Do we have a record of anyone asking what an Aes Sedai actually does in the books? I seem to remember Moiraine explaining what it means to be an Aes Sedai to Egwene. But I wonder what Novices are told when they ask this? All this training, I gain control of Saidar, then what? Just fancy dresses? 🤩 Maybe that's why they recruit young and avoid taking in girls that are too old. Hunting male channelers is a once in a generation event requiring no more than a handful of sisters. What do the rest do? Being advisers to powerful rulers is great and makes sense. The tower gets access to that power and influence events. Yet they still half-ass this effort too! They are only in the main continent, with no representation among Aiel and the rest of the world. Even of not worth the effort of sending a sister permanently there, they should at least know about regions like Seanchan, Shara etc. Additionally, this does not require channeling, so mostly just a power grab for the sake of it (no problem with that). Fighting the dark one and his forces. The 3 oaths are very restrictive, but at least they allow this. And yet, aside from Moiraine, there is very little of active fighting from the tower. Some comments above have covered this. We would expect an Aes Sedai base in the borderlands at the very least! As things stand they just aren't ready for any assault from the blight. In fact, they ignore all these and leave them to normal soldiers to deal with. Why? Ofcourse a simple explanation to all this is that Ishamael has been busy weakening the opposition and bogging them down to ineffectiveness. I think it's even mentioned somewhere that he may be the reason behind Aes Sedai binding themselves with 3 oaths (he wouldn't care what oaths as long as they bind themselves).

They are a real disappointment once you meet them in later books. Moiraine is rock solid and the Two Rivers gang is never in real danger with her around. She is truely Aes Sedai and sets the bar very high. Sadly, every other Aes Sedai we meet might as well be Woman's Council members. All they do is size each other and suck at everything. Cadsuane is super annoying but also a breath of fresh air. She is certainly Aes Sedai and worthy of the title. She is out there kicking ass as only a true Aes Sedai can do. She is a prime example of what these women should be. Actually, the contempt she has for all other sisters is testament to how useless they are. I know RJ pushes the power rankings as reason to lord it over others, but I believe Cadsuane just hates how useless and ineffective the tower women are when it matters most.

They certainly are. More so because Aes Sedai are so mediocre. Of the whole lot there are only 2 worthy of the title. To be fair to them though, most of the Forsaken are useless too.

*** Spoiler Alert *** The small three (Rand, Mat & Perrin being the big), were the first to be tasked with hunting dark sisters. This even led to Egwene's capture, something she really hated. Robert Jordan constantly reminds us how much Egwene hated being damane. So why don't these three think about asking Moghedien to point out who is black ajah in the tower? In fact, why does everyone in Salidar, including Siuan Sanche herself, just forget about them completely? I understand they have a lot on their plate, but their little disagreement with the White Tower pales in comparison to the fight to save time itself.