KKC Theory Wiki

It Wasn't Ambrose Who Sent Those Thugs After Kvothe

fringe motive · popularity 75 · 1 source thread

Denna's patron, not Ambrose, hired the thugs that beat Kvothe, to keep Denna isolated from confidants.

About: Denna, Ambrose Jakis

Also involves: Kvothe, Sleat

The theory§

This theory reassigns the alley attack on Kvothe away from Ambrose and toward Denna's hidden patron, arguing that the assault had nothing to do with Kvothe personally but was meant to keep Denna isolated, with no confidant in whom to discuss her patron or her studies. The reading leans on the thugs' own words: they work from a tracking needle keyed to a strand of hair, follow it to their target, and never use names or descriptions, which means the man they find may not be the man they were meant to find. From this angle the compass may simply have latched onto the wrong person, Kvothe's hair substituted for Denna's, so that Kvothe and Denna alike wrongly assume he was the target. Competing explanations within the same vein hold that the Lackless family, having tracked Netalia's son to the University, sent men to bring him back, or that an enemy from Kvothe's Tarbean past settled an old debt. The strongest objection is textual: Sleat later admits to having helped Ambrose hire the thugs.

Evidence§

  • Denna's patron did. It had nothing to do with Kvothe, Denna's patron just didn't want her to have anyone for her to talk to about him or what she was learning.
    OP's core claim: patron sent thugs to keep Denna isolated, not targeting Kvothe. — u/Raeyeth
  • “You’re an idiot,” the one behind me said. “It’s cleaner this way. Simpler. No confusing descriptions. No names. No worrying about disguises. Follow the needle, find our man, and have done with it.”
    Thugs use only a tracking needle, no names or descriptions; could find wrong person. — u/Premium333
  • I think it's possible that everyone here is making a poor assumption that Kvothe is the actual target, including Kvothe himself.... But who knows, Denna does say she had a run in with 2 men in Anilin and these thugs also mention making mistake there
    Refines theory: Kvothe may not be target; ties Denna's Anilin run-in to thugs. — u/Premium333
  • I thought somebody spoofed the thug's compass by putting in Kvothe's hair rather than Denna's. Maybe intentionally, maybe accidentally - whichever the case - their lock latched on the wrong person. Hijinks ensue!
    Mechanism: compass keyed to Kvothe's hair instead of Denna's, latched on wrong target. — u/coglapis
  • the Lackless family kept track of Netalia after she left … they sent some thugs to kidnap him and bring him back to the Lackless estates in Vintas for some unknown purpose.
    Competing explanation: Lackless family tracked Netalia's son and sent men to retrieve him. — u/elihu
  • I remember a street kid who is very angry at him still.. if he happened to have a bloody rag and enough power and influence.. settling a child hood dept..
    Alternative explanation: an enemy from Kvothe's Tarbean past settling an old debt. — u/CrazyPaws
  • Doesn’t Sleet later admit to helping Ambrose hire said thugs?
    CounterStrongest textual objection: Sleat admits helping Ambrose hire the thugs. — u/soupreme
  • How would he have gotten Kvothe's hair? From Denna or somin?
    CounterCounter: questions how the patron could have obtained Kvothe's hair for the compass. — u/HanzoXHanzo

Tier reasoning§

tier confirmed: fringe, distinct attack from the Anilin-assassins theory; Sleat's admission undercuts it

Contributors§

Source threads§