KKC Theory Wiki

Taborlin the Great May Be the Enemy Locked Behind the Doors of Stone

fringe identity · popularity 81 · 1 source thread

Parallel 'smooth, hard stone' passages hint Taborlin is the Enemy sealed beyond the Doors of Stone.

About: Taborlin the Great, The Doors of Stone

Also involves: Felurian, Haliax, The Creation War, The Chandrian

The theory§

This theory proposes that Taborlin the Great is the Enemy sealed beyond the Doors of Stone at the end of the Creation War, with the romanticized tales of his imprisonment and escape being later, softened retellings of that sealing. It rests on matched 'stone' imagery: Felurian refuses to name the one 'shut beyond the doors of stone,' while Skarpi's account of the Blac of Drossen Tor describes the Enemy 'set beyond the doors of stone' after Lanre's death, and the tavern and trail-told versions of Taborlin's prison describe a cell of 'smooth, hard stone' that no man ever escaped. The strongest objection is that Felurian, ancient enough to have known the sealing, does not recognize Taborlin at all when Kvothe names him, yet she plainly knows who lies behind the Doors. A common reconciliation identifies the prisoner instead as Iax, the shaper who stole the moon, leaving open only the further leap that Iax and Taborlin are the same figure. A recurring counter-detail also undercuts the parallel: Taborlin's tower and underground cells are repeatedly described as having no door at all.

Evidence§

  • I will not speak of that one, though he is shut beyond the doors of stone.
    Felurian refuses to name the one sealed behind the doors of stone. — u/nIBLIB
  • After the battle was finished and the enemy was set beyond the doors of stone, survivors found Lanre's body
    Skarpi places the Enemy beyond the doors of stone after the Blac of Drossen Tor. — u/nIBLIB
  • All around him was nothing but smooth, hard stone. It was a cell no man had ever escaped.
    Taborlin's prison described in the same smooth-stone imagery, matching the sealing. — u/nIBLIB
  • Are you saying that Taborlin is the enemy locked behind the doors of stone after the battle? And that his tales of escape (so romanticized through stories told) are actually the precedent to the horrible second war on the ancient world?
    Comment articulates the core claim: Taborlin's escape tales are softened retellings. — u/hillelhw
  • We can't say for sure who The Enemy is but we do know who Felurian is speaking of. Iax. … So, I think the story of Taborlin evolved from the actual event of Iax getting shut beyond the doors of stone.
    Refines theory: the sealed one is Iax, with Taborlin as evolved legend. — u/Kit-Carson
  • The quote you pulled from Felurian (pg 746 of WMF) makes it clear that the person who stole the moon was the one shut behind the doors. … it would mean that Iax is Tarbolin the Great.
    Identifies prisoner as Iax, requiring the further leap Iax equals Taborlin. — u/TrueNamer_01
  • The largest flaw a I see with this is that Felurian didn't know who Taborlin was when Kvothe and her traded stories. She did know who Illien was, but he was dismayed when she didn't know of Taborlin.
    CounterCounter: Felurian, old enough to know the sealing, does not recognize Taborlin. — u/I_am_the_Jukebox
  • Two of your passages refer specifically to doors. The other two categorically state that there are NO doors.
    CounterCounter: Taborlin's cells are repeatedly described as having no door at all. — u/taborlyn13

Book refs: NOTW ch 1, WMF ch 83, WMF ch 102

Tier reasoning§

tier verified: fringe, commenters note a fatal flaw

Contributors§

Source threads§