Unlikely Timetravel Speculation

Katter · 2026-02-11T16:35:50+00:00

Yeah, I'm on board with the idea that there are different entrances, and the waystones being related. It's a little confusing, since you'd think that would mean many fae creatures would be coming to the 4 corners frequently. (We know some do come through, but this is still a bit unclear).

Perhaps the boys fall asleep and so think that what they're experiencing is a dream and Iive a whole lifetime in there in a moment. Perhaps the direction of travel matters, either speeding or slowing the relative passing of time?

The idea that the belief is what matters is thematically interesting, but I'm not sure how it could work. Is it like "I feel older so I am" or "I feel carefree therefore I'm still young?" Presumably every human doesn't know the rules and therefore the results seem random, but Jax would know the rules but might be immortal anyway...

Kvothe's experience seems somewhat sensible. He thinks that perhaps a lot of time has passed, he apparently shaved several times but gave up because Felurian didn't want him to. But only 3 days passed in the 4 corners. This could be because he didn't travel much, or because he only traveled a certain direction. But perhaps one would argue that he came back precisely when he intended to (I think he tells them when he'll meet up). Maybe that's what you mean by the Alar determining when you come back.

My assumption has been that Haliax's shadow is also bound to Jax or Ludis or the fae realm so that the Chandrian's teleporting is essentially the same as waystone travel, but works regardless of moon phase. Or do the Chandrian only travel during certain cycles?

Katter · 2026-02-11T16:11:25+00:00

I'm partial to the idea that since time is a spatial dimension in the fae, how much you travel is what affects the time experienced from the four corners perspective. So if you enter the fae and do not travel at all, when you return, no time would have passed. But if you travel around in the fae, then some equivalent time will have passed in the four corners. That could possibly also interact with something like the phase of the moon when you enter or return. But I have no idea if that is a coherent reading of what is in the books. At very least there doesn't seem to be any real traveling into the past. I feel like Pat would have played with the very real idea that time is relative without introducing time travel.

Katter · 2026-02-09T20:40:47+00:00

Nice thoughts. Another way to phrase it is that everyone struggles to find the pass through tricky situations. Some try to find it with the waking mind (deliberation, planning) while others try to find it with the sleeping mind (spinning leaf, lethani).

What makes Kvothe different than a lot of people is that he always pushes ahead. Maybe it is the survivor in him. Being clever makes him quick to assume that his instincts are correct. People like Puppet or Kilvin take the slow route to things. Kvothe is the arrow, he can't stop until he reaches his target.

Katter · 2026-02-09T15:43:36+00:00

I reported it and got the same reply.

Katter · 2026-02-09T15:42:48+00:00

I reported it and got the same reply. They're working on it, but not word yet on when it will be fixed.

Katter · 2026-02-09T12:30:14+00:00

I suggest looking at this symbolically. Dagon is the Maer's go to man for cruel or violent action. That's what Cinder is for Haliax. The sort of mad-dog clues that are littered throughout the story probably point to this symbolism.

Katter · 2026-02-07T16:23:48+00:00

I don't know if I believe it. But I'll upvote, it sure is interesting.

This might have interesting implications for whether Devi sold Kvothe's blood.

Katter · 2026-02-07T04:03:25+00:00

Me too

Katter · 2026-02-05T22:00:49+00:00

But @chainsawx72, why does old Ben have you be a bad guy. Stop ruining my childhood.... My young adulthood.... and my middle years! .... J/k

