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Kvothe's Stolen Ring and Forged Letter Force Denna to Marry Ambrose

fringe connection · popularity 74 · 1 source thread

Kvothe's theft of Ambrose's ring and his forged blackmail letter trap Denna into marrying Ambrose, echoing the Fastingsway tale.

About: Denna, Ambrose Jakis, Kvothe

Also involves: Auri

The theory§

This theory holds that Denna intended to return a ring to Ambrose to end an engagement, and that Kvothe's burglary of Ambrose's rooms, his theft of that ring, and his forged letter demanding Ambrose 'see to his obligations' instead drive the two into marriage. It reads the sequence as a deliberate echo of the Fastingsway War tale, in which a princess wed against her will stabs the neighboring prince on their wedding night, igniting a civil war of burned and salted fields, famine, and plague. The forged letter claims a child is Ambrose's and threatens to expose him to his father unless he behaves as a gentleman, which is taken as the lever that forces the match. The chief weakness is that Denna possesses the ring from the moment she and Kvothe first meet on the road out of Tarbean, long before any tie to Ambrose, and is sentimentally attached to it. An alternative reading reassigns the betrothal allegory to Auri, mapping the false-trouper tale of Krin and Elle onto Denna and Auri, with the man whose arm Kvothe breaks standing in for Ambrose.

Evidence§

  • The child is yours.You know it is true and so do I. … If you do not behave as a gentleman and see to your obligations, I will go to your father and tell him everything.
    The forged blackmail letter Kvothe wrote, the supposed lever forcing Ambrose's match — u/Smurphilicious
  • That's the parallel to the Fastingsway War story.
    OP frames the letter as deliberately echoing the Fastingsway tale — u/Smurphilicious
  • The princess is married against her will and stabs the neighboring prince on their wedding night. The prince dies. Civil war. Fields burned and salted. Famine. Plague . . .
    The Fastingsway tale: forced marriage igniting civil war, the pattern being echoed — u/Smurphilicious
  • Denna was giving the ring **back** to Ambrose. Breaking off their engagement.
    Core claim: Denna meant to return the ring to end the engagement — u/Smurphilicious
  • Ambrose himself has offered a sizable reward to whoever helps him catch a thief who broke into his rooms and stole several valuables, including a ring his mother gave him on her deathbed.
    Kvothe's burglary stole the ring, derailing Denna's plan to return it — u/Smurphilicious
  • Then Kvothe writes that fucking letter, and Ambrose "sees to his obligation" and marries her. KVOTHE EVEN GIVES HER BACK THE RING.
    OP's conclusion: the letter forces the marriage and Kvothe returns the ring — u/Smurphilicious
  • Didn't she have the ring before meeting Ambrose?
    CounterTop counter: Denna possessed the ring before any tie to Ambrose existed — u/nermgledo
  • There is zero chance that any man of Ambrose's rank would be marrying a woman of Denna's situation. "See to your obligations" reads as "pay me child support and hush money", not a demand of marriage.
    CounterCounter: rank gap and letter's wording imply hush money, not marriage — u/Sweeper1985
  • I actually think Ambrose is more likely to be betrothed to Auri. If you accept that the false troupers section is somewhat allegorical then in that tale the two girls represent Denna and Auri - Krin and Elle Elle is betrothed to the man that Kvothe breaks the arm of. Who I would think represents Ambrose.
    CounterAlternative reading: reassigns the betrothal allegory to Auri via Krin and Elle — u/Intra78

Book refs: WMF

Tier reasoning§

fringe confirmed: top-voted comment refutes the core premise

Contributors§

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