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It Was Mola: The Medica Student Behind Kvothe's Mysterious Collapse

fringe identity · popularity 179 · 1 source thread

Mola, not Ambrose, secretly used malfeasance against Kvothe out of jealousy over his rumoured courtship of Devi.

About: Mola, Kvothe

Also involves: Devi, Ambrose Jakis, Simmon, Fela, Master Kilvin

The theory§

This theory reassigns blame for the malfeasance that nearly kills Kvothe in Wise Man's Fear from Ambrose to Mola, the Medica student, proposing she acted out of jealousy after misreading Kvothe's dealings with Devi as a courtship. It builds on hints that Devi takes women to bed — her remark that 'some women have trouble keeping their feet' and her offer of 'forty talents… and I will take you to bed' — and on Mola's sudden fury when she believes Kvothe has lied to her, read as a rival's anger rather than mere annoyance. A key structural point is that no one but Mola examines Kvothe in the Medica during the attacks, and that Kvothe never actually sees the mommet in Ambrose's drawer, leaving the conventional culprit unproven. The reading is widely rejected: the malfeasance struck only when Ambrose was absent from class — hard to reconcile with a Medica student's schedule — a later cold-gram attack came while Kvothe slept alone with no examination by Mola, and Ambrose's visible dawning comprehension when Kvothe burns his room reads as a guilty man recognizing his own mommet. Several note the theory makes Mola a Scooby-Doo villain and demands a jealousy-driven murder unsupported by her established character.

Evidence§

  • "Some women have trouble keeping their feet as well." She said. Her grin changed slightly, moving from adorable to impish and then well past the border into wicked. … "Forty talents," Devi said hungrily. "Guild rates. And I will take you to bed."
    OP's premise: Devi sleeps with women and propositions Kvothe, setting up jealousy motive. — u/Jandy777
  • "Has anyone else seen?" I asked. Mola shook her head. "We've been busy today." … So no one else has had chance to examine Kvothe, or *observe Mola*.
    Structural point: only Mola examines Kvothe, leaving her actions unobserved. — u/Jandy777
  • Sim continues: >"Kvothe has a thing for a girl over the river," he said defensively. … Mola turned to look at me, her expression furious. "You have a hell of a lot of nerve to lie right to my face," she said,
    Mola's sudden fury read as a rival's jealousy when she assumes the girl is Devi. — u/Jandy777
  • So Mola has plenty of opportunity to get hair or blood from Kvothe.
    Mola, treating Kvothe's wounds, had the means to obtain material for a mommet. — u/Jandy777
  • I heard Fela gasp and looked up in time to see Mola, grim-faced and resolute, toss the mommet into the heart of the campfire, murmuring another binding. … Mola basically goes nuclear at this point!
    Mola's ferocity testing the gram read as darker than a casual demonstration. — u/Jandy777
  • Apparently. Not actually, just *apparently*. As in, 'it would appear as though'. … Kvothe never actually witnesses the mommet with his own eyes. Neither does anyone else.
    Key claim: the mommet in Ambrose's drawer is never actually seen, only assumed. — u/Jandy777
  • I feel like a lot hinges on this part of your theory, and I don't read "apparently" in the way you do. To me, it's more like it means "it turns out" not "it would appear as though".
    CounterCounter: "apparently" likely means "it turns out," undercutting the mommet argument. — u/bblbtt3
  • There was an additional attack after telling Mola what happened with Fela the night after the Gram was completed that awoke Kvothe with the Gram going cold late in the night that makes no sense if Mola was the attacker, which puts your entire theory to rest
    CounterCounter: a later attack struck while Kvothe slept alone, with no Mola examination. — u/JustcallmeSoul
  • They showed that Kvothe only experienced malfeasance when Ambrose was not in class. … I find it HIGHLY UNLIKELY that Mola was only ever free to do malfeasance at exactly the same times that Ambrose was not in class.
    CounterCounter: timing matched Ambrose's absences, hard to square with a Medica schedule. — u/UveBeenChengD

Book refs: WMF

Tier reasoning§

tier confirmed: fringe, author concedes tinfoil

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