Saturday, February 13, 2016

The Chandrian.

Someone suggested that I separate my theories blog into separate posts by subject. If you're looking for the blog post with complete theories, it's still here.


The Chandrian
Cyphus bears the blue flame.
Stercus is in thrall of iron.
Ferule chill and dark of eye.
Usnea lives in nothing but decay.
Grey Dalcenti never speaks.
Pale Alenta brings the blight.
Last there is the lord of seven:
Hated. Hopeless. Sleepless. Sane.
Alaxel bears the shadow's hame. 

"When the hearthfire turns to blue,
what to do? What to do?
Run outside. Run and hide.

When your bright sword turns to rust?
Who to trust? Who to trust?
Stand alone. Standing stone.

See a woman pale as snow?
Silent come and silent go.
What's their plan? What's their plan?
Chandrian. Chandrian."

The main thing in this song that I find interesting is the "stand alone. Standing stone." I wonder if that means that Waystones can offer protection from the Chandrian if approached correctly, or if it's just a reference to the fact that Waystones are an entrance to the Fae and the Sithe (and possibly Amyr) are of the Fae. I think it's likely that the reason the Chandrian left so quickly after murdering the rest of Kvothe's troupe (without even staying to finish what they came to do) is that either the Sithe or the Amyr were getting ready to come through the Waystones.

"When the hearthfire turns to blue, 

What to do? What to do?
Run outside. Run and hide.

When his eyes are black as crow?

Where to go? Where to go?
Near and far. Here they are.

See a man without a face?

Move like ghosts from place to place?
What's their plan? What's their plan?
Chandrian. Chandrian."

This one is similar to the other, except that the individual verses are obviously talking about different members of the Chandrian, the second referring to Cinder, and the third referring to Haliax. 

Someone pointed out to me that the sevens in the Pairs cards each represent one of the Chandrian's signs. The seven signs are:
Collapse, the Dark, Death, Fire, Sickness, Storm, Strife. 
I'm trying, based on the information we have, to match each sign with the member of the Chandrian I think it's most likely to go with. 

1. Alaxel/Haliax/Lanre
In the story of Lanre, Selitos tells him "Your own name shall be turned against you that you shall have no peace". I wonder if that's why the Chandrian don't want any songs about them, and why they need protection from the singers as well as the Amyr and the Sithe.

I think we can guess that Lanre went to see the Ctheath, and was told whatever truths it took to cause the death of Lyra (or just fail to prevent it).

They depict Haliax as having a mirror by his feet and moon stages all around him. It's possible that the moon stages are because he makes the moon go dark whenever he appears, but it could just as easily have something to do with the Fae. I think the Fae is more likely. It could also be a depiction of his connection to Iax. They also picture him with two candles, one yellow candle with orange flame, and one gray candle with black flame. I wonder if this is also a reference to the Fae, in that everything in the Fae works slightly differently than it does in the normal realm and Haliax is tied to both. 

In the story of the Creation War, Skarpi talks about the beast Lanre slayed at the battle of Drossen Tor being put behind the doors of stone. Months or years later Lanre shows up in Myr Tariniel wearing the beast's scales as armor, and with naming powers that he didn't possess before. Given that Iax is also locked behind the Doors of Stone, I think it's likely that Haliax made a deal with him in order to get some of his power. We're told that Haliax visited the Cthaeh before his betrayal of Myr Tariniel, probably to get one of the panacea flowers, and I imagine that the Cthaeh said something along the lines of "Lyra is already dead, my flowers can't heal the dead. If only you had the power to call her back from the doors of death, as she did you, but you're no Iax." (Keep in mind that all of that is just speculation). If that were the case, it would also make sense that Selitos, sensing Iax's power on Lanre, would include Iax in his new name.


He's described a couple of times as shadow-hamed, and the Adem's poem says he "bears the shadow's hame". A hame is part of a draft horse's collar, which makes me wonder what Haliax is collared to. Similarly, Arlidan has heard him described as "yoked to shadow". If my theory is correct and the Doors of Stone lead to a third realm, one of monsters and shadows, I think it's likely that his connection to Iax has him collared to that realm (note: I use realm for lack of a better word, if you can think of a better word, please share it). Someone in a Kingkiller Chronicles group I'm in mentioned that the archaic meaning of the word hamed is skin, or covering. Knowing that, I think it's also possible that shadow-hamed is solely a description of the shadow covering his face, and not any sort of connection, and yoked to shadow has come from people's misinterpretation of that phrase, or just the obvious connection between Haliax and shadow. It would still be interesting though.   


I think it's clear that "the Dark" would be his sign.

2. Cinder/Ferule
Cinder is described as pale and white haired, sharp, and cold, and almost beautiful. He's depicted as standing on water and surrounded by snow. One of the signs of the Chandrian mentioned is a chill in the air, maybe that's what this is depicting.

All of the Fae we've heard described (Bast and Felurian) are described as having no whites in their eyes, like Cinder. Since they say that none of the Amyr were human, it doesn't seem unlikely that some of the Chandrian aren't either. 


I think that he's Master Ash. We know that Kvothe occasionally names thing accidentally, and when Kvothe is finding a name for Master Ash, he first goes through a series of names starting with f, many of which are close to ferule. He settles on Master Ash (despite the fact that Denna implied that it might not've