Battle of the Chosen Ones.

[The Romulan Republic]

Five Chosen Ones walk into a bar...

Well, not a bar.

In a distant corner of the multiverse, a place between dimensions (but accessible from certain places), their is an ancient temple containing a device known simply as "The McGuffin". It is a simple orb, apparently made of pure glass, which contains the power of pure, unrestrained magic. If you hold this device, you can will anything that you want to happen. Anything.

Blow up the multiverse? You can do that.

Remake it into the Garden of Eden? That's fair game too.

Make yourself universally beloved and worshiped God Emperor of Creation? You can do that too.

Turn every evil person good, or every good person evil? Yup.

Bring back every dead loved one, heal every sick or injured person? As above.

Five legendary Chosen Ones have received knowledge of this device, and have set out to recover it. Q, for reasons of his own, will transport them all simultaneously into the Temple. All desire its power, and none trust anyone else to use it responsibly, because to do so is literally to trust that person with everything in existence.

These Chosen Ones are:

Buffy Ann Summers, the Vampire Slayer ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"). She has just vanquished the First Evil, and is armed with the Scythe, a stake, and a crossbow. She also has a crucifix, but it won't matter much here.

Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight (Star Wars). It is just before the Battle of Coruscant. He has his lightsaber.

Neo, the One (The Matrix). Just after the first Matrix film. He is unarmed, but full Matrix powers are in effect.

Rand Al Thor, the Dragon Reborn (The Wheel of Time). At the start of Towers of Midnight. He has Callandore.

Harry James Potter (Harry Potter). He has just won the Battle of Hogwarts. He is carrying his wand, a Firebolt broomstick, and all three Deathly Hallows- the Cloak, the Elder Wand, and the Resurrection Stone. He also has the Sword of Gryffindore.

All are motivated to fight to take the Macguffin, but they are still in-character. I.e. if their are lines they wouldn't cross for the greater good no matter what, those are still in effect.

For the sake of this scenario, we will presume that Callandore, the Sword of Gryffindore, and the Scythe, being magical weapons, can parry a lightsaber without being destroyed.

[Crazedwraith]

Harry apparates to the orb. Apparates out with it. Elsewise the invisibility cloak offers a great advantage if we go by Deathly Hallows as it's suppose to leave him with totally impenetrable detection but earlier books have moody's eye see him and imply dementor's empathy will let them detect him. So the force may let Anakin intercept him. Harry's got the best chance to do this without fighting.

If it comes down to a fight. More likely Anakin will be victorious. Precog + Lightsaber + TK is a very potent combination but I don't know Rand Al Thor's power set.

Neo at the end of The Matrix... do we mean basically his Reloaded power set? Because just taking The Matrix into account he was supposed to be god at that point.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Harry apparates to the orb. Apparates out with it. Elsewise the invisibility cloak offers a great advantage if we go by Deathly Hallows as it's suppose to leave him with totally impenetrable detection but earlier books have moody's eye see him and imply dementor's empathy will let them detect him. So the force may let Anakin intercept him. Harry's got the best chance to do this without fighting.

I think the implication was that the "true" powers of the Hallows are only accessible when all three are held by one person - hence why Moody could see through the Cloak, and how Grindelwald lost to Dumbledore despite wielding the Elder Wand.

If it comes down to a fight. More likely Anakin will be victorious. Precog + Lightsaber + TK is a very potent combination but I don't know Rand Al Thor's power set.

Neo at the end of The Matrix... do we mean basically his Reloaded power set? Because just taking The Matrix into account he was supposed to be god at that point.

That's basically my supposition as well. If it weren't for the modifier that the other magical swords can parry lightsabers the main question would be whether the lightsaber can block/reflect spells from Harry.

[The Romulan Republic]

Harry apparates to the orb. Apparates out with it. Elsewise the invisibility cloak offers a great advantage if we go by Deathly Hallows as it's suppose to leave him with totally impenetrable detection but earlier books have moody's eye see him and imply dementor's empathy will let them detect him. So the force may let Anakin intercept him. Harry's got the best chance to do this without fighting.

If it comes down to a fight. More likely Anakin will be victorious. Precog + Lightsaber + TK is a very potent combination but I don't know Rand Al Thor's power set.

Neo at the end of The Matrix... do we mean basically his Reloaded power set? Because just taking The Matrix into account he was supposed to be god at that point.

Yes, the Reloaded powers.

