Mazrim Taim

Mazrim Taim
Biographical Information
Nationality	Saldaean
Date of birth	972 NE
Date of death	1000 NE
Current status	Dead
Physical description
Gender	Male
Height	Tall
Hair	Black
Chronological and political information
First mentioned	TEOTW 13
First appeared	LOC 2
Last appeared	AMOL 37
Last mentioned	AMOL 43
Occupation	Asha'man
Title	M'Hael
Rank	Chosen

I am going to defeat them, Taim. All of them. They think they can tear everything down. It's always tearing down, never building up! I'm going to build something, leave something behind. Whatever happens, I will do that! I'll defeat the Dark One. And cleanse saidin, so men don't have to fear going mad, and the world doesn't have to fear men channeling. I'll...

Rand to Mazrim Taim

I am going to defeat them, Taim. All of them. They think they can tear everything down. It's always tearing down, never building up! I'm going to build something, leave something behind. Whatever happens, I will do that! I'll defeat the Dark One. And cleanse saidin, so men don't have to fear going mad, and the world doesn't have to fear men channeling. I'll...
— Rand to Mazrim Taim

Mazrim Taim (MAHZ-rihm tah-EEM; /ˈmɑz.ɹɪm taˈiːm/) is a male channeler and a former False Dragon. When Taim becomes one of the Forsaken, he is renamed M'Hael.

Appearance

Taim is tall, has black hair, with a dark, clean-shaven face, and the tilted eyes, hooked nose and high cheekbones of a Saldaean. He used to wear facial hair, as evidenced by his first meeting with Rand al'Thor: when Davram Bashere doubts Taim's identity, Taim implies Bashere does not recognize him because he had shaved since the last time the general had seen him. Rand's first estimation of Taim's age was the mid-thirties, perhaps due to the stress of evading Bashere's armies during his journey to Caemlyn. He normally looks somewhat younger, as all channelers do. When Pevara Tazanovni encounters him for the first time in the Black Tower, he is also described as having an air of physical strength and of darkness.

Channeling abilites

Mazrim Taim Portrait by Seamus Gallagher

Mazrim Taim is a very powerful channeler, rivaled only by Logain Ablar and a few other Asha'man and surpassed only by Rand al'Thor and some of the Forsaken. The fact that Rand al'Thor chooses him to be a teacher at the farm is also evidence of his channeling ability and skill.

Other skills

In spite of being a borderlander, his skills with a sword are very limited.

History

He is from Saldaea. As a man who can channel, Taim falsely declared himself to be the Dragon Reborn in 998 NE.

Activities

False Dragon

Taim portrait done by Jeremy Saliba

He burnt much of Saldaea and nearly defeated Davram Bashere before he was captured, though only because he fell off his horse due to the visions of Falme. Before being captured, a farmer allegedly gave him one of the Seals of the Dark One's prison.

Capture, escape, and the Black Tower

Although captured, he escaped, and took advantage of Rand al'Thor's amnesty to male channelers to escape punishment for his crimes, and for glory.

After giving Rand the cuendillar Seal, he was appointed as leader and teacher of 'the farm'. 'The farm', later renamed the Black Tower, was a training center for male channelers. He now leads Rand al'Thor's male channelers, the Asha'man, and calls himself the M'Hael, which means Leader in the Old Tongue.

He is notably arrogant, forgoing normal Asha'man rankings for blue-and-gold dragons on his coat sleeves, paying homage to Rand's arm markings while apparently mocking him at the same time. It is also worth noting that Taim does not wear the collar pins, as all other Asha'man do. He leads the Asha'man into the Battle of Dumai's Wells but it is very suspect on how he found out and under whose direction he is. He enjoyed watching the Rebel Aes Sedai swear fealty to Rand. This led him to say one of his most famous quotes: "Kneel. Kneel before the Lord Dragon, or you will be knelt."

Mazrim Taim supervises Ashaman during the Battle of Dumai's Wells - Artwork by endave

He later pays a visit to Elayne Trakand and is forced to observe and obey Andoran law due to the Black Tower being on Andoran land. He is also forced to accept daily visits from soldiers of the Queen's Guards on the Black Tower grounds. When Elayne is summoned by the Wise Ones, Taim sneaks a peek at her when she has to go naked.

