Why is kvothe so weak

Sometimes it's quite elusive or changes all the time, like the name of the wind. But so far Kvothe never mentioned 'real names' when it comes to humans. Humans are too complex for that. I bet the most simple explanation is, that Kvothe is a very good actor.

Using magic at his inn? Sparrowlicious wrote: "Wrong topic type. Please never forget, these books were told from Kvothe's pers I don't think he used magic because that would blow his cover. Maybe they can pick up his use of magic. Aug 25, AM. It's probably going to come out.

I have a feeling he messed up with that evil tree in the fay realm. Aug 26, AM. The goosegirl dresses like a countess and everyone is stunned by her grace and charm. Every Fae child knows this, but you mortals never seem to see. We understand how dangerous a mask can be. We all become what we pretend to be. You dress a beggar in fine clothes, people treat him like a noble, and he lives up to their expectations.

All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story. I've got it now. You meet a girl: shy, unassuming.

If you tell her she's beautiful, she'll think you're sweet, but she won't believe you. She knows that beauty lies in your beholding. You show her she is beautiful. You make mirrors of your eyes, prayers of your hands against her body. It is hard, very hard, but when she truly believes you She transforms. She isn't seen as beautiful. She is beautiful, seen. In regards to Sparrowlicious saying there has been no mention of true names : Kvothe is given the name Maedre and was told not to tell anybody.

Im sure that wasn't for nothing. Also, Elodin tells Kvothe that he could not have subdued Felurian with the name of the wind alone. He must have known Felurians name as well.

Also, remember after Kote tried to fight the two mercenaries and got his butt kicked, he says, Forgot who I was for a second there. I most definitely subscribe to the Kvothe somehow changed his name and locked it in the thrice locked chest. Aug 27, AM. I also think there is something of importance in the thrice locked chest, however, what if he didn't lock his name away?

What if he's just exaggerating, or out of practice? The one thing that I can't reconcile is how he managed to kill the scraelings. If he was just Kote, how did he manage that? Oct 08, AM. What does the wise man fear? His attempts to do the right things, however always went wrong and though he tried to correct those mistakes by doing the things right, still always led to more tragedies.

Eventually he discovered the truth about his destiny and his powers — powers far too dangerous and which cannot be easily rid of. So what else is there to do for the greater good than to lock them away?

Thus ends the third day and a man standing behind the bar, gazing into the night, waiting to die Is there a reason for someone to wait for his death a natural death?

In all his stories he mentioned that he was many times close to the edge of death. There seems to be a reason why he cannot die until his duty, destiny is fullfilled. I go for the changed his name theorie. Sometimes the wind can destroy whole cities and somtimes it is just a pleasant breath, I think that's why its name changes. Elodin said that peolpe could change their name, so maybe that's what happened to Kvothe. He changed from a hurricane to a drizzle to use a John Green metaphore.

I don't think he lied about his magic abilities, maybe exaggerated a bit, but Bast would have noticed if he just lied. I doubt Bast would be there if Kvothe were lying about the kind of abilities he had. What possible reason would a creature of the Faen have, dealing with someone without any real power? If Kvothe has been lying or exaggerating his story then everything we've read is a complete lie.

I choose to believe that everything Kote says is true about Kvothe, if he's lying how else could the author set up mystery's surrounding the chest and context to Kote's depression. I don't understand how people can exactly say that Kote has been lying, we know the fae is real due to Bast, we know Kote can fight due to the scrael, all the evidence in Kote's story points directly to evidence in the future within Kote.

People are only saying this "kote is exaggerating" bullshit because if he isn't then Kvothe is a Mary-sue and that really puts a massive hole into the authors writing. Seems that some fans will go to the length of creating sub-context's without viable proof AND WITH proof of non-existence; just to show their author doesn't write cliche'd books. Meanwhile, the valiant knight, Ser Idcboobs, continues his crusade against The Kingkiller Chronicle , proclaiming that literature must be written in the pattern of an IKEA-manual; the holy grail being a literary internet community where ancient pagan practices such as clever narrating and reading between the lines are persistently shunned as "bullshit".

There's a short story in that, Paul. Title: Obsession. Paul Martin wrote: "Meanwhile, the valiant hero, Ser Idcboobs, continues his crusade against The Kingkiller Chronicle, proclaiming that literature must be written in the pattern of an IKEA-manual; the holy grail being All i can interpret from what you mean however is that you don't know what you're talking about and you're trying to call me out.

