Sammael: Wheel of Time Character Analysis

Sex: Male

Before the name Sammael struck fear across nations, he was known as Tel Janin Aellinsar—a legend of the Age of Legends. Tel Janin’s early life was marked by brilliance in both athleticism and strategy. A world champion in the sword sport sho-zar, and a master archer besides, he was physically compact but extraordinarily capable. His build was dense, powerful, reflecting a mind equally formidable in battle. Known for his lack of humor and his tightly coiled energy, Tel Janin was never the charismatic leader his peer Lews Therin Telamon was. But he was among the most gifted military tacticians of his age, and perhaps the best the Light had—until that brilliance soured into resentment.

Sammael, One of the Forsaken

As the War of Power escalated, Tel Janin grew increasingly discontented with being eclipsed by Lews Therin, whom many hailed as the true savior of humanity. The final insult came when overall command of the Light’s forces was given to Lews Therin. Despite fighting valiantly for years, Tel Janin defected—his bitterness boiling into betrayal. He opened the Gates of Hevan to the Shadow, leading their armies into Satelle, and causing the deaths of countless defenders who had once stood beside him. From that moment on, he bore the name Sammael, the “Destroyer of Hope.”

What Did Sammael Look Like?

Though Sammael stood only slightly above average height, he obsessed over the fact that many measured greatness by stature. “He had always wished to be taller,” the Wheel of Time Companion notes—an insecurity that gnawed at him constantly. With golden hair, blue eyes, and a square-trimmed beard, he might have been handsome in another life, had not the hard edges of bitterness and pride shaped his expression. A jagged scar ran from his hairline to beard, a wound given to him by Lews Therin. He could have Healed it. He chose not to. It was his reminder, his obsession, his grudge given form.

Physically solid and tightly built, Sammael projected strength, especially in the Age of Legends where appearance still carried meaning. And though not particularly charismatic, his confidence and raw willpower made him a commanding figure. Yet he was also cold, even paranoid—qualities that only deepened in his years of service to the Dark One.

How Strong Was Sammael in the One Power?

Sammael was among the most powerful male channelers ever recorded. In The Wheel of Time Companion, his One Power strength is denoted as ++2—a tier that places him among the elite, though still below Rahvin, Moridin, and Rand al’Thor. His command of saidin was precise and destructive; he favored lightning and fire, the battlefield's bluntest instruments, and wielded them with devastating efficiency. He did not innovate with the Power the way Semirhage or Aginor did, but in war, his force was unmistakable.

Notably, Sammael survived for millennia trapped at Shayol Ghul with the rest of the Forsaken, and upon release, quickly reacclimated to a world wholly alien from his own. That he could command with such force after 3,000 years frozen in time is a testament to his immense strength and tactical instinct.

Why Did Sammael Join the Shadow?

Jealousy, wounded pride, and a thirst for recognition drove Tel Janin Aellinsar into the arms of the Shadow. Despite his early loyalty to the Light and his deep involvement in the War of Power's defense, he could not bear being eclipsed by Lews Therin. He believed himself the better general, more deserving of glory, and when the accolades failed to come, he made his choice. Accompanied by Graendal, he journeyed to Shayol Ghul and swore allegiance to the Dark One.

From that moment forward, he embraced war as a tool for chaos. His tactics changed; he became a predator. In the words of Moghedien, “his mind was nearly Demandred’s equal” in battlefield cunning—though never able to best Lews Therin, a fact that tormented him to the end.

What Were Sammael’s Major Actions in the War of Power?

Sammael’s most infamous betrayal—the opening of the Gates of Hevan—marked the first catastrophic blow in the Shadow’s campaign. Later, he attempted to lure Lews Therin into a trap at Sarendahar, using diversion and bait in classic Sammaelic fashion. And near the War’s end, he launched one of the final offensives alongside Demandred and Be’lal, pushing toward the territories near the Choedan Kal. Unbeknownst to him, these colossal sa’angreal were close by. Had he discovered them, the Shadow’s victory might have been secured. But the Light held the secret.

Sammael's forces contributed heavily to the final deadlock of the War of Power, after which he, along with the other Forsaken, was sealed in Shayol Ghul by Lews Therin and the Hundred Companions.

What Role Did Sammael Play After His Release?

