KKC Theory Wiki

Folly, the Sword Behind the Bar, Is Cinder's Own Blade

plausible identity · popularity 344 · 1 source thread

The shared light-absorbing property of Folly and Cinder's sword identifies them as the same weapon, a trophy from Kvothe's parents' killer.

About: Folly, Cinder

Also involves: Kvothe, Caesura, Bast, Waystone Inn

The theory§

Folly is the sword Kote keeps mounted behind the bar of the Waystone Inn, handled with a tenderness he shows nothing else. This theory identifies it as the very blade Cinder carried when he killed Kvothe's parents and the rest of the Edema Ruh troupe at the Mauthen farm. The argument rests on a shared, physics-defying optical trait: Cinder's eyes and sword reflect neither firelight nor the setting sun, while Folly reflects only 'dull, burnished, ages-old' light with 'no beginnings' in it, read as the same non-reflection described from a different angle and deliberately obscured. The name itself is taken as confession: Abenthy warned Kvothe to 'beware of Folly,' and his pursuit and killing of Cinder was the reckless act that set the world's present ruin in motion, making the displayed blade a self-imposed totem of his greatest mistake. The chief objection is that Kvothe would not lovingly display the weapon that gutted his family, a tension the theory answers by reading the display as deliberate penance, like his lunches at the penance pole until the pain dulled.

Evidence§

  • His eyes were like his sword, and neither one reflected the light of the fire or the setting sun.
    OP's core text: Cinder's sword ignores the fire and sunset light shining on it. — u/Jezer1
  • But when the light touched the sword there were no beginnings to be seen. In fact, the light the sword reflected was dull, burnished, and ages old.
    OP reads Folly's non-reflection as the same physics-defying optical trait as Cinder's sword. — u/Jezer1
  • both Folly and Cinder's sword give little fucks about physics and colors of the light spectrum, by choosing not to reflect the color of the light sources shining on them. No other sword in the book is noted to do this.
    OP's central inference: the shared unique light behaviour identifies the two as one weapon. — u/Jezer1
  • His sword was pale and elegant. When it moved, it cut the air with a brittle sound. It reminded me of the quiet that settles on the coldest days in winter
    OP: Cinder's sword evokes winter and beauty, matching descriptors used for Folly. — u/Jezer1
  • "Beware of Folly" - Abenthy … He keeps Cinder's sword on display as a constant reminder of his Folly. It's a totem of sorts
    Comment refines the name: Folly is Kvothe's self-reproach for recklessly killing Cinder. — u/the_festivusmiracle
  • Kvothe specifically started making the penance pole his hang out place of choice because the place had such a powerful negative connection. He went there almost every day to have lunch until it didn't hurt him anymore. I think that … he may be doing the same thing by keeping it by his side.
    Comment answers the display objection: keeping the sword is deliberate penance, like the penance pole. — u/ButtonJoe
  • He treats the sword that slaughtered his troupe “like a lady”? Why would one even keep a sword like that? I wouldn’t be able to LOOK at the very weapon that gutted my father and carved up my mother. … No. Sorry. That’s not Cinder’s sword.
    CounterCounter: Kvothe would never lovingly display the blade that killed his family. — u/Charlie24601

Book refs: NOTW, WMF

Tier reasoning§

NOT merged with folly-is-chandrian-warning-sword: that theory asserts the opposite (Folly is bright, not Cinder's)

Contributors§

Source threads§