I'm fine with both, call me out on disliking a book and an author, if you think i'm the only person who feels this way then so be it, you must know by now though that there are many, many people who know how badly they've been ripped off, just check the reviews of pats new book. This question section is not the time or the place though, if you're done attacking me for attacking your idol you could kindly stop hanging off every word i say, like Renee says, it's obsession. What Renee forgets though is that without context, calling someone obsessed is the equivalent of telling everyone near you that you've run out of genuine discrepancy's and would prefer following a mob mentality instead of private message.

All this because i dislike a book and i don't care to say it out loud, on a site that's main purpose is the review of novels??? Idcboobs wrote: "Hey all i'm saying is that the whole kote exaggerating thing is complete bs and everyone knows it " You really are the master of arguments. Again, wow. The book has an average rating of 4. You see what I'm getting at, right? And then once Skarpi names Kvothe, when he tells Kvothe to flee, that Kvothe truly snaps out of it.

His first acts are to grab his book from Ben and to head to the university. His charades to obtain clothes and shoes are his first indications that he remembers acting think about it - why wouldn't he have used these skills to make money in Tarbean to survive, if he had remembered how? So we can see for the 3 years in Tarbean, Kvothe was "not himself".

Who was he? Was he a young Kote? I see a lot of similarities between the "innkeeper" version of Kvothe and the ragged beggar boy in Tarbean. Maybe Chronicler will have to snap Kvothe out of it this time, or Skarpi might again remember, Chronicler said he was headed to meet Skarpi. Hey, sorry for taking so long to reply. I had heard other people make the connection with "Ramston steel" and Kvothe's Alar. I really don't think it makes sense. Either it is misdirection, an unintentional connection, or the author forgot how sympathy works.

I agree the words are there -- "strongest knife until it breaks," and Alar like a rod of Ramston steel" -- but Alar isn't the kind of thing that breaks. Alar is a mental process. If you "broke" your ability to think in some manner previously accessible to you, it would mean you suffered a stroke.

I do think you're on to something with the doors, though. I really want to know what's behind the Fourplate Door in the Archives. And I'm curious to know what is in the chest. I think it being a part of his Name would make a lot of sense. But it might be something even worse.

I need to re-read the series, honestly. There's probably a hundred things I'm missing. I think you are misunderstanding Alar. The Alar is defined in terms of belief not concentration or a mental exercise like Heart of Stone or Falling Leaf. Belief is exactly the sort of thing that can be shaken or broken by a catastrophic failure. Maybe I am. I plan to do a re-read when Rothfuss announces the third book, and I'll look in to this issue then. My money is that this is misdirection.

Best analysis I've read. However, I want to further explore that Kvothe 'threw the fight' with the soldiers. You say that Bast and the soldiers agree Kvothe "figured it out. The soldier asks 'Does he know? He throw you out? Additionally, the soldier's response to his head shake confirms this.

I think the book makes clear he didn't lose on purpose He is certainly losing more and more of his powers as he continues as Kote, thus he isn't surprised when he can't open his chest. That being said, I think he must still have had something happen to start the process.

I discount the theory that he changed his name, though I could possibly see him doing so if for an example, a Chandarian learned his name and had power over him. I totally discount the idea that he was bound by his promise to Denna. I think that him setting his power aside in penance is the most likely of the theories, simply because it plays into his current bad outlook and you could totally see him doing so if he cost Denna her life for example.

That being said, I think it is even more likely that he lost his powers for a better reason that hasn't been hinted at yet. I just don't think any of the current theories, including penance, fit his drastic, but not complete loss of powers. As an aside, there is a suggestion in the book that 'of course there was no music,' and Bast saying don't ask about his music, both of which make me think he lost his flute ability along with his sympathy, as opposed to just refusing to play.

Great analysis. I like the theory that he changed his true name to 'Kote' or is in the process of it and he has dual personalities or names right now. Kvothe still has powers and strength that are below the surface and cannot be accessed when he is 'Kote'. Bast is trying to wake up Kvothe. When he is Kvothe fully he those powers and strength manifest themselves the bottle that breaks when he grips air; his vise-like grip on Bast, the way Chronicler sees him in that moment; the statement for Chronicler to undo that iron binding or I will break it; his defeat of 5 Scre I have a couple comments also that I have been wondering about in the fight with the soldiers.

It's been 2 years and the soldier was a strong scrapper with scarred knuckles. The strong bearded soldier does just that. Kvothe then tries "a quick motion with both hands" to break the soldiers grasp on him. That seems like Celean's version of "Break Lion" and that also does not work even though it is specially designed to work against stronger opponents. He seems weak in this moment in stark contrast to when he grabbed Bast's wrist when Chronicler put an iron binding on Bast.