Upon being freed from the Bore thousands of years later, Sammael wasted no time embedding himself within the modern world. Taking the alias Lord Brend, he seized control of Illian, manipulating its Council of Nine and the Assembly to make himself the de facto ruler. His governing style, however, reflected his disdain for civil administration—marked by mismanagement and neglect. Hunger and disorder followed him, even in peacetime.

In secret, he hunted for angreal and sa’angreal, attempting to reclaim the kind of raw strength that could help him rival Rand al’Thor. His alliances were tenuous and opportunistic; he conspired with Lanfear, Graendal, and Rahvin to corrupt or kill Rand, though always with his own benefit in mind. He deceived Graendal into revealing Mesaana’s location, falsely claiming to have made peace with Rand—a classic move in Sammael’s playbook of manipulation.

He also dispatched agents to Ebou Dar in pursuit of a long-lost cache of Power-related artifacts, underscoring his obsession with hoarding strength and denying it to his enemies.

Why Did Sammael Ally With the Shaido?

In one of his more damaging campaigns, Sammael appeared to the Shaido Aiel in disguise as Caddar, manipulating Sevanna into spreading her forces across the continent. This wasn’t about conquest; it was sabotage. Sammael understood that by unleashing the Shaido, he could tarnish Rand’s name. Most of the world couldn't distinguish between Aiel clans. Wherever the Shaido rampaged, people would assume Rand's hand was behind it. It was psychological warfare, designed not to kill Rand, but to ruin him in the court of public opinion.

How Did Sammael Die?

Sammael’s end came in A Crown of Swords. After Rand al’Thor prepared for a final confrontation in Illian, Sammael refused to meet him there, fearing destruction of the city or perhaps his own death. Instead, he lured Rand to Shadar Logoth, the haunted ruin infused with the evil entity Mashadar.

Their battle was fierce but brief. While Sammael dueled Rand, a sudden distraction—Aiel Maiden Liah—drew his attention just long enough for Mashadar to strike. The tendrils of sentient mist consumed him. He vanished, screaming, and was never seen again. His death was later confirmed by author Robert Jordan himself: Sammael is gone. That was not balefire. He is dead.

Was Sammael Truly Gone?

Rumors abounded after his death. In Knife of Dreams, Trollocs poured from the Ways—an unnatural tactic attributed to a Forsaken. When asked if this was Sammael’s doing, Moridin dismisses it, saying only “Sammael is dead.” Still, someone impersonating Sammael had clearly given orders. Whether it was a surviving darkfriend commander using his name or something more sinister is unclear. But the Destroyer of Hope, the warlord once feared across two ages, had fallen not to Power, but to a thing older and stranger.

Sammael's Raw Power

Sammael earns a Raw Power score of 8.0 out of 10, placing him solidly in the upper tier of fantasy characters across all universes, though not among the absolute elite. This rating reflects his formidable command of the One Power, his mastery in direct combat applications of magic, and his efficiency in large-scale destructive warfare. However, his lack of significant physical strength and a relatively limited diversity in magical technique prevent him from ranking even higher.

Strength

Sammael's physical strength is unimpressive by fantasy standards. Described as compact and solidly built, he possesses a martial bearing but no feats of notable physical might. His pre-Shadow identity as a sportsman in bloodless sword combat implies athleticism and trained reflexes, but not brute power. He does not engage in melee with overwhelming force, nor does he display the kind of superhuman feats—lifting massive weights, breaking physical restraints, surviving extreme trauma—that would merit a higher strength score. His body is built for balance and precision, not raw physical domination. Consequently, in a purely physical encounter without access to saidin, Sammael would be at a disadvantage against physically empowered foes. His strength in this subcategory is negligible, and largely irrelevant to his total Raw Power rating.

Magical Ability

This is the core of Sammael’s power and the single greatest contributor to his rating. According to The Wheel of Time Companion, Sammael ranks at ++2 in strength with the One Power—placing him among the most powerful male channelers in the series. He is capable of wielding immense amounts of saidin, granting him access to devastating weaves of Fire and Air, which he routinely employs in combat. His typical use of the Power leans toward the efficient and brutal: lightning, fireballs, and baleful destruction. In the battle outside Cairhien, he slaughtered dozens of Far Dareis Mai with ease from a distance. These are not ornamental spells—they are lethal and instantaneous, deployed with clear military precision.

