’s attempt and proceeds to weave an incredibly complex shield over Liandrin, blocking her from the True Source and knotting the web so intricately Liandrin has no hope of finding a way to free herself. To further punish the Black Sister, Moghedien uses a simple, yet potent weave of Compulsion and commands Liandrin to live, rendering the woman incapable of ending her own life as a command to do what someone already wished to do in their innermost depths will hold for a lifetime. Moghedien then tells the sadistic Temaile to prepare Liandrin for her new role as a scullion to the darkfriends Evon and Arene, who deeply despised Liandrin for the past abuse she dealt them. Moghedien learns from Chesmal that there are many menageries traveling through Ghealdan and decides to follow Nynaeve and Elayne once more. Liandrin begs Temaile to help her, saying the three Aes Sedai together could overcome Moghedien. Temaile laughs and tells Liandrin that she might as well be stilled given the shield placed on her and then begins to torture Liandrin. Eventually, Moghedien finds Nynaeve and Elayne in the town of Samara where she disguised herself as a refugee wise woman named Marigan and took passage with them to flee Samara. Traveling all the way to Salidar where Min notes to Nynaeve and Elayne that the women with them, Marigan, Nicola, and Ariena will “cause trouble” but cannot say more than that.
Now in Salidar, Nynaeve sees Moghedien while teaching Siuan in the world of dreams, she yanks the stone ring from Siuan’s neck and jumps to hide in the town itself, fearing that because she was using one of the ter’angreal that required channeling that she was too weak to face the Forsaken. Moghedien then appears and tells Nynaeve she thought she had been seen, mentioning both Siuan and Faolain as she taunted Nynaeve. Birgitte, alerted by Siuan waking, takes the stone ring ter’angreal and appears in the dream and distracts Moghedien, who easily subdues her and asks her if she enjoys her flesh without Gaidal Cain to share her life with while she strings Birgitte up into a contorted position. Nynaeve crawls to Moghedien begging for mercy and when she is close enough she uses the reality-bending properties of tel’aran’rhiod to capture Moghedien with an a’dam.
Now in a compromised position, Moghedien immediately begins to bargain for her freedom, telling Nynaeve of the plans Lanfear, Rahvin, Graendal, and Sammael have for Rand. She also knows that Rand is planning on attacking Rahvin instead because Rand believes Rahvin killed Morgase Trakand. Nynaeve decides to go to find Rand and take Moghedien along with her as she can now control the other woman’s channeling. Arriving in Caemlyn to a raging battle of the One Power that has spilled into the world of dreams, Nynaeve forces the terrified Moghedien to help her follow the men. Screaming that the men were in the dream in the flesh, giving them more power than anyone who has dreamed themselves there, Moghedien begs Nynaeve to abandon the situation and scorns her for offering no strength to the link forced from the a’dam due to the ter’angreal she is using. Nynaeve eventually resorts to using the a’dam to torture Moghedien into submission and drags her through the palace in Caemlyn hunting for the men. Finding Rahvin, Nynaeve hurls a powerful wave of fire at the man and nearly kills him, but finds that he is able to block enough of her weave to save himself, despite being horribly burned and begins to counter-attack her. As they are fleeing Rand destroys Rahvin with a massive blast of balefire. After a brief conversation with Rand Nynaeve forces Moghedien to drink a sleeping potion and tells Moghedien she has puzzled out that Moghedien must also be in Salidar as she knew Faolain and Siuan and that she would find her when she woke and stepped out of the dream.
Lord of Chaos
Moghedien is now a prisoner of Nynaeve and Elayne in Salidar, held by the modified a’dam Elayne created and continues to keep herself disguised as Marigan through the use of inverted weaves of the Mask of Mirrors and masking her ability to channel. Along with Siuan and Leane, the women begin to pry information and One Power skills from Moghedien, noting that the woman was not particularly interested in anything that did not include personal gain, despite this they used her in “discovering” quite a few abilities they then share with the Salidar Aes Sedai. Discovering that Stilled women can feel the emotions of a damane, but cannot control the One Power or effect the leashed one’s physical sensations as was possible otherwise. Moghedien is forced to do menial labor such as laundry and dishwashing, which she finds horrifying and far beneath her dignity, but ultimately she has no choice. However, she is also quite willing to push Nynaeve’s boundaries when they are not linked by the a’dam, managing to make Nynaeve uncomfortable on several occasions, going so far as to manipulate Nynaeve into thinking about fleeing the Aes Sedai camp and going to Rand. Being the natural born skulker she is, Moghedien managed to hide out under her bed during the bubble of evil which hit Salidar.
