In “The Flame of Tar Valon,” the sixth episode of the first season of The Wheel of Time, the Amyrlin Seat exiles Moiraine from Tar Valon, forcing her to swear an oath of obedience on the sacred Oath Rod, which, using the One Power, renders the oath binding and unbreakable. It is a powerful scene, in which Moiraine and Siuan—secretly lovers, and just as secretly working together to find the Dragon Reborn and save the world—put on a show for the rest of the Aes Sedai, in order continue to keep the secret of their all-important quest. The necessity of this banishment and the performance of animosity between them is emotionally painful for both women—Moiraine is forced to endure being shunned by her sisters in the White Tower, while Siuan must pretend anger towards the woman she loves, knowing that Moiraine is about to embark on a very dangerous mission which she very well might not survive.
But the true pain of the scene is not what the other Aes Sedai perceive it to be.
Earlier in the same episode, Moiraine and Siuan sneak off to spend the night together, and the viewer learns that they have loved each other for a long time, that they once dreamed of having a life together. But when they were the sole witnesses to the in-real-time Foretelling of the Dragon’s birth, they gave up everything in order to find the world’s only hope of winning the battle against the Dark One. It is during that night together that they discuss the unfortunate necessity of this very public punishment; Moiraine tells Siuan that the only way for her to retain enough freedom to continue her quest is if Siuan’s judgment is exile. Wrapped in each other’s arms, the two women bemoan the fact that they never have more time together, even as they steel themselves to do what must be done.
And so, for Moiraine and Siuan, the scene in which Moiraine is exiled is also an intimate moment of profound connection. Before, Moiraine “orders” Siuan to her knees in a moment of sexual playfulness. Now, Moiraine kneels at the Amyrlin’s feet, and the two women each tenderly grip one end of the Oath Rod, staring into one another’s eyes—clearly sharing each other’s strength, just as they did when they were alone. And when Moiraine swears, she doesn’t swear to the Amyrlin Seat but to Siuan Sanche, whispering the names Siuan’s father used to call her as a girl, rather than the official titles that belong to the Amyrlin.
In some ways, the scene almost feels like a marriage, albeit one carried out in a secret code and hidden beneath the cover of White Tower ceremony and tradition. There is grief for what Moiraine and Siuan must sacrifice, but the viewer still feels safe in this moment, knowing that they have each other’s backs, knowing that Moiraine is not actually being chastened, and that the person who holds this binding oath over her would never use it to hurt her. For them, and thus for us, it is all just an act.
But in season two, all that changes.
In the seventh episode of season two, “Daes Dae’mar,” Siuan learns that the mission at the Eye of the World didn’t stop the Dark One but instead set loose the Forsaken Ishamael. She also learns that Moiraine has been hiding the fact that she was stilled at Ishamael’s hands, and thus is unable to shield or control Rand, the Dragon Reborn, should such a thing become necessary. Seeing their twenty year mission as a failure, Siuan decides that they have to change the way they are doing things, and that Rand must be given into the care, and thus the control, of the White Tower. Moiraine disagrees. Despite the mistakes made at the Eye of the World, despite the pain of her stilling, she believes that Rand must be protected from the control of the Aes Sedai and allowed to become who he was meant to be without their interference. They are left at an impasse, and the concordance between the two women fractures. Siuan decides to exercise her authority as the Amyrlin Seat to have things done as she decrees. Moiraine responds by going behind her back, working with her allies to trick the Aes Sedai and set Rand free.
It’s painful to see that Siuan isn’t able to be the ally Moiraine needs at this point—especially since the only reason she learned the truth about Moiraine and Rand is because Lan was trying to get Moiraine support from someone she loves and trusts. And although the viewer is of course going to side with Rand and Moiraine, we still experience a lot of empathy for Siuan. After all, she never wanted to become the Amyrlin Seat. She has no interest in political power and prestige, dreaming instead of life outside the Tower and the simple existence she had as a girl. But she sacrificed those dreams for duty, becoming the Amyrlin Seat in hopes of being able to prepare the White Tower for the coming of the Dragon Reborn and the Last Battle. The Amyrlin is a world leader, responsible not only for the women of the White Tower but also for the guidance and protection of the world at large, especially when it comes to matters of the One Power and the ongoing war of the Light against the Dark. When she tells Moiraine that it would be best for Rand to remain a prisoner of the Aes Sedai, she believes she is doing what is best, making sure Rand survives until the Last Battle, and protecting the world from him—and the taint on saidin—in the process.