He also demonstrates familiarity with Travel, disguise, and indirect magical manipulation (as seen when operating as Caddar). However, his spell variety is narrower than some of his peers. He prefers straightforward destruction and does not delve deeply into sophisticated constructs, advanced Healing, or world-altering effects like dreamwalking or temporal distortion. His focus is depth and lethality in a particular range, not breadth. That specialization enhances his combat efficacy but limits his versatility within this subcategory.

Combat Prowess

Sammael’s combat prowess is formidable, blending his magical potency with military experience and battlefield composure. A general before he was a Forsaken, he does not simply attack with raw force—he applies strategy, timing, and placement. In direct magical combat, he can compete with other Forsaken, and nearly matched Rand al’Thor in their final duel. Even in his final appearance at Shadar Logoth, Sammael maintained a calm and coordinated approach, using the terrain, distractions, and lightning-fast weaves with ruthless intent.

His pre-Taint experience in sport combat also provides him with refined reflexes and a practiced understanding of timing and spacing. Though he lacks any known magical weaponry or personal wards comparable to those used by some others, he makes up for it with aggression and pragmatism. Sammael does not hesitate. His combat instinct is military—hit hard, hit fast, and remove the opponent before they can act.

That said, his limitations in hand-to-hand combat and lack of close-quarters diversity restrain his peak effectiveness. He avoids direct entanglements unless he is certain of magical superiority. For this reason, his combat prowess is elite but narrowly focused—appropriate for large-scale conflict but more vulnerable in constrained or unpredictable circumstances.

Sammael's Tactical Ability

Sammael receives a Tactical Ability score of 8.0 out of 10, reflecting his formidable strength as a battlefield commander, manipulator of conflict, and long-range planner. Among fantasy characters across universes, he stands out not for innovation, but for ruthless, disciplined efficiency. He demonstrates a deep understanding of war as both an art and a science, consistently leveraging timing, deception, and strategic placement to outmaneuver his enemies. Though his paranoia often hampered collaborative potential, Sammael’s military legacy is one of precise execution and grim success.

Strategic Mind

Sammael’s strategic mind ranks among the best of the Forsaken, rivaled only by a small handful even within his own pantheon. Prior to his betrayal, he was one of the Light’s most celebrated generals during the War of Power, and his experience spanned both conventional battlefield engagements and asymmetric warfare. His defensive genius was particularly noted in early campaigns, where the forces of the Light were often forced to hold against numerically and magically superior foes. Even after turning to the Shadow, Sammael’s tactical clarity did not erode. He favored layered traps, overwhelming force in narrow windows, and surgical strikes over bombastic theatrics.

A key example of his strategic acumen is found in his final confrontation with Rand al’Thor. Rather than face Rand in Illian—risking not only his life but the symbolic capital of the city—Sammael preemptively relocated the battlefield to Shadar Logoth. By forcing the fight into a cursed and unpredictable terrain, Sammael attempted to negate Rand’s environmental advantage while leveraging the danger of Mashadar to his own ends. That move was emblematic of his style: calculated, proactive, and aggressively opportunistic.

Furthermore, his indirect operations, such as the dispersal of the Shaido under false pretenses, were part of a broader strategy to undermine his enemies' legitimacy without direct confrontation. This understanding of psychological and reputational warfare elevates Sammael’s strategic profile beyond that of a mere warmonger.

Resourcefulness

Sammael is not the most adaptable or creative commander in the series, but within the parameters of his planning, he is extraordinarily resourceful. Once released from the Bore, he rapidly assumed control over Illian using no overt war—just targeted manipulation of political structures and careful threats. This demonstrated an ability to assess new terrain, identify weak points, and insert himself into the power structure with minimal resistance.

In magical terms, while Sammael did not possess the improvisational flair of others, he consistently employed the tools available to him with ruthless precision. His use of alias identities, such as Lord Brend and Caddar, enabled him to operate in multiple theaters at once while obscuring his true location and intentions. These disguises were not merely tactical in the moment—they were integral components of larger plans designed to outlast their own discovery.

Though Sammael’s methods were conservative, he rarely failed to execute the plans he committed to. He was not a battlefield improviser, but a man who made contingency planning his specialty. His effectiveness in that lane, even under constraint, justifies a strong score for resourcefulness within the domain of tactical ability.

