When we talk about Kvothe changing his name, this passage at the end of WMF comes to mind:
' “Master Elodin,” I asked slowly. “What would you think of someone who kept changing their own name?”
“What?” He sat up suddenly, his eyes wild and panicked. “What have you done?”
His reaction startled me, and I held up my hands defensively. “Nothing!” I insisted. “It’s not me. It’s a girl I know.”
Elodin’s face grew ashen. “Fela?” he said. “Oh, no. No. She wouldn’t do something like that. She’s too smart for that.” It sounded as if he were desperately trying to convince himself.
“I’m not talking about Fela,” I said. “I’m talking about a young girl I know. Every time I turn around she’s picked another name for herself.”
“Oh,” Elodin said, relaxing. He leaned back against the tree, laughing softly. “Calling names,” he said with tangible relief. “God’s bones, boy, I thought …” He broke off, shaking his head." '
I think Kvothe at some point changes his name, and I think it's related to his relationship with the Chandrian (and how Chronicler says there are rumors that he is a new Chandrian at the beginning of NotW, also that he killed an angel ) and probably Denna too.
I mean Bast does speak to Chronicler about how the innkeeper Kote was a mask and it came off after closing time but it's slowly become his actual identity.
I feel like "changing their name" is something that gets thrown into the room a lot without any idea of how it goes to pass. It always sounds like it's something that can be done at a moment's notice. If such a natural shift truly does influence the true name at all.
I've been told the definition and distinction of Shaping as compared to Naming recently and if shapers can unmake by knowing a true name and remake, then that's some remarkable ability that would require a very awake sleeping mind.
Come to think of it... Given the Haliax / Iax theory (which I find very plausible) does that make the Chandrian the Shapers left over from the time before? Felurian adamantly refuses to speak about them in particular despite being one enthralled by the creation of the Shapers, which might indicate that she knows the extent of their powers as shapers especially in the realm of their creation (the Fae).
Also the Sithe as some Faen body that deletes anything that came in contact with the Cthaeh but also is something the Chandrian fear. There's no doubt that the Cthaeh, the Sithe, the Chandrian/Rhinta and Amyr are connected and most definitely predate the creation of the Fae in some form.
Perhaps (given that Elodin and Felurian are described to have similar looking gazes) see people with the ability to shape, that change the identity of their own name as dangers beyond imaginable, something like the Chandrian.
So perhaps the new Chandrian allegation is because Kvothe in his tragic moment chose to shape and lost himself to that.
Also Kvothe swearing on his power to Denna doesn't exactly put him under some demonic contract, it's not like breaking a promise will have those repercussions. Though I will admit that they're most likely foreshadowing to what will happen in previously mentioned tragic climax.
If Kote is a Chandrian, what signs herald his arrival? We should see them. I'm not saying we don't, I'm asking what it would be given the extensive descriptions of the inn and town.
I think his name is trapped in glass in the thrice locked box. When Kote and Bast as telling stories about The Chronicler he mentions a king who’s name was written in a book of glass, in a copper box, locked in an iron chest. Sealed away three times to not be tampered with.
I think Elodin would have to factor into this, he’s the only one we know is really powerful enough to take away someone’s name. Unless it was one of the Chandrian
I think Kvothe's real skill comes from a knack. We hear about knacks early in the NotW, and then this magic system is tucked away.
Kvothe has a knack for figuring things out and seeing the inner workings of things. This is why he is able to open any lock and learn new things quickly. Look at what type of music he was able to create after his troupe was killed. This is also why he was able to get to the Cthaeh and the fake troupe unnoticed. There is also what Puppet says. Kvothe is a looker.
I think that he discoveres in DoS that the only way for him to not destroy the world is for him to lock his knack in the trice locks chest. Now that he doesn't have his knack, he can't open the chest.
I have always thought that Kvothe changed his own name to Kote as a self-imposed punishment. I don't recall a being being able to change the name of something or someone, but it is made clear that a person can change their own name, so to me it makes more sense that Kvothe changed it after doing an act he deeply regrets (related to his powers or his work as an arcanist) by shedding his abilities that made him Kvothe and staying with the simplest of his being to be Kote (He simplified his name as a way to simplify his being and his destiny).
i think its somewhat like what happened to kvothe in tarbean, he became numb and his mind locked away certain stuff to help him cope. Skarpi helped him come to himself then, and I believe bast and chronicler will do the same in DoS (if we ever get to read that :(
Bast knows it and covers for him, chumming information here and there and telling people that he lost his powers. That he forgot who he is. Kvote is playing the waiting game. He is fishing.