Egwene arrives in Salidar and is Raised Amyrlin. Nynaeve and Elyane decide to give her control over Marigan. Egwene surprises them all with her fierceness and terrifies Moghedien by demonstrating that she will ask the woman for knowledge Egwene already knows and that she will execute the Forsaken if she detects a lie from her. Moghedien lived in fear and dreaded interactions with Egwene, Leane, and especially Siuan after the two women’s channeling abilities were restored.
Graendal reveals to the Dark Lord and other Forsaken that Moghedien had not shown up to a planned meeting between the two Forsaken women, and believed Moghedien may well be dead, but neither Semirhag nor Mesaana would be surprised if Moghedien resurfaced from deep hiding.
Halima Saranov, aka Aran’gar, appears late one evening and releases Moghedien from the a’dam, which Moghedien realized as painful as though a man who can channel had touched the a’dam. and informs her she has been summoned to Shayol Ghul. Moghedien realizes she is likely to be punished in some form for her capture and the knowledge she passed to the Aes Sedai, but accepts the choice as she knows it is either this or have her soul tortured for eternity by the Dark One. She immediately leaves Salidar for Shayol Ghul, triggering Egwene to realize a male channeler had released the Forsaken.
A Crown of Swords
Egwene informs Nynaeve and Elayne that Moghedien has escaped and to beware and warns the Dreamwalkers that Moghedien has a grudge against her personally and to be on alert that she may have seen them in the dream if she is following Egwene.
Moghedien’s orders for Ispan and Falion are revealed as they are hunting for a cache of angreal and ter’angreal in Ebou Dar, but discover Nynaeve in the city and redirect efforts to capture her.
Moghedien appears trapped inside a vacuole being repeatedly tortured by Shaidar Haran for her failures, being captured and forced to teach Egwene, Nynaeve, and Elayne various One Power Skills. It is heavily implied that she has been raped and beaten dozens of times in a recurring nightmare. She was taken to the Pit of Doom by Shaidar Haran and enslaved through the use of her blood and saliva to a device known as a cour’souvra (or mindtrap). Eventually, she is allowed to waken and is taken by Shaidar Haran, who she now calls Mia’cova (One Who Owns Me), to meet Moridin who informs her that she has been in the vacuole for only two nights. Unaware of Moridin’s identity she is arrogant and truly shocked to see the man’s eyes have manifested the saa from repeated exposure to the use of the True Power, something only twenty-nine others have ever been given access to. She is even more stunned to see that Moridin has possession of her cour’souvra as well as noticing a second one in his possession. Moridin goes on to explain to her that while she is still one of the Chosen, she has been placed under his command.
Moghedien, now in Ebou Dar wearing livery in Moridin’s colors of black and red, spots Nynaeve boarding a vessel heading toward a Sea Folk ship and attempts to destroy her rival with balefire, but is distracted by a flight of pigeons and misses her target. In terror, she flees the scene hoping that Moridin had not sensed her actions. Her attack led to Nynaeve finally breaking her block, unwittingly giving her rival the ability to channel at will. After these events, Nynaeve eventually informs Mat Cauthon that Moghedien is at large and has killed his men in an attempt at revenge against Nynaeve.
Path of Daggers
Moghedien, along with Cyndane, approaches Graendal to inform her that Moridin is now Nae’Blis and that he commands her to set aside her own plans, it is also revealed that Moghedien is in bad standing due to her recent mistakes and that Cyndane is leading between the two. Graendal, mistrusting the women, captures them with Compulsion, and demands the truth. Shaidar Haran appears and tells Graendal that the Great Lord is pleased with her, but not to push the boundaries too far, giving her instructions including going to Moridin.
Winter's Heart
The Black Ajah members Chesmal, Asne, Temaile Eldirth, and Marillin now assume Moghedien has abandoned them and have taken themselves to Caemlyn where they are observing Elayne and Nynaeve in the hopes that another of the Forsaken might be as interested in the women as Moghendien appeared to be, despite Moghedien having hidden the ter’angreal the women had managed to find several of them and brought them along. Moghedien also had ordered Marillin to obey the darkfriend “Lady Shiaine” (aka Millie Skane) who also had complete command of Falion and wanted Marillin to infiltrate the Palace, but relents when Marilllin tells her she knows another member of the Black is already in place.
Moghedien is among the Forsaken sent by Moridin to kill Rand while he is using the Choedan Kal to cleanse saidin of the Dark One’s taint. She arrives near Shadar Logoth and is stunned by the amount of the One Power in use, craving even the tiniest portion of such Power. However, being a coward she manages to avoid direct conflict with the other Channelers at the site and hopes that Lanfear and/or Graendal might be destroyed in the fighting. While skulking around the site she observes the great dome Rand has created expanding and eventually collapsing into itself, she is thrown about and begins to realize this is the greatest fear she could possibly fear.