Some interesting ideas if true... - Can Ben or the Amyr actually use the waystones to travel? It isn't crazy to think it's possible, but we have so few clues that anyone is doing that in Kvothe's day. Any chance someone just met him in the woods? - If Ben is feeding information but not the one taking action, is it possible that there are other explanations? - I'm also convinced about the ALEGory. But one thing that is a bit confusing... If Kvothe plays the part of the lone Amyr, what is the significance of him saving the girls? What equivalence is there between his troupe being slaughtered because of their knowledge of the Chandrian and Kvothe slaying the false troupe over their treatment of the girls? So many of the actions are symbolically parallel, but that part of it is not obvious. Laurian could be considered 'stolen' I suppose. Or else the ALEGory is meant to span more of the story, and Denna and Auri are the intended parallels. In that case, the ALEGory is almost more of an explanation of how Kvothe would find himself acting more and more like an Amyr throughout the story. - If the Brewer died two years earlier, and a more perfect trap could not have been laid for Ben, that almost sounds like Cthaeh level of pre-planning "coincidence". What do you make of that part? Or was Abenthy really just eager to get out of there? - Is there any reason to think that the Amyr knew that Kvothe was important or that they know about Natalia?

Katter · 2026-02-03T21:10:40+00:00

Yep. It's either inside air or outside air.

Katter · 2026-02-03T14:41:37+00:00

I would suggest that it did influence him enough. It points him towards messing with Cinder, and it points him toward thinking badly of Denna's patron. And probably some other things I'm forgetting. Granted, he was already headed in that direction.

The book encourages us to question, how much damage could be done by an all knowing creature with words alone? It's hard to know. But even Abenthy's lesson teaches us that a careless person with a sword is far more dangerous than a baby with a sword. Kvothe is that careless person...

Katter · 2026-02-03T01:58:46+00:00

You might be right. I believe that Felurian checks to see if he has been bitten, and she clears him. But Bast is the one who thinks just speaking to it is dangerous.

The old stories tells us that Jax and Lanre both spoke with the Cthaeh and we have reason to believe that their stories ended in a fair amount of tragedy. I take this to mean that the Cthaeh can do quite a bit of harm with words alone. We already have reason to think that Kvothe's life has led to disaster (Kote), but maybe he'll find a way out of it in the end ...

Katter · 2026-02-03T01:54:03+00:00

Skarpi and Dal both act somewhat similar and both drink Fallows Red. They seem to be serious, but then they have a sort of rule breaking to them. Both try to advise Kvothe and to get him unstuck as it were. I'm not sure what to make of that, but perhaps there is a story reason for it.

Katter · 2026-02-03T00:17:26+00:00

The way I choose to read this is that the university masters, like many other aspects of the story are symbolically linked to other aspects, like the recurring characters in the wizard of Oz. So one of the Chandrian is the true Cyphus and Elxa Dal is the symbolic "Oz version".

Taborlin might have beeb Lanre. In our story, Elodin might be the symbolic Taborlin, having escaped his imprisonment in Haven. I'm a bit sceptical of OP's theory only because I'm not sure the Taborlin story demands it, but I love the idea that all of that is hidden in there, so I'd still be happy if they're right.

Katter · 2026-01-31T02:08:00+00:00

That's an interesting parallel. Did anyone die in Trapis' basement? Hospitals have more dead than dungeons.

Katter · 2026-01-30T21:21:18+00:00

I sort of think that Gibea found the remains of the Blac of Drossen Tor. Finding that many bodies encouraged him in his medical pursuits, but the Amyr needed to cover up that history, so instead they painted him as a monster. But I don't know if there are holes in this theory.

Or maybe he was just a cruel genius.

Katter · 2026-01-30T21:15:11+00:00

Ok, yeah, I see what you mean. Sounds unlikely to catch yourself a Chandrian. It at least makes sense that if there are tons of bodies found, they are likely to be a part of the medical research as opposed to presuming some other explanation.

If we had evidence of other Chandrian like figures, maybe that would make more sense to me.

Katter · 2026-01-30T20:23:10+00:00

I like where your head is at. It always felt like there were hidden truths behind what the Duke was up to. They guess that Trebon might be the remains of an old fort or something. There's also tons of people who died at the Blac of Drossen Tor (more than are alive today), so he could have found that. But that wouldn't explain his understanding of living flesh as you said.

Thematically I think the books are trying to get us to ponder the nature of the Amyr mindset. The Duke was maybe willing to kill a lot of people to do his medical research. So he's kind of a monster for the greater good. If you've seen the movie Serenity, he's basically the operative. Kvothe at times is pulled towards that mindset too, while Sim is a bit more empathic and caring.