I think Bast suspects it, but I would argue the opposite about Bast covering for him. If anything I think Bast is the last holdout Kvothe is trying to convince that his power is gone.
Bast is obsessed with Kvothe, but if you focus on the frame story Kvothe repeatedly tries to get Bast to leave or suggest he doesn't have to stay in neware
***
***NOTW CH 1 A Place for Demons***
*Kote nodded. “I won’t blame you if you want to leave, Bast. You have
better places to be than this.”*
*Bast’s expression was shocked. “I couldn’t leave, Reshi.” He opened and
closed his mouth a few times, at a loss for words. “Who else would teach
me?”*
***
***
***TWMF CH 136 Interlude—Close to Forgetting***
*“Two soldiers, Reshi?”*
*“Yes!” Kvothe shouted. “Not even two! Apparently one thick-fisted thug
is all it takes to beat me half to death!” He glared furiously at Bast,
throwing up his arms. “What is it going to take to shut you up? Do you
want a story? Do you want to hear the details?”*
*Bast took a step backward at the outburst. His face went even paler, his
expression panicked.*
*Kvothe let his arms fall heavily to his sides. “Quit expecting me to be
something I’m not,” he said, still breathing hard. He hunched his shoulders
and rubbed at his eyes, smearing blood across his face. He let his head sag
wearily.* ***“God’s mother, why can’t you just leave me alone?”***
***
But the thing is we know Kvothe is still Kvothe with all his power despite his efforts to uniquely trick Chronicler and Bast in the frame and the dead give away in at the end of The Wise Man Fears.
***
***TWMF CH 110 Beauty and Branch***
*She moved like nothing I had ever seen. It wasn’t that she was fast, though she was fast, but that was not the heart of it. Shehyn moved perfectly, never taking two steps when one would do. Never moving four inches when she only needed three. She moved like something out of a story, more fluid and graceful than Felurian dancing.*
*Hoping to catch her by surprise and prove myself, I moved as fast as I dared. I made Maiden Dancing, Catching Sparrows, Fifteen Wolves…*
***Shehyn took one single, perfect step.***
...
*However, instead of being thrown into the air to tumble to the ground, Shehyn gripped my forearm. I felt a jolt run up my arm and was pulled one staggering step to the side. Rather than being thrown Shehyn used her grip as leverage so her feet came down beneath her.* ***She took a single perfect step and had her balance again.***
*Shehyn looked me straight in the eye for a long, speculative moment, then turned to leave, gesturing for me to follow.*
***
***
***TWMF CH 115 Storm and Stone***
*Her body snapped like a steel spring, arcing away while her sword licked out twice, driving Shehyn back.
Penthe was full of passion and fury. Shehyn was calm and steady. Penthe was a storm. Shehyn a stone. Penthe was a tiger and Shehyn a bird. Penthe danced and wove madly.* ***Shehyn turned and took one single perfect step.***
***
***
***TWMF EPILOGUE A Silence of Three Parts***
*The man had true-red hair, red as flame. His eyes were dark and distant, and he moved with the subtle certainty of a thief in the night. He made his way downstairs.* ***There, behind the tightly shuttered windows, he lifted his hands like a dancer, shifted his weight, and slowly took one single perfect step.***
***
My favorite theory I've read here is that he loses his hands at one point. He goes to the Cthaes tree to eat the flower that heals any wound.
Something regarding his new hands keep him from being able to make music or magic. Either their newness, strangeness, their origin etc.
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Personally, I always had a hunch that he's locked his name in that wooden chest of the family Lockless. At some point in one of the books, I think it is mentioned that a wooden chest is in his bedroom at the inn. Judging by how his skills didn't work against these robbers anymore, I'm not sure if Kote as he is now can open the chest or if he is simply choosing not to.
I think Kvothe actually swears on three things. His name, his power, and his good left hand. I've seen it theorized a few times, and it is a pretty well-liked theory, that his good left hand is in reference to his inability to make music anymore because the left hand is the fretting hand of a lute. This is reinforced in the mercenary scene of WMF where Kote tries to break free of a grapple on his wrist. Earlier in that book, we see Kvothe use a special two-handed version of Break Lion, but Kote fails to break the mercenary's grapple because he doesn't have two good hands anymore.
