When Rand and his army left via PortalStone to spare this world from the ravages of the Last Battle, his last wish was conveyed to the Amyrlin and M'hael. He told them that he wanted to see the White and Black Towers united, all channelers working together to better the world as they had during the Age of Legends. The Amyrlin and M'hael knew this would be hard, but they agreed that it would happen. Working together, along with a considerable amount of help, they fused the Towers, bringing the Black Tower and its Asha'man to Tar Valon and the ancient home of Aes Sedai.

Despite the fact that the taint was cleansed from saidin, many sisters were still uncomfortable around channeling men, especially sisters of the Red Ajah. Not only this, but the Red Ajah had recently lost its main purpose, it could not longer hunt down and gentle male channelers. These sisters were still willing to their Ajah, and of course did not want it to be disbanded or done away with. The Highest of the Red Ajah knew something had to be done and after much deliberation, she figured out how to keep her Ajah alive. The Red Ajah's main purpose had been to search out channeling men for so long that their other goal had been diffused among the other six Ajahs. There was no need to change that, but she did want to help the Red focus on that goal far more than any other Ajah had in the past. And so the Red sisters determined that rather than see the end of their Ajah, they would focus on eradicating Darkfriends from the Tower, and the world.

This was incredibly helpful to Red Sisters, they had a real purpose again, and the Ajah had direction, and some of the animosity between Asha'man and Aes Sedai even began to die down. It was an imperfect fusion, however, and though on the surface it seemed to be working, anyone who spent any time in the Towers could see that there was a definite underlying sense of discomfort between the channelers. They were cordial and polite, and worked together when necessary, but they were clearly not pleased to be living and working so close to each other.

At the same time, the numbers of Asha'man were growing, and cliques were beginning to form among men of similar abilities and affinities. The Amyrlin and M'hael, taking all this into consideration, began to work together to solve the problem of bringing Aes Sedai and Asha'man together in a more complete way. They finally decided on a solution, it might not be well liked, but it would work. The Red Ajah's new goal of destroying Darkfriends was going well, but it could be even better, and several Asha'man had expressed interest in a group of that sort as well. Between the two of them, the Towers' leaders decided that much needed to be changed. First, they created male versions of Ajahs, which they called Shens, there were four of them each led by a Rei, and then began looking at the Red Ajah and its goal.

They decided that rather than make a separate Shen for the Asha'man who wished to rid the world of Darkfriends, they would simply implement those men into the Red Ajah. Red Ajah was an Aes Sedai term, and shens were not named by colors, so in order to symbolize the union between Asha'man and Aes Sedai that was so unique to this group for men and women, they called it the Red Shen, taking one part from each Tower. Red Shen members, they decided, would work in partners, one male and one female. These two would be equal partners in every way, each using his or her own strengths to help eradicate Darkfriends.

Red Sisters who did not want to take a partner were allowed to retire or choose another Ajah (very few chose this option), but a considerable number stayed and accepted the change. The men who wished to become Red Shen members were accepted in, and they fell to the task of finding partners. When the Highest found someone she could trust and work with, he was immediately instated as Rei, and following suit, female Sitters' partners became the Shen's male representatives in the Hall.

The Head and Rei of this new Shen came to the Amyrlin and M'hael with a question. "What about potential Darkfriends in the Red?" they asked. Understandably they did not want Darkfriends infiltrating the very thing that was supposed to destroy them, as the Shadow undoubtably would try to do. The Amyrlin and M'hael searched and finally found an answer. In the ter'angreal stores of the Tower was a rod very similar to the Oath Rod. After testing, the Amyrlin and M'hael presented the Red Shen with this Oath Rod, with which they could induct new members into their Shen. The Head and Rei determined that every new member of their Shen would unswear any previous Oaths they had sworn, and then reswear to speak no untrue word. After this they would be questioned, Darkfriends trying to gain entrance into their Shen would be executed. Those who passed the questioning would then swear to work equally with their partner as long as he or she lived.

This same Head and Rei also determined that Accepted and Dedicated who wished to join the Red Ajah needed to know that before their raising. They needed to find their future partner at that level, if at all possible, and be raised as closely in time together as they could. They should train together and learn to trust each other implicitly, so that when they joined the ranks of Aes Sedai and Asha'man, that would be one less thing they had to learn. There was much to learn after gaining the Shawl or Dragon Pin, after all. Any member of the Red Shen whose partner died could work within the Tower or go into retirement until a new partner could be found. If they wished, when they found a new partner they form a new pair and begin working again.