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1.3.7: What is the deal with the Black Ajah and Warders?

Can Black Ajah have Warders? Would a Warder know if his AS was Black?

Well, we know BA can have Warders; one the Greens from Liandrin's posse complained about having to leave her Warders behind when they fled the Tower [TSR: 38, Hidden Faces, 439]. There has been some indication that those Warders were actually killed. (More on this later.) So, given that BA can have Warders, we now need to ask what the deal with Black Ajah Warders is. RJ has said several things on the subject. At a post-POD signing in Seattle, he told Kevin Bartlett that the easiest thing would be to pick a Darkfriend for a Warder. This tells us that there most likely are Black Warders. At a post-POD signing in Pennsylvania, RJ "made some comments about how warder of the BA might sometimes meet with "accidents" so the BA can remain secret. Alternatively, BA might intentionally bond darkfriends." (Melinda Yin)

Finally, at a post-POD signing in Northern Virginia, he discussed the topic. John Novak's synopsis: "If an Aes Sedai becomes Black Ajah, the Warder would know instantly that something was up, but wouldn't know exactly what. The Black Ajah has three choices, then-- hope the Warder is a Darkfriend or amenable to being one, hide the affiliation, or arrange for an accident. Yes, this would be painful for the Aes Sedai, but it might become necessary. The process of becoming Black Ajah is evidently quite painful in its own right and thus probably involves more than just swearing new Oaths on the Rod. (I submit that this is why the Red Ajah is rife with Black Ajah-- they have an easier time actively recruiting from that pool. By the same token, I claim that the Green Ajah is more pure than the others.)"

Now, the question is, if the Green Warders from Liandrin's group were indeed killed, why? There are several possible explanations: 1) the Warders were not DFs, and the Green-Blacks took the opportunity to kill them off. 2) The Warders were DFs, but they were killed because if they stayed, they could have been used to track the escaped BA, and if they left with the AS, the Tower would know that there was such a thing as Black Warders. (Note that, apparently, this has not been realised by the AS. For all the talk of Black Ajah, not a single person has mentioned the possibility of Black Warders.)

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