Weeding out the Black Ajah

[Cashew]

ok since in the three oaths the Aes Sedai take it says that they can only kill someone with the OP if they are about to die or if their target is a blackfriend. If some Aes Sedai tried to attack everyone in the White Tower wouldn't they kill everyone of the Black Ajah?

[Zyrshnikashnu]

No, the attacking Aes Sedai would be unable to do anything. The oath prevents the oath-taker from taking specific actions. Because the attacker would be using the Power as a weapon against creatures not of the Shadow, the attacker would simply fail.

[Luckers]

The exact wording of the oath states shadowspawn not darkfriend. Moreover the oath is not magical, able to sense the inner nature of a person. The oaths react to the subject opinion of the person bound like that. If they think some is loyal to the Light, even though they are in fact a darkfriend, they still would not be able to discover the truth in the manner you suggest.

[Cashew]

oh well then wouldn't they be able to kill someone they think is shadowspawn?

[Gympok]

cashew... Most Aes Sedai dont want to even want to TALk about the black ajah let alone admit there is such a thing. If they will not admit there is a black ajah, how many hunters for the black ajah will there be. Also, Aes sedai would be darkfriends, not shadowspawn. So they couldnt just use the power against them. They would have to wait to use it in self defense.

[Beckon]

oh well then wouldn't they be able to kill someone they think is shadowspawn?

 

Darkfriends' date=' including the Forsaken, are not shadowspawn. They're human beings who support the DO, not creatures genetically engineered by Aginor. The oaths prevent them from killing a [i']human [/i]with the Power except in defense of their own life, that of their warder(s) or that of another sister.

[Cashew]

well ok but Gray Men would be Shadowspawn and they are human-like. So if an Aes Sedai suspected someone of being a Gray Man could she kill them?

[Leopoled Boothe]

well ok but Gray Men would be Shadowspawn and they are human-like. So if an Aes Sedai suspected someone of being a Gray Man could she kill them?

 

Well, with the exception of darkhounds all shadowspan are form human stock and thus you could argue that just about any shadowspan is humanlike. But in answer to you question I don't think mere suspiscion would be enough, I think in order for an AS to use the OP as a weapon against another human being they would have to have rock solid proof that the person was an agent of the shadow and even then I think the darkfriend would have to be an immediate threat to her life.

 

As for Graymen, they don't just go around posing as regular people thus there would never be any reason to suspect a human of being a Grayman. The deal with graymen is that they are very hard to see but once you get a good look and one there is no mistaking him for a normal human.

[Luckers]

I dont see it being an issue... Grey Men are fairly obviously Grey Men, and use, the Oath allows for killing them. Using that oath as a method to find darkfriends, however, would fail. Aside from the fact that it is unlikely the oath would include darkfriends amongst those Aes Sedai can kill, there is the fact that the oath reacts to the Aes Sedai's opinion, not the actual state of the being in question.

 

Note in PoD Aes Sedai use the power against a raken, thinking it to be shadowspawn, and then cannot use it when they learn that it is not shadowspawn. It's utterly subjective.

[Gympok]

All this chat about the GreyMen is also assuming your seeing him before he kills whoever he is going after. Remember even Perrin and Rand are pretty much just lucky to kill the ones sent after them.

[Gladiator3003]

But in answer to you question I don't think mere suspiscion would be enough' date=' I think in order for an AS to use the OP as a weapon against another human being they would have to have rock solid proof that the person was an agent of the shadow and even then I think the darkfriend would have to be an immediate threat to her life.[/quote']

 

Look at Moiraine dealing with Be'lal. She shouted to attract his attention, he looked at her, and then she flattened him with balefire. Your point proven with an example from TDR.

[Beckon]

Well, with the exception of darkhounds all shadowspan are form human stock

 

Genetically altered human stock, i.e. not human :P