Did anyone else notice that the soldier hitting him in the head with the bottle did not do as much damage as it should. Kvothe crumpled bonelessly to the floor. The big man looked at the bottle of wine curiously before setting it back on the bar.

When he shows the original to Kilvin the device makes a metallic clank sound. Kvothe may have created a personal version that protects against melee weapons. A stretch? Maybe — but his injuries are not consistent with getting clubbed with a wine bottle by a strong soldier so either he has something protecting him or his skull is extraordinary.

Of course, he IS a consummate actor, as we saw with the feigned knee injury. He IS extremely smart, he may have figured out that Bast is trying to wake his inner Kvothe. The only time we have seen the inner Kvothe come to the foreground is when the only witnesses already know he is Kvothe.

But something is certainly wrong with him, and it takes something outside of himself to waken the hero or he would be able to open his chest. Book Three needs to happen. I had never noticed the point about the bottle not breaking. That is pretty strange, and there might be something to it. I won't spend time putting together a polished response because, well I'm lazy, but wanted to bounce a few things off you. This is my first stop in looking at internet speculations and felt I should leave my mind here as tribute : Let me know what you think.

Denna is somehow tied to the Chandrian. Ultimately Kvothe has to kill her, or the Chandrian do. Which accounts for why Bast says, 'I hear theres a new Chandrian' or something along those lines. But Bast bringing that up so casually seems to mean that it wasn't Denna looking at how carefully Bast sews his words.

Cinder being defeated by Kvothe seems to be most reasonable to me. With so much respect paid to him in the books and no other member, I think Kvothe does find him and kill him, which is why the Chandrian found a replacement and perhaps that battle left Kvothe with a curse, or maybe he split his mind too many times in the fight and not all the pieces came back together.

Those are the most blaring theories to me, let me know what you think! I am of the opinion that Denna's patron is an Amyr, and that her patron is Bredon.

The way I read Bast's comment actually I think it was Chronicler was that people were claiming Kvothe was the new Chandrian, and was thus trying to persuade him in to telling his real story to avoid his association with the Chandrian.

I really hope Kvothe does kill Cinder. Kote in siaru translates to disaster. Kilvan tells Kvothe the saying "expect disaster every seven years" after the fire in the fishery. Kvothe's first disaster was his troupe being massacred at 11 or 12 years old. Next disaster is at Then 25 where he is now an innkeeper.

Just a thought. The loss of his hands seems to be a really good theory I never thought of. Notice the "v" and "h" are missing from his name. Could that be voice and hands Also I think he killed an Adem warrior. Hence the sword folly on the wall. Maybe Carceret? He discribed her as being more angry than anyone else who has ever been angry in the series thus far. I don't think that will be left by the roadside. Aug 12, PM.

I think the best explanation for the disparity between Kvothe and Kote's skills has less to do with lying and more to do with the fact he changed his name. Names are powerful things, no? Aug 13, AM. True True. But we still don't know if he changed his true name or his calling name. Calling names are decidedly less important. Aug 18, PM. Spot on Matthew. Amber, I believe he did both. I think Kvothe is truly attempting to relay his story.

The real story. He's not a perfect character and has made mistakes. I believe he has done something regarding his true name. He's very smart, witty, and clever, therefore I feel he will learn how to correct what he has done.

Either way though, he is not happy with himself or some of the things he has done. Everyone has a problem with the character feeling as though he has been created as a larger than life, perfect, never failing individual. I kind of feel the opposite.

I feel that he has had some major successes in his life, but what is important is the story behind the story. Where his failures have brought him to where he is now. A somewhat lonely confused, hurting person. Take the frustration of opening his box for instance. He built it for goodness sakes and now is even powerless to open it. I can see the frustration and despair in the face as he slouches over it his futile efforts.

It seems as though every now and then he has a gentle flash back to who he was and forgets who he is. That in itself has caused him hardships. The one theory I have is that this is all possibly part of a master plan that he has in order to bring his ultimate goal of facing the Chandrian into fruition. As though he is pulling off the greatest act of any Edma and luring his enemies in. Possibly he has even become one of the Amyr by this point. Ive also though that the Amyr let him see cthaeh.

Remember how he mysteriously got by its guards. And the guards description was rather close to that of the Amyr. In the sense that their actions are for the greater good. Maybe there is some other magic in play wherein they knew that Kvothe had to speak to the Cthaeh, even though great turmoil will result, the greater good would prevail with the destruction of the Chandrian or some other act.

In any case I believe he will either become Amyr, already has, or will work closely with them. Though the books have hinted at the Amyr, we actually know more about the Chandrian.

