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Your search for the tag 'third oath' yielded 12 results

  • 1

    Interview: Jan 25th, 2005

    Week 21 Question

    Just how can an Aes Sedai be a damane? Aren't they bound by the Third Oath: to not use the One Power as a weapon except to defend their lives, their Warder's life, or another sister's life? Wouldn't they be useless as damane to the Seanchan?

    Robert Jordan

    The Aes Sedai captured by the Seanchan are indeed useless as weapons, except against Shadowspawn or Darkfriends, because they are bound by the Three Oaths, and that limits their value considerably since being weapons is a major use for damane. Damane are used for other tasks, however, including finding ores for mining (Egwene was tested for this, remember; it's a very valuable, and fairly rare, ability), for some mining operations where it would be too dangerous or uneconomical to use human miners (bringing ores out of the ground and refining them using the Power), and in some construction projects, especially where something very large or with a need for added strength is envisioned. The first two both require a high ability in Earth, which has faded considerably on "this" side of the Aryth Ocean and to a smaller degree of the other side, but construction projects and others things, such as producing Sky Lights, are well within the abilities of collared Aes Sedai. The Three Oaths don't inhibit them there at all.

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  • 2

    Interview: 2010

    yoniy0 (29 July 2010)

    Did you consult Maria before deciding Egwene shall attempt to fall fleeing raken? Would she be able to do so Bounded?

    Brandon Sanderson (30 July 2010)

    I'm a little confused at what you're asking. Do you mean "Fell?" And what do you mean by Bounded?

    yoniy0

    Sorry. There has been some discussion around the Third Oath and Egwene attacking retreating raken...

    yoniy0

    I was asking if you think she could have done the same now, after taking the Oaths (and whether you asked Maria to weigh in).

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    We did talk about this. I think it's iffy. Depends on Egwene's mindset. I don't think most Aes Sedai could have done it.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    In fact, it's good her circle was with those who hadn't taken the Oaths yet...

    LUCKERS

    I think Yoniy0 meant 'would Egwene be able to kill (fell) fleeing to'raken were she bound by the Oaths?'

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    I don't know that she would have been able to. Depends. The Oaths depend on how you view what you're doing.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Elaida got around them (or to the side of them) by convincing herself Egwene was a Darkfriend.

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  • 3

    Interview: 2011

    Twitter 2011 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Aaron Oster (17 January 2011)

    How could Verin write that note if she hadn't taken poison yet?

    Brandon Sanderson (17 January 2011)

    An excellent question, one I'm surprised I haven't seen talked about yet. (Though I'm sure it has been.)

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Basically, it's for the same reason that an Aes Sedai can kill if she puts herself into a situation where she's in danger.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    It involves mental gymnastics and lots of requirements. In the end, she put so many on that the note didn't get read.

    MAX (19 JANUARY)

    What would have happened if someone were to balefire Verin's cup of poison to remove its existence when it was consumed?

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    So far, I believe we've only see balefire used to remove living things from the Pattern that way. Am I wrong? @Terez27

    TEREZ

    There has been some serious debate over Nynaeve and her boat. Some think the rowers caused...

    TEREZ

    ...the temporal anomaly, while some think it had to be the boat itself. I forget the arguments...

    TEREZ

    I remember the argument now. The boat was filled with water at the moment of balefire, which rowers don't explain.

    FOOTNOTE—TEREZ

    Over a month later sleepinghour discovered an old letter from RJ to a fan in which RJ confirms that inanimate objects do get burned back just like living things. I suspect now that Brandon knew this from the notes, though, and that's why he used the words 'so far' and redirected the question to me. This was probably one of those things that Brandon and Maria had to piece together from the notes, and from the wording of his following tweets I'd be willing to bet that Maria won an argument.

    TEREZ (27 FEBRUARY)

    We just found an old letter from RJ to a fan in which he confirms that balefire DOES burn back inanimate objects in time.

    TEREZ

    Thanks to @sleepinghour for that. Though I know this probably drives you crazy, lol. It's almost like retcon!

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Well, good to know. You'd think he'd mention some of these things in the notes...

    TEREZ

    I know, right? lol. Wasn't it you that said that he didn't put many things in the notes because he kept it all in his head?

    TEREZ

    We observed @Theoryland that your descriptions fit his claim better than his own descriptions re: inanimate objects.

    TEREZ

    And your assumption about living things only fit his descriptions perfectly...aside from the stupid boat!

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    Yeah. We get lots of fragments of things he jotted down, but they are more notes to himself, so he leaves things out.

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  • 4

    Interview: Apr 5th, 1996

    Robert Jordan

    The Aes Sedai who beat Rand in Lord of Chaos did not necessarily violate the Three Oaths. Jordan explained that the Three Oaths are bound by literal intent and perception. He said that the Aes Sedai could have considered the beatings a just punishment rather than the use of a weapon. He also suggested that not everything that harms you need be considered a weapon. I think he gave the example of a whip used lightly not considered a weapon, versus a whip used to flay skin being considered a weapon. On the subject of the first Oath ("to speak no word that is untrue"), Jordan said that Aes Sedai can say something they believe to be true or something they don't mean literally. As an example of the latter, an Aes Sedai can employ hyperbole and say something like, "I'm going to tie your ears over your head," when she means to do no such thing.

