What is the Cthaeh? 3 Theories on Its Identity | Kingkiller Chronicle Lore 

This video is long overdue! I've been dealing with a family emergency over the last several months and recently it has been taking up all of my time. But I'm glad to finally post this! Let me know your thoughts on the theories I mention and if you have any of your own! Also make sure to watch Part One if you haven't yet: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BuAiNCU2-Co.html Also ignore the weird graphical glitch at 3:33 ;)

I always image Rothfuss watching these videos and chuckling to himself holding The Doors of Stone.

I love that you treated all the theories fairly equally. I think you make some logical jumps that could just be theories. For example you said that the skin dancer asked Kote “te rinte?” And decided that meant “are you a Chandrian?” Which is a good logical jump, but rinte is the Ademic word used for the Chandrian, but remember it actually means “shaped one”. To me this implies that the skin dancer may have asked “are you a shaped one?”, which could be a larger group of beings than just the 7. Like the skin dancer asked “your name has been changed?” Great video dude! Give us more.

We know of 3 beings that have spoken to the Cthaeh, and they are each known by 2 names: Iax/Jax, Lanre/Haliax, and Kvothe/Kote. I wonder if the Cthaeh’s sight is confounded by changing one’s name. It has been speculated that Tehlu’s name might be translated as “First Lock”, indicative of his Lockless (Lackless) bloodline. If Encanis is the Cthaeh, could the reason that Kvothe was able to approach the Cthaeh uninterrupted be because Tehlu bound Encanis (the Cthaeh) to the tree, Kvothe and Tehlu are both of Lackless blood, and whatever notifies the Sithe of someone approaching the Cthaeh is not triggered by a Lackless? Was Elodin formerly known as Taborlin and did he have to change his name after meeting the Cthaeh?

no one: literally nobody: not a single soul: some poor bastard on a walk during moonless night in the beginning of 2020: wow, speaking tree!

I give a 33% chance that _The Doors of Stone_ ends with a cheesy pun.

Jax... if the the J is like an I (as in Hebrew) Iax (ee-axe) if J is soft (like Spanish) Hax Halaxel, Haliax, Amyr if the A is "not" or "away from" or "without" (like Latin or Greek) A Myr (Tiriniel).

I'm so glad I'm already subscribed to you and I don't have to wait for youtube to recommend this video to me in 2035

I'm not good at theories, but is there something in Encanis's name? I know Canis means dog and En mostly stand for on or into, with a lot of mentions of Encanis biting and scratching.... then the Ctaeh's choice of words "sending a young pup like yourself snapping at his heels"..... And we all know how much Rothfuss loves language and word play. I think there's something there...

So glad to have you back! However, I think I can safely write that the entire subscriber base is hoping for the best for you and your family. We are willing and able to wait patiently for more amazing videos while you care for you and yours.

Honestly, I feel like the Ctaeh, even though his influence is great in the development of the story, has nothing to do directly with the end, all due to Bast's reaction of Kvothe meeting the Ctaeh. He couldn't have set him free, because Bast would have known it. Bast have been with Kvothe for quite some time, even getting to know Denna in the flesh. So, the Ctaeh leaving the tree would've been a major incident in the Fae Realm, taking in consideration the way Bast describes what the Ctaeh means to them. And Bast would want to know wheter Reshi set him free o not if he was free.

So the one thing that keeps popping up in the back of my mind, which is: all the stories we hear have SO MANY similarities, but distinct differences...and Skarpi says "there is only one story", so what if all the stories we hear ARE actually one story, told in different ways, with different mythologies behind? Like people believing the Chandrian to be fairy stories, I think that the entire Tehlu story might be fiction invented by the church to justify their position in "the one story", and "Angels" being somethig else entirely. So instead of LINKING the stories to each other and trying to figure out what's the "true" story, it might be interesting to look into what's different between the stories, investigate the differences and try to piece together the truth from that? I also have the very strong feeling that the Chandrian are not "evil evil", but that they are creatures made evil by something to do with Naming and the Cthaeh and especially the trying to bring people back from death, and that they are trying to keep something much worse from happening - I love the link you make here to their true names, maybe the are trying to prevent their true names from being spoken because that would take their freedom to do "the lesser evil" (note: that's the opposite of "the greater good"). I also very much agree with you on Kvothe being in the same position as Lanre, having tried to bring back Denna (or maybe Auri?) from behind the doors of stone, and ending up being immortal, having seen something much more disturbing than death (maybe the real story?), and that he is now doing the same as Lanre/Haliax and the Chandrian - keeping the world safe from whatever would happen if his name was taken by whoever is this more disturbing thig than death. Also regarding the Fae, this is the first time I read the connection between Iax's folding house and the Faen realm, and I'm absolutely amazed. There is another point that I would like to make in this regard: We're only seeing the story from the human perspective, and it is implicated that Fae and humans see the world as very much opposite, as seen in Felurian's delight about "Manling stories" - could it be that the true nature of Chandrian, Amyr, Angels, Cthaeh, whatnot, only makes sense if seen from the Fae perspective? We also never know if Myr Tariniel is in the Fae or the Human Realm,and there is Fariniel, "where all roads meet", but we don't know if that means that this is an original entrance or exit to the Faen realm...I think this might make a difference. Anyway, I'm blabbing, I have so many thoughts and theories in my head, but I never actually made the effort to structure it all properly, so I will dive into this forum you mentioned and knock myself out there. Thank you for that amazing video! :)

