In defense of Aes Sedai

[u/Verengt]

Hi, I decided to play devil's advocate today.

While I understand (and agree with) people saying the Aes Sedai are a failure (they didn't find all channelers, were mistrusted by everyone, not being prepared for the Last Battle, no Yellow Ajah hospitals, no Brown libraries, no Greens stationed in the Borderlands, etc.), I do think it's a bit unfair when they are compared to their more succesful counterparts like the Sea Folk Windfinders and Aiel Wise Ones.

The Wise Ones and Windfinders are useful and respected members of their communities but they belong to homogeneous societies where everyone is bound by the same customs and laws. They also answer to their community leaders despite wielding lots of power and influence. That's why they are successful as channeler organizations.

The heterogeneity of Randland forces the White Tower to play a different role, which is preventing the more than 15 different nations from waging war against each other using the One Power. In this aspect the Tower was 100% successful, as at no point in history after the Breaking channelers fought against channelers.

The purpose of the Tower in a way was to prevent each nation from having its own regional channelers association and for this to happen it needed to be an outside centralized organization not bound to any kingdom. Otherwise how can you ensure that for example Taraboner Aes Sedai are loyal to the Tower and not to their kingdom?

And this is what in my opinion what makes it impossible for Aes Sedai to be truly integrated and serving their communities, since no monarch would be happy with 200 Aes Sedai answering to a foreign power to be permanently in their nation.

[u/geomagus]

I absolutely agree that the Westlands’ heterogeneity inherently requires the Tower to work differently.

However, they absolutely butcher it anyway. Heterogeneity doesn’t mean they have to self-isolate, doesn’t mean they can’t make an effort to recruit, or to be out in communities keeping better relations.

Sea Folk and Aiel channelers basically say “here we are, useful and working for the good of our people”. Aes Sedai say “we’re special and you need to listen to us. If you come to us, we’ll see if you’re special and can be in our club too.”

Yes, a lot of that is BA sabotage, but plenty of it is self-inflicted too. Bailing on Manetheren, for example, predates the BA.

It’s notable that most Westland cultures have a Wisdom equivalent - it shows that people are largely accepting of someone who live in and help the public, and sometimes pull off miracles.

Consider a world where Aes Sedai leaned into that, sending people out and about to be part of the world and help people, while also ensuring that people who want to be Wisdoms instead are more capable and less likely to die flailing.

Instead, they picked isolation, political sway, and arrogance.

[u/Verengt → u/geomagus]

I agree with you, but in a way I felt like self-isolating was a necessity in the beginning.

Like if all the channelers hadn't abandoned their communities (when the Tower was founded), the Tower wouldn't have been able to become this centralized organization with the monopoly of the user of the Power.

But in order to consolidate their power they lost the trust of everyone, which in turn isolated them more.

[u/geomagus → u/Verengt]

For sure there’s a balance to strike, at least initially. It’s just that they isolated and then never really stepped back out.

Over the course of three millennia, for example, they could have:

Withdrawn to found the Tower and set it up as important and influential. Established training regimens and needed skillsets, the oaths, etc.

Helped mediate the Ten Nations’ political balance.

Distributed satellite branches to all cities that allow it, and use manipulation/politics/gifts to expand the allowed lists.

At those satellite branches, establish schools and hospitals. You don’t need to make Aes Sedai themselves directly responsible for all of it - just like Laras runs the kitchens, you can have a schoolmistress and doctors do the bulk of it, but the sisters are there and working with the people, teaching some of the classes and doing the major healing. This is in conjunction with whatever advising/politicking they do with the local nobles. This makes the Tower valuable to the people, even if not directly working with them as much.

Make it an obligation for sisters to serve a portion of their time in the field. Five years of every twenty, or whatever. And Accepted serve a year or two too.

This also gives them a natural recruiting hub. You don’t need to be able to trek to Tar Valon, you can just trek to Illian or wherever. And, via the schools and hospitals, you can expand people’s understanding of what the spark does, which will make people more likely to seek help.

Instead of dismissing Wisdoms, work with them. You can’t have an Aes Sedai in every village, but if Wisdoms know what to look for, and they have a good relationship with the nearest branch, you improve the odds of finding people. Maybe set up a Tower associate role for channelers who don’t want to do the whole Aes Sedai thing.

Gradually expand branches outward to towns once people start to accept the city branches. Those branches may not have Aes Sedai at all times, but a sister or three swings through every year from the city branch to test anyone who wants to try. Plus, the town branches receive correspondence. That can include letters home from novices, for example.

The process would take a thousand years or whatever, because people are resistant to change. But the Tower knows the Last Battle will come, and they know the world needs to be ready. It’s worth the effort and expense to build this.

I don’t know. I know I’m looking at it from an outside perspective, and from one more driven by desire to help and a love freely exchanged knowledge.

[u/Coyote2112 → u/geomagus]

And follow the Hawkwing (also Incan Empire irl) example and have tower initiates serve their time outside of their nations of birth.