Moghedien is mentioned as the source of several weaves known to Egwene but is not directly in the book.
Crossroads of Twilight
Moghedien is at the Forsaken meeting following Moridin and Cyndane. Moridin informs the entire group of remaining Forsaken that they are no longer allowed to act of their own accord and that the Last Battle is near.
Knife of Dreams
Moghedien is mentioned on several occasions but has no meaningful role in the book.
The Gathering Storm
Moghedien is mentioned on several occasions but has no meaningful role in the book.
Towers of Midnight
Moghedien is with Moridin in a dreamshard, now wearing black and gold, and is informed that she is now on probation, not fully forgiven, but she has earned possession of her cour’souvra back, but another failure would have dire consequences. Moridin tells her the Dark One is pleased with Demandred’s actions. She notes that she can now channel in the same room as the device without pain, but is terrified that losing it or allowing it to be destroyed would leave her a mindless husk. Moghedien notices that Moridin is still wearing Cyndane’s mindtrap. Demandred arrives along with a woman Moghedien does not recognize who is introduced as Hessalam, “without forgiveness” and recognizes the woman as the reincarnation of Graendal and gleefully wonders what the other woman had done to earn such a punishment. She is there to witness Mazrim Taim being announced as a new member of the Chosen, M’Hael, and is as shocked as Hessalam. Moridin instructs Moghedien to assist Demandred, which greatly irritates her, but she is ultimately left with no choice but to accept the command.
Moghedien is revealed to be spying on the Seanchan and feeding intelligence to Demandred during the Last Battle. She is discovered by Mat, Min, and Tuon and flees the Seanchan camp before she can be taken prisoner by the sul’dam and damane. Fleeing to the battlefield she finds Demandred’s body but with access to the True Power she convinces herself that the Dark One has not discovered her most recent mistakes and attempts to disguise herself as the dead Forsaken. She is quickly pointed out by a Sharan monk as an impostor, who she kills with the True Power, briefly convincing the Ayyad that she is the Wyld. However, due to Egwene, there are very few Ayyad remaining and the Sharan forces are nearly destroyed, coming to an end when channelers from the forces of the Light open gateways on their location and dragons begin firing on the Sharans and Moghedien. In the final hours of the Last Battle, Moghedien is once again collared, being made damane by the sul’dam Shanan and taken back to Ebou Dar.
A Memory of Light
Character Summaries
Special Abilities
While Moghedien is the weakest of the Forsaken in strength, she is still an extremely powerful channeler of saidar, possessing a strength level of 4 (+9) which makes her stronger than nearly all other female channelers in the series. Of the women we know of only Lanfear, Semirhage, Alivia, Talaan, Sharina, Mesaana, Graendal, and Nynaeve, are confirmed to have stronger potential with the Wise One Someryn equaling her. After the Last Battle, Moghedien is currently one of the five strongest known living (and not mindless) female channelers. While often dismissed as the weakest of the Forsaken she is still an exceptionally strong channeler who few women can match in strength and fewer still with skill.
Moghedien has shown many channeling abilities with proficiencies well beyond what modern channelers are capable of, between her great strength and superior training she is able to easily subdue eleven Aes Sedai of the Black Ajah, most of whom would be considered relatively strong by modern standards, splitting her flows to bind them all without any sign of strain. She is especially adept in areas of the Power that aid in her ability to hide in the background, or which could potentially bring her personal gain:
Eavesdropping
Invisibility
Mask of Mirrors
Inverting and Reversing weaves
Shielding
Knotting/tying off weaves with incredible complexity
Unknotting other powerful channelers weaves easily
Pain inflicting weaves
Traveling and Skimming
Keepings
Balefire
Compulsion
however, she has only a moderately strong ability, thinking to herself that she wishes her capabilities in this area were stronger.
Even though she claims to have abilities in areas of the One Power that are superior to any other living channeler, we never see her demonstrate knowledge beyond any of the other Forsaken in a specific One Power ability.
Moghedien does possess extensive surface-level knowledge about many areas with the One Power such as the general idea around making cuendillar, the use of vacuoles, and many types of wardings, but she never shows high levels of proficiency in areas that had little personal benefit, admitting to knowing nearly nothing of controlling the weather, even though she was aware that the issues with the weather must be an effect of the Dark One and could not tell Nynaeve anything directly about Healing weaves from the Age of Legends.
