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Kvothe Decided to Kill the False Troupe Before He Knew About the Girls

plausible motive · popularity 53 · 1 source thread

Kvothe poisoned the false Ruh and arranged their deaths before learning Krin and Ellie were captives, rescuing them by accident.

About: Kvothe, Edema Ruh

Also involves: The Shaed

The theory§

This theory holds that Kvothe's celebrated rescue of Krin and Ellie from the false Edema Ruh troupe was incidental to a killing he had already resolved upon. He recognised the troupe as impostors and set his trap, poisoning their stew and ale and securing an agreement that no one would leave the troupe if anyone objected, before he knew the captive girls were present. The tells that exposed the impostors are drawn from established Ruh lore: a true troupe hides its fire and burns rennel, which burns without smoke, yet this troupe's fire was visible from a distance, and they boasted of stealing beer from Levinshir. It is generally agreed that the poison Kvothe used was not lethal, merely sickening, and that he had a remedy, which he later gives Krin; the killing itself came only after he learned of the troupe's thefts, murders of a real Ruh troupe, and the rapes. The rescue, then, was the byproduct of Kvothe's resolve to punish those who blacken the Ruh name and so endanger every Ruh on the road.

Evidence§

  • Kvothe didn't deliberately rescue Krin and Ellie from the false troopers. … He rescued them by accident. … He had decided he was going to kill all the troopers before he even knew the girls were there. He poisoned the stew and ale and he also made the agreement to not leave the troop if anyone objected.. all before meeting the two.
    OP's core claim: the trap was set before he knew the girls were captives. — u/DudeHoldMyFlagon
  • But he knew right away that they were impostors and decided to kill them with no investigation.
    OP frames recognition as instant, motivating the cold-killer question. — u/DudeHoldMyFlagon
  • Two things tipped him off. For one, he noticed their fire from far away. In the story of Sceop, we learn that Ruh hide their fires. … rennel burns without smoke … The second thing that tipped him off was when Alleg said they stole beer from Levinshir.
    Supplies the lore-based tells that exposed the impostors: visible fire and stolen beer. — u/czechancestry
  • He poisoned the stew before he knew about the girls, but the poison is not what killed the false troupers. He had an antidote for it, which he gave Krin in the tent. He mentions it's not a lethal poison, it just makes for a difficult night.
    Refines theory: the poison only sickened, with a remedy he gave Krin. — u/Ohheyliz
  • What he added to the stew wasn't going to kill them, or else he would have just let them die that way. He poisoned them after he learned they stole from the village. He killed them after he learned they rapped those girls.
    Separates the sickening poison from the later killing, sequenced by what he learned. — u/TheLastSock
  • If people are going about committing crimes while disguised as Edema Ruh, they are endangering the lives of all Ruh who travel the roads. … Of course he was going to kill them. His loyalty to the Ruh demanded he protect their name by punishing those who would blacken it.
    Provides the motive: protecting the Ruh name justified the resolve to kill. — u/EvilAnagram
  • our narrator is a bit biased; it could have played out any way you can imagine.
    CounterCounter: the unreliable narrator means the vigilante framing isn't certain. — u/Historical_Shop_3315
  • I don't think he intended to kill them until he saw the girls. Poison them? Sure. If I remember correctly the poison won't kill you.
    CounterCounter: disputes pre-resolved killing, attributing lethal intent to seeing the girls. — u/SkepticalHeathen

Book refs: WMF

Tier reasoning§

tier kept: textually arguable reading of the Levinshir sequence, though contested

Contributors§

Source threads§