Warning: This article contains spoilers for Wheel of Time season 1, episode 5.

The idea that the Whitecloaks primarily target the Aes Sedai raises questions about whether or not they’re truly evil in Amazon Prime's Wheel of Time. The Children of the Light will certainly kill a member of the Aes Sedai, but according to Aram (Daryl McCormack), they won’t kill the peaceful Tinkers. However, their callous approach to killing and overwhelming hatred of the Aes Sedai has clearly positioned them as major antagonists.

The Whitecloaks have emerged as a formidable, morally ambiguous third party in the battle between the Aes Sedai and the Dark One in Wheel of Time. So far, the most important figure within the Children of the Light is Eamon Valda. Played by Abdul Salis, Valda is a Questioner, meaning that his primary job as a Whitecloak is to obtain information by any means necessary. Valda’s ruthlessness was on full display in Wheel of Time episode 5 when he tortured Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) to force Egwene (Madeleine Madden) to channel.

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How the Whitecloaks are portrayed in Robert Jordan’s books, as well as the series, sheds light on where the Whitecloaks stand on the moral spectrum and why they hate the Aes Sedai so much. While it’s the Aes Sedai who they seem to have an issue with, they consider their real foes to be the Dark One and his minions. In their minds, Wheel of Time's One Power is a weapon of the Dark One, meaning that all who can use this ability are his pawns. This belief stems from the fact that the original Dragon (Lews Therin) used the One Power to bring about the Breaking of the World. Because the Whitecloaks wholeheartedly buy into this doctrine, they have no qualms about killing anyone who they believe to be a One Power channeler. In short, the Whitecloaks are self-righteous and arrogant zealots, but most aren't truly evil.

Bornhald and Valda with other Whitecloaks in The Wheel of Time

It’s true that the Whitecloaks share a common opponent with the main characters, but what ultimately keeps them on opposing sides is their blind devotion to their ideals. The Children of the Light are so convinced that they’re in the right that they believe those who stand in their way must be Darfriends—human servants of the Dark One. In other words, it’s not just the Aes Sedai who have to beware of the Whitecloaks. In the Wheel of Time books, the Children have also accused various non-channelers of being Darkfriends simply because they spoke out against them or were seen in the company of an Aes Sedai.

Though the Whitecloaks believe themselves to be on the side of the Light, they usually bring about more problems than solutions in Wheel of Time's world. Their relentless, blind pursuit of Darkfriends can also serve as a boon to the main villains, especially if they’re capturing characters like Perrin and Egwene and killing Aes Sedai. For this reason, the Whitecloaks, evil or not, are a major thorn in the side of the the main characters in Amazon’s Wheel of Time show.

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New episodes of Wheel of Time drop each Friday on Amazon Prime Video.