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Arliden's Tahl Heritage May Have Drawn the Chandrian's Attention

fringe connection · popularity 132 · 1 source thread

Arliden may have had Tahl blood, and the manner of his singing—not just the lyrics—drew the Chandrian.

About: Arliden, The Tahl, The Chandrian

Also involves: Edema Ruh, Kvothe, Felurian, Naming, The Fae

The theory§

This theory proposes that Arliden carried Tahl blood, and that it was not only the lyrics of his song about the Chandrian but the manner of his singing that drew their attention. The Tahl are a nomadic people whose tribal leaders are not warriors but singers, whose songs can heal the sick and make trees dance; the Adem and others ask to be kept safe "from the singers and the sith," and these "singers" are read as the Tahl rather than mere balladeers. If singing is a vehicle for Naming, this would explain how a song could become dangerous: Kvothe sings rather than speaks Felurian's name when he Names her, and Bast tells Chronicler, "You don't know the first note of the music that moves me." The nomadic parallel between the Tahl and the Edema Ruh, and the shared Ruh tradition of offering water rather than wine, is taken as evidence of a common cultural origin reaching across the Stormwall into the desert Tahlenwald. Under this reading Arliden's craft, inherited through hidden Tahl ancestry, made his song a threat the Chandrian could not ignore.

Evidence§

  • Who keeps you safe from the singers and the sith?
    Frames the question: who are the 'singers' people ask protection from? — u/durty_digitz
  • I always assumed "singers" referred to musicians singing about the Chandrian.
    OP's prior reading, set up to be revised toward the Tahl interpretation. — u/durty_digitz
  • the leaders of their tribes aren’t great warriors, they’re singers. Their songs can heal the sick and make the trees dance.
    Tahl singers wield powerful song-magic, suggesting 'singers' means the Tahl. — u/durty_digitz
  • The Thal are nomadic like the Ruh - Pehaps Arliden had some Tahl blood.
    Core claim: Tahl-Ruh nomadic parallel implies Arliden carried Tahl blood. — u/durty_digitz
  • Maybe not just the lyrics of his song caught the attention of the Chandrian but the delivery of them also.
    Central thesis: the manner of Arliden's singing, not just lyrics, drew the Chandrian. — u/durty_digitz
  • I theorize that Singers can Name the Fae, thus controlling them. I think this because Kvothe Sang Felurian's Name during their fight, he didn't say it.
    Adds mechanism: singing as a vehicle for Naming, evidenced by Kvothe Naming Felurian. — u/MeleeCleric
  • Bast says to Chronicler "You don't know the first *note of the music* that moves me."
    Further textual support linking music/song to power over Fae. — u/MeleeCleric
  • Clearly the “singers” refer to the parshendi from storm light archive.
    CounterJoke comment dismissing the singers reading; not serious evidence. — u/GIANT_ANAL_PROLAPSE

Book refs: WMF

Tier reasoning§

tier kept: speculative blood-link with thin support

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