KKC Theory Wiki

Kote Secretly Returned to the Fae During His Innkeeper Years

fringe timeline · popularity 71 · 1 source thread

Kote's distorted sense of time suggests he spent a long stretch in the Fae within months of Chronicler's arrival.

About: Kvothe, The Fae, Felurian

Also involves: Waystone Inn, Bast, Folly, Naming

The theory§

This theory reads Kote's distorted sense of time in the early frame as evidence he has lately spent a long stretch in the Fae, where time runs at a different rate. Two moments anchor it: he misjudges how far west the scrael could have travelled, and he is startled to learn from Graham that only four months have passed since he ordered the mounting board for Folly—a thing that had slipped his mind entirely, as though far more time had subjectively elapsed. The further claim is that he returned to Felurian, and that part of why he locked his name away was to ensure she could not compel him to stay—without his music, she would have no reason to keep him. Having changed himself too far, he leaves Bast grieving the Reshi he wants back. A common extension is that the Waystone Inn is a literal waystone—its very name—so Kote need not travel at all but could pass into the Fae directly through the inn when the moon is right, which would also explain how the inn stays stocked with luxuries like chocolate, cinnamon, and pepper that the last caravan never carried.

Evidence§

  • Kote has a bad sense of time in the early part of book one.
    OP's framing premise: distorted time perception is the core observation. — u/casey_ap
  • When he first sees the scrael, he mentions they “couldn’t have made it this far west yet”.
    First time-misjudgment anchor. — u/casey_ap
  • When Kote received the mounting board for Folly and remarks that he had forgotten had had ordered it. Graham says it’s only been 4 months and Kote reacts in surprise that it’s been so short of time.
    Second anchor: subjective time far exceeds the four real months. — u/casey_ap
  • This leads me to believe Kote has spent a long period in the Fae within the 4 months before Chronicler’s arrival.
    OP's central conclusion drawn from the time clues. — u/casey_ap
  • I think it’s fair to say part of why he locked his name away was to ensure Felurian wouldn’t require him to stay. If he lost his music why would she want him?
    Motive: locking his name disarms Felurian's hold so he can return. — u/casey_ap
  • If the Waystone is a literal Waystone, and those are used somehow to allow people to get to the Fae and back, then he wouldn't even have to travel anywhere he could enter the Fae directly through the inn.
    Refinement: the inn itself could be the Fae passage, no travel needed. — u/elihu
  • The narrator stresses how the last caravan didn't have luxury goods like chocolate, cinnamon, and pepper. But Kvothe has these things.
    Added evidence: well-stocked inn implies a Fae fast-travel supply route. — u/LostInStories222
  • I think that it is also just a part of him becoming Kvothe. I'm guessing his surprise at how much time has passed is just down to his slow descent into becoming Kote and the toll that has taken on him.
    CounterCounter: forgetfulness is malaise of becoming Kote, not Fae travel. — u/Katter
  • In fae world the time run slowly Not Quickly...
    CounterCounter: disputes the time-rate assumption underpinning the theory. — u/Visual-Ad-4728

Book refs: NOTW

Tier reasoning§

tier correct: speculative inference from one time cue

Contributors§

Source threads§