KKC Theory Wiki

Selitos Was Skin Danced — And Lanre Came to Save Him

plausible identity · popularity 263 · 1 source thread

Phonetic wordplay and textual parallels suggest Selitos was possessed by a skin dancer, and Lanre attacked Myr Tariniel to stop it.

About: Selitos, Haliax

Also involves: The Chandrian, The Cthaeh, Bast, Myr Tariniel, The Creation War, The Adem, The Lethani, Kvothe

The theory§

This theory contends that Selitos was possessed by a skin dancer at the fall of Myr Tariniel, and that Lanre's assault on the city was an attempt to hunt and destroy the parasite riding him rather than an act of betrayal. The argument runs through phonetics and behavioral parallels. Bast's account of skin-dancer control — forcing a victim to bite out their own tongue or pull out their own eye — maps precisely onto Selitos's deeds in Skarpi's tale: he curses Lanre so the name lies 'leaden on his tongue,' then drives the needle point of his stone into his own eye. The phonetic layer reads Aethe as 'Eighth' and Rethe as 'Wreath,' connecting the Sithe — who ride out in holly crowns to hunt skin dancers and who kill any who touch the Cthaeh — to the holly wreaths Bast weaves against the skin dancer at the Waystone. A further claim holds that the Sithe were originally stationed to guard the Cthaeh's tree but are now scattered into Ademre, leaving the tree unguarded. The theory's chief weakness is motive: if Lanre knew a skin dancer rode Selitos, it is unclear why he sacked the whole city with an army and destroyed the other cities rather than simply extracting the parasite.

Evidence§

  • Aethe = Eighth, Rethe = Wreath.
    OP's phonetic premise linking the names to Sithe iconography (wreath/holly). — u/Smurphilicious
  • I know the Sithe used to ride out wearing holly crowns when they hunted the skin dancers. . . .
    Ties Bast's holly wreaths and the Sithe to skin-dancer hunting. — u/Smurphilicious
  • They can make you bite. Out. Your own. Tongue … they'll use your hand to pull out your own eye as easy as you'd pick a daisy
    Bast's description of skin-dancer control, the behavioral template. — u/Smurphilicious
  • Lay leaden on your tongue. Selitos, I name you. May all your powers fail you but your sight.
    Selitos's curse mirrors 'bite out your tongue' — the tongue parallel. — u/Smurphilicious
  • He raised the stone and drove its needle point into his own eye.
    Selitos blinds himself, mirroring 'pull out your own eye' — the eye parallel. — u/Smurphilicious
  • Lanre didn't come to kill the king, he came to Selitos hunting a skin dancer.
    OP's core conclusion: Lanre's assault was a skin-dancer hunt, not betrayal. — u/Smurphilicious
  • in the start of Trapis' story he literally describes what seem to be skin dancers … Some demons stole the skins of men and wore them like clothes
    Comment adds independent textual evidence that skin dancers plagued that era. — u/mettudar
  • why did Lanre attack Myr Tariniel, and not attempt to just remove the skin dancer? Why did he coerce the others into attacking the other cities?
    CounterCounter: the theory fails to explain Lanre's full-scale assault and motive. — u/TacticalDo
  • How could Selitos then stand before Aleph?
    CounterCounter: a skin-danced Selitos contradicts his later standing before Aleph. — u/King_Esot3ric

Book refs: NOTW, WMF

Tier reasoning§

tier verified: textual parallels are suggestive; phonetics speculative, plausible holds

Contributors§

Source threads§