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Simmon Isn't Squeamish Because of His Family's Tie to the Duke of Gibea

fringe connection · popularity 123 · 1 source thread

Simmon's surprising competence at treating wounds may trace to his family's shameful connection to the Duke of Gibea.

About: Simmon, The Duke of Gibea

The theory§

When Simmon washes, stitches, and bandages Kvothe's split elbow in the aftermath of the Imre duel, he proves nowhere near as squeamish as Kvothe expects, his hands steadier and more confident than many trained students in the Medica. This reading traces that ease to Simmon's family connection to the Duke of Gibea, the notorious physicker whose anatomical experiments on living subjects pushed the boundaries of healing knowledge at terrible cost. The reasoning is that a matter-of-fact familiarity with the workings of the human body could have trickled down through generations of a family proximate to such work, even one ashamed of the association. The likelier and simpler explanation holds that Simmon, the son of a hunter, learned to clean and dress game from an early age, and that the moment is one more instance of Kvothe underestimating a friend he has known barely a year. Either way, the scene marks Simmon as a character with untold depth that the narration has so far passed over.

Evidence§

  • He surprised me by being nowhere near as squeamish as I'd expected. His hands were more careful and confident than those of many students in the Medica who did this sort of thing all the time.
    The book passage establishing the puzzle: Simmon's unexpected competence at treating wounds. — u/_jericho
  • It's my little headcannon that he's "surprisingly" not squeamish because of his family's connection to The Duke of Gibea.
    OP's core claim linking Simmon's ease to the Gibea family connection. — u/_jericho
  • While his family's ashamed of the connection, it's possible that generational knowledge and matter-of-fact attitude about the machinery human body *seeped* in because of their exposure and proximity to it.
    OP's mechanism: familiarity trickled down through generations despite shame. — u/_jericho
  • That's an interesting connection. Certainly visceral aspects would've been very present for him growing up.
    Commenter endorses that bodily/visceral exposure was present in Simmon's upbringing. — u/ReleaseTheMeat
  • There's certainly untold history and potential to Simmon's character, and this detail may very well be a part of later developments.
    Supports the theory as plausible foreshadowing of Simmon's hidden depth. — u/Jayardia
  • Simon's father liked to hunt, it is likely he was forced to clean and prep dead animals from an early age. This was my interpretation at least.
    CounterCounter: simpler explanation is hunting, not the Gibea connection. — u/Pleaseusegoogle
  • I thought it was an example of Kvothe yet again assuming. He's known Simmon at this point for a year, what makes him think he knows anything about Simmon?
    CounterCounter: the moment is just Kvothe underestimating a friend he barely knows. — u/Schwinnja

Book refs: WMF ch 23

Tier reasoning§

tier kept: self-labeled headcanon with a simpler hunter's-son explanation available

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