Unlike some of the more intellectual members of the Forsaken, Moghedien’s Talents seemed to lie more strongly with her ability in the World of Dreams than with an ability directly connected to channeling. Moghedien is noted as a powerful Dreamwalker, with the inborn ability to enter tel’aran’rhiod without using ter’angreal or needing to use a Gateway to enter in the flesh, although she presumably can do this given her strength and ability to Travel. Birgitte went so far as to claim Moghedien’s abilities in tel’aran’rhiod outstrip even Lanfear. Much like other individuals who have this ability, Moghedien can bend the reality of tel’aran’rhiod to her will and has shown skill far outside of what others have in the dream. Moghedien has shown on multiple occasions that she is able to hide and eavesdrop on other very powerful Dreamwalkers, including the other Forsaken, she claims to have the ability to create permanent bindings on others who enter the world, and in some way Moghedien was able to use the reality shaping abilities of tel’aran’rhiod along with huge amounts of saidar to pull Birgitte’s soul out of the dream and transport her into a living body in the real world. It is unknown if this ability was related to Dreaming or Channeling or both, but this is an ability no other individual demonstrates throughout the series. Despite her skill, however, Moghedien is limited by her strength of will and on more than one occasion was defeated in the world of dreams by Nynaeve al’Meara and Birgitte. Moghedien never expresses any prophetic abilities related to this ability as other Dreamwalkers such as Egwene, Perrin, or the Wise Ones show, but it may be implied that she does have this ability as she is able to recognize Birgitte as a Hero of the Horn at a time when Birgitte herself was unaware of this herself.
Notable Possessions
Moghedien is known to have had access to a cache of ter’angreal through control of Black Ajah members who stole the items from the White Tower when they fled along with Liandrin. She seems to have shown them the use of at least some of these devices when she sent them on various tasks and is never seen in possession of any other objects of the Power.
Moghedien is, however, associated with several items that link her to the enslavement of channelers. She is associated with various a’dam on several occasions. First, she is shown attempting to obtain the male a’dam, or Domination Band, but is driven off by Nynaeve in Tanchico. Later, she is imprisoned by Nynaeve and Elayne using an a’dam Elayne creates.
Once freed from the a’dam she is enslaved by Moridin via a mindtrap, her soul is captured in a crystal and wire constructed device called a cour’souvra it is unknown if this device is a type of ter’angreal or if it is connected to the True Power emanating from the Dark One, as the process of this enslavement involved her being taken to Shayol Ghul where her own saliva and blood were used to effectively give her soul to whoever controlled the mindtrap. Channeling near the cour’souvra caused pain, the closer to it the more the pain. Eventually, Moghedien earned enough trust from Moridin to gain a degree of freedom and she was in possession of her cour’souvra near the end of the series. The degree to which the mindtrap is still functional after the Last Battle is unknown, and Moghedien believed it was possible to be released from a mindtrap so it is also plausible that she has freed herself from the device prior to her role in Tarmon Gai’don.
In the aftermath of the Last Battle Moghedien is seen being made damane by the Seanchan Sul’dam Shanan, once more being enslaved by the a’dam. Depending on the status of her mindtrap Moghedien could be in a very difficult position, if she is still connected to it, as the destruction of the device would destroy her mind making her a mindless automaton under the complete control of the holder of the cour’souvra alternatively, should the sul’dam take a still functioning device from her without destroying it she will have great difficulty channeling in its presence as it will cause her immense pain if nearby.
Legacy
Moghedien is the only member of the Forsaken we encounter within the series that isn’t aggressive and dominating or attempting to set up a base of power within the world. Unlike her counterparts, Moghedien stays well hidden and appears to be waiting for a moment to strike from the shadows rather than trying to control events in the world directly. After being mind-trapped by Moridin she is largely used to further his agenda for bringing about the Last Battle.
However, this does make her one of the most successful of the antagonists in some ways, only she and Demandred of the Forsaken survive to the Last Battle without being resurrected into a new body, and she is the only member that is still self-aware after the Last Battle is complete.
Moghedien survives the Last Battle but is now a captive damane held by the Seanchan. However, the Seanchan are unaware of her identity as one of the Forsaken leaving room for speculation on her prospects for escape. It is unknown if the a’dam truly restricts her Dreaming ability or if the nature of her capture by Nynaeve was at the core of her inability to use tel’aran’rhiod while held in Salidar. Moghedien is a master at hiding and biding her time, and with her identity unknown, it is very possible that she will find an escape regardless of her ability to use the world of dreams. Thematically, it could be possible that the intent of her mindtrap being in her possession was to have it be destroyed by a sul’dam, leaving all the remaining living female Forsaken as mindless bodies.
In Other Media
No announcement regarding Moghedien’s character has been made for the upcoming Wheel of Time TV series being produced by Amazon Studios. However, the character could make an appearance as early as season one given her timeline in the books, although producers could also choose to expand the character or combine her role with another Forsaken to simplify the TV adaptation.
