KKC Theory Wiki

The Lockless Box, Four-Plate Door and Thrice-Locked Chest Each Hold a Name

fringe mechanism · popularity 172 · 1 source thread

Each sealed container imprisons a name: Iax behind the Four-Plate Door, Kvothe's in the chest, the moon's in the box.

About: The Lackless Box, The Four-Plate Door, Naming

Also involves: The Doors of Stone, Iax, Haliax, The Chandrian, Kvothe, Auri, The Moon, Felurian, The Creation War, The Amyr, The University, Elodin

The theory§

This theory reads the three great sealed containers of the Four Corners as vaults for names rather than objects. The Four-Plate Door in the Archives is identified with the Doors of Stone behind which Felurian says Iax was shut at the close of the Creation War, so the name 'Iax'—Haliax's name before he was unmade—is held there. The thrice-locked chest of rare roah wood at the foot of Kvothe's bed is read as the eventual resting place of Kvothe's own true name, sealed away after he unnames himself and becomes a Rhinta, his sign being the unnatural silence that gathers around the Waystone. The Lackless box, never opened and with no visible hinge or lock, is held to contain a piece of the moon's name that Jax captured in the folktale of the boy who stole the moon. A further, more speculative branch identifies Auri as the nameless moon whose name Kvothe is fated to recover.

Evidence§

  • I believe that the same thing is locked inside each, a name.
    Core thesis: all three sealed containers hold a name, not an object. — u/KoboldCove
  • Felurian tells us that at the end of the creation war, Iax was sealed within the doors of stone. I believe this is literal, Iax, Haliax’s old name, is sealed within the doors of stone, which is the four plate door.
    Four-Plate Door equals Doors of Stone, holding the name Iax/Haliax. — u/KoboldCove
  • Kote, being a Rhinta, will at some point in book 3 unname himself. His sign, as a Rhinta, is the silence that surrounds him.
    Thrice-locked chest holds Kvothe's own name after he unnames himself. — u/KoboldCove
  • And as for the lockless box? I believe that is where Jax stored the name of the moon.
    Lockless box holds the moon's name captured by Jax. — u/KoboldCove
  • Auri will not tell Kvothe her name. I believe this is because she CANNOT, because her name is in the lockless box. I believe that Auri is the moon, and that like Jax, Kvothe will steal her.
    Speculative branch: Auri is the nameless moon Kvothe is fated to steal. — u/KoboldCove
  • I think the box is about the technique that is used to store names safely. Maybe too safely. I would love to see Kvothe steal Loeclos box to reverse engineer it.
    Refines: box is a name-storage technique Kvothe might reverse-engineer. — u/Strider-of-Storm
  • don't think that people can literally hold the name in a box. We haven't really seen that be possible with the magic we've seen. That's only been in the stories.
    CounterCounter: storing names in boxes only happens in stories, not literal magic. — u/LostInStories222
  • It's specifically stated that Auri doesn't like the moon. She doesn't usually go on tops of things when it's out.
    CounterCounter: Auri's dislike of the moon argues against her being it. — u/Mysticedge

Book refs: NOTW, WMF

Tier reasoning§

fringe confirmed; chains several speculative leaps

Contributors§

Source threads§