So You Want to Be an Aes Sedai Quiz

Answer: Tar Valon

Tar Valon is a walled city based on an island in the River Erinin, and is reachable by boat. It acts as a transport and trade link between the Borderlands and the southern kingdoms of Illian, Tear, Andor and Cairhien. The island is also home to an Ogier grove, and the Ogier also built several of its buildings, including the White Tower itself and a cat-shaped inn, the Blue Cat.

Tar Valon is run by the Amyrlin Seat, and is the only place in the world of 'The Wheel of Time' to be completely controlled by the Aes Sedai. It has been attacked multiple times over the years; in 'The Gathering Storm', for example, the Seanchan lead an assault on the White Tower, and the White Tower was partially destroyed in the Trolloc Wars.

Answer: Seven

The seven Ajahs are colour-coded: their colours are Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Grey, White and Brown. The Green, Blue (up until Elaida do'Avriny a'Roihan purges them) and Red Ajahs feature the most throughout the series, followed by the Yellow and Brown, and then the Grey and White. Each Ajah specialises in a different field. The Red Ajah gentle male channellers, the Blue Ajah fight for causes, the Green Ajah are combat-oriented, the Yellow Ajah specialise in healing, the Grey Ajah are lawyers and diplomats, the Brown Ajah are researchers and academics, and the White Ajah are philosophers and tend to be very stoic. Of note, the Blue Ajah has produced the most Amyrlins, including the one at the start of the series, Siuan Sanche.

You'll note that I said LEGITIMATE Ajahs; there is a secret eighth Ajah, the Black Ajah. These sisters are Darkfriends working under Mesaana, one of the Forsaken who is nicknamed the 'Shadow Amyrlin' for her work in subverting the White Tower from within. The Black Ajah is led by Alviarin Friedhen, a White sister, and contains sisters from all seven Ajahs; some of the most prominent Black sisters, such as Liandrin Guirale and Galina Casban, are former Reds. Black sisters must also abandon the three oaths and swear loyalty to the Dark One.

Answer: Wilders

Wilders can channel the One Power by themselves, without being taught, and go to the White Tower to learn to control their powers and use them safely. 'Wilder' is often used as a derogatory term by some characters, such as Liandrin Guirale (despite being one herself) and Faolain Orande. Only one in four wilders survives the experience of discovering their powers. Wilders usually have a block of some kind in place. For instance, Tarna Feir of the Red Ajah can only channel with her eyes closed until Galina Casban 'helps' her get over it by beating her. Theodrin Dabei of the Brown Ajah can only channel in the presence of a man who she either fancies or loathes.

The grumpy novice in question is Nynaeve al'Meara, a Wisdom from the Two Rivers who deals in weather forecasting - very important in a farming community - and herbal medicine. She goes to the White Tower partly to keep an eye on Egwene al'Vere, a fellow villager and novice, but also because she wants to become strong enough to get revenge on Moiraine Damodred for coming to her village and taking her friends away. Nynaeve is a wilder with great potential and becomes a powerful healer, later joining the Yellow Ajah, but her mental block is that she has to be angry in order to channel. She gets over it in 'A Crown of Swords' and later discovers how to heal stilling (when an Aes Sedai has her ability to channel stopped) and the taint on madness caused by saidin.

Answer: Red

The Red Ajah's job is to capture and gentle male channellers (the male equivalent of stilling) because saidin, the male half of the One Power, is tainted and will eventually cause male channellers to go mad. Red sisters do not have Warders as a rule, and some of them dislike men immensely; one notable exception is Pevara Tazanovni, who joined the Red Ajah because of her extreme hatred of Darkfriends after they killed her family. Before the story starts, the Red Ajah had participated in a purge of male channellers known as 'the Vileness'; this was actually a plan by the Black Ajah to get rid of the Dragon Reborn, although it failed. Several Aes Sedai who had been searching for the Dragon Reborn were also killed in the Vileness.