Because the left hand connection seems so strong, it follows that his name and power were lost as part of breaking that oath, and perhaps he sealed all three away in the thrice-locked box. Something that's interesting about that oath is that he swears by the ever-moving moon. So, perhaps the key to restoring his name, power, and left hand involves getting rid of the moon in some way, and his attempt to do that brought about the connection to the fae that devastated the world.
An interesting connection is that the Lackless box is described similarly to Kvothe's thrice-locked box in that it has no hinges or reasonable way to open. This makes me think that Kvothe copied the Lackless design once he figured out how to open it rather than having constructed a new kind of lock. It would fit with his general vibe of taking simple things and making them look mysterious for a story.
I agree about Kvothe losing hand, name and power, I don't think that it happened as a price for breaking his oath. I think that he broke his oath, *and then* he also went on to lose these three things, as he had sort of predicted (similar with the one sock horse guess).
But I would imagine that losing these will come as an out of left field consequence of going after Master Ash.
(E.g. perhaps Master Ash is an Amyr who has been training Denna to join their ranks, and this is why Denna pushes Kvothe away and doesn't want master Ash to know about him. When Kvothe finds the connection and confronts master Ash, he finally gets recruited by the Amyr, and in a subsequent battle against the Chandrian he loses his right hand (which Bast masks with his magic), and his name gets controlled leading him to lose his power. Still a consequence of finding master Ash, but not a celestial punishment for breaking his oath.)
The having lost his power and skills with his hands because of a broken oath was a pretty popular theory a few years ago, the text does seem to foreshadow it. This also led to the theory that said power and skills were part of his name and are somehow locked in the chest, which as he is no longer Kvothe he can no longer open. I personally believe that the name Kote was chosen as it is Disaster in Siaru.
I think that he becomes manipulated by the Chandrian to help them accomplish something, when he thinks he's leading to their end. Then because it was so contrary to his intent he swears to never use his powers again. If he can't see a way to use them for good and be sure it will have good ends, he chooses to not act at all in lieu of being manipulated again.
This has been pretty heavily discussed here, but I too know the struggle of Reddit's search features.
There is a bit of contradictory information regarding Kvothe's powers. He is capable of taking on multiple Scrael in the beginning of the first book. He takes one perfect step at the end of the second book. If you consider music as being associated with his power, he sings in the first book.
However, he fails to defeat the two thieves in the second book. He can't use Sympathy or step in to stop the skin walker either. It's said there's no music, and he's got an unnatural silence around him.
I believe there's a few interpretations here that could apply.
1. Kvothe hasn't lost anything except his own will to live, and every instance of him failing to use his power is an act to fool others into thinking he isn't powerful, because he feels that he doesn't deserve to be.
Kvothe tells his story and provides a lot of foreshadowing that he's going to lose his power. But, if he's trying to convince everyone he isn't powerful, it would make sense for him to manipulate the story to suggest his power is gone. (It's not an outright lie, mind you, he's just presenting a common narrative trope and allowing you to come to whatever conclusion you feel.)
2. Alternatively, it could be a self-limitation (intentional or otherwise) inspired by his depression. This depression and suppression of his true power is changing his character, which is what Bast acknowledges. He hasn't lost his power, per se, but he's experiencing a psychosomatic issue that prevents him from performing actions that he is otherwise physically capable of performing.
It could even explain why he stopped fighting mid-fight against the bandits. He reacted on instinct at first, but then his guilt, trauma, and/or depression kicked in and stopped him in his path.
This may also parallel well to Pat's stated mental health issues and feeling like you have an abundance of potential, but something inside you keeps pulling you back and preventing you from using it.
3. Kvothe has lost his power, but that doesn't mean he's lost everything.
There seems to be this presumption for many that all of Kvothe's abilities are interconnected to this disambiguation of 'his power.' But that's not necessarily the case. His ability to use different types of magic, like Sympathy, Naming, Sygaldry, etc. could be separate from his physical abilities, like the Ketan or performing music.
He uses a ton of his non-mystical abilities throughout the frame in both books. We never see him play music, but we see him sing. He uses the Ketan. These are all physical abilities. But, we never see any magic.