Resource Arsenal

Sammael’s arsenal of strategic assets was narrower than those of some of his peers, but he made superb use of what he had. He lacked the dreamwalking of Moridin or the deep infiltration networks of Mesaana, but he compensated with control over a sovereign nation, access to the Council of Nine, and indirect command over armies—including the Shaido Aiel through his manipulation of Sevanna. That alone gave him logistical reach few could match.

He was also constantly searching for angreal and sa’angreal, not just for raw power but for the leverage they offered in both psychological and strategic terms. While he was not the most magically connected among the Forsaken, his focus on controlling the battlefield—and shaping its rules before combat ever began—allowed him to exploit resources with maximum impact.

Notably, Sammael also had access to political knowledge, post-Age of Legends history, and geography that many Forsaken took longer to acquire upon release. His quick establishment of dominance in Illian, while other Forsaken floundered or bickered, reflects superior deployment of these intangible assets.

Sammael's Influence

Sammael earns a Influence score of 6.5 out of 10, indicating that while he could exert meaningful control over others through manipulation, fear, and institutional authority, he lacked the charisma, inspirational resonance, and psychological subtlety to reach the highest tier. His influence operated best in contexts of coercion, domination, or deception—rather than genuine loyalty or awe. Although he held positions of considerable power and commanded respect among certain circles, his ability to influence others was consistently limited by his paranoia, abrasive nature, and inability to inspire voluntary devotion.

Persuasion

Sammael's persuasive capabilities were functional but constrained. As Lord Brend, he did not convince the Council of Nine and the Assembly of Illian to elevate him through charm or vision, but rather through implicit threat and the careful leveraging of fear. His use of the One Power, his opaque but undeniable strength, and his perceived connections to dark forces rendered him untouchable, but not beloved. People followed because opposition was costly, not because he inspired confidence.

His interactions as Caddar with the Shaido offer a clearer example of calculated manipulation. He successfully misled Sevanna into believing she was executing her own will, when in reality she was advancing his strategic goals. Yet even here, the persuasion relied less on rhetorical skill or relationship-building than on feeding her ego and manipulating her limited worldview. Sammael was adept at identifying desires and using them to bait others into action, but not at cultivating long-term allegiance or shifting ideological loyalties.

He rarely persuaded his peers among the Forsaken, either. His attempts to form alliances were often based on transactional convenience rather than shared purpose or genuine rapport. He was not a unifier and could not orchestrate coalitions except in the loosest terms. Thus, while his short-term manipulations were effective, his persuasive ceiling remained moderate.

Reverence

Sammael commanded fear far more readily than he did admiration. Among mortals, particularly in Illian, his rule was accepted and obeyed, but not mythologized. The people did not sing of his greatness or consider him a savior; they endured him. His reputation as one of the Forsaken brought with it the legacy of terror from the Age of Legends, but this inheritance is qualitatively different from reverence. It is closer to dread.

Even among his fellow Forsaken, Sammael did not rank among those most feared. Lanfear dismissed his power. Moridin treated him as expendable. Graendal toyed with his suspicions. His most successful exertions of control occurred when others underestimated him, not when they stood in awe of him. He neither cultivated a cult of personality nor left behind ideological resonance.

This absence of deeper reverence sharply limits his score. Reverence requires not just that others obey, but that they imbue the character with symbolic weight or mythic authority. Sammael’s legacy inspires neither devotion nor exaltation.

Willpower

Sammael’s willpower is perhaps the strongest dimension of his influence profile. He defected from the Light on his own terms, despite having been a decorated commander of its armies. This transition—unlike some of the other Forsaken who were lured by the promise of immortality or forbidden knowledge—was grounded in pride and agency. He believed himself superior to Lews Therin, and rather than accept a subordinate role, he seized control over his own narrative. That choice, while morally damning, was not the product of weakness.

Throughout his life, Sammael demonstrated a consistent resistance to outside control. He resisted the influence of his rivals, both among the Forsaken and beyond. His decision to wear the scar given to him by Lews Therin, rather than have it Healed, reflects not just pride, but an ironclad refusal to be reshaped or diminished. Even when collaborating with others, he remained skeptical, withholding, and rarely compromised.