Sisters in the other six Ajahs have Warders; some Green sisters have multiple Warders, and even marry them. The most notable of these is Lan Mandragoran, Moiraine Damodred's Warder. Female Warders are almost non-existent, although there have been extremely rare cases; Elayne Trakand, the Daughter-Heir of Andor, bonds the hero Birgitte Silverbow as her Warder in order to save her life.

In 'Winter's Heart', Rand al'Thor cleanses the taint on saidin and male channellers are then able to use the power without any fear of going mad. When the Black Tower is established as a male counterpart to the White Tower, Elaida do'Avriny a'Roihan sends a delegation of Red sisters to gentle the Asha'man (the male counterparts of the Aes Sedai), only for the Asha'man to capture and forcibly bond them. Pevara and several other Red sisters later decide to take male channellers as Warders.

Answer: The Mistress of Novices

The Mistress of Novices traditionally comes from the same Ajah as the Amyrlin Seat. She is responsible for novices as a whole and is also tasked with punishing novices and Accepted for bad behaviour, usually by switching or flogging them. They can also be punished with manual labour, usually working in the kitchens, which is the punishment given to Egwene al'Vere, Nynaeve al'Meara and Elayne Trakand for running away from the Tower (Siuan knows what really happened, but has to punish them for appearances' sake). The Mistress of Novices at the start of the series is Sheriam Bayanar, a Blue sister who looks friendly but is feared by novices and Accepted alike. Accepted receive harsher punishments than novices, as they are expected to know better. In rare cases, an Aes Sedai can be sent to the Mistress of Novices.

The position of Mistress of Novices is occupied by various Black sisters over time, as it gives them the opportunity to check out potential recruits and, for the crueller ones, inflict pain on people. During Elaida's time as Amyrlin, Katerine Alruddin, a Red sister who is actually Black, is appointed Mistress of Novices and enjoys being gratuitously cruel to Egwene al'Vere while she is serving penance. Sheriam is revealed to be a Black sister late in the series and in 'New Spring', the then Mistress of Novices, Merean Redhill, is also revealed to be a Darkfriend.

Answer: Air and Water

Of the Five Powers, it is most common for female channellers to use Air and Fire; Air is often used to bind people or lift them up (as Siuan Sanche does to Egwene al'Vere and Nynaeve al'Meara on the boat journey to Tar Valon). The Seanchan also take advantage of this by using damane, enslaved female channellers who are controlled via a collar and leash, to throw fireballs at their enemies. Egwene specialises in Earth, which is very unusual for a woman; when she is captured and made into a damane by the Seanchan, they use her as a human metal detector. She later turns the harbour chains into cuendillar, an unbreakable type of stone, when the rebel Aes Sedai march on Tar Valon.

Different weaves (combinations of powers used to achieve certain effects) require different combinations of the Five Powers. For example, weather manipulation requires a combination of Spirit, Air and Water. Spirit is the rarest Power and is the only one that can be channelled while the channeller is sleeping; it can also be used for Compulsion, a type of brainwashing, or Healing.

Answer: Mother

The Amyrlin Seat wears a stole, a type of shawl, with stripes in all seven colours of the Ajahs, because she is supposed to be 'of all Ajahs and yet of none'. She addresses all Aes Sedai as 'daughter', and they must address her as 'Mother'. As the Watcher of the Seals, she is supposed to protect the seals of the Dark One's prison, although they have actually been missing since the Trolloc Wars. She is assisted by the Keeper of the Chronicles, who traditionally comes from the same Ajah as her, though there are exceptions. The Keeper's job is to maintain the records of the White Tower Library, including the secret Thirteenth Depository, and to announce the Amyrlin's presence at meetings of the Hall of the Tower, the Aes Sedai council.