Black Tower Factions

Taim secretly sent four Asha'man (Charl Gedwyn, Manel Rochaid, Peral Torval, and Raefar Kisman, all Darkfriends) to kill Rand in the Sun Palace. He later reports to Rand after the attack that all four men are deserters. He seems shocked and surprised when Rand also mentions that Corlan Dashiva is also a deserter. He watches Rand put Fedwin Morr to sleep for good and appreciates how hard Rand is. Both Taim's orders and his affiliation to the Shadow are confirmed by Kisman in Far Madding.

Taim from a Japanese translation book cover

Logain claims that Taim has a small sect of followers whom he personally teaches weaves that no other Asha'man know. Taim refuses to believe that Rand was responsible for the cleansing of saidin.

Let the Lord of Chaos rule

Taim met with Aes Sedai and agreed to allow the bonding of Asha'man by sisters of the Red Ajah. His justification for this was "let the Lord of Chaos rule", a phrase unknown outside of the Forsaken. Atal Mishraile nearly reveals something to them before he is knocked unconscious by a blow to the head with Air from Taim. Taim will only allow him to be Healed if he survives the night.

Taim escorts Javindhra Doraille around the Black Tower grounds with Pevara Tazanovni. Javindhra again insists on letting her Aes Sedai bond Asha'man, but Taim denies her stating that they can only bond Soldiers or Dedicated. Several channelers in the Black Tower are said to be turned different, as "Shadow brought into man." It is also revealed that Moridin's second dreamspike is at the Black Tower.

The Last Battle

Chosen

Moridin reveals that Mazrim Taim has been elevated to the Chosen and renamed M'Hael, confirming all suspicions of his loyalties.. Taim gained this status by undertaking a mission of gaining Rand's trust and then Turning his Asha'man to the Shadow with thirteen Myrddraal and thirteen Dreadlords.

Battle for the Black Tower

Taim meets a group of adventurers outside the Black Tower.

M'Hael learns from Evin Vinchova, that Androl Genhald and his men are launching a mission to rescue Logain. He and his men manage to corner them in Logain's cell, before M'Hael pulls down the roof on the opposing group, knocking most of them out unconscious and killing Arlen Nalaam. M'Hael's men become tired from trying to Turn Logain and Algarin Pendaloan. He has them bring in Toveine Gazal and Turn her while he sends for the Black Ajah with assistance from Hessalam. He admits to her that he possesses the Seals to the Dark One's prison. Evin is killed by M'Hael, after the former attacks Abors. Due to Androl being extremely weak in the One Power, and the Dreamspike blocking gateways, M'Hael does not even bother to shield him, weaving balefire. In that moment, Androl weaves a very small gateway that absorbs the balefire in spite of the Dreamspike. Taril Canler and the rest of the Two Rivers lads arrive to rescue them and attacks M'Hael and his men. Suddenly Androl is able to weave gateways again, and turns the attackers' channeling against them by placing a gateway behind them, killing many of them. M'Hael and Hessalam and a few of his men manage to escape through another gateway.

Tarwin's Gap

When Rand attempts to intercede in a losing battle at the Gap, the M'Hael leads a team of Dreadlords specifically charged with engaging the Dragon Reborn and killing him. He forces Rand to retreat, and pushes the Borderland forces back through Shienaran lands. M'Hael kills Deepe Bhadar in one skirmish.

The Field of Merrilor

Mazrim Taim and Asha'man

Demandred leads the combined forces of Shadowspawn, Dreadlords, and Sharans against the forces of Light. Demandred orders M'Hael to kill all of the channelers, admitting that he was the one who gave Taim the chance to join the Shadow. M'Hael comes to the conclusion that Demandred has allowed his hatred of Lews Therin to drive him insane.

During the battle, Androl Genhald approaches M'Hael in the guise of Varil Nensen and steals back the Seals when he bumps against M'Hael. M'Hael places a Mask of Mirrors on Androl, making him look like Androl and orders him to kill Logain. Androl takes the Seals and retreats to meet his team.