In this regard, his ability to maintain his own agency—often to his detriment—was substantial. However, this stubbornness also cost him valuable alliances and narrowed his field of action. His will was durable, but brittle.

Sammael's Resilience

Sammael receives a Resilience score of 6.0 out of 10, marking him as moderately durable within the broader spectrum of fantasy characters. While he possessed respectable magical resistance and enjoyed a prolonged existence due to his status as one of the Forsaken, his resilience was ultimately undermined by his reliance on tactical caution over endurance, his vulnerability to metaphysical hazards like Mashadar, and the absence of any regenerative or resurrection capabilities. Though he was a hardened survivor of the War of Power and a competent bearer of the One Power, his capacity to absorb punishment, recover from catastrophic failure, or transcend death was ultimately finite.

Physical Resistance

Sammael was not physically fragile, but he had no documented enhancements to his physical durability beyond those granted by his training and careful use of defensive weaves. Unlike those characters whose bodies have been augmented, transfigured, or rendered semi-immortal through divine or arcane processes, Sammael retained a standard human frame. While he was fit and disciplined, he did not demonstrate feats of physical stamina under extreme conditions, nor did he survive significant physical trauma without magical intervention.

His general approach to conflict—preference for distance, precision, and overwhelming force—suggests an awareness of his physical limits. He rarely, if ever, placed himself in direct harm’s way unless he was confident of control over the terrain or his opponent. During his final confrontation, he avoided fighting in Illian altogether and manipulated Rand into entering the much riskier battleground of Shadar Logoth. These habits point to an acute strategic mind, but also to a lack of confidence in withstanding drawn-out physical engagements. In the absence of any surviving records of him taking or enduring severe corporeal damage, Sammael’s physical resistance remains within the realm of well-trained but unaugmented human limits.

Magical Resistance

Sammael’s magical defenses were more refined. As a male channeler of great strength in saidin, he had access to protective weaves, wards, and sensory manipulation—tools that allowed him to evade detection, shield himself from direct attack, and neutralize certain magical threats. During his tenure as Lord Brend in Illian, he operated under layers of magical concealment, implying a level of competence in shielding his presence even from other channelers.

That said, there is little evidence that Sammael possessed any unique resistance to magical effects beyond what he could actively deploy. He did not demonstrate natural immunity to compulsion, did not endure attacks from balefire or other high-end weaves without consequence, and did not develop specialized counters to the diverse magical threats wielded by his rivals. His survival was predicated on avoidance and misdirection, not on absorbing magical damage.

In combat, he often struck first and with overwhelming force, a tactic that minimized the opportunity for enemy retaliation. While this speaks to effective use of power, it also highlights a gap in resilience—Sammael didn’t plan to survive magic. He planned to eliminate the need for it. As such, his magical resistance ranks as functional but unspectacular in the broader context of fantasy characters, many of whom possess innate wards, immunities, or reflexive defenses that far exceed his.

Longevity

Sammael’s longevity derives entirely from his status as one of the Forsaken, and this is the strongest dimension of his resilience. Sealed away in Shayol Ghul for over three thousand years, he emerged into a radically altered world with his mind and powers intact. This preservation alone places him above average in terms of temporal resilience. Few beings can endure millennia in stasis and reenter history with such speed and confidence.

However, Sammael’s story ends with a finality that lowers his overall longevity score. During the climax of his narrative arc in A Crown of Swords, he is enveloped by Mashadar, the parasitic entity dwelling in Shadar Logoth. Unlike other Forsaken who were either resurrected or reincarnated by the Dark One, Sammael was definitively killed, as confirmed by Robert Jordan. This distinguishes him from those rare entities who can persist beyond death through metaphysical contracts, divine patronage, or intrinsic immortality.

He also showed no signs of regenerative capacity. His facial scar, left untouched for psychological rather than physiological reasons, confirms that while Healing was available to him, it was not automatic or embedded. Sammael could preserve himself for a long time—especially when shielded by the Dark One’s protection—but he could not return from annihilation, nor escape the consequences of poor decisions once made.

Sammael's Versatility

Sammael receives a Versatility score of 6.0 out of 10, indicating that while he possessed a respectable range of skills and applied them effectively within defined tactical and magical contexts, his overall flexibility, unpredictability, and breadth of utility were relatively constrained. His strength lay in applying known methods to familiar frameworks rather than improvising in novel circumstances. Although he demonstrated competence in covert operations, magical combat, political manipulation, and large-scale warfare, he lacked the adaptive flair, latent fortune, or secret weapons that characterize the most versatile figures across the fantasy multiverse.