Rand Al Thor's power set... from memory, it goes something like this:

1. Channeling the "One Power" (or rather the male side of it- WoT does a lot of weird shit around gender roles). Very versatile, but the most notable effects here include opening portals, teleporting of sorts, shielding, healing, mind control (though it can be resisted, to a point at least), and various attacks using everything from fire, to whirlwinds, to tearing the Earth apart, and more. Or opening portals ("gates") in the middle of a crowd, bisecting it as the gates open. It is not an exaggeration to say that in terms of the destruction he can cause, Rand is effectively a sapient nuclear arsenal- and that's if he's not using an amplifying artifact. His nastiest attack is something called balefire, which basically burns someone retroactively out of the timeline- the stronger its cast, the further back. Its best not to use it much to avoid destabilizing reality. Rand once took out an entire building with one shot with it, though he used an amplifying artifact to do so. Callandore is such an artifact, in the shape of a sword.

There's also something called the True Power, but I don't really know how its different- my reading of the later books was spotty.

2. He's a large-scale probability/reality warper. Something about how the Chosen One/destiny works in his setting. In Towers of Midnight he suggests that he could control this to will someone's heart to stop, though he doesn't actually follow through with it.

3. He has memories of his past life. Hundreds of years of experience and knowledge.

4. He's a damn fine swordsman, though next to everything else, it seems almost moot.

Yeah, Wheel of Time is... a bit overpowered. Rand especially.

Others could probably tell you more.

Harry... yes, he's outclassed power-wise, so he'll have to rely on stealth. Potterverse magic is more geared towards cloak and dagger than pitched battle, and invisibility cloak plus Accio plus apparition is a very powerful mix for a would-be thief.

Poor Buffy will be stuck trying not to get obliterated, I think, unless she waits for the others to thin the numbers out and manages to jump someone when they're distracted. Her smart play would be an alliance with Potter, then backstab him. But she might not think of that on the fly. She's not really stupid, but she's not much of a tactician either.

The slug-fest is between Skywalker, Neo, and Rand.

Harry apparates to the orb. Apparates out with it. Elsewise the invisibility cloak offers a great advantage if we go by Deathly Hallows as it's suppose to leave him with totally impenetrable detection but earlier books have moody's eye see him and imply dementor's empathy will let them detect him. So the force may let Anakin intercept him. Harry's got the best chance to do this without fighting.

I think the implication was that the "true" powers of the Hallows are only accessible when all three are held by one person - hence why Moody could see through the Cloak, and how Grindelwald lost to Dumbledore despite wielding the Elder Wand.

If it comes down to a fight. More likely Anakin will be victorious. Precog + Lightsaber + TK is a very potent combination but I don't know Rand Al Thor's power set.

Neo at the end of The Matrix... do we mean basically his Reloaded power set? Because just taking The Matrix into account he was supposed to be god at that point.

That's basically my supposition as well. If it weren't for the modifier that the other magical swords can parry lightsabers the main question would be whether the lightsaber can block/reflect spells from Harry.

I would leave the Hallows' powers as those shown/described in the books. Though I'd be interested to hear an alternative argument.

As to the sabre parrying spells- I would presume that it could parry a bolt/beam (although a killing curse would likely detonate like a grenade upon hitting the blade, the same as other physical barriers). A spell with a wide area of affect though, or a spell to transfigure the substance of the blade or disarm Anakin... probably not.

Edit: I won't give Harry the cloaked thief an automatic win, though. Anakin and Buffy both have super senses (as does Neo, for that matter, with Matrix powers). Anakin has telekinesis. Anakin, Neo, and Buffy have varying degrees of super speed/reflexes. Rand is a reality warper. All of them can counter him- he'll have to hold back until they're otherwise occupied if he can in order to have the best shot.

[mr friendly guy]

Why can't Rand just make a deathgate inside Anakin or anyone else for that matter? It would of rip them apart.

[The Romulan Republic]

He probably could, in theory.

The questions are:

1. How fast will he resort to lethal force when he has so many other means at his disposal?

2. Will someone else be able to get the drop on him? He's a probability warper, but that's not infallible, and he's no precog. as far as I recall.

3. How fast can he do it? Fast enough that Neo or a Jedi can't dodge?

[The Romulan Republic]

Oh, I'll add another caveat that I probably should have mentioned at the start-

The McGuffin cannot be destroyed or damaged by any power present... unless its bearer wills it to destroy or damage itself.

[mr friendly guy]

He probably could, in theory.