I'm speaking about Amyr on the level of the Chandrian. Not the historical Amyr referenced in the books. I feel those work to assist and serve the real Amyr. Just some things I've kicked around, probably couldn't be farther from where the author is going. Aug 20, PM. Yah, I've never found Kvothe to be the ultimate badass character like some people seem to think he is.

I enjoy Kvothe's failures and find his need for revenge to be one of his greatest faults. I wasn't trying to say that he didn't change his name, I was trying to say, we can't conclusively say what is wrong with the man.

It could be he changed his name, and thats a reasonable hypothesis, but we could also be way off base. Personally, I've always thought that his alar failed him due to some traumatic event and that he could no longer properly use it because of that trauma. Easily either could happen and have the same story surrounding it. Also, the Amyr don't guard the Ctheah, the Sithe do. They are a solely fae based group. They are quite different from the Amyr and even Bast says that describing them as working "for the greater good" would be a poor description and shows a lack of understanding for them.

However, since the Amyr's founding goal was to take revenge on The Chandrian I wouldn't be surprised that Kvothe might join them since thats a common interest. They are all just groups with agendas. Aug 21, PM. Kaitlynn wrote: "Martina wrote: "I don't know about the pirates. Especially if he had Aug 26, PM. I'm with you on the changing both names, Mike. The whole concept of him being a "mary sue" seems absurd to me.

He has strengths and weaknesses, just like Amber pointed out, his need for revenge not being the least of them. I like Amber's theory of his snapping in a way that caused his alar to fail, but I have a hard time thinking of what else he could have endured trauma wise that would be worse than what's already happened or cause him to react differently than he has historically e. In my opinion and based on whats thus far been presented, I don't think another traumatic event would be required necessarily.

A lot of the traumatic events that have happen to Kvothe are actually sealed away in his psyche. He doesn't spend a lot of time thinking about them and some he doesn't even have full awareness of until something forces them upon him.

For instance, when he is poisoned with the plum bob, when he calls Felurian's name, and when he speaks with Ctheah. All these events lead to him faceing traumatic moments of his past his mind had kept locked away from his concious existance. All someone has to do is open all the doors of Kvothe's mind and he could easily be overwhelmed by the scope of his personal pain.

Couple that with his constant desire to locate the Chandrian, whose leaders self professed major ability is that, No Door Shall Bar his passing and blam, recipe for disaster. Especially in an instance of pure instinct where Kvothe might use a magic greater than his understanding, that has already led many to institutionalization, and has already once sent him into a state of basic catatonia. Nov 21, PM. Nov 22, AM. Kvothe lying? Poetic license? Amber points out several corroborating actions also.

No - if Kvothe is a liar I will burn my copy of the books. Nov 23, AM. Erik wrote: "Kvothe lying? Is he lying? Just look at the story with Felurian. That's and his training with the Adem are so different from the other tales that you can see he tells the thruth in a very sincere way. I see Kvothe in the Inn as 1 year after everything ended, when he lost Denna and defeated the Chandrian. He's lost everything at this moment that defined his life and he's in a severe depression.

How many time really passed by? Nobody but Kvothe knows, look at the time with Felurian. He went in a boy and came out a man. Both emotionally as physically, his time with the Adem defined that even more. There's a price on his head because he's a kingkiller, not because he's bad. He's many things but not evil. As far as killing the King. He probably deserved it.

Kvothe isn't a liar, he did many things in pursuit of the Names. All for the greater good in protecting Denna or defeating the Chandrian or Ambrose. Some people who don't understand him would say he's evil but that's out of fear. Kvote sometimes creams things up but that's because the thruth was similar but not so exciting.

If you read between the lines the outcome would be the same as it's viewed through a boy's eyes and memories are sometimes better left alone, especially the recent ones.

His lore of him losing his family, growing up on the roofs, learning how to play the lute. It's all true. It's just at this moment in time he has lost himself, his energy and his will. He does stuff and sometimes it flickers up again. In the next book i think he finds the Chandrian, Denna gets killed along the way.

He defeats one, maybe two but has to run as he wasn't ready. In defeat he opened up an inn together with Bast. Now the remaining Chandrian are chaos and are preparing a war. The Skrae are the first signs. IN the next trilogy he will have find his will, energy and strength back and goes off to defeat them once and for all. First he'll get his sword back from the Adem as he will be alive again.

Then the Kingkiller will face the Chandrian alone with all the pain they caused. At this point he won't care if the world will burn with him or not and that's where the fear of the people come from as he did it too Ambriose as a youngling. Who knows what he's capable off when facing the Chandrian for the first time and using the pain of losing Denna. Unreliable narrators are used by great authors. Is this one? We shall see with the release of book 3.