KKC Theory Wiki

The Chandrian Kill Over Lanre's Song to Bury One Name: Lyra

plausible connection · popularity 67 · 1 source thread

Denna's Lanre song spread freely because it omits the one name the Chandrian want buried: Lyra.

About: Lyra, Arliden's Lanre Song, The Chandrian

Also involves: Arliden, Denna, Haliax, Cinder, Myr Tariniel, Selitos, Naming

The theory§

The Chandrian slaughtered Arliden's troupe over the Lanre song he was composing, yet Denna's sympathetic 'Song of Seven Sorrows', which also concerns Lanre, spreads freely and is known to most folk. Setting the two verses side by side, the single name present in Arliden's opening but absent from Denna's is Lyra, Lanre's wife, at whose calling some say he rose through the doors of death. The theory concludes that the lethal element was not the subject of Lanre but a specific buried Name, Lyra's, that the Chandrian keep hidden. A stronger competing reading within the same evidence holds that Kvothe's own surmise is correct: Arliden uncovered the true names that torment the Chandrian and worked them into the later, unfinished verses, names the Chandrian would never permit in Denna's version. The massacre is tied to Arliden's shift over his final months from songs about Lanre and Lyra toward direct questions about the Chandrian themselves.

Evidence§

  • If the Chandrian killed the troupe because of Arliden's song about Lanre, then why has everyone heard Denna's song of Seven Sorrows?
    OP's core puzzle: a Lanre song spreads freely despite the troupe being killed over one. — u/Smurphilicious
  • You’ve probably heard it, in fact. Most folk have. … Denna composed it, and I was the first person to hear it played entire.
    Establishes Denna's Lanre song is widely known and harmless to spread. — u/Smurphilicious
  • And love of his wife Lyra, at whose calling … Some say he rose, through doors of death … To speak her name as his first reborn breath.
    Arliden's verse names Lyra, the element OP says Denna's version omits. — u/Smurphilicious
  • There's only one Name that appears in Arliden's version of Lanre's song that doesn't appear in Denna's version. Only one Name that the Chandrian seem intent on keeping buried. … Lyra, and the Hundred Tales of her.
    OP's conclusion: Lyra's name is the single buried element the Chandrian killed to hide. — u/Smurphilicious
  • Kvothe’s theory is also that Arliden came across the true names that torment the Chandrian and worked them into the later parts of his song. The Chandrian obviously wouldn’t give Denna those names … I’m not sure we can assume that the single verses we’ve given tell us anything to the contrary at this point.
    CounterCounter: the lethal element may be the Chandrian's true names, not Lyra. — u/Singsontubeplatforms
  • Without knowing the full song, it's hard to know why singing it resulted in mass murder (and other songs do not).
    CounterCounter: we only have an intro verse, too little to isolate Lyra as the cause. — u/InvisibleBlueRobot
  • They could try to hide the truth about their story. In this case, they wouldn’t care about a song that provides a positive view of their story if it doesn’t contain any truths.
    Refines theory: Chandrian suppress truths, not a name; Denna's flattering version lacks truths. — u/Strict_Sympathy386
  • If Cinder was Denna's patron, it also wouldn't make much sense why he'd just let Denna make the song. Maybe he's trying to paint the Chandrian in the better light, and Arliden's song was too slanderous?
    Alternative motive: a Chandrian patron permits Denna's flattering version. — u/mettudar

Book refs: NOTW, WMF

Tier reasoning§

distinct theory; tier fits as a reasonable but unconfirmed inference

Contributors§

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