KKC Theory Wiki

Selitos Is Not the Cthaeh or the Hidden Enemy Behind the Creation War

plausible identity · popularity 151 · 1 source thread

Kvothe still trusts Skarpi, so Skarpi's account of Selitos and Lanre is broadly true, not a cover for a hidden villain.

About: Selitos, Skarpi, The Cthaeh

Also involves: Kvothe, Haliax, The Amyr, The Creation War, Chronicler

The theory§

This theory argues from the frame story that Skarpi's account of the Creation War is broadly trustworthy. Because Kvothe, telling his tale long after his mistakes are made, still calls Skarpi an old friend and entrusts his life story to Chronicler precisely because Chronicler works alongside Skarpi, he must still regard Skarpi's stories as sound. It follows that Selitos was genuinely betrayed by Lanre, cursed him, and went on to found the Amyr, rather than secretly becoming the Cthaeh or serving as the hidden enemy behind the Creation War. The reasoning is reinforced by the consistency of Skarpi's account with other tellings and by the chronology that Lanre visited the Cthaeh before betraying Selitos, so the two cannot be the same. A standing objection notes that Kvothe's good opinion of Skarpi would survive even if the story were incomplete or partly false, so long as Kvothe himself never learned the deeper truth, leaving room for a later revelation through Chronicler rather than Kvothe.

Evidence§

  • He has already made his mistakes. Yet he is still friends with, likes and respects Skarpi.
    OP premise: present-day Kvothe still trusts Skarpi despite all his experience. — u/ThoughtfullyLazy
  • He trusts Chronicler, in part, because he is working with Skarpi.
    Kvothe entrusts his story to Chronicler because of the Skarpi link. — u/ThoughtfullyLazy
  • Thus, Kvothe must still think Skarpi was right and Selitos was betrayed by and cursed Lanre and then went on to found the Amyr.
    Core inference: Skarpi reliable, so Selitos account stands. — u/ThoughtfullyLazy
  • If that is true then he didn’t become the Cthaeh and was not the enemy behind the Creation War.
    OP conclusion: Selitos is neither the Cthaeh nor hidden enemy. — u/ThoughtfullyLazy
  • Enough people have told essentially the same story as Skarpi (with inaccuracies or impressions that fit well with where they heard their version) that it wouldn’t really make sense for it to be *that* drastically wrong.
    Reinforces reliability via consistency across multiple tellers. — u/fZAqSD
  • we know that Lanre went to the Cthaeh before he betrayed Selitos and became Halifax.
    Chronology disproves identity: Lanre saw Cthaeh before betrayal. — u/cicaro9
  • This is a good assumption but then you’re also assuming both Kvothe and Skarpi are right.
    CounterCounter: argument depends on both Kvothe and Skarpi being correct. — u/Kit-Carson
  • Skarpi could have lied about Selitos, or just not gotten far enough into his story to cover his transformation into the Cthaeh--Kvothe’s opinion of the storyteller wouldn’t change if Kvothe himself never discovered the truth.
    CounterCounter: trust survives if Kvothe never learned the deeper truth. — u/Liesmith424

Book refs: NOTW, WMF

Tier reasoning§

tier unchanged: reasonable inference from Kvothe's continued trust in Skarpi

Contributors§

Source threads§