    FOOTNOTE—BILL GARRETT

    My Comment: I should also point out that at least two of the women who beat Rand are people we know to belong to the Black Ajah. On page 683hb (in Lord of Chaos), it is said that only Galina, Erian, and Katerine beat Rand more than once. We know that Galina and Katerine are Black Ajah, so they aren't bound by the Oaths anyway. Erian is the Aes Sedai whose two Warders Rand killed, so maybe she found some way to justify her punishment of Rand under the Three Oaths. I don't know who else beat Rand (i.e., who beat him only once); the book may say, but I can't find a quote.

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  • 5

    Interview: Apr 5th, 1996

    Robert Jordan

    The oaths: They are quite subjective; if an Aes Sedai believes she is not lying, then the Oath doesn't stop her. So, that is what was going on in the torturing part of Lord of Chaos. It depends on the psychology of the individual. It's like spanking a naughty child. Some people regard that as child abuse; some people regard it as reasonable punishment.

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  • 6

    Interview: Jun 16th, 1995

    Robert Jordan

    On if Aes Sedai damane can use the One Power in battle he said that [OBS! secondary source, I didn't hear him say this myself] it is theoretically possible, basically by forcing the Aes Sedai to think that she does not use the One Power as damane. It is though very hard to achieve. In the book next after A Crown of Swords, this might become a factor.

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  • 7

    Interview: Dec 9th, 2002

    Question

    How is it possible for Aes Sedai who have taken the Three Oaths to become damane and use the One Power as a weapon?

    Robert Jordan

    They can't use the One Power as a weapon, not in any conventional sense. This presents some problems for the Seanchan, but then, damane are used for more than just weapons. And from the Seanchan point of view, at worst, an Aes Sedai who has been collared is one less marath'damane running around loose and doing the horrible things that their history tells them such women inevitably do. Remember, Seanchan history records a time under Aes Sedai rule, when no one could go to sleep at night with the certainty they would wake in the morning and Aes Sedai took whatever they wanted and killed anyone who crossed or opposed them. To the Seanchan, just removing these horrors from the board is a win.

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  • 8

    Interview: Oct 21st, 2005

    Question

    One question was for a role-playing group, and they asked, "Would an Aes Sedai who has sworn the Three Oaths be able to link into a circle, but not lead it, that would be used to kill someone (not Shadowsworn or attacking)?"

    Robert Jordan

    He answered that no, an Aes Sedai wouldn't be able to join the circle or participate in any way with anything that was against the Oaths.

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  • 9

    Interview: Oct 27th, 2009

    Question

    Was Ishamael partially, or was he responsible for the initiation of the Three Oaths? Was he a part of what brought them about?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That’s a MAFO. Type that one out. That’s a MAFO.

    MARIA SIMONS (VIA LUCKERS)

    No. What is now the second oath (To make no weapon with which one man may kill another) was the first one that the Aes Sedai adopted. “It grew from an impulse within the Aes Sedai themselves coming from tales passed down regarding the War of the Shadow. The other two oaths certainly grew out of the suspicion of ordinary people towards these Aes Sedai.” (That’s a quote from the notes, btw). Sometimes things happen without an agent of the Dark One’s involvement, and sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

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  • 10

    Interview: Dec 19th, 2009

    Question

    Moiraine words the Third Oath, "I vow that I will never use the One Power as a weapon except against Shadowspawn, or in the last extreme of defending my life or that of my Warder or another sister." (New Spring 11) This ...wording of the Oath is supported by the reswearing of the Oaths by Pevara and Seaine (The Path of Daggers 26), and the BWB (24), among other sources.

    Egwene words the Oath, "I vow that I will never use the One Power as a weapon except against Darkfriends and Shadowspawn, or in the last extreme of defending my life or that of my Warder or of another sister." (The Gathering Storm 43) The 'Darkfriend clause' is supported by Sheriam (The Great Hunt 23), Alanna (The Shadow Rising 31), Niall (The Dragon Reborn Prologue), Rand (The Fires of Heaven 2, 41), and also implications by Moiraine (New Srping 2) and the BWB (14).

    RAFO, or error? And, if error, which is the correct wording?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Brandon said he had to make sure he got the wording right for the oaths, so he went back and copied it word for word from the previous books. Maria was the one that changed it, saying RJ decided that Darkfriends should have always been included in the oaths.

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  • 11

    Interview: 2012

    Twitter 2012 (WoT) (Verbatim)

    Andrew Harrington (23 January 2012)

    How do the a'dam circumvent the Aes Sedai oaths to force them to channel against non-Shadow, i.e. Whitecloaks?

    Brandon Sanderson (23 January 2012)

    I don't think the a'dam can. However, if the Aes Sedai believes that the person is a Darkfriend, they can channel against them.

    BRANDON SANDERSON

    So conditioning their mind right, can do it. (The oaths have a provision for Darkfriends, though some editions left this out.)

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