Underline mine.CRF, Rulings by Term, Ally wrote:Allies may tap to cancel attacks from Slayers and Assassins.
Allies cannot be targeted to be taken prisoner, and otherwise cannot be taken prisoner.
If an ally may not be attacked by certain attacks, he may still tap to give +1 prowess to
characters facing such attacks.
Playing an ally is not an influence attempt.
If an ally's controller leaves play for any reason, that ally is discarded.
Allies can be healed as if they were characters. Otherwise, allies are only considered
characters for the purposes of combat and playing skill cards.
Allies count as characters for the purposes of combat, including performing actions in
combat that characters do (getting assigned strikes, tapping for +1 to prowess) and for
the play of cards that directly affect the attack.
Players common practice, however, is reading this rule as "ally is considered as character during combat" or "ally is considered as character for purpose all effects that affects combat".
So for example Clear-Skies is taken into accout when fighting ally's prowess is calculated.
Ally is untapped with Healing Herbs, or tapped by Adunaphel, because it can affect its prowess or strikes assignation.
I'm convinced that such interpretation is wrong.
Prowess and tapped/untapped status have general impact on game, not limited only to the combat.
For example prowess counts during playing/transferring Thong of Fire. It counts for purpose effect of Beorning Skin-changers. Number of situations where tapped/untapped status is important is countless.
So if effects that affect characters is not limited to the combat (e.g. Drughu, Sojourn In Shadows) they cannot be applied to the allies. Nor during combat, nor outside combat.
