KKC Theory Wiki

The University Was Built on Jax's Broken House, with the Moon's Name Behind the Four-Plate Door

fringe identity · popularity 381 · 2 source threads

The University sits atop Jax's labyrinthine broken house, and the Name of the Moon may be locked behind the Four-Plate Door.

About: The University, Iax, The Moon

Also involves: The Archives, Auri, The Doors of Stone, Elodin, The Fae, The Four-Plate Door, The Boy Who Stole the Moon, Kvothe, Mains, The Underthing

The theory§

This theory reads the University's irrational architecture, dead-end corridors, sealed-off courtyards, and the vast layered ruins Kvothe finds in the Underthing, as the remains of Jax's magically broken, ever-expanding house from Hespe's tale 'The Boy Who Stole the Moon.' If so, the Four-Plate Door in the Archives may seal away the Name of the Moon, or Jax himself, captured for his access to the Fae. The reading leans on Mains being described much like Jax's house, with rooms built atop rooms and stairs leading nowhere, and on Auri as a moon-coded figure: she emerges only at night, lives in the Underthing, and Kvothe calls her his 'little moon fae,' with Elodin praising the name Kvothe gives her. A complication is that Hespe places Jax's unfolding house in the Stormwal mountains, and the Great Stone Road runs nearly straight from the University to that range, suggesting the truth spans more than the Underthing alone.

Evidence§

  • Has anyone considered the possibility that the University is built in the ruins of Jax’s house? It has confusing corridors that lead nowhere and courtyards that are completely walled off.
    OP's core claim: University's irrational architecture matches Jax's broken house. — u/YoungRestless21
  • Kvothe’s time in the underthing teaches us that the university has many layers of huge and spacious ruins underneath it.
    OP: the Underthing reveals vast layered ruins beneath the University. — u/YoungRestless21
  • What if the name of the moon is trapped behind the four plate door?
    OP's speculative payoff: the Moon's name sealed behind the Four-Plate Door. — u/YoungRestless21
  • The description of the house shows rooms that are closed off, doors that lead nowhere, stairs in to the ceiling, etc. Mains is described in a similar way with areas built on top of other areas, random places that go nowhere, etc.
    Refines the parallel: Mains matches Jax's house detail for detail. — u/Locke_Fucking_Lamora
  • Auri only comes out at night and there are several points where Elodin and Kvothe are on the tops of Mains when Auri disappears and the description of the shadows on Eldoin’s face change as Auri leaves. Kvothe also calls her his “little Moon Fae”.
    Adds Auri as the moon-coded figure trapped in the house. — u/Locke_Fucking_Lamora
  • And Elodin saying that Kvothe gave the perfect name to Auri also backs this theory
    Comment reinforces Auri-as-moon via the name Kvothe gave her. — u/sreenandan
  • When Kvothe visits the Underthing for the first time, there's doors that open to brick walls and other oddities. In addition, before the sudden change of the scene when he goes into the Cathedral room, it's filled with amazing things like a square metal block the size of afarmhouse so rusted flakes the size of dinner plates fall into his hands at the slightest touch.
    Comment supplies concrete Underthing details: dead-end doors and ancient machinery. — u/goodyearbelt
  • In Hespe's story about Jax, the unfolding house is described as being in the Stormwal mountains. … It's probably not a coincidence that the Great Stone Road is more-or-less a straight line from the University … to some specific location in the Stormwal mountains.
    CounterCounter: the tale places Jax's house in the Stormwal, not under the University. — u/elihu
  • A slow regard for silent things doesn’t mesh well with this. It’s pretty clear that Auri is a student that went crazy. You can tell from her memories.
    CounterCounter: Auri reads as a former student, undercutting the moon identification. — u/TenaceErbaccia

Book refs: NOTW, WMF

Tier reasoning§

tier verified: speculative leap from architecture to Jax's house, fringe is correct

Contributors§

Source threads§