The questions are:

1. How fast will he resort to lethal force when he has so many other means at his disposal?

2. Will someone else be able to get the drop on him? He's a probability warper, but that's not infallible, and he's no precog. as far as I recall.

3. How fast can he do it? Fast enough that Neo or a Jedi can't dodge?

From what I recall, its not like he needs to use hand gestures or anything. Which makes channeling quite fast (ie he can think faster than human hands can move) and also since no one might think he is making an aggressive move since the usual cues ie hand gestures, taking a defensive stance etc aren't there. The others may eye each other first before targeting Rand.

[The Romulan Republic]

True.

On the other hand, Anakin might be able to sense what's coming through the Force, and Reloads Neo is ridiculously fast.

[Elheru Aran]

Rand is pretty powerful in terms of firepower. His probability-alteration powers are also formidable, though arguably not as good as Mat's. Neo by comparison... is he able to control the world around him like he can in the Matrix? Because that's the key thing there-- his ability to 'hack' the Matrix is pretty much the only power he has. It's not so much that he has power in and of himself, it's more like he manipulates the Matrix to give him the appearance of having those powers.

And if everybody is really in the Matrix... Neo can basically will his way to the Macguffin without much trouble, Agents aside.

[Gaidin]

If this when Rand has become a good guy again, which it is if I have the timeline right in my head, his firepower is not just formidable, it's downright insane for 'magic'. He solos an entire city siege battle line of trollocs. Just because he decides that after all the fighting the army has done to save the capital of the Borderlands country they're not going to lose it. The section on Rescue.

[The Romulan Republic]

Rand is the strongest in raw power, yes.

The questions, then, are a) to what extent would fighting in relatively confined quarters limit his ability to cut loose, b) would he be slower than some of the others to use his full power, and c) will one of the others be able to take him by surprise.

Elheru Aran, the Neo power issue is addressed above- anything he demonstrates the ability to do in Reloaded is fair game. Omnipotence is not.

[Jub]

Rands reality warping is enough to win this on its own. The sheer level of 'luck' that he has is staggering, if he needs Harry to mispeak the words of his teleportation spell or trip over his invisibility cloak in order for him to get the orb that's what happens. Rand al'Thor isn't just the chosen one by the end of the books, he's the personification of the creator's will. Barren lands flower and the sick become healthy because he wills it, men die and plans fail because he has need of it.

If he's still in emo mode he'll almost certainly enter them room and via the combination of his luck and skill kill the others as quickly as he can. I hate to go this no limits on Rand, but he's just that much a cut above the other four.

Plus he has magic and centuries of experience at things ranging from subterfuge to swordsmanship.

[The Romulan Republic]

What limits Rand's probability warping is that it doesn't always work out in a manner obviously in his favour, as I recall. Its been a while since I read much of the books, but its my understanding that he bends reality to ensure his role in "the Pattern" is fulfilled- i.e. that he defeats the Dark One according to destiny. Its not even something he can always consciously control, though he gets better at that later in the series, I think. So what happens if winning here isn't how destiny is supposed to go?

He does suffer personal defeats throughout the series, after all, including the deaths of various loved ones who he would certainly have bent fate to save or willed back to life if he could have.

I agree he's the strongest one here, and the likeliest winner, but I wouldn't say he is absolutely unbeatable in all scenarios.

That said, perhaps I should have taken Rand from a point earlier in the series.

Edit: I mean, you can take stuff about the Force and spin it to say that Anakin should be potentially omnipotent too. Yoda's line about their being no difference between lifting a stone and lifting an X-wing except in your mind implies that their is no real physical limit other than one's own mental state on the Force. Vader says "The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force". But it doesn't actually work that way on screen.

[Jub]

What limits Rand's probability warping is that it doesn't always work out in a manner obviously in his favour, as I recall. Its been a while since I read much of the books, but its my understanding that he bends reality to ensure his role in "the Pattern" is fulfilled- i.e. that he defeats the Dark One according to destiny. Its not even something he can always consciously control, though he gets better at that later in the series, I think. So what happens if winning here isn't how destiny is supposed to go?

He does suffer personal defeats throughout the series, after all, including the deaths of various loved ones who he would certainly have bent fate to save or willed back to life if he could have.

I agree he's the strongest one here, and the likeliest winner, but I wouldn't say he is absolutely unbeatable in all scenarios.

That said, perhaps I should have taken Rand from a point earlier in the series.

