KKC Theory Wiki

Overlooked Book 3 Setup: The Chandrian Are No Longer Dismissed as Fairytale

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In the frame story the world increasingly believes the Chandrian are real, hinting at book 3's apocalyptic scale.

About: The Chandrian

Also involves: Chronicler, Kvothe, Bast, Newarre, The Fae, Song Of Seven Sorrows

The theory§

This theory identifies an often-overlooked thread of foreshadowing: by the time of the frame story, belief in the Chandrian has shifted from amused dismissal to genuine fear. Kvothe observes that 'with all the hell that's breaking loose in the world these days' people are telling the old stories more often, so much so that the Chandrian, who listen for their own names, hear a constant whispering across the lands. Chronicler, an educated and well-travelled man, reports without scepticism a rumor of a new Chandrian whose 'hair as red as the blood he spills,' widely read as Kvothe himself. The Song of Seven Sorrows has likewise grown popular. Taken together these signs imply that the third book covers a wide-scale, escalating catastrophe. A standing counterpoint notes that those who truly know the Seven, Felurian, Shehyn, and the Masters, still refuse to speak of them, which may mean the danger of naming them comes not from the Chandrian but from the Amyr, who take the blame; another reading holds the Chandrian were never merely a fairytale, since superstitious folk have urged caution about them for two books while only the educated scoffed.

Evidence§

  • At some point, people go from laughing about and dismissing the Chandrian to taking their existence seriously, although not universally.
    OP's core claim: a shift from dismissal to genuine belief. — u/Meyer_Landsman
  • With all the hell that's breaking loose in the world these days you can believe people are telling old stories more often. If the Chandrian are listening for names, I don't doubt they've got a slow din of whispering from Arueh to the Circle Sea.
    Kvothe quote: worldwide turmoil drives constant retelling that the Chandrian hear. — u/Meyer_Landsman
  • Some are even saying that there is a new Chandrian. A fresh terror in the night. His hair as red as the blood he spills.
    Chronicler reports a new-Chandrian rumor, widely read as Kvothe himself. — u/Meyer_Landsman
  • It's really interesting because it gives you an idea of book 3's scale.
    OP ties the belief-shift to the third book's escalating, large scale. — u/Meyer_Landsman
  • This is why it's so frustrating that the books stop where they do. I want to see the magic apocalypse that befell these kingdoms.
    Commenter endorses the apocalyptic-scale reading the theory implies. — u/Lebraan
  • I don't think we can really say that people are taking them seriously now, outside the fact that they're telling old stories more.
    CounterCounter: telling old stories isn't evidence the wider world now believes. — u/b1tchf1t
  • Isnt the idea that most folks already belived in the chandrian and only educated people didnt. Arliden even mentiones how sick he is of talking with yet another supersticious fool who wont say theire name.
    CounterCounter: common folk already believed; belief isn't new, only the educated scoffed. — u/Bow-before-the-Cats
  • The chandrian have never been just a fairy tail, you have had people urging caution about them for 2 books. Haliaxs plan is to kill everyone so it's a given that they would eventually make themselves known
    Reframes: caution existed all along; mass danger makes their emergence inevitable. — u/CatStringTheory

Book refs: NOTW, WMF

Tier reasoning§

tier upgraded: the shift in frame-story attitudes is directly stated in the text

Contributors§

Source threads§