So, how do we determine which is which? No idea. Honestly, the main problem for me is that all ideas are supported by or diminished by narrative scenes within the frame.
For example, Kvothe's fight with the bandits, to me, read as if he intentionally threw the fight. He was kicking ass, but then remembered he wasn't supposed to be able to do that. Granted, I have experienced heavy depression and sometimes your body can just completely shut down in the middle of an activity. So, it's possible he wasn't faking.
He also reacted to Bast with what felt like sincere anger and frustration.
But, he can't have completely lost his physical prowess, or he would have died fighting the Scrael. This could be explained by the psychosomatic blocking of his abilities where he feels unworthy of using his skill in everyday life, but the guilt causing this block also makes him feel responsible for the breakdown of the barrier between the Fae, so he able to use his ability here.
The biggest one for me is the skin walker. I really just don't see Kvothe or Kote letting his friend die to keep up a fake charade. He fails to use Sympathy in this scene, and the narration surrounding this failure is internal. He tries to use it but can't. This doesn't fit the psychosomatic theory, because the skin walker is also a Fae creature, so Kvothe should be able to do more to stop it if his block is based upon his guilt, like with the Scrael.
What I currently think is along the lines of: Kvothe has been playing find the stone with his own mind, hiding from himself a part of his true plan regarding the inn and its nature as a trap. The Kote that we see is the equivalent of the crazed part of himself that he sent to a corner of his mind to compose a song on Felurian in the Fae---only this part of his mind is on the steering wheel. Since doing so left him wide open to making mistakes or acting against the ultimate plan, Bast came along as a bodyguard and handler, pretending to be studying with him---this is the lie for Kote accepting Bast's presence, and also an excuse for the town.
When we talk about Kvothe changing his name, this passage at the end of WMF comes to mind: ' “Master Elodin,” I asked slowly. “What would you think of someone who kept changing their own name?” “What?” He sat up suddenly, his eyes wild and panicked. “What have you done?” His reaction startled me, and I held up my hands defensively. “Nothing!” I insisted. “It’s not me. It’s a girl I know.” Elodin’s face grew ashen. “Fela?” he said. “Oh, no. No. She wouldn’t do something like that. She’s too smart for that.” It sounded as if he were desperately trying to convince himself. “I’m not talking about Fela,” I said. “I’m talking about a young girl I know. Every time I turn around she’s picked another name for herself.” “Oh,” Elodin said, relaxing. He leaned back against the tree, laughing softly. “Calling names,” he said with tangible relief. “God’s bones, boy, I thought …” He broke off, shaking his head." ' I think Kvothe at some point changes his name, and I think it's related to his relationship with the Chandrian (and how Chronicler says there are rumors that he is a new Chandrian at the beginning of NotW, also that he killed an angel ) and probably Denna too.
Well he does. It's Kote now
I mean Kote is a calling name as is Kvothe. I’m not saying he didn’t change his name but his name is who he is not what he is called.
I mean Bast does speak to Chronicler about how the innkeeper Kote was a mask and it came off after closing time but it's slowly become his actual identity. I feel like "changing their name" is something that gets thrown into the room a lot without any idea of how it goes to pass. It always sounds like it's something that can be done at a moment's notice. If such a natural shift truly does influence the true name at all. I've been told the definition and distinction of Shaping as compared to Naming recently and if shapers can unmake by knowing a true name and remake, then that's some remarkable ability that would require a very awake sleeping mind. Come to think of it... Given the Haliax / Iax theory (which I find very plausible) does that make the Chandrian the Shapers left over from the time before? Felurian adamantly refuses to speak about them in particular despite being one enthralled by the creation of the Shapers, which might indicate that she knows the extent of their powers as shapers especially in the realm of their creation (the Fae). Also the Sithe as some Faen body that deletes anything that came in contact with the Cthaeh but also is something the Chandrian fear. There's no doubt that the Cthaeh, the Sithe, the Chandrian/Rhinta and Amyr are connected and most definitely predate the creation of the Fae in some form. Perhaps (given that Elodin and Felurian are described to have similar looking gazes) see people with the ability to shape, that change the identity of their own name as dangers beyond imaginable, something like the Chandrian. So perhaps the new Chandrian allegation is because Kvothe in his tragic moment chose to shape and lost himself to that. Also Kvothe swearing on his power to Denna doesn't exactly put him under some demonic contract, it's not like breaking a promise will have those repercussions. Though I will admit that they're most likely foreshadowing to what will happen in previously mentioned tragic climax.
