The Wheel of Time is a massive fantasy show with a massive, detailed world. From the cultural nuances of the colonizing Seanchan, to the histories of the eight Forsaken and the intricacies of Daes Dae’mar, the great game of politics played in Cairhien, these little touches bring The Wheel of Time to life.
With so much to keep track of, it’s never a bad idea to brush up on the basics. The Aes Sedai sorceresses are one of the major powers in this world, but they’re far from a monolith. The Aes Sedai are broken up into seven “Ajahs” designated by color. Each Ajah is focused on a specific discipline, from politics to research to healing.
Let’s make our sisters of the Brown Ajah happy and go over the each of the Ajahs, discussing the basics and how we’ve seen them depicted in the show. There will be MILD SPOILERS for The Wheel of Time below.
1. Blue Ajah
The Blue Ajah is the most visible of the Ajahs on The Wheel of Time TV show, because that’s the Ajah Moiraine Damodred belongs to. The Blue Ajah focuses on pursuing righteous causes and justice. You could be forgiven for thinking this is the Ajah focused on politics given how Moiraine seems to always be getting involved in them, but it’s not actually the case…necessarily.
Rather, the Blue Ajah are renowned for their drive to seek out just causes, often pursuing what they perceive as the righteous path rather than what is necessarily the word of the law. We see this reflected in Moiraine’s drive to support Rand in his journey to harness his powers as the Dragon Reborn while keeping his existence hidden from other sisters in the Tower, since they would have designs on him.
Despite how much screentime we spend with the Blues because of Moiraine, they’re actually the second smallest Ajah in the White Tower. However, they have the largest network of spies, and are often considered more worldly because of how much they keep tabs on what happens outside the White Tower. The Blue Ajah also has a long-standing feud with the Red Ajah which has lasted for hundreds of years:
2. Red Ajah
The Red Ajah is the largest of the Ajahs, and one with a single-minded focus: they are responsible for stopping those who use the One Power in wrongful or dangerous ways. Of course, with Aes Sedai, “dangerous ways” is all relative.
For the Red Ajah, this mostly means hunting down men who can channel, especially those claiming to be the Dragon Reborn. These “False Dragons” often cause instability and chaos when they crop up, eventually going mad because of the taint on the male half of the One Power.
Another very notable thing about the Red Ajah is that they are the only Ajah which doesn’t bond warders. When a sister joins the Red it comes with the understanding that no warders are allowed. They must rely on their own abilities to defend themselves.
Reds are one of the most insular Ajahs. Each Ajah has its own internal politics and power structures, with secrets known only to them. With the Reds, new recruits are often encouraged to sever any bonds of friendship they may have with members of other Ajahs.
3. Green Ajah
On the other end of the spectrum, we have the Green Ajah, which is often nicknamed “the Battle Ajah.” Greens are primarily focused on combat and preparing to fight in Tarmon Gaidon, the Last Battle. They hone themselves and their warders into weapons so that when the Dark One finally initiates armageddon they can help the light prevail.
The Green Ajah has the exact opposite view of warders and men as the Reds. Greens often take multiple warders, which made an enormous difference in previous conflicts like the Trolloc Wars. They are generally known to appreciate men more than some of their sisters in other Ajahs.
If you’re going to fight shadowspawn, a sister of the Green Ajah is someone you want on your side. The Greens are the second largest Ajah, after the Reds.
4. Yellow Ajah
The Yellow Ajah focuses on healing, including the study of new ways to use the One Power for that end. Yellow sisters are by far the most gifted healers in the White Tower. While the other Ajahs can sometimes get swept up in intrigue, the Yellows remain focused on restoring the health of others.
Yellow Sisters develop a keen sense of anatomy and how the One Power can affect it. While Yellows are focused on healing, they can use their knowledge to break the bodies of others in extreme circumstances where they’re forced to defend themselves, as we say Ryma do before she was collared in Falme.
The Yellow Ajah is the fifth largest Ajah.
5. Brown Ajah
Next up we have the Brown Ajah. Brown sisters leave behind the mundanities of normal life and dedicate themselves to seeking and preserving knowledge. The Browns are the book worms of the White Tower.
Browns often bring books and scrolls back to Tar Valon, and it’s because of their efforts that the Aes Sedai retain the single largest library in the world of The Wheel of Time. Brown sisters are often the ones to make discoveries about new ways to use the One Power, or uses for ter’angreal, or secrets forgotten since the Age of Legends. They love learning for its own sake, and most of the librarians in the White Tower belong to the Brown Ajah.
The Brown Ajah is the fourth largest of the Ajahs.
6. Gray Ajah
The Gray Ajah hasn’t appeared onscreen much yet in The Wheel of Time TV show, but that will likely change as the series goes on. The Grays are mediators who seek to bring others together. They are often brought in to negotiate treaties between kingdoms.
However, it’s well understood among the rulers of Robert Jordan’s fantasy world that any deal struck with a sister of the Gray Ajah might also have the White Tower’s best interests in mind. So while their aid may help mitigate potential disaster, it’s only called upon if the situation is dire.
Despite rarely appearing so far in The Wheel of Time show, the Gray Ajah is the third largest Ajah after the Red and Green.
7. White Ajah
The final Ajah of The White Tower is the White Ajah, which is also the smallest. And it’s no surprise that’s the case, once you learn more about them. The White Ajah is wholly focused on philosophy, to the point where they “avoid both the world and worldly knowledge,” according to The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time by Teresa Patterson and Robert Jordan.
While the White and Brown Ajahs may have some similarities in that they’re both very cerebral, this is an important distinction. Browns gather worldly knowledge while Whites often cloister themselves away to ponder big questions about life, the universe and everything.
As of this writing, the White Ajah has yet to appear in The Wheel of Time TV series. Perhaps that will change as we spend more time with the Aes Sedai in future seasons?
That wraps up our tour of the seven Ajahs of the Aes Sedai. However, there is another Ajah we have to discuss in order to cover them all. Beware SPOILERS for the second season of The Wheel of Time ahead! If you haven’t watched up through at least Episode 205, you’re going to want to come back after you do.
8. Black Ajah
The final Ajah we have to discuss is the Black Ajah, the secret eighth Ajah of the Aes Sedai. For centuries the Black Ajah has been considered an urban legend of sorts, and most Aes Sedai dismiss it is rumor. But due to recent events in the show, we know that the Black Ajah is very much real and active.
The Black Ajah are Aes Sedai who are sworn to the Dark One. They are no different than other Darkfriends, except that they are far more dangerous because of their access to the One Power. Sisters of the Black Ajah work undercover, so they are also usually members of one of the other main Ajahs in the White Tower. For example, Liandran Guriale is a sister of the Black Ajah, but before that she belonged to the Red Ajah. Outwardly, she still appears to be a Red sister, though she is actually serving the Dark One as a member of the Black.
This means that Aes Sedai of the Black Ajah are secretive in the extreme. How many of them are there in the White Tower? Have we met any others? With the Black Ajah, there’s always fear about who might be quietly maneuvering events to suit their hidden purposes.
The Wheel of Time season 2 finale premieres next Friday, October 6 at 12:00 a.m. GMT.
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