KKC Theory Wiki

Stapes the Manservant May Secretly Be One of the Fae

fringe identity · popularity 151 · 1 source thread

Stapes's uncanny hearing, unusual eye color, and Bast-like bond with the Maer hint he could be Fae.

About: Stapes, The Fae

Also involves: Maer Lerand Alveron, Bast, Kvothe

The theory§

This theory holds that Stapes, the Maer Alveron's manservant, may secretly be one of the Fae. It rests chiefly on the parallel between Stapes and Bast: both are uncannily attentive servants devoted to a single master, and Stapes is repeatedly noted for sharp hearing and an unusual eye color, traits read as glamourie or Fae nature. The boldest extension imagines Stapes as the eventual link by which Kvothe comes to know Bast. The reading runs against firmer canon, however: Stapes's family has served the Maer for generations and he grew up alongside Alveron himself, and his raw, all-too-human chagrin upon realizing his swapped birds nearly killed his master reads as ordinary guilt rather than Fae detachment. Counter-readings instead favor that Stapes, if anything unusual, is more plausibly Amyr or simply a loyal man whose name is a wink: 'stapes' is the smallest bone of the human ear, the one that touches the cochlea, fitting his keen hearing and the bone ring he gives Kvothe.

Evidence§

  • I'd like to put forth a theory, that Stapes may be one of the Fey.
    OP states the core claim of the theory. — u/Larose-
  • My theory mainly hinges on the similarities between Bast and Stapes. Most predominantly, his uncanny sense of hearing.
    Primary evidence: Stapes parallels Bast via uncanny hearing. — u/Larose-
  • they mention his unusual eye colour as well I believe. He also seems to have an extremely similar relationship with his master, to the one Kvothe has with Bast.
    Supporting traits: unusual eye color and Bast-like servant bond. — u/Larose-
  • What if Stapes is the way Kvothe meets Bast!?
    OP's bold extension: Stapes as the link to Bast. — u/Larose-
  • the Stapes is one of the bones of the ear - the one that touches the cochlea. … he’s Amyr and/or a namer.
    CounterCounter: name explains keen hearing; suggests Amyr/namer instead. — u/AlcibiadesHerm
  • Stapes' family has served the Maer for generations. And Stapes himself grew up with Alveron. He is not Fae.
    CounterCounter: generational service and shared upbringing rule out Fae. — u/Vardil
  • But Stapes seems so genuinely and abjectly chagrined to learn what replacing the birds might have wrought. … Seems all too human a mistake.
    CounterCounter: his guilt over the birds reads as human, not Fae. — u/coglapis
  • I just assumed stapes has a clever piece of sygaldry to hear into the maers rooms like the porter
    CounterAlternative: sygaldry, not Fae nature, explains the hearing. — u/beliloss

Book refs: WMF

Tier reasoning§

tier kept: thin traits, in-text generational service undercuts it

Contributors§

Source threads§