Warders and the Bond

Q: Hello, Mr. Jordan. I have enjoyed reading the Wheel of Time series since the beginning. Now through out your books, we learn more and more about the fascinating relationship existing between a Warder and his Aes Sedai. We learn that even thought the Warder gains some abilities, he is not on equal footing with his Aes Sedai, who can even control to a certain degree his mind. Now, would you care telling us your personal views on "warderhood," and if such a thing was possible would you be willing to be a Warder? 
A: Not on your life.

Q: I would first like to say thank you for writing this wonderful series; it has been a pleasure reading the series and becoming familiar with your characters. My question, I believe, has been answered in the books but I want to clarify it in case I have been reading too much into it. Is the gift the Aes Sedai get from the bonding the ability to take or drain energy from their Warder for their own use? I believe this was stated in "A New Spring" at the end, but I didn't know if it was a literal statement or figurative. Thank you for your time. 
A:  That is one of the gifts. She can draw as much strength as she needs -- as a matter of fact, she could take it all. In other words, she could kill him.

Q: I'm curious, What happened to the Black Ajah's Warders? Did they kill them? 
A: Those who did not die on the night that Liandrin and the others left, died not long thereafter. Not all of them _had_ warders, remember. And not just the Reds.  But Asne's and Eldrith's Warders are still around in book 9. I'm confused. - Raina

Q: Hi, just curious -- in the last section of THE EYE OF THE WORLD, Lan says that the Bond does not tell him the direction where his Aes Sedai is exactly; it is just a general feeling. But then later in series, both he and Rand had the ability to tell in an exactly straight-line direction the location of whom they are bonded to. Is this an inconsistency, or is there an explanation? Thanks!
A: Yes. There is an explanation: a change that was supposed to be made in manuscript in THE EYE OF THE WORLD and did not get set into type and which I thought had been corrected. I have been trying to get that changed since I discovered that THE EYE OF THE WORLD had been published with the erroneous information. I hope they are still not printing the books with it.

Q: Rand recovered verly quickly from his dual healing.. is this because of the way men heal or because of the warder bond.. or both? 
A: Partly the warder bond and partly the kind of healing that was used on him. It should be obvious that Damer Filnn has discovered the same method of healing that Nynaeve uses and of course, he still is not completely Healed, remember.

Q: Is it possible for an Ogier to be bonded as a Warder? I am not asking if it will happen, just if it is physically possible. We know that Ogier can be fierce warriors, so that shouldn't be a problem. Perhaps the bond could somehow reduce the longing? An Ogier would make the perfect Warder for a Brown, if the bond were possible. 
A: Such a bond would be possible, but an Ogier would find it a very strange thing to be asked to do. I can't think of an Ogier on this side of the Aryth Ocean who would be willing to accept.

Q: is it possible to pass a warder or any bond to a non channeler. Or even a latent channeler?  A: Read And Find Out. I have grown so used to that answer, that when my wife asks me if I want to go out for dinner this evening, I sometimes say "Read and find out." That's usually when she hits me.

Q: When Birgitte says she remembers a tale of a female Warder after being bonded to Elayne, does she remember herself? 
A: RAFO 

Q: What was the "extra bit" in Path of Daggers? Was it the kiss or the bonding? Please help settle this long-standing dispute.
A: The kiss is necessary, because that's how they learned to do it, because that's how the fellow that developed it did it. The extra bit is something in the bonding, and you'll find out what in Winter's Heart. You should have gotten a clue, I think, in the scene where the bonding took place.

Q: If an Aes Sedai links with other Aes Sedai, will or can the others then sense if she is bonded? Also, can an Aes Sedai (at least as far as the Tower knows) 'unbond' a Warder? Its been suggested that they will set a man free/release him if he really wants to leave, but does that mean 'unbond' him or simply 'not pursue' him and release him from whatever oaths he's sworn as a Warder?
A: No. They can't sense it. I think you may be thinking about an adaption of bonds

Q: Do warders have a regular lifespan?
A: Yes they do. They hang on to what you would call 'vitality' longer than the average man, but they live a normal lifespan. They do get things out of the bond, but not a longer life.

Reports from signings

Regarding if the Warder bonding had similarities with the linking between a man and a woman he answered that there were bits and pieces that were similar, but that they in whole were very dissimilar.

When an Aes Sedai turns BA, does she keep her warder?  If so, how is that accomplished. RAFO. Of course, the easiest way is to pick a DF for a warder.  But RAFO.
He either misinterpreted my question with that parenthetical comment, or intentionally avoided the point.  I was thinking specifically of Vandene here, since it looks like she might have killed Adeleas and Ispan, and I have a hard time believing that she has been Black since before she ever bonded a warder.  She obviously _has_ been Black for quite a while, since it was most likely her that warded the Draghkar who nearly killed Moi in tGH. But I have to think she most likely turned black some time during her tenure as an AS. So is Jaem a DF too?  We must assume...

Oh, and he 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.

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. Possibly only freeing yourself from the original ones, though - we know from book 9 that that is very painful. - Raina

Raina's Hold / Thus Spake the Creator - Index