KKC Theory Wiki

Ambrose Will Challenge Kvothe to a Duel on His Return to the University

fringe timeline · popularity 64 · 1 source thread

When Kvothe returns to the University with sword and cloak, a jealous Ambrose calls him out for a duel at the Eolian fountain.

About: Ambrose Jakis, Kvothe

Also involves: The University, The Eolian, Caesura, Maer Lerand Alveron, Vintas, Naming

The theory§

This theory predicts that after Kvothe returns to the University at the close of The Wise Man's Fear — swaggering with a new sword, a faen cloak, and tales of the Fae — a humiliated Ambrose will call him out for a duel at the fountain before the Eolian, the site of their first clash, and die underestimating him, possibly amid a Naming attempt that leaves the cobblestones cracked. The cracked stones echo the Waystone patron who claims to have seen the place in Imre where Kvothe killed a man. The prevailing counter-reading rejects a one-on-one duel as out of character: Ambrose buys power and hires others to take his risks, and his place in the Vintish line of succession is stressed too often across the books to be incidental. That repetition points instead toward a political arc — the Jakis house climbing toward the throne through convenient deaths, ending in war against House Alveron, with the Maer becoming the Penitent King and the king Kvothe kills being Roderic rather than Ambrose.

Evidence§

  • by the end of a wise man’s fear Kvothe is back at the university, swaggering around with his new sword, cloak and many fantastic stories to tell his classmates. Everyone is eagerly listening except one. Ambrose.
    OP's setup: a returning, swaggering Kvothe provokes a jealous Ambrose. — u/Sever_the_hand
  • Ambrose- with an ill conceived plan to shame and embarrass Kvothe calls him out for a dual at the fountain in front of the Aolian, the site of their first confrontation. They fight and he underestimates him and ends up dead.
    OP's core claim: Ambrose challenges Kvothe at the Eolian fountain and dies. — u/Sever_the_hand
  • Maybe one of them will try to use the name of stone and end up cracking the stones like that guy from the waystone mentions.
    OP ties the duel to the Waystone witness's cracked-cobblestones story via Naming. — u/Sever_the_hand
  • I think it will be Ambrose, however, I think the run up will be more complicated (more mysteries coming together) and also less planned/ less Ambrose's and Kvothe's choices to end up there, but once there Kvothe has to make an impossible choice
    Comment refines: agrees Ambrose dies but via tragedy, not a planned duel. — u/Nerdfighter4
  • I don’t think Ambrose will go out like that. His place in the line of succession in Vintas has been mentioned too many times and I think that’s where his future plot lines are headed.
    CounterCounter: Ambrose's succession arc points to politics, not a fatal duel. — u/DolphZubat
  • Ambrose isn't known to have any swordplay or naming knowledge. It wouldn't be in character for him to seek out a duel of 1:1 strength like this. Ambrose has and uses granted power whenever he can.
    CounterCounter: a 1:1 duel is out of character; Ambrose relies on granted power. — u/LostInStories222
  • He's too much of a rich boy. He pays people to take risks and do his dirty work.
    CounterCounter reinforces: Ambrose hires others rather than risking himself. — u/SteveDad111
  • possibly nothing more happens at the stones near the Eolian, and that's simply a story that got changed based on how Kvothe called the wind in book 1.
    CounterCounter to the cracked-stones link: the tale may just be a distorted book-1 event. — u/LostInStories222

Book refs: WMF

Tier reasoning§

tier confirmed: speculative prediction, contradicted by Ambrose's characterisation

Contributors§

Source threads§