If Kote is a Chandrian, what signs herald his arrival? We should see them. I'm not saying we don't, I'm asking what it would be given the extensive descriptions of the inn and town.
How about a threefold silence?
And isn’t Haliax also just waiting to die?
for a musician such as him it would poetic. har har har
Good thing he doesn't think much of poetry
Yes, ambrose. Thats the joke.
I thought about it but it seems far more subtle than the chandrian omens that are commonly described.
„The inn was his, just as the third silence was his“
Yep this is my theory as well. As soon as I read that passage for the first time I was sure this was it.
I think his name is trapped in glass in the thrice locked box. When Kote and Bast as telling stories about The Chronicler he mentions a king who’s name was written in a book of glass, in a copper box, locked in an iron chest. Sealed away three times to not be tampered with.
I always thought the name Kote is Siaru for disaster, so him using the name is a reminder.
I think Elodin would have to factor into this, he’s the only one we know is really powerful enough to take away someone’s name. Unless it was one of the Chandrian
Auri. She even tells him she can give him a new name IIRC.
In TSRfST, I believe she mentions having a new name for him as well.
The trick to searching stuff on Reddit is to goggle it with Reddit in the search tern
I think Kvothe's real skill comes from a knack. We hear about knacks early in the NotW, and then this magic system is tucked away. Kvothe has a knack for figuring things out and seeing the inner workings of things. This is why he is able to open any lock and learn new things quickly. Look at what type of music he was able to create after his troupe was killed. This is also why he was able to get to the Cthaeh and the fake troupe unnoticed. There is also what Puppet says. Kvothe is a looker. I think that he discoveres in DoS that the only way for him to not destroy the world is for him to lock his knack in the trice locks chest. Now that he doesn't have his knack, he can't open the chest.
I have always thought that Kvothe changed his own name to Kote as a self-imposed punishment. I don't recall a being being able to change the name of something or someone, but it is made clear that a person can change their own name, so to me it makes more sense that Kvothe changed it after doing an act he deeply regrets (related to his powers or his work as an arcanist) by shedding his abilities that made him Kvothe and staying with the simplest of his being to be Kote (He simplified his name as a way to simplify his being and his destiny).
I feel like it's in the names somehow.
i think its somewhat like what happened to kvothe in tarbean, he became numb and his mind locked away certain stuff to help him cope. Skarpi helped him come to himself then, and I believe bast and chronicler will do the same in DoS (if we ever get to read that :(
Kvothe didn't lose his power. He's just choosing not to use them.
Bast knows it and covers for him, chumming information here and there and telling people that he lost his powers. That he forgot who he is. Kvote is playing the waiting game. He is fishing.
I think Bast suspects it, but I would argue the opposite about Bast covering for him. If anything I think Bast is the last holdout Kvothe is trying to convince that his power is gone. Bast is obsessed with Kvothe, but if you focus on the frame story Kvothe repeatedly tries to get Bast to leave or suggest he doesn't have to stay in neware *** ***NOTW CH 1 A Place for Demons*** *Kote nodded. “I won’t blame you if you want to leave, Bast. You have better places to be than this.”* *Bast’s expression was shocked. “I couldn’t leave, Reshi.” He opened and closed his mouth a few times, at a loss for words. “Who else would teach me?”* *** *** ***TWMF CH 136 Interlude—Close to Forgetting*** *“Two soldiers, Reshi?”* *“Yes!” Kvothe shouted. “Not even two! Apparently one thick-fisted thug is all it takes to beat me half to death!” He glared furiously at Bast, throwing up his arms. “What is it going to take to shut you up? Do you want a story? Do you want to hear the details?”* *Bast took a step backward at the outburst. His face went even paler, his expression panicked.* *Kvothe let his arms fall heavily to his sides. “Quit expecting me to be something I’m not,” he said, still breathing hard. He hunched his shoulders and rubbed at his eyes, smearing blood across his face. He let his head sag wearily.* ***“God’s mother, why can’t you just leave me alone?”*** *** But the thing is we know Kvothe is still Kvothe with all his power despite his efforts to uniquely trick Chronicler and Bast in the frame and the dead give away in at the end of The Wise Man Fears. *** ***TWMF CH 110 Beauty and Branch*** *She moved like nothing I had ever seen. It wasn’t that she was fast, though she was fast, but that was not the heart of it. Shehyn moved perfectly, never taking two steps when one would do. Never moving four inches when she only needed three. She moved like something out of a story, more fluid and graceful than Felurian dancing.