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'Third Time Pays for All' Points to a Final Chandrian Showdown

plausible timeline · popularity 127 · 1 source thread

Drawing on Earthsea's rule of three, Kvothe's third encounter with the Chandrian is the climactic reckoning still to come.

About: Kvothe, The Chandrian

Also involves: Cinder, Imre, The Lackless Box, Waystone Inn, Chronicler, The University, Wizard Of Earthsea

The theory§

The recurring maxim "third time pays for all" is read as a structural promise that Kvothe's confrontations with the Chandrian build toward a decisive third reckoning. The first encounter is the slaughter of his parents' troupe, which he alone survives; the second is the killing of Cinder's bandit crew in the Eld, where Cinder again escapes. By the logic of the rule of three, the third meeting will settle who lives and who dies. The theory leans on the deliberate motif of threes throughout the Chronicle, mirrored in older tales such as the thrice-locked chest opened by silver key, copper key, and a word, and argues that the climactic confrontation lies ahead, possibly a showdown with Cinder in Imre or a catastrophic standoff at the Waystone Inn in the frame story.

Evidence§

  • in Wizard of Earthsea, there is a powerful magic object locked away behind three doors, opened with a silver key, a gold key and then words of unbinding. Instantly made me think of the “thrice-locked” chest.
    Establishes the threes motif via Earthsea parallel to Kvothe's thrice-locked chest. — u/45test
  • the hero is faced with a threat that defeats or thwarts him twice before the third time. Ogion explicitly tells Ged that the third time is the charm...so getting back to KKC, I was thinking about Kvothe’s different meetings with the Chandrian in the same lens.
    Core argument: applies the rule-of-three to Kvothe's Chandrian encounters. — u/45test
  • If the first meeting is when his troupe is killed, would the second meeting be in the Eld? Could potentially be if the enemy is specifically Cinder, and the third time will “pay for all” assuming that is who Kvothe has a showdown with in Imre?
    Maps the three encounters: troupe, the Eld, and a coming Imre showdown with Cinder. — u/45test
  • I love reading any theories that talk about how Kvothe is setting up for a final showdown in the present timeline with the Inn somehow involved so I’m biased in hoping that the third time that pays for all is still to come after the story he tells Chronicler.
    Predicts the decisive third reckoning lies ahead, possibly at the Inn in the frame. — u/45test
  • the confrontation you are thinking of is specifically Cinder, not the Chandrian. He encounters him once in NotW (troupe massacre) and once in WMF (the Eld). The Cthaeh says it is a 'twice-in-a-lifetime opportunity seeing him again' which seems to point to three meetings. I firmly believe there will be a third time in Doors of Stone and it will pay for all.
    Refines the theory to Cinder specifically and adds the Cthaeh's line as textual evidence. — u/the_spurring_platty
  • I think the rule of three is just a general thing in stories (and esp. fantasy)
    CounterCounter: the threes motif may be a generic trope, not a structural promise. — u/Acing_it
  • All these fiction books are taking from real world myth and legends. There's several numbers like 3,7,9 etc that pop up a TON in stuff. 3 is the most common.
    CounterCounter: number-three symbolism is ubiquitous mythic borrowing, weakening the predictive claim. — u/spartan_155

Book refs: NOTW, WMF

Tier reasoning§

tier unchanged: reasonable structural prediction, mostly external parallel

Contributors§

Source threads§