KKC Theory Wiki

Auri Carries a Secret of the Heart Tied to Kvothe Being Expelled

fringe motive · popularity 86 · 1 source thread

Auri played a role in Kvothe getting plumed and hides it as a painful 'secret of the heart'.

About: Auri, Kvothe

Also involves: The University

The theory§

This theory holds that Auri bears a secret of the heart connected to Kvothe being plumed, and that she conceals it because, in Teccam's terms, such secrets are private and painful and grow heavier the longer they are kept. It builds on Teccam's distinction in the Theophany between secrets of the mouth, which long to escape, and secrets of the heart, which poison and weigh upon the bearer like a stone until they cause disaster. The reading takes Auri's evident burden of grief and her unfinished gift for Kvothe as signs she is hiding her own role in his expulsion. A competing reading holds that the imagery instead points to Kvothe's own unprocessed grief over his murdered family, the stone he carries but has scarcely begun to address, and that Auri merely recognizes a weight she shares rather than one she caused. If the leap from shared sorrow to shared culpability is unwarranted, the theory collapses into ordinary correlation.

Evidence§

  • I clarified, and add reinforced u/Drue80's [observation](https://www.reddit.com/r/KingkillerChronicle/comments/ez5qyi/auri_why/) that Auri played a role in Kvothe getting plumed.
    OP's core claim: Auri had a role in Kvothe's expulsion. — u/TheLastSock
  • A secret, Teccam explains, > is true knowledge actively concealed.
    Frames Auri's burden as a deliberately hidden secret, not a mystery. — u/TheLastSock
  • Secrets of the heart are different. They are private and painful, and we want nothing more than to > hide them from the world.
    Defines the secret-of-the-heart category the theory says Auri carries. — u/TheLastSock
  • the longer they are kept, the heavier they become.
    Explains why the concealed secret weighs on Auri over time. — u/TheLastSock
  • Given enough time, they > cannot help but crush the heart that holds them.
    Stakes: an unspoken secret of the heart ends in disaster. — u/TheLastSock
  • “I know,” she said. “You have a **stone in your heart**, and some days it’s so heavy there is nothing to > be done. But you don’t have to be alone for it. You should have come to me. I understand.”
    Auri's line; OP reads her understanding as evidence she shares this secret. — u/TheLastSock
  • Auri is obviously referencing Kvothe's stone, or weight, he carries of his family
    CounterCounter: the stone is Kvothe's family grief, not Auri's hidden role. — u/Kvothe891
  • Id say it's a long shot to claim correlation without causation
    CounterCounter: shared sorrow does not prove Auri caused his expulsion. — u/Kvothe891

Book refs: NOTW, WMF, SRoST

Tier reasoning§

tier verified: connects Auri to Kvothe's expulsion with no direct evidence and is countered in-thread, fringe is correct

Contributors§

Source threads§