Adaptability

Sammael was a strategist who operated best in environments he could control. Upon release from his three-thousand-year imprisonment, he acclimated rapidly to the political, geographic, and magical conditions of the Third Age. His takeover of Illian as Lord Brend was swift and efficient, suggesting a strong cognitive and operational flexibility when engaging with foreign structures. However, his adaptability was most effective within the narrow confines of strategic planning. He adjusted to the reality of a changed world, but his methods remained rooted in the same military logic that had guided him during the War of Power.

Sammael struggled when his plans were disrupted in unexpected ways. He did not improvise well in live combat, and his final confrontation with Rand at Shadar Logoth demonstrated this clearly. The presence of the unpredictable entity Mashadar proved fatal, not because of Sammael’s lack of power, but because he lacked the ability to adapt to the chaotic, non-linear threat it posed. His strength came from anticipation, not spontaneity. Unlike those who thrive in unpredictability, Sammael faltered when the rules changed too fast for his calculations to keep up. Thus, his adaptability is competent but ultimately limited, especially in real-time crisis scenarios.

Luck

Luck plays an unquantifiable but observable role in the careers of many powerful beings. Sammael’s life was defined by his skill and foresight, not by improbable fortune. While he avoided catastrophe through well-laid plans and cautious execution, he was not prone to miraculous escapes or unexpected windfalls. He did not find hidden reserves of strength or stumble into forgotten artifacts at opportune times. His manipulation of events was proactive and calculated, not serendipitous.

The closest Sammael came to exploiting luck was through deception—convincing others that he was more secure or better informed than he was. But even these situations were tightly orchestrated. The outcomes that favored him did so because he shaped them, not because they broke his way. In turn, when confronted with improbable risks—such as the ambient dangers of Shadar Logoth—he did not benefit from coincidence or divine timing. His death, while abrupt, was a product of this absence of protective fortune. As such, his luck is below average in comparative terms: consistent, deliberate, and unremarkable.

Shaved Knuckle in the Hole

This subcategory measures whether a character possesses a hidden trump—some last-resort resource, ability, or tactic that can decisively alter the outcome of a conflict. Sammael, for all his strength and planning, lacked this kind of ace. He did not carry a concealed reservoir of magical knowledge that others were unaware of, nor did he exhibit a sudden reversal of fortunes driven by some dormant capacity. His strategic positioning was always visible to those paying attention, and when cornered, he responded with predictable escalation rather than subversion.

There is no record of Sammael turning a hopeless scenario to victory through some unexpected move or hidden capability. His tactics with the Shaido Aiel and with the Illian nobility were clever, but not game-breaking. In battle, he followed doctrine: crush, burn, overwhelm. Even his claim of a truce with Rand, used to manipulate Graendal, was an ordinary deception—not a redefinition of the board. His toolkit was well-used but entirely visible. He had no hidden dagger, no secret pact, no deep well of transformation to draw from.

Sammael's Alignment

Sammael, born Tel Janin Aellinsar, was a powerful male channeler of the human race during the Age of Legends, with no known subrace distinctions beyond his status as a gifted wielder of saidin. He was once a decorated general on the side of the Light during the War of Power, known for his defensive brilliance and mastery of battlefield tactics. However, driven by jealousy of Lews Therin Telamon and a refusal to be subordinated, he betrayed humanity and pledged himself to the Shadow. In doing so, he joined the ranks of the Forsaken, the thirteen most powerful and dangerous servants of the Dark One (Shai’tan), whose goals are the domination or destruction of the Pattern and the corruption of all life.

As one of the Forsaken, Sammael assumed the alias Lord Brend after his release from the Bore and manipulated the Council of Nine to become the de facto ruler of Illian. He also operated under the name Caddar when deceiving the Shaido Aiel. His activities were deeply embedded within the larger objectives of the Shadow—undermining Rand al’Thor, sowing chaos across the continent, and competing for influence among the other Chosen. Sammael specialized in direct magical assault, political manipulation, and psychological warfare. He avoided idealism or personal loyalty and operated with extreme self-interest, often undermining his supposed allies for temporary advantage. He died during a confrontation with Rand al’Thor in Shadar Logoth, where he was consumed by the corrupted entity Mashadar. His death was confirmed as final.