Edit: I mean, you can take stuff about the Force and spin it to say that Anakin should be potentially omnipotent too. Yoda's line about their being no difference between lifting a stone and lifting an X-wing except in your mind implies that their is no real physical limit other than one's own mental state on the Force. Vader says "The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force". But it doesn't actually work that way on screen.

By Towers of Midnight Rand is not a character you want to stand next to. Where he goes the dead rise, crops wither, food spoils, and the unlikeliest things lead men to their deaths. Only those closest to him are somewhat spared, and even then it's not what anybody would call pleasant to be near him. A likely outcome is that, by sheer coincidence the others, all start fighting one another before they realize he's there.

Also, unlike quotes about the force, Rand's power is shown. In the later books as he unmakes, and then remakes, the pattern around him changing things to ensure he succeeds even those changes aren't always things he finds pleasant. Not to mention that Callandor, at least when used in the Stone against Ishamael, and later the follow-up attack by the darkspawn, seemed to amplify this effect as he used weaves and fought with a skill he shouldn't have been able to. Of course, at this stage in the books, he shouldn't be using Callandor at all. He should be using Choedan Kal to wield truly soul-crushing levels of power.

There's also the fact that they don't start off knowing where the Macguffin is. So that probably makes apparating or teleporting to it pretty hard. This likely gives Rand an advantage as his luck may simply ensure that he walks to it unmolested while the others battle. He might also just level the entire place, and walk through the wreckage to find the orb, he has the strength to do that.

[Elheru Aran]

Actually IIRC by the end of Tower of Midnight, he has destroyed the Choedan Kal. Or maybe that happens at the start of the last book, it's been awhile since I worked through the series...

[Jub]

Actually IIRC by the end of Tower of Midnight, he has destroyed the Choedan Kal. Or maybe that happens at the start of the last book, it's been awhile since I worked through the series...

Yes, but the OP says we're taking him from the start of the book. So this is full on cold-blooded killer Rand, can we honestly say that Rand at the stage wouldn't just level the temple, kill any survivors, and walk to the orb? I doubt he would even hesitate, though he'd certainly feel bad for killing Buffy once he found her body among the ruins.

[The Romulan Republic]

Towers of Midnight in its entirety is post-crazy mass murderer Rand.

It is also post-Choedan Kal.

He destroys it when he has his epiphany at the end of the previous book, I believe.

[Elheru Aran]

I thought I did recall Towers of Midnight being light on Rand, frankly-- the main thing he does is walk around a lot and talk to Egwene and tell her to meet him for the Last Battle. It's a very Mat and Perrin-centric book.

I'm also not sure that, technically, he destroyed the Choedan Kal-- IIRC the female one was (probably) destroyed after the cleansing of saidin, but Rand only destroyed the access key to the male one. I can't recall if the male CK vanished or not though. (it really has been a LONG time since I read those books...)

[The Romulan Republic]

Its mostly walking and talking, yes, with both Egewene and others, though he does get one truly spectacular action sequence which is probably exhibit a) for "Rand is the most ridiculously overpowered character this side of the Q Continuum".

[Elheru Aran]

Yeah, the bit where he shows up to rescue Rodel Ituralde and basically vanishes an entire Trolloc army surrounding a good-sized city.

It'd almost be more fair to pit the others against Mat...

[The Romulan Republic]

Or early series Rand.

Matt would be interesting, though given his complete lack of other supernatural powers, he'd be highly dependent on his supernatural luck effect.

Edit: Though it was less "vanishing" an army and more "ripping it apart".

[Elheru Aran]

Early series Rand is all over the place though. You have the farm-boy who has no idea what he's doing in the first two books, the Luke-Skywalker-on-Dagobah through the next two, then Aiel Warrior-King Rand, then Rand in a box, then paranoid-crazy Rand...

Mat and Perrin are more consistent personality-wise, at least.

[The Romulan Republic]

Let's say book five Rand, then- has learned some control over his power, and is no longer running from his destiny, but has not yet gone altogether off the deep end, fully come to terms with his destiny, or gained his ultimate mastery of reality-warping.

Edit: Actually, early or mid-series Rand advantages Buffy, as Rand will still be in "will not hurt a woman" mode.

[Gaidin]

Book Five Rand vs...Neo? I have no idea of the others. But...Really. Look...Let me get you some scale here. Book nine without any angreal or sa'angreal. Seriously. It gives him some legit experience with his power if that's what you're legitimately looking for. As between book five and book nine was mostly political and large scale war with a few "high-power" battles between Rand and a Forsaken to end the books.