KKC Theory Wiki

The Waystone Inn Itself Is the Doors of Stone, a Trap Built to Stay Closed

fringe mechanism · popularity 59 · 1 source thread

Kvothe built the Waystone Inn from waystones as an unopenable box-trap, making the inn itself the Doors of Stone.

About: Waystone Inn, The Doors of Stone

Also involves: The Lackless Box, Kvothe, Haliax, The Four-Plate Door

The theory§

This reading holds that the Lackless box, the thrice-locked chest in Kvothe's room, and the four-plate door beneath the University share a single design principle: a vessel made not to be opened but to stay closed forever. The Lackless box has passed unopened through the Lackless line for thousands of years and is unexpectedly heavy despite seeming hollow; the thrice-locked chest likewise has no visible hinge or seam and is extraordinarily heavy; the four-plate door is a seamless expanse of grey stone with four copper keyholes and no handle, inscribed 'valaritas.' The theory proposes that each contains, or is built from, a piece of waystone, and that Kvothe, having learned the box's mechanism, raised the Waystone Inn itself as a vast unopenable trap, so that luring a target inside seals it shut for good. The Doors of Stone would then be a door 'not for opening,' and the bittersweet end is Kvothe sealing himself inside with whatever he has drawn there. A standing objection is that Haliax cannot be barred by any door, so such a trap would fail against the one enemy it most needs to hold.

Evidence§

  • The Lackless box has existed for thousands of years and as far as we know it has never been opened. It is entirely possible that it simply cannot be opened. What is in it? I think it is a piece of a Waystone.
    OP's premise: the unopenable Lackless box contains a waystone piece. — u/BaronGrayFallow
  • The thrice locked chest at the Waystone inn resembles the Lackless box in that it has no hinges or seams and cannot be opened. Why is the box so heavy? It has a big chunk of a Waystone in it.
    Links the thrice-locked chest to the box; heaviness implies a waystone inside. — u/BaronGrayFallow
  • Each copper plate had a hole in its center, and though they were not shaped in the conventional way, they were undoubtedly keyholes. … This was not a door for opening. It was a door for staying closed.
    OP cites the four-plate door as a vessel built only to stay closed. — u/BaronGrayFallow
  • I believe Kvothe figured out how the Lackless box works and made one of his own that also cannot be opened. Furthermore, he designed the Inn and it is made out of Waystones. If he successfully lures his target or targets into the Waystone Inn, the trap will spring shut making the Inn itself a box that cannot be opened
    OP's core thesis: the inn is a waystone box-trap that seals targets inside. — u/BaronGrayFallow
  • I never thought about Kvothe locking himself in forever with whomever or whatever he’s luring to trap them. That is a bittersweet ending
    Comment refines the theory into Kvothe sealing himself in too. — u/Unhappypotamus
  • he guesses it may contain some iron and copper … while coincidentally he has and iron and a copper key that he keeps hidden in a small box outside the window of the Waystone Inn.
    Adds evidence: Kvothe's hidden iron/copper keys match the box's metals. — u/hannahmcfannah
  • I don't know Haliax can't be barred by any door. A trap like this wouldn't seem to work on him at lest.
    CounterCounter: Haliax cannot be barred by any door, so the trap fails. — u/Acrobatic-Sundae-614
  • I personally have a hard time believing that he has a plan and a trap with the inn, mostly because he truly wanted to stay dead. When Chronicler shows up, Kvothe tells him that he is putting Kvothe in a lot of danger by showing up.
    CounterCounter: Kvothe wanting to stay dead argues against a deliberate trap plan. — u/GuardianMjolnir

Book refs: NOTW, WMF

Tier reasoning§

tier correct: imaginative leap chaining several speculations

Contributors§

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