What's in the future for the Ajah's?

[CTKShadow]

I think the big thing that hit me in tGS about Egwene's storyline, in reflection, is how she was so clearly set up to be "of all Ajahs." It is clear that while the Amyrlin Seat is of all Ajahs in theory, in general the Aes Sedai's perceptions of the current Amyrlin is coloured by the Ajah from which they were raised. I doubt there is a single Seat so much as mentioned in the entire series where the Ajah they were wasn't mentioned - immediately. Egwene was already going to get around this simply by dint of being raised from accepted, but I think her time in captivity was crucial for each ajah to see she could be one of them.

 

This post is perhaps overly thorough and takes a while to get around to all the points. If you prefer, there is a shorter version at the end. This way, though, I can explain where I'm coming from with my ideas.

 

Really, the tower is rife with "Ajahism." How often do sisters look down on one another because of their ajah? And this isn't even towards the end of Elaida's rule, they've really always been like that. Elaida made it worse, but it was still there, in the minds of all the Aes Sedai, more prominent than skin color or ethnic background.

 

And looking back, it's clear that this has been set up since, at the latest, the breaking of the tower. Planned all along.

 

What I'm saying here, is that the discrimination in the tower is rampant. And I think we can agree that that isn't a good thing. However, at least outsiders don't see this. This is purely internal tower politics. All AS are mostly the same to the general population of Randland.

 

Unfortunately, there is another problem with the Ajahs, which is reflected in the Tower itself. The tower is full of the most single-minded group of people in all of Randland. It's like as soon as someone becomes Aes Sedai, they dedicate their life to the pursuit of one thing to the exclusion of everything else. In some ways, Egwene's rise to Amyrlin seemed a bit contrived, a bit too perfect, all the pieces fitting too nicely. But in reality, she only got there because she had multiple talents and skills. She had knowledge of history like a brown, negotiating ability like a grey, the drive to heal like a yellow, the ability to think logically, and the ability to make a stand against the seanchan (like a green should have). Despite all this, she probably would have been a blue if she had been raised "normally." Egwene was the obvious go-to person to be Amyrlin, which in a way is ridiculous (two years ago she was working in her father's inn), but is really more ridiculous because NONE of the other Aes Sedai possess the requisite skills.

 

Imagine what the Aes Sedai would be if rather than being full of nothing but specialists, they had an individually more broad focus and range of abilities.

 

We see by looking at the Wise Ones, the Windfinders, and even the Kin that the Aes Sedai are largely sheltered and incompetent, at least individually. When you look at nearly every failing of the Aes Sedai, you can tie it back to the Ajahs. The White Tower would be more impressive if it was comprised of 100 Aes Sedai like Egwene than the 800 or so AS left (non-black). What it would lack in raw power by comparison it would gain in having members that have enough sense that they don't need to be told what to do by an eighteen year old.

 

Edit: Imagine the seanchan attack if there had been only 10 AS like Egwene, sans forkroot, and around 150 novices to help form circles.

 

However, none of this has really been addressed or foreshadowed in the books. There is no real reason to think that they will be abolished at all, much less before TG (in fact, I can safely say they WON'T go before TG). And something like this would take time. More time than the oath rod, by decades. This is something that if it will happen, it will be foreshadowed to happen far in the future, likely in an Egwene PoV and nowhere else. But we do also need to consider the Black Tower, and how they fit in. Post TG, at some point, assuming the ability to channel itself isn't lost, the BT and WT will reunite. This, I think, is the time when this might happen. After all, the Asha'man don't have Ajahs, but they have people who pursue their strengths without sacrificing general competence. Nobody thinks "Flinn's a yellow, what would HE know about battling trollocs?" Sure, Flinn would be yellow for sure if there was a yellow ajah for men in the first place - but there isn't. What I'm saying is that the Aes Sedai pursue their respective Ajah's passion to the exclusion of all else, when while they should pursue their passions, they shouldn't do so to the detriment of the other skills that should be basic.

 

TL:DR

 

The ajahs don't offer any particular benefit or practical purpose to the Aes Sedai or the Tower as a whole. The Tower would be better able to compete in these changing, difficult times, if the Aes Sedai within were more well-rounded. However, they do serve as a basis for discrimination and the dreaded Aes Sedai single-mindedness, as we have clearly seen. Despite this, unlike other similar problems, such as the oath rod or the eventual WT/BT integration, this hasn't really been brought up, hinted at, or even alluded to in the books. The closest is that we know the WT needs an overhaul, and we know that Egwene's new position is only the beginning. What, if anything, do you expect to see about this in the future? It seems to me that the reunion of both halves of the tower and end of the ajahs could have enough content to have been one of the outrigger novels. If so, do you think we'll hear about it in the encyclopedia or in whatever notes of RJ get published?