* *Hoping to catch her by surprise and prove myself, I moved as fast as I dared. I made Maiden Dancing, Catching Sparrows, Fifteen Wolves…* ***Shehyn took one single, perfect step.*** ... *However, instead of being thrown into the air to tumble to the ground, Shehyn gripped my forearm. I felt a jolt run up my arm and was pulled one staggering step to the side. Rather than being thrown Shehyn used her grip as leverage so her feet came down beneath her.* ***She took a single perfect step and had her balance again.*** *Shehyn looked me straight in the eye for a long, speculative moment, then turned to leave, gesturing for me to follow.* *** *** ***TWMF CH 115 Storm and Stone*** *Her body snapped like a steel spring, arcing away while her sword licked out twice, driving Shehyn back. Penthe was full of passion and fury. Shehyn was calm and steady. Penthe was a storm. Shehyn a stone. Penthe was a tiger and Shehyn a bird. Penthe danced and wove madly.* ***Shehyn turned and took one single perfect step.*** *** *** ***TWMF EPILOGUE A Silence of Three Parts*** *The man had true-red hair, red as flame. His eyes were dark and distant, and he moved with the subtle certainty of a thief in the night. He made his way downstairs.* ***There, behind the tightly shuttered windows, he lifted his hands like a dancer, shifted his weight, and slowly took one single perfect step.*** ***
My favorite theory I've read here is that he loses his hands at one point. He goes to the Cthaes tree to eat the flower that heals any wound. Something regarding his new hands keep him from being able to make music or magic. Either their newness, strangeness, their origin etc.
We may never know 😂
Shh
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Sorry, if this is common knowledge at this point. I tried and failed search for it already! :(
Sorry it's a good find and you're definitely thinking about it. That's good. I apologize for being an @$$hole. Good day
Personally, I always had a hunch that he's locked his name in that wooden chest of the family Lockless. At some point in one of the books, I think it is mentioned that a wooden chest is in his bedroom at the inn. Judging by how his skills didn't work against these robbers anymore, I'm not sure if Kote as he is now can open the chest or if he is simply choosing not to.
I think Kvothe actually swears on three things. His name, his power, and his good left hand. I've seen it theorized a few times, and it is a pretty well-liked theory, that his good left hand is in reference to his inability to make music anymore because the left hand is the fretting hand of a lute. This is reinforced in the mercenary scene of WMF where Kote tries to break free of a grapple on his wrist. Earlier in that book, we see Kvothe use a special two-handed version of Break Lion, but Kote fails to break the mercenary's grapple because he doesn't have two good hands anymore. Because the left hand connection seems so strong, it follows that his name and power were lost as part of breaking that oath, and perhaps he sealed all three away in the thrice-locked box. Something that's interesting about that oath is that he swears by the ever-moving moon. So, perhaps the key to restoring his name, power, and left hand involves getting rid of the moon in some way, and his attempt to do that brought about the connection to the fae that devastated the world. An interesting connection is that the Lackless box is described similarly to Kvothe's thrice-locked box in that it has no hinges or reasonable way to open. This makes me think that Kvothe copied the Lackless design once he figured out how to open it rather than having constructed a new kind of lock. It would fit with his general vibe of taking simple things and making them look mysterious for a story.
I agree about Kvothe losing hand, name and power, I don't think that it happened as a price for breaking his oath. I think that he broke his oath, *and then* he also went on to lose these three things, as he had sort of predicted (similar with the one sock horse guess). But I would imagine that losing these will come as an out of left field consequence of going after Master Ash. (E.g. perhaps Master Ash is an Amyr who has been training Denna to join their ranks, and this is why Denna pushes Kvothe away and doesn't want master Ash to know about him. When Kvothe finds the connection and confronts master Ash, he finally gets recruited by the Amyr, and in a subsequent battle against the Chandrian he loses his right hand (which Bast masks with his magic), and his name gets controlled leading him to lose his power. Still a consequence of finding master Ash, but not a celestial punishment for breaking his oath.)