I was just thinking the other day that I hadn't seen a video from you for a long time. Now I understand why, remember breath and remember it is OK to take a step back! Best wishes to you and your family.

Man. Videos like this inspire me to write considerably more complex stories. You are an awesome reader and I'm sure Patrick is honored you've put this much passion into his work.

These are some really cool theories, it's good to see you back!

Glad to see you back, Jay!

To add to the theory of the Cthaeh being Selitos, both seem to be inspired in part by Odin from Norse mythology. Selitos most clearly, as he sacrifices his eye to gain a better sight. Odin sacrificed his own eye to gain magical knowledge, too. Regardless of any connection with the Cthaeh, Odin seems to be where Rothfuss got the idea for that. The Cthaeh is an all-knowing entity stuck to a tree. Odin is also all-knowing, and in another story he hangs himself from the world tree Yggdrasil to gain knowledge over the magical runes. The Cthaeh also seems to borrow a lot from Satan and the snake from the Garden of Eden story though, like you said, so maybe that's just a coincidence. On another note, speaking of Yggdrasil, it's a symbolic representation of the world and, fittingly, the poem Völuspá seems to imply the tree burns down at the start of the apocalypse. As soon as Kvothe got to the bandit camp in Vintas and saw a big tree there, it reminded me of Yggdrasil. Sure enough, Kvothe strikes it with lightning and sets it on fire. If Rothfuss is using that tree as a symbolic representation of the world, that might foreshadow that Kvothe will cause the end of the world (or an apocalypse of Fae creatures), which I know is a theory that some people hold already. In addition to Satan and Odin, the Cthaeh also kind of resembles Loki from Norse mythology. In some stories Loki is a fun trickster, but in some he is deeply malicious. His actions directly lead to the death of one of the gods, Baldr, and as a result of this he (Loki) is tied to a rock. At the start of the apocalypse, however, he escapes his bonds and joins the "evil" side to do battle against the gods. In this light, it would make sense if Kvothe ends the world (or starts an apocalypse, at least) by releasing the Cthaeh from its tree, as some people suggest. I'm still very new to this fandom, so maybe people have pointed this stuff out before, or I got some existing theories wrong. Please do tell me if I did.

Just found your vlogs and love them!! my mind is all over the map and I am so thankful you all share my love of this story and creative world. Great job and I understand how much work goes into a vlog so well done. Awesome!!! Take care of you and yours.

Always excited for new videos from you!

I'm watching all the videos about the Kingkiller Chronicle and I'm in love! Finally a place to gather all the Reddit theories. Congratulations on the work, your videos are very well produced!

Great video. Glad you're back

Ahhhh love this! SO SO much of this I never thought about and has put a huge new perspective on the Ctheah....I gotta get out my book again!

Amazing Video as always! I love your editing style. Also, your lore videos make me want to research all possible theories and info I might have missed out on :D So thanks for that!

Someone has probably said this, but I think the lackless box/cthaeh tree/thrice locked chest are made of roah wood because it’s hinted to have copper in it (by Kvothe anyway), which has been all but confirmed to have no name. Could be that they’re made of it so that Namers can’t manipulate them or break them or open them and unleash hell

I just found your channel and I love all the Kingkiller Chronicle Lore. Also the editing is really well done. Probs and a big thank you!

Bro..... I need more videos. Great content. I watched all of your videos strait through. More please.

Amazing! Worth the wait

Love these King Killer videos, you bring up a lot of theories that get my brain working overtime

Love this series and the videos. It's great to compile theories whilst the last book doesn't come out.

another great KK theory video, I enjoy the way you produce them. It honestly wouldn't surprise me in the least if he actually gets ideas from his fan's theories, etc for DoS.

