KKC Theory Wiki

Kvothe Is Hiding Because He's Next in Line to Be King

fringe motive · popularity 91 · 1 source thread

Kvothe's Lackless blood makes him heir to the throne, and the 'king' he kills is his rival for it, Ambrose.

About: Kvothe, Ambrose Jakis

Also involves: The Lackless Box, Caesura, Waystone Inn

The theory§

This theory proposes that Kvothe hides at the Waystone not from the Chandrian but from the consequences of having killed a king and, by his Lackless blood, having a claim to the throne himself. The reasoning runs that as a Lackless, Kvothe stands higher in the line of succession of Vintas than Ambrose Jakis, whose family is murdering rivals along that line; when Ambrose learns Kvothe would supersede him and tries again to kill him, Kvothe kills Ambrose in a duel, earning the epithet Poet-Killer borne by his sword Caesura. The series title is read literally: the Kingkiller Chronicle is the chronicle that kills the king, Kvothe. The line of succession is named in the books, with Baron Jakis sitting sixteenth and later thirteenth, and an alternate path has Ambrose leaping the line by marrying Princess Ariel, daughter of King Roderick Calanthis. A competing reading holds Kvothe's mother was disinherited, leaving him no legal claim, and that the king he kills is Roderick himself, with Caesura, 'a jarring break in an Eld Vintic line,' naming the ending of the royal bloodline.

Evidence§

  • 1st I believe Kvothe to be a lackless. Therefor that makes him higher on the list of succession then Ambrose.
    OP's foundational claim: Lackless blood ranks Kvothe above Ambrose in succession. — u/Ok-Study-1153
  • 2nd I believe Ambrose and or his father are killing the line of succession.
    OP: the Jakis family is murdering rivals up the succession line. — u/Ok-Study-1153
  • 3rd I believe once Ambrose finds out Kvothe will be king and not him. He try’s to kill Kvothe… again. I believe Kvothe kills Ambrose maybe in defense maybe in a duel thus “Poet killer”
    OP: Ambrose attacks once he learns Kvothe outranks him; Kvothe kills him, earning Poet-Killer. — u/Ok-Study-1153
  • TLDR Ambrose killed the line of succession and Kvothe killed Ambrose making him king.
    OP's summarized chain: removing rivals plus killing Ambrose leaves Kvothe king. — u/Ok-Study-1153
  • The Kingkiller Chronicle. The Chronicle will kill the King, Kvothe.
    Top comment reads the series title literally: the chronicle kills King Kvothe. — u/freakysmurf11
  • Kingkiller- he killed the to be king Kvothe. Faked his own death to hide
    Adds the hiding motive: Kvothe faked death to escape consequences of being king. — u/AdTructer
  • his mother was disinherited (and as far as he knows his parents' marriage was never legal) so he's certainly not the legal heir … I doubt Kvothe even knows he could be king, let alone cares about it enough for that to be one of his main reasons.
    CounterCounter: disinheritance leaves no legal claim, and succession is a side note, not his motive. — u/khazroar
  • Except Rothfuss has said that this won't be the end of Kvothe's story.
    CounterCounter: author's statement that Kvothe's story continues undercuts a king-killed ending. — u/Honest-Bridge-7278

Tier reasoning§

chains several unconfirmed assumptions (Lackless succession, Ambrose as king); fringe correct

Contributors§

Source threads§