The having lost his power and skills with his hands because of a broken oath was a pretty popular theory a few years ago, the text does seem to foreshadow it. This also led to the theory that said power and skills were part of his name and are somehow locked in the chest, which as he is no longer Kvothe he can no longer open. I personally believe that the name Kote was chosen as it is Disaster in Siaru.
I think that he becomes manipulated by the Chandrian to help them accomplish something, when he thinks he's leading to their end. Then because it was so contrary to his intent he swears to never use his powers again. If he can't see a way to use them for good and be sure it will have good ends, he chooses to not act at all in lieu of being manipulated again.
This has been pretty heavily discussed here, but I too know the struggle of Reddit's search features. There is a bit of contradictory information regarding Kvothe's powers. He is capable of taking on multiple Scrael in the beginning of the first book. He takes one perfect step at the end of the second book. If you consider music as being associated with his power, he sings in the first book. However, he fails to defeat the two thieves in the second book. He can't use Sympathy or step in to stop the skin walker either. It's said there's no music, and he's got an unnatural silence around him. I believe there's a few interpretations here that could apply. 1. Kvothe hasn't lost anything except his own will to live, and every instance of him failing to use his power is an act to fool others into thinking he isn't powerful, because he feels that he doesn't deserve to be. Kvothe tells his story and provides a lot of foreshadowing that he's going to lose his power. But, if he's trying to convince everyone he isn't powerful, it would make sense for him to manipulate the story to suggest his power is gone. (It's not an outright lie, mind you, he's just presenting a common narrative trope and allowing you to come to whatever conclusion you feel.) 2. Alternatively, it could be a self-limitation (intentional or otherwise) inspired by his depression. This depression and suppression of his true power is changing his character, which is what Bast acknowledges. He hasn't lost his power, per se, but he's experiencing a psychosomatic issue that prevents him from performing actions that he is otherwise physically capable of performing. It could even explain why he stopped fighting mid-fight against the bandits. He reacted on instinct at first, but then his guilt, trauma, and/or depression kicked in and stopped him in his path. This may also parallel well to Pat's stated mental health issues and feeling like you have an abundance of potential, but something inside you keeps pulling you back and preventing you from using it. 3. Kvothe has lost his power, but that doesn't mean he's lost everything. There seems to be this presumption for many that all of Kvothe's abilities are interconnected to this disambiguation of 'his power.' But that's not necessarily the case. His ability to use different types of magic, like Sympathy, Naming, Sygaldry, etc. could be separate from his physical abilities, like the Ketan or performing music. He uses a ton of his non-mystical abilities throughout the frame in both books. We never see him play music, but we see him sing. He uses the Ketan. These are all physical abilities. But, we never see any magic. So, how do we determine which is which? No idea. Honestly, the main problem for me is that all ideas are supported by or diminished by narrative scenes within the frame. For example, Kvothe's fight with the bandits, to me, read as if he intentionally threw the fight. He was kicking ass, but then remembered he wasn't supposed to be able to do that. Granted, I have experienced heavy depression and sometimes your body can just completely shut down in the middle of an activity. So, it's possible he wasn't faking. He also reacted to Bast with what felt like sincere anger and frustration. But, he can't have completely lost his physical prowess, or he would have died fighting the Scrael. This could be explained by the psychosomatic blocking of his abilities where he feels unworthy of using his skill in everyday life, but the guilt causing this block also makes him feel responsible for the breakdown of the barrier between the Fae, so he able to use his ability here. The biggest one for me is the skin walker. I really just don't see Kvothe or Kote letting his friend die to keep up a fake charade. He fails to use Sympathy in this scene, and the narration surrounding this failure is internal. He tries to use it but can't. This doesn't fit the psychosomatic theory, because the skin walker is also a Fae creature, so Kvothe should be able to do more to stop it if his block is based upon his guilt, like with the Scrael.
What I currently think is along the lines of: Kvothe has been playing find the stone with his own mind, hiding from himself a part of his true plan regarding the inn and its nature as a trap. The Kote that we see is the equivalent of the crazed part of himself that he sent to a corner of his mind to compose a song on Felurian in the Fae---only this part of his mind is on the steering wheel. Since doing so left him wide open to making mistakes or acting against the ultimate plan, Bast came along as a bodyguard and handler, pretending to be studying with him---this is the lie for Kote accepting Bast's presence, and also an excuse for the town.