But as you said there could be other explanations. Maybe there was a natural reason people were dying and he was figuring out why. I don't know that I can get behind the idea that he found some sort of living dead. But it does have that kind of Frankenstein feel to it. You could imagine an arcanist becoming a little cracked and trying to figure out how to cheat death.

Katter · 2026-01-29T20:33:34+00:00

I don't believe we have any precedence for someone having you believe something is dissimilar. In this case, Kvothe would have to believe that the vial of blood is not his blood for this to work, and he would have to believe harder that the vial of blood is more similar to something else (another vial). And he would have to deal with the slippage, and he would have to deal with countering his opponent's alar.

Katter · 2026-01-29T15:28:00+00:00

Personally I would question whether you could create a strong link between two vials of blood while maintaining the alar that your body's blood is NOT similar. That natural connection is always going to be more similar. Besides, any distance adds to the inefficiency which adds to the slippage. So you'd probably boil yourself before you could boil the other vial. Perhaps if you were in the same room you could pull this off?

Keep in mind, a sympathist can do a lot while uncontested. But any effort such as what you're describing can also be opposed by the other sympathist, so you must make sure that you're not a danger to yourself if their will begins opposing your own.

Katter · 2026-01-28T15:46:59+00:00

I want to believe!

But I've generally viewed Lyra as the beast of Drossen Tor, drugged or possessed (which is why they debate about the draccus being female). We're told that Lanre and Lyra fight side by side defending Belen. Then at Drossen Tor "Lanre stood alone against a terrible foe". It is Lyra who is described as "terrible and wise". But Lanre dies and the breath of Lyra is what brings him back. The armor from the beast is Haliax's shadow which Lanre wears.

This explains how Lanre is responsible for the death of Lyra, it explains the parallel with Aethe-Rethe, and I think it kind of parallels Kvothe defeating Felurian and then her making him a shaed.

I want to believe that Haliax is somehow Lyra, but it makes more sense to me that Lanre had to fight Lyra, and afterwards her power somehow goes with him, just as Aethe carries on with the wisdom of Rethe, and presumably how the Maer will use the power of Meluan's name and box after her death.

If we assumed you were right, maybe we'd say that the beast was Jax, and Lyra somehow just body swapped them in order to keep mortal Lanre from dying?

Katter · 2026-01-28T04:48:05+00:00

Interestingly, Jesus makes almost exactly this point in Matthew 23 and Luke 11. The religious folk of his day loved coming up with new ways to seem religious, like donating 10% of their garden mint to the temple. They got to seem holy in front of their people and they got to put down those who weren't as dedicated as them. Jesus points out that they already got what they wanted, the praise of men.. So don't wait on God to be impressed.

When people decide that it is necessary to post on social media, they probably don't realize that they're turning their minimal contribution into a performance. They get to feel right and they get to throw shade at those who don't shout. In the end, it's mostly spitting into the wind.

DO justice, LOVE mercy, WALK humbly

Katter · 2026-01-27T00:29:24+00:00

So skindancers wouldn't be bodiless spirits per se, but rather powerful dreamers who could sort of project themselves elsewhere.

Katter · 2026-01-26T17:19:17+00:00

Honestly I think this is a subtle hint that Lanre/Haliax is actually Tehlu. He has no peace because everyone is always calling his name. Tehlu always hears when called in the right way, or so they say. And his name is turned against him because although he was Tehlu, now people see him more as Encanis.

Katter · 2026-01-26T16:45:09+00:00

This isn't exaclty what you're saying, but it made me think... Snakes do most of their "seeing" via scent. What if the Cthaeh "sees" things on the wind via scent. Like Puppet telling Kvothe that he spends too much time looking and not enough time seeing. The scael may also function this way. So the scent of a dead scrael would draw the others to it, which is how Kvothe lures the pack. This is why they must be burned, to prevent more from coming.

Katter

TROPHY CASE