KKC Theory Wiki

Each Chandrian Betrayed a Specific City and the Riddles Tell Us How

plausible connection · popularity 633 · 1 source thread

The Lackless rhymes, Adem poem, and Mauthen Pot each encode which city every Chandrian betrayed and how.

About: The Chandrian, The Eight Cities

Also involves: Haliax, Cinder, Pale Alaxel, Grey Dalcenti, Stercus, Usnea, Selitos, Myr Tariniel, The Creation War, Meluan Lackless

The theory§

Cross-referencing the two Lackless rhymes, the Adem poem on the Chandrian's signs, the imagery on the Mauthen Pot, the children's skip-rhyme, and the Creation War accounts of Skarpi and Felurian, this theory matches each of the seven Chandrian to one of the eight cities of the Ergen Empire and reconstructs how each betrayed its city. Its founding premises are that the Chandrian's signs are symbolic curses reflecting their specific crimes, just as Selitos curses Haliax at the fall of Myr Tariniel, and that the Lackless rhymes secretly encode this information. The strongest matches are Cinder, whose sign of cold and standing water aligns with a betrayal by flooding through a broken dam ('door that holds the flood'), and Grey Dalcenti, whose sign of never speaking aligns with a broken oath, a word forsworn, reinforced by his silent coming and going across multiple sources. Other matches are more speculative, including a 'ring unworn' read as abandonment at the altar and Usnea's nakedness and decay; the primary sources are held to deliberately omit or distort roughly half their content to prevent exactly this reconstruction.

Evidence§

  • Their signs are symbolic curses placed on them due to the betrayals they committed that "made" them the Chandrian (like Haliax receives from Selitos at Myr Tariniel). … The two Lackless rhymes give us hidden information about the Chandrian.
    OP's two founding premises: signs are curses for betrayals; Lackless rhymes encode this. — u/purhox_arhox
  • I believe the Lackless rhymes give insight into "HOW" the Chandrian betrayed each of the cities of the Ergen Empire, give clues to the cities each Chandrian betrayed, and help explain why they were cursed with their specific signs.
    OP's core claim: rhymes encode how and which city each Chandrian betrayed. — u/purhox_arhox
  • Door with no handle that holds the flood. Sounds like a dam. Perhaps a dam got burst to wash away a city. Cinder, is depicted as standing on water on the Mauthen pot. … Nina specifically says she was trying to paint water.
    Strongest match: Cinder, water/flood/dam, supported by the Mauthen Pot imagery. — u/purhox_arhox
  • A word forsworn: A broken oath by Dalcenti, who now is never allowed to speak again after breaking his/her word.
    Match: Dalcenti's sign of never speaking aligns with a forsworn word/broken oath. — u/purhox_arhox
  • “The fire was blue last night?” She nodded. “Like a coal-gas flame. Like the lamps they have in Anilin.” … I propose that Cyphus betrayed Antus (modern Anilin) by not lighting the blue signal flames that would have warned the city of an oncoming attack.
    Match: Cyphus's blue-flame candle-without-light reads as an unlit signal fire at Antus/Anilin. — u/purhox_arhox
  • The connections with Cinder/water/dam/flooding and Dalcenti/silence/Adem are especially strong. … A ring unworn may indicate a hidden mastery that that was used to betray or destroy the defenses of the city.
    Commenter endorses strongest links, refines 'ring unworn' as a namer's hidden mastery. — u/Level3_Ghostline
  • I don't think you offered much explanation why this would be associated with abandoning someone at the altar specifically or how this would have been a betrayal that led to the destruction of one of the seven cities or why Alenta's sign would be blight if so.
    CounterCounter: OP's 'left at altar / ring unworn' reading for Alenta is unjustified. — u/Bhaluun
  • the ring unworn could have been warning bells unrung, something mentioned directly by the bound Selitos.
    CounterCounter/refine: 'ring unworn' likely means unrung warning bells, not a marriage. — u/Bhaluun
  • My only note here is that the quote about the walls falling doesn't necessarily mean that the walls were toppled. It could be used to refer to the walls being overtaken by enemies (like on a surprise attack)
    CounterCounter: Belen's 'walls fell' need not mean Usnea toppled them, weakening that link. — u/aereuske

Book refs: NOTW, WMF

Tier reasoning§

tier verified: clever cross-referencing but speculative mapping, plausible holds

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