Was super hype for this!

Such a delight to have you back! Your content is genuinely on the next level, especially when you're looking at the Kingkiller world. Keep up the amazing work 🙏

My take on the locked box (would be interested if anyone else is thinking along these lines): Kvothe eventually learns from how to read the old knots, he was already getting good at it by the end of book two. In doing so he is then able to open the container the Maers wife had. Essentially learning the secret to it, maybe a family tree or key insight. He's then able to use that knowledge himself as a way of protection on a valuable item or piece of knowledge. In the books it mentions master Elodin raising an eyebrow or a look of surprise when he thinks Kvothe means Denna was changing her true name, not just her regular name. I don't think that's a small detail, I think that's to tell the reader a user could change their true name. The wind has many names, how do you find the name of something constantly changing its nature? Nevermind a person.... Which makes you think how does someone go about changing their name ? They would likely have to change their habits, their nature the things that define their freewill. Like becoming a simple tavern owner for years and locking away elements of their life and past. Cornerstone events. Maybe through a magical block. I am thinking Kvothes chose to suppress his abilities or at least the memories of them to then regain them at a later point upon touching an object. That would make sense for Kvothe to lock that in the box, but perhaps he was too clever for his own good (nothing new there) and hadn't realised a change to his true name would also rob him of his true power and essentially lock him out of the box. When he asked Bast how he would open the box, I genuinely think he was trying to see if there was a way someone could help him. To the side of that Bast is annoyed and doesn't understand why Kvothe would choose to live this simple life when he is who he is. We are assuming a lot that he wants to live like that though, it's more likely he's had to do it to protect himself. I am thinking Kvothes true name is learnt by the Chandrian or maybe revealed that it is known, or close to being known and worrying that they would enslave him like Cinder (who I see becoming an inside man helping Kvothe from within the Chandrian unable to escape his mistake, and power that's held over him by Haliax, but able to support another with how to defeat them). Alternatively it could have been done to protect him from being pulled back into the fae as he said he would return to her, so he has more than one reason to hide. As an aside: I also suspect the king he kills is Ambrose 🤣

wow i gotta rewatch this a few times. Thank you bro. Love KKC content

Yes! I was looking forward to part 2 of this theory. Great video as always!

Jay is back! Even if for a moment you bring another fantastic video. :)

Welcome back Jay, sorry to hear about you are your mums health troubles. As an ex nurse I totally understand that family comes first. No matter what dude you have the support of your subs and community here on RU-vid and social media. We never mind how often you post. Your vides are more about quality over quantity, personally I like the content you upload because you always put in 110%. I bet your mum would be proud and appreciative of all you do here on RU-vid and what you have done for her over the last few months. Cheers bro and welcome back. Take care also!

Great video as always :)

So good! Love your videos!

love all of your Kingkiller videos! thanks for all the work i truly appreciate and enjoy them

Jay, all your theories make sense to me. I reckon that if P.R. hasn't thought of an end to his book, he can surely rely on you for that. You'll be a great writer one day! I'm reading The Final Empire now as per your suggestion. It's good, but so far not as much as Fitz and the Fool...👍😁. Hope your family is ok. Cheers, Mara.

Glad to see you were able to get this video out. Hope everything is looking up for you lately. Edit: spellcheck.

Praying for continued good health for you and your mom! P.S. Love your videos. Thanks for such consistently amazing content :)

it just seems weird that the cthaeh should play a big role, with kvothe acting all chill about it

Hi, I just found your channel and I love it. I finished reading the books for the 4th time and I can't get enough. EAGERLY awaiting the doors of stone.... I did wait longer for some of King's dark tower series a few decades ago, so I'm sure I'll manage. Ha Thank you for your efforts, I truly enjoy them. Have a great day.

Props for your dedication bro. Extra props for the Salvatore Drizzt books in the background, too.

Fascinating. I always love your analysis and find your videos very engaging. WHEN will the new book come out so we don't have to make theories any longer?? I am losing hope lol. Praying for your family.

Taking care of your family and yourself is first and foremost. I hope your mom is doing well and definitely don't mind waiting for your excellent videos no matter how long they take.

great video, man

Kvothe swore to Denna on his name and power that he wouldn't try to find out the identity of her patron. If he broke that promise, wouldn't that mean he would lose his name and power?

Oh I am so ready!

Excellent job your best video yet!

Excellent video!!

Another great video man!👌

I really need more of these videos

Thank you! There are always so many things I didn't even notice ... I have to reread the books!

