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Kvothe Used Denna as Bait to Trap Master Ash by the Imre Fountain

plausible connection · popularity 104 · 1 source thread

A drunk's hint about a man killed by the Imre fountain points to Kvothe's failed trap for Denna's patron.

About: Kvothe, Denna, Master Ash

Also involves: Imre, The Eolian, Stanchion, Chronicler, The Amyr, Deoch

The theory§

A drunk admirer in the frame tells Kote he saw 'the place in Imre where you killed him, by the fountain,' where the cobblestones lie shattered and 'no one can mend them.' This theory reads that man as Denna's patron, Master Ash, and the killing as the failed climax of a trap Kvothe laid. Working with Deoch and Stanchion, who have history with Denna and care for her, Kvothe arranges for Denna to perform her Song of Seven Sorrows on her harp at the Eolian to lure Ash out of hiding; the wordplay on the Aeolian harp, an instrument played by the wind, links the song to drawing him out. The trap goes wrong: the Eolian burns, Denna flees, and Kvothe's broken word becomes a betrayal he later alludes to with Chronicler. The shattered, unmendable cobblestones suggest a name of stone was spoken in the violence. The theory dovetails with the idea that Kvothe loses the use of his left hand because he swore on it never to seek Ash's identity, and with the reading that Ash is an Amyr, possibly Bredon.

Evidence§

  • I saw the place in Imre where you killed him. By the fountain. The cobblestones are all shathered.” He frowned and concentrated on the word. “*Shattered*. They say no one can mend them.
    The frame-story clue the whole theory reconstructs: a killing by the Imre fountain with shattered cobblestones. — u/Smurphilicious
  • I think that Kvothe uses Denna as bait in order to set a trap for her Patron. Kvothe sets up a trap for Denna's Patron with Deoch and Stanchion (because they have history with Denna and also care for her), then Denna performs her Song of Seven Sorrows on her harp at the Eolian which lures Master Ash out of hiding.
    OP's core claim: Denna's Eolian performance is bait to lure her patron out of hiding. — u/Smurphilicious
  • An Aeolian harp (also wind harp) is a musical instrument that is played by the wind
    OP's wordplay link tying the song to drawing the patron out, like wind playing a harp. — u/Smurphilicious
  • and that's also the betrayal that Kvothe references to Devan. The trap goes to shit, the Eolian burns down, Denna leaves suddenly without warning (wandering child that she is), and Kvothe feels betrayed and abandoned by her.
    OP ties the failed trap to the Eolian burning and Kvothe's later allusion to a betrayal. — u/Smurphilicious
  • This also plays into the theory that Kvothe looses the use of his left hand because he swore on it to convince Denna that he wouldn’t try and discover the identity of Master Ash!
    Comment refines theory: Kvothe's lost left hand from a broken oath not to seek Ash. — u/Dothegoatdance
  • So my theory is he uses Denna as a trap to lure Bredon, the amyr, and kills him (possibly using the name of stone). Because he kills an amyr he gets cursed to become a chandrian just like the rest of them.
    Comment adds evidence: the patron is the Amyr Bredon, killed via name of stone, cursing Kvothe. — u/rattlehead42069
  • Fela reacts by calling the name of stone and using the cobblestones to kill the assailant.
    CounterCounter: rival reading where Fela, not Kvothe, kills by the fountain, and no trap on the patron. — u/elihu
  • I thought that the patron was helping Denna write the song. How is her playing a song he's already familiar going to draw him out of hiding?
    CounterCounter: if the patron co-wrote the song, performing it would not lure him out. — u/c-park

Book refs: NOTW, WMF

Tier reasoning§

reasonable textual fit, plausible stands

Contributors§

Source threads§