M'Hael battles Egwene and is forced to retreat due to her prowess with Vora's sa'angreal. Demandred scolds him for his failure, but gives him Sakarnen, a sa'angreal as powerful as Callandor. M'Hael sees an opportunity to destroy Demandred, but Demandred explains to him that the item is bonded to him and that the one to use it against him will cease to exist. M'Hael uses Sakarnen to duel Egwene and destroys the land with balefire. However, his swath of destruction is interrupted when Egwene responds with a new weave to counteract balefire's destruction, the Flame of Tar Valon. The new weave splits through his balefire and touches him, closing the cracks made by balefire and turning him into a crystalline pillar before reaching out to all channelers touched by the Shadow and doing the same.

Taimandred

For a long time, the theory persisted that Mazrim Taim was in fact the Forsaken Demandred. This was known as the "Taimandred" theory. It proposed several points of evidence:

• Bashere's initial failure to recognize him.
• His use of words and expressions like "severing" and "so-called Aiel".
• His apparent age, hinting that he seemed to be much older than Rand but not yet succumbed to the Taint.
• Some knowledge of Compulsion.

The above list can be explained by the backstory Jordan gave later - namely that he was ripe for conversion by the Shadow and was recruited by the Shadow through Demandred. There were also good counterarguments to Taimandred, including that there did exist a man called Mazrim Taim who was captured by Aes Sedai and that Forsaken would probably make a better job at using Mirror of Mists and not dropping obvious hints. Taim, however, might benefit from disguising himself while on the run and be proud of tidbits of knowledge given to him by a Chosen. It's also not clear how free he was of the effects of the Taint. Jordan would later say Taim was "a paranoid S.O.B" and he certainly shows signs of megalomania. Robert Jordan later stated that Taim did not use Compulsion.

Robert Jordan himself debunked this theory on a number of occasions saying "Demandred has never posed as Mazrim Taim," that Taim being Demandred was "totally bogus," and (according to Sanderson) that Demandred had not appeared "on screen" as any other character before Knife of Dreams. Sanderson suggested Jordan did not RAFO this because "he was tired of everyone looking in the same place." The first definitive proof in terms of the books alone came in Winter's Heart when Demandred failed to recognize Damer Flinn (one of Taim's first Black Tower recruits) and Raefar Kisman recalled orders to kill Rand being received from both Demandred and Taim separately. Jordan also clarified the first of these saying that Taim would have recognized Flinn immediately.

Taimandred resurrected

More recent discoveries in Robert Jordan's personal notes showed that, at one point, he did in fact originally intend Demandred and Taim to be the same. In his book, Origins of the Wheel of Time, Michael Livingston dates this as "when he was starting to write Lord of Chaos." When exactly the idea was abandoned is not known and there are only two known references to them being the same person, both of which are in the notes for Lord of Chaos - other notes concerning Taim/Demandred during these years presumably don't mention them together.

Demandred: Hated/feared/despised Lews Therin. Like Lanfear, he plays for larger stakes than most of the others, who are trying to stake out worldly kingdoms. HE WILL SHOW UP CLAIMING TO BE MAZRIM TAIM, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF RAND’S AMNESTY.

Robert Jordan

Demandred: Hated/feared/despised Lews Therin. Like Lanfear, he plays for larger stakes than most of the others, who are trying to stake out worldly kingdoms. HE WILL SHOW UP CLAIMING TO BE MAZRIM TAIM, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF RAND’S AMNESTY.
— Robert Jordan

Taim/Demandred showed up [at Dumai’s Wells]

Robert Jordan

Taim/Demandred showed up [at Dumai’s Wells]
— Robert Jordan

Some fans have proposed that he changed his mind because too many people had guessed Taim's true identity, but Livingston cautions against this, saying: "Precisely when he changed these things and why he did so is unclear. It may be that he felt fans had picked up on the Taim-Demandred connection too easily, and he altered it in an effort to keep them guessing. This would certainly be a flattering thing to think as a fan, though in truth it could just as well have been due to an entirely different reason of story, the result of some other rambling that wasn't handed down to us."

In the television series

• Mazrim Taim^↗ on Wheel of Time TV series Wiki^↗