KKC Theory Wiki

Aaron Will Return With Soldiers to Claim the Bounty on Kvothe

plausible timeline · popularity 93 · 1 source thread

Aaron, cleverer than he seems, may return with guards to collect the duchy-and-gold bounty on Kvothe's head.

About: Aaron, Kvothe

Also involves: Bast, Chronicler, Waystone Inn

The theory§

When the mercenary captain recruiting in Newarre is revealed to be possessed and Kvothe drives him off, the young recruit Aaron is the only townsman sharp enough to notice that Kote tried to burn the man rather than cut him. To dissuade Aaron from marching off to die in the king's war, Kvothe confesses his true identity, which Aaron treats as a desperate lie and shrugs off before leaving town. The theory holds that Aaron, repeatedly described as cleverer than the rest of Newarre, will piece the truth together and return with soldiers to claim the standing bounty of a thousand royals and a duchy for Kvothe Kingkiller's head, the same intrusion bursting in to interrupt the third day's telling and force the frame story forward. The reasoning further supposes this would let the wider war and the loose Fae creatures be resolved on the page rather than only in memory. The counter-reasoning is that Aaron is written as decent rather than treacherous, missed obvious cues elsewhere, did not believe the confession, and that Kvothe almost certainly means to vanish from his deliberately remote inn the moment the story is recorded.

Evidence§

  • Kvothe told Aaron his true identity to try to make him stay and not join the army. Aaron took it as a joke … and left.
    OP sets up the premise: Kvothe revealed himself, Aaron dismissed it. — u/Haebak
  • Aaron is said to be "smarter than people give him credit for" and he realized that the mercenary was possessed and not just a denner addict because he saw Kvothe trying to light him on fire instead of using his sword.
    Core claim: Aaron is clever enough to notice and decode the fire clue. — u/Haebak
  • Aaron is clever and was willing to throw his life away by joining the army for the gold coin the king pays, but there is a 1000 gold coins and a duchy for Kvothe's head.
    Motive: huge bounty dwarfs the army pay Aaron would risk his life for. — u/Haebak
  • I think Aaron will come back with some guards to collect the prize. He left because he knew he couldn't take Kvothe and Bast on his own.
    The theory's payload: Aaron returns with force to claim the bounty. — u/Haebak
  • I think that the story has to finish outside Kvothe's memory. … what better way than a bunch of soldiers breaking into the inn and interrupting Kvothe's story?
    Narrative rationale: the raid forces the frame story into the present. — u/Haebak
  • Or is Kvothe doubly clever for setting Aaron up to do exactly what he wants? With Pat as a writer, anything is possible.
    Refines theory: Kvothe may be engineering Aaron's return deliberately. — u/notaprogram
  • Aaron is more clever than the rest of the townspeople, but he's not that clever. He didn't clue in at all when talking to Bast about 'comforting' his girlfriend Rose. … Aaron isn't written as a turncoat or an evil character.
    CounterCounter: Aaron missed obvious cues and isn't written as treacherous. — u/Toes14
  • I imagine that once this story is recorded, Kvothe does not intend to stick around. … by the time Aaron could get to a city and back, Kvothe could be long gone.
    CounterCounter: Kvothe will likely leave the remote inn before Aaron can return. — u/JaSnarky

Book refs: WMF

Tier reasoning§

reasonable inference from frame setup, plausible stands

Contributors§

Source threads§