The final moments of The Wheel of Time season 2 episode 6 featured the return of an Aes Sedai from Tar Valon. Who is Maigan Sedai, and what does she mean by identifying herself as a Sitter for the Blue Ajah to Egwene?
The Aes Sedai — female channelers from the world of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time — form a very complex and multi-layered organization in the White Tower. Even reading the books, which go into detail when it comes to such matters, you would constantly find yourself surprised at how much you don’t know about Aes Sedai.
The live-action adaptation on Prime Video is always constricted by runtime, but it seems that they’re taking full advantage of those different layers in their world-building. We already know that there are different Ajahs in the show, and have broken down each of them in a different article, but who is Blue Ajah sister we saw in the final moments of episode 6, and what does it mean to be a Sitter?
Who is Maigan of the Blue Ajah?
It actually makes sense to see a member of the Blue Ajah in Falme. Not only do Blues specialize in taking action and bringing people out of harm’s way, but the Amyrlin Seat, Siuan Sanche herself, was a member of the Blue Ajah before her raising and would trust one of her sisters to personally investigate a matter.
Maigan is one such person, even in the books, being counted among the few whom Siuan trusts not to be a darkfriend. Interestingly though, this version of Maigan is a Sitter for the Blue Ajah.
What is a Sitter, you ask? Well, just like the Aes Sedai are led by the Amyrlin Seat, each individual Ajah is led by its three Sitters. These Sitters, numbering 21 in total, make up the Hall of the Tower, which is an assembly that forms every now and again and makes important decisions. The Amyrlin oversees the Hall, and the two bodies of power have a sort of understanding in regard to authority. The Hall doesn’t undermine the Amyrlin too often, and the Amyrlin doesn’t do anything grand without consulting them first.
And now, Maigan, a Sitter of the Blue Ajah, has been captured by the Seanchan and turned into a damane slave, so it’ll be interesting to see if her television counterpart will meet a different fate from the books through the remainder of season 2.