Sammael’s alignment is best classified as Lawful Evil. His evil is clear: he betrayed the Light for power, served an entity that sought to unravel reality itself, and committed atrocities against both military and civilian targets. He showed no remorse, compassion, or hesitation in pursuit of dominion and revenge. However, his behavior is governed by structure and hierarchy. He does not revel in chaos for its own sake, nor does he kill indiscriminately. He relies on order, control, and calculated planning. His assumption of leadership in Illian, his strategic deployment of the Shaido Aiel, and his cooperative but suspicious stance toward fellow Forsaken all reflect a character who prefers control over anarchy. He operates by rules—his own or the Dark One’s—and maintains discipline even as he pursues malicious ends. Sammael believes in power through structure, not entropy, placing him firmly in the Lawful Evil quadrant of alignment. Pride and Prophecy keeps an updated character alignment matrix across all planes of existence.

Sammael's Trophy Case

Arena Results

Titles & Postseason Results

Halls of Legend Records

Overall Conclusion on Sammael and Position Across Planes of Existence

Sammael receives a composite score of 6.9, placing him in the uppermost tier of powerful beings across fantasy universes, though just below the threshold reserved for those who possess truly reality-altering, cosmic, or godlike capacities. This score reflects a balance of exceptional strength in specific domains—most notably his magical power, tactical acumen, and battlefield dominance—offset by limitations in breadth, versatility, and metaphysical resilience. He is a character who excels in well-defined, structured confrontations but lacks the transcendental force or multidimensional adaptability seen in the very highest echelon.

His Raw Power, anchored by a ++2 rating in the One Power, enables him to devastate battlefields with lightning, fire, and destructive weaves that few in his universe can survive. Unlike more abstract manipulators of reality, Sammael’s strength lies in tangible, targeted lethality. He prefers overwhelming force and precision to elaborate magical innovation. His ability to wield this power effectively in combat, especially against other powerful channelers, ensures that he is a credible threat even in the most elite circles. However, his lack of magical diversity—no use of balefire, no known skill with dreamwalking, world manipulation, or high-order metaphysical constructs—sets a ceiling on his influence across the planes.

As a tactician, Sammael’s profile is among the best. His Tactical Ability score reflects years of experience leading armies in the Age of Legends and in the Third Age under the alias Lord Brend. He is methodical, predictive, and unrelenting. He orchestrated the dispersal of the Shaido Aiel across the continent not for conquest, but to strategically destabilize Rand al’Thor’s reputation. He avoids risk, adapts to known threats, and seldom overreaches without calculated advantage. In a multiversal context, this elevates him above characters who rely on brute power alone. Yet, his rigidity, lack of improvisational flair, and tendency toward paranoia also diminish his ability to respond to chaotic or cross-dimensional threats.

Sammael's Influence was based more on intimidation and strategic leverage than on charisma or reverence. He commanded respect out of fear, not loyalty. Though he effectively ruled a nation and manipulated organizations like the Shaido, he lacked mythic resonance or spiritual authority. In multiversal terms, this restricts his footprint: he is a figure of power, not of legend.

His Resilience score further tempers his rating. Though functionally immortal for millennia, his final death was permanent, and he demonstrated no capacity for resurrection or return beyond the Dark One’s protection. This finality matters across planes where rebirth, temporal immunity, or soul reconstitution are common among top-tier entities.

In contrast, Sammael’s Versatility remains limited. He operated best when he could plan and dominate in familiar settings. His failure to adapt at Shadar Logoth, where he was consumed by Mashadar despite his superior strength, reflects a vulnerability to nonlinear threats and esoteric forces. He possessed no hidden trump, no concealed transformation or secret plane-breaking asset to elevate him higher.

Ultimately, Sammael’s 6.9 rating is a reflection of elite power bounded by human frameworks—structured, overwhelming, but not infinite. He is a general, a warlord, a destroyer of hope, and a mortal who clawed his way to prominence by mastering force, not by transcending it. Pride and Prophecy keeps an updated power ranking across all planes of existence. This will only be sortable on desktop viewing. The below table shows a summary within the same plane of existence of this article.