KKC Theory Wiki

The King Kvothe Kills Is Roderic Calanthis, Making Alveron the Penitent King

plausible identity · popularity 201 · 1 source thread

Kvothe kills Vintas's king Roderic Calanthis, after which Maer Alveron becomes the Penitent King, repenting his ties to Kvothe.

About: Roderic Calanthis, Kvothe, The Penitent King

Also involves: Ambrose Jakis, Maer Lerand Alveron, Vintas, Caesura, Simmon, Auri, The Doors of Stone

The theory§

Kvothe is reputed to have killed a king, an act central to the legend of the Kingkiller, but the books never name the victim. Early candidates include Ambrose Jakis, who stands thirteenth or fourteenth in line for the throne of Vintas and, as a poet, suits a misreading of Caesura's name as 'poet-killer'; and Simmon, who also carries royal lineage. The theory sets these aside as red herrings and endorses the widely held position that the slain king is Roderic Calanthis, the sitting monarch of Vintas, with Maer Lerand Alveron afterward ascending and becoming the Penitent King as he repents his association with the man who killed his predecessor. Supporting reasoning leans on Kvothe's frame-story boast that he has 'stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings'; Rothfuss has confirmed the sleeping barrow king was the first king of Vintas, suggesting 'sleeping barrow king' functions as a Vintish saying for the crown, of which Roderic is the current holder. A favored elaboration imagines Auri being discovered and taken to Vintas, with Kvothe following to rescue her and killing the king in the resulting disaster, whether through hubris, manipulation by Alveron, or a framing he cannot escape.

Evidence§

  • On my first reread, I came across the tidbit that Ambrose is 13th - or 14th. His father might be 13th - in line to be king of Vintas. Depending on how far into the future any alleged king-killing takes place, I would not put it out of the realm of possibility that Ambrose or his father could be king by then.
    OP's starting candidate: Ambrose's royal succession position makes him a possible future king. — u/ThrashGradient
  • Additionally, Kvothe's sword's name, Caesura, seems to have been misinterpreted as meaning "Poet Killer". Interestingly enough, Ambrose happens to write a fair bit of poetry.
    OP links the sword's 'Poet Killer' misreading to Ambrose the poet. — u/ThrashGradient
  • TL;DR is that Kvothe kills Roderic Calanthis, the current king of Vintas, and Maer Alveron becomes the Penetant King. Called this because because he is "repenting" for his association with Kvothe, the King Killer.
    OP's core claim: the slain king is Roderic Calanthis; Alveron becomes the Penitent King. — u/ThrashGradient
  • I would have to go with roderic calanthis because of the quote "I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings". … Pat revealed that the sleeping barrow king was the first king of vintas. The current king of vint is roderic. So i think that "sleeping barrow king" is just a saying from the people of vint that we dont know yet, like "rich as the king of vint".
    Adds 'sleeping barrow king' evidence: Rothfuss-confirmed first king of Vintas as a saying for the crown. — u/Nullmilk
  • I believe that in DOS auri is discovered and taken to vint. kvothe follows to try and save her but manages to fuck it up and kills the king.
    Proposes the Auri-rescue scenario for how Kvothe ends up killing the king. — u/Nullmilk
  • I'm convinced Kvothe simply kills the actual king, Robert Calanthis leaving Alveron to take up the throne which then causes the war\*. … Either Kvothe will be fooled (intentionally or through his own hubris/ego) into killing the King, or he will be placed in a position where he is forced to take the king in place of someone else.
    Refines the mechanism: Kvothe fooled, manipulated, or forced into killing the real king. — u/Blue--Blue--Blue
  • Ambrose is absolutely a red-herring, on two levels in my opinion. He's the typical evil bully character, we want to see him go down and in your traditional narrative he probably would. So we take these 'clues' and use them to fit the narrative we expect.
    CounterCounters the Ambrose candidate, dismissing it as a red herring fitting reader expectations. — u/Blue--Blue--Blue
  • I don’t think he will kill a king - he’ll just get framed for it. … Think about how close he got to being framed for Alverons death.
    CounterCounter: Kvothe may never kill a king but be framed instead. — u/Puzzleheaded_Pay7428

Book refs: NOTW, WMF

Tier reasoning§

tier verified: well-reasoned candidate weighing, plausible is appropriate

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