The Amyrlin Seat at the start of the series is Siuan Sanche, and she and her Keeper, Leane Sharif, are deposed and stilled in a coup by Elaida do'Avriny a'Roihan, a Red sister, in 'The Shadow Rising'. Previous Red Amyrlins turned out to be failures, and Elaida is no exception; she is a tyrant and even her own supporters turn against her. The Red and Blue Ajahs have always been at odds, but when Elaida takes over, many of the Blue sisters leave the White Tower and join the rebel camp in Salidar. Elaida has the Blue Ajah purged after Siuan starts a rumour that the Red Ajah are creating false Dragons. She even wears an updated stole with only six stripes instead of seven. Egwene al'Vere, who is raised as Amyrlin Seat by the rebels, becomes official Amyrlin Seat after Elaida is captured by the Seanchan in their raid in 'The Gathering Storm'.

Answer: Three

The Amyrlin Seat, the Keeper of the Chronicles, the Mistress of Novices and a few other sisters oversee the Accepted test. The novice is allowed to refuse to do the test three times, but after that, she is put out of the Tower and not allowed to come back. She will also be expelled if she refuses to continue with the test after it starts. Accepted have more privileges than novices and wear white dresses with stripes in the Ajah colours at the hem and sleeves, rather than plain white dresses. They also have their own rooms and more freedom than novices, and wear serpent rings on the third finger of their left hands. When a novice does her Accepted test varies; some novices are tested earlier than others. Nynaeve al'Meara is an extreme case, being tested days after entering the White Tower.

The three arches are a ter'angreal, a magical object with a set purpose that can be activated with the One Power. Each arch shows the novice a scenario that represents her secret fears. The first is for what was; the second, for what is; and the third, for what will be. As an example, when Nynaeve does her Accepted test in 'The Great Hunt', she has a vision of Aginor, a Forsaken, chasing her in the first arch; a vision of an evil new Wisdom taking over in her absence in the second arch; and a vision where she and Lan are married in the third. The novice is not allowed to channel inside the arches as it is extremely dangerous, though Nynaeve does in the first arch. Not everyone makes it out of the arches. When Egwene does her test, the third arch vibrates with power and she is nearly lost.

Each time a novice exits an arch, she is doused in water to represent her being 'washed clean' of her previous life.

Answer: A giant oval ring

The oval ring is as big as a doorway and stands on its own. To activate it, a group of channellers have to use a complex weave of all Five Powers. The Aes Sedai test is even more intense than the Accepted test, as the Accepted has to perform a hundred weaves at certain times in a specific order, taking her cue from a symbol that keeps appearing, and she must know the weaves off by heart. She must also remain calm. While she is in the ring, the sisters outside can follow her progress and will try to distract her by channelling at her. After completing her test, she must spend the night in contemplation and prayer; the next morning, she is formally raised, given her shawl and told to choose her Ajah.

As with the Accepted test, not everyone returns; in 'New Spring', Ellid Abareim, a wannabe Green sister, goes into the ring and never comes out, and she is treated as though she never existed.

When Moiraine Damodred does her test in 'New Spring', the symbol she has to look out for is a six-pointed star, and each time she sees it and channels, she finds herself in a different place, wearing different clothes and fighting different enemies. Nynaeve al'Meara almost fails her test in 'Towers of Midnight' because she uses balefire while inside the ring, and does not stay sufficiently calm, though Nynaeve argues her case and ultimately passes.

Answer: To always obey the Amyrlin Seat

Elaida does consider adding a fourth oath, to always obey the Amyrlin Seat, but - fortunately for the White Tower - this never happens. Although the Aes Sedai are incapable of lying, they are notorious for being clever and careful with their words, to the point where their oaths work against them because people mistrust them on principle. In 'The Dragon Reborn', Perrin Aybara frequently gets angry with Moiraine for playing 'word games'.

Verin Mathwin reveals in 'The Gathering Storm' that when she joined the Black Ajah, she foreswore the Three Oaths and took new ones, and shows her true allegiance by telling Egwene a lie about the colour of her dress. Early on in the series, in 'The Great Hunt', Liandrin Guirale shows her true colours when she lies to Egwene and Nynaeve about Rand being in danger. The Black Ajah also freely use the One Power to kill and torture others; in 'A New Spring', the then Amyrlin, Tamra Ospenya, is tortured to death by Black Sisters.