Still, though we feel empathy and understanding for Siuan, the show makes it clear that her choice is the wrong one, and an amoral one at that. Episodes six and seven of season two juxtapose Rand’s interview with Siuan and brief imprisonment in the White Tower with Egwene’s experiences as a damane slave of the Seanchan. Renna tells Egwene that she has a great place in the Last Battle, but that place is to be controlled by Renna, who sees Egwene as a sentient weapon, or a pet, rather than as a person. Siuan doesn’t quite reduce Rand to that level, but she does tell him she intends for the Aes Sedai to keep him caged, and to use him as a weapon in the Last Battle, not as a general.
The lesson Moiraine has been learning throughout the season—that she isn’t always right and cannot continue to be the only person who makes choices about the Dragon Reborn and about the future of the world—is not one that Siuan has been taught. Moiraine is the woman Siuan loves, her only companion in the secret mission they have devoted twenty long years to, and yet Siuan is very quick to accuse Moiraine of acting out of selfish pride, very quick to jump from saying “we failed” to “you failed,” despite the fact that Siuan is the one who believed Moiraine had to take the Two Rivers kids to the Eye of the World in the first place. And when she sees that Moiraine has channeled to open the Waygate, she immediately accuses Moiraine of lying about her stilling, and remains unmoved when Moiraine answers that she has been more truthful to Siuan than anyone else.
Siuan’s confusion and fear is understandable, given the stakes at play, and especially since Moiraine is immediately on her guard in return, protective of Rand and hesitant to open up to Siuan about exactly what has changed in her views of their endeavor. But the moment Siuan feels as though the mission to find and prepare the Dragon Reborn hasn’t gone as they hoped and planned, she falls back into Tower Law and custom.
One wonders what those twenty years did to her, twenty years of navigating White Tower politics and pretending to believe in the establishment she once dreamed of escaping. She may have hoped for a different outcome once, but now believes that Tower Law should dictate her actions, and Moiraine’s, and Rand’s too.
And when Moiraine disagrees, and disobeys, Siuan doesn’t hesitate to invoke the power of the oath Moiraine swore the last time they saw each other. An oath that was made only as a cover, to allay any suspicion of their true intentions, an oath that felt safe, even romantic, because they were working together, and because they love each other so deeply. “If you have ever loved me,” Moiraine begs her, “don’t do this.” Siuan did love her, still does, and yet she forces Moiraine to obey, as surely as Egwene was forced by Renna and the a’dam.
What happens to Egwene is abhorrent, but it is relatively straightforward—the a’dam and what it can do is an unqualified evil. But it never occurred to me, in season one, to question whether there would be consequences to Moiraine giving Siuan a similar power over her. Now, looking back, I realize it should have. Because no one should have that power over another. Even if they love that person. Even if they believe that they would never use it.
I’m sure Siuan never believed that she would.
Like the source material before it, season two of The Wheel of Time asks us to consider what it means to act for the greater good. Where is the moral line, when you believe you are literally working to save the world? Can you justify any action, no matter how horrible, when you truly believe it is the only way to stop an apocalypse? Siuan is not the only person to make a questionable choice like this; Moiraine destroys several ships full of people without knowing for sure that they are her enemy, just on the chance that it might help Rand. Rand does even worse, siccing Lanfear on the city of Cairhien, resulting in the deaths of many innocent civilians. And while the question is a difficult one full of gray areas and philosophical pitfalls, in this, at least, the show has made it clear where its morality stands. The One Power, when used in certain ways with certain devices, can allow you to control another person absolutely, robbing them utterly of their free will, their ability to control their own body, and even to control their own mind. And that is wrong, for any person, and for any reason.
When Moiraine swore her oath on the Oath Rod, she and Siuan stared into each other’s faces and shared a look that the other Aes Sedai could not see. And when that oath was later used to force Moiraine to close the Waygate, it was only when her back was turned that grief showed on Siuan’s face.
The truth was still there, but now it wasn’t hidden from others; it was hidden from Moiraine. And that might be the most heartbreaking thing of all.
Sylas K Barrett was stunned by that final episode. You can find him on Bluesky and Instagram.
