KKC Theory Wiki

Bast Is Secretly Taborlin the Great Hiding at the Waystone Inn

fringe identity · popularity 113 · 1 source thread

Bast may be Taborlin the Great, hinted by his colourful blanket echoing Taborlin's coat of no particular colour.

About: Bast, Taborlin the Great

Also involves: Kvothe, Chronicler, Waystone Inn, The Wise Man's Fear, Felurian

The theory§

This theory proposes that Bast is secretly Taborlin the Great, hiding at the Waystone Inn. Its central clue is the faded multicolored blanket Bast wraps himself in at the close of Wise Man's Fear, which the prose lingers over in a way that recalls Taborlin's famous coat of no particular color. It adds a structural symmetry: the stories told at the Waystone concern three legendary figures, Taborlin, Kvothe, and Chronicler, matching the inn's three current occupants, so Bast would be the third. The theory faces strong objections. Bast speaks of the Fae 'white riders' as gone for hundreds of years, well before his time, which conflicts with him being an ancient legend; Felurian, an immortal Fae, has never heard of Taborlin; and Taborlin is consistently depicted as more powerful than Kvothe, making it strange that the powerful Bast would seek Kvothe as a teacher.

Evidence§

  • Bast is actually Tarborlin the Great. I first thought it might be the case on one of my rereads of TWMF. Right at the end, Bast is in his room and wraps himself in a faded colourful blanket. Sounds a lot like Tarborlin’s coat of no particular colour to me. As PR goes to great details to explain the blanket an couple of times in that chapter, it seems like more than just simple prose.
    OP's core clue: Bast's faded colourful blanket echoes Taborlin's coat of no particular colour. — u/Flashy-Writing-3579
  • during the whole of the two books, we hear stories being told in the Waystone in about 3 people. The first is Tarborlin, the second is Kvothe and the third is The Chronciler. Seems like more than just a coincidence that there would be three people they tell stories about and three occupants staying in the pub.
    Structural symmetry: three legends in the stories match the inn's three occupants, so Bast is Taborlin. — u/Flashy-Writing-3579
  • Tsaborlin → nilro**basT**
    Wordplay support: Taborlin reversed contains Bast. — u/-Goatllama-
  • when they are making the holy crowns and talking about the white riders and the body demon thing bast says something like they have been gone for hundreds of years, well before my time. I do like the symmetry of your theory though
    CounterCounter: Bast calls the white riders gone before his time, conflicting with being an ancient legend. — u/zaksbp
  • How do you think it combines with Felurian saying that she had never heard of Taborlin? I’ve really been trying to figure that one out.
    CounterCounter: immortal Fae Felurian has never heard of Taborlin. — u/JamisonW
  • Tabrborlin is suppose to have more power then Kvothe. Which is why when Kvothe does anything powerful they compare him to Tabrorlin. Why would Bast seek Kvothe out to be his teacher if he is already so powerful.
    CounterCounter: Taborlin outranks Kvothe, so why would Bast take Kvothe as teacher. — u/Samanoskue
  • when him and the Chronicler got into a fight, instead of calling a name if something or undoing his calling the name of iron he just rushed to hurt/kill him with his hands
    CounterCounter: in his fight with Chronicler, Bast used his hands, not Taborlin-like Naming. — u/ficfixx1234
  • could EASILY see bast being a descendant of Taborlin. or Taborlin reborn into the current generation.
    Refinement: proposes a weaker version, Bast as descendant or reincarnation rather than Taborlin himself. — u/soupreme

Book refs: WMF

Tier reasoning§

tier unchanged: thin single-image identity leap, commenters mostly counter

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