I'm brazilian and thank you very much for the subtitles in portuguese, if you could do more I will happy :D Ps: Sorry for any mistake, my english is not so good

Another awesome video!

Wow that is fascinating! And what an amazing creation by Patrick Rothfuss, so much detail, intrigue and back story, that he has woven into his books.

3 years ago on the first cthae video I made a comment calling out the v in kvothes name. I just saw this video today somehow. I'm sorry if I made you feel bad or self conscious! I love your content and mentioned it at the time because I had just seen the pronunciation video myself and wanted to share, I hope it didn't make you feel bad. I appreciate all of the hard work you do :)

Great vids! Think about making some The Doors of Stone prediction videos

Great Video. Love thinking about the Cthaeh. Bast said Lanre talked to the Cthaeh shortly before he betrayed Myr Tariniel, but he already betrayed Myr Tariniel at this point (and had probably the Chandrians - who seem to be some people (maybe the kings/leaders) from the cities that went down this day on his side) -> because the troups were already on their ways and the other cities already burning when he talked to Selitos. I think its likely that the Cthaeh - whatever he was/is - gave Lanre the Power that turned him into Haliax but even more likely that he told him something that nobody should or could know ( Skapi said something like Lanre gained knowledge that nobody should know), and telling people something that they shouldn't know and can not bear is something the Cthaeh would do - Selitos didn't said something like that to Lanre concerning to Skapis story. In my fantasy I think the Cthaeh simply told Lanre that Lyra would never come back for ever and is just gone, the world he full of awful destiny and lost love or something simple like that and Lanre madly in love as he was just couldn't stand it - and out of blinding sadness and compassion for everyother being he decided to kill everything to free everybody from suffering and protect them from experiencing the suffering he experienced - though to achieve destroying the whole world he is obviously willing to create an awful amount of suffering in the process. I also think Skapis Story is true because in the present Kvothe seems to feel sympathic towards Skapi - which he proably wouldn't if he told him rubbish and therefore spiked that argument between Kvothe and Denna and setting up Kvothes whole life under the wrong asumptions. What ever, that are just fantasies I can't wait to find out, I hope someday he will write that third book ( I honestly think he didn't so far) and puplish it. I loved those theories especially Kvothe as a unvoluntary nwe member of the Chandrian. Jees I want to find out.

You are a superb narrator!

I really enjoy your videos!!! The books are a source of infinite theories, and even tho Reddit is full of them, you always give something new! Good luck with your personal stuff as well! I don't quite enjoy the theory of selitos being ctaeh though. Just doesn't seem right to me... Someone apparently doing stuff for the good becoming the figure of evil itself

Your editing is beautiful, honestly I have never seen a booktube channel with your level of such great music, cuts and montages. I would love to learn your secrets of how you make these happen, perhaps you can do a behind the scenes video and show your process

Thanks for legendend in portuguese!! Obrigada pela legenda em português, sou brasileira e adoro Patrick Rothfuss, mas infelizmente é muito difícil achar ótimos vídeos em português sobre seus livros. ❤❤😔✊

For me, my only major problem with the Cthaeh is that if it does know every and all possible outcomes of the future how was it trapped in the first place. If you have an enemy that OP then something is wrong. I don't think that Rothfuss would do a mistake like that. I believe that it was "trapped" on purpose because it knew that someday Kvothe would come along, it would infuence him with certain words which would eventually lead to it's release. Why would it let be trapped for that long? Because now it has almost no enemies. Namers are rare now and his worst enemies right now would be some Fae (like the Sithe) and maybe the Amyr. The Amyr right now are also weakened since everyone thinks they were just an order of knights and the Sithe would have their hands full fighting normal people since I believe the war that is mentioned in the present is fought between humans and Fae. I don't know what Kvothe does to start all that (he has to kill a king, open the doors of stone, release Cthaeh and maybe start a war with the Fae). For me what he does is he kills a king (I believe Simon) and then he opens the door of stone in an attempt to undo the killing. By opening the doors of stone he releases the moon from the Fae so now that the moon is always full in the human world the Fae have both a reason and a way to come over and fight the humans since they believe they stole the moon. Kvothe now a man broken from regrets and from constant world-altering mistakes he made he punishes himself by changing his name and removes himself from the world. Changing his name also changed his sword (they do have a strange link that I believe will grow stronger in the next book) and he names it "Folly" because that is how he killed Simon, by being (or "using") Folly. Anyway, sorry for the long comment, I hope it made some sense (English isn't my native language so I may have made a few mistakes) and I hope that the first question ("how did the Cthaeh got trapped?") leads to some new theories.

I’m from Brazil and I love your videos. Keep up the great work!

Perfect timing. I just finished my reread of WMF.

That's crazy!! I literally had not spoken about the KKC for ages, but thought about it a few hours ago and then this video pops up 😂😂

You have a great voice for RU-vid. Like if someone played me your voice just talking about literally anything I'd say "This dude makes theories on youtube"

Well, there's a theory that people have regarding Kilvin's saying about the Fishery fire of "Expect disaster every seven years " that Kote may be the Cealdish word for "disaster", and possibly also the formation of the Chandrian. It would make sense(or play into Kvothe's sense of dark humor) that he would choose that alias as a tongue-in-cheek reference to his history and fate as he tried to leave that past behind.

This gave me goose bumps 😶

Love your wrk on the king killer chronicles. Can you discuss auri and bast more?

These videos elevate the series so much for me. Jesus I need to reread it. Is there any other fantasy series that comes close in terms of conspiracies and secrets? I need more of it, I'd inject it directly into my veins if possible.

Are you going to make a video about the names that kvothe gets from the adem? Im really hoping than yes!! I think we can get really interesting theorys there hehe

I like this bonus theory

Hey! Loved the video. I think tho, we are lacking a lot of new data points that are necessary to know what are the reality of the cthaeh. I think shaping will take a new and most important role in the new book. And maybe it will traverse a story of the reasons war was fought, the aturan empire was made and fallen, the amyr grew and disappeared, the university and the underthing, the greystones and the lackless family.

Just found your channel it’s awesome. Looking forward to more. Where do you source all these epic images?

You said something about Kvothe looking his own name on a box. I think Denna look Kvothe name! He toke a promise to her to not find who is Patreaon was, and he swear for his name and his good hand, among other things. She bind him with that promise.

We need Words of Radiance and Oathbringer in-depth summaries!!! Greetings from Mexico, I really enjoy your content!

My issue with part of your counter-argument around 9:30 is that names are INCREDIBLY important in this series. A name change like that should matter. (Also, the idea of changing names reminds me of Elodin)

Hi great video!!! Ive still got read this book name of the wind!! Happy reading to you!!

Missed your videos.

Yo much LOVE for the Saga.

It feels like Captured in Words did a full PhD on these books by now 😄👌 Truly fascinating!

All these theories make sense. They can't all be right. I wonder which is correct. 🤷‍♂️ some excellent food for thought though. 👍 Thank you Jay. I love your videos and your content. ❤

More kingkiller theories!! 😁

Did you ever get your heart looked at? I hope mum is doing a lot better and the doctors worked out what was going on with her... I have been slowly moving through your content since I found your channel (great colab with Quinn btw) and I might find some update eventually. So I hope she is doing a bit better since 2 years ago 🙏 You're a good man looking after you mum, I hope you look after yourself too 💪💕 Also Rothfuss Rulez!

Man this is tenuous :) But fun none the less.

The Selitos theory is the one I've never been able to get behind, it just doesn't make sense to me. But, until we find out how Skarpi got his story, and how much truth it contains, I will say it's not impossible. It's just the one with the least logic behind it for me, based on what we do have so far.

I find it interesting that the Sithe are guard the Cthaeh. The spelling reminds me of the sidhe or Aos Sí which are associated with fairy forts and mounds. Many of the mounds are ancient burial sites which. In the stories I learnt, (Irish mythologies is not consistent and I am no expert) they were related to or had some connection to the Tuatha Dé Danann who were driven to the other world when humans arrived in Ireland.

This is one of my favorite parts in book 2!!!!!!!!! It's extraordinary!!!!!!!!!

Hot damn, that gave me goosebumps at the end.

The first theory falls apart immediately, Jax spoke to the Cthaeh during the Creation War, before Selitos was moved from Myr Tyriniel. So it predates Selitos

There's a 4th option. Pat said in a Q&A when someone asked about the cthaeh, "the cthaeh is the cthaeh". Maybe it just is what it is and it isn't a different, known character.

I like your channel

I really need to reread these books, preferably close to the release date of Doors of Stone. But who's going to say how long Pat will take before that happens... It's also fun scanning those Discord screenshots to check if I can see my messages :P

Very close to what I was thinking. 😁. I do think encanis. Iax and heliax and selitos are somehow one. The skin dancer idea links it very nicely. 💪

I just noticed that in Skarpi's story Myr Tariniel is protected by "mountain passes", which means that its the same city in Sheyen's (sp?) story that "did not forget the Lethani" (Tempi describes the Lethani as a mountain pass) Makes me think that any reference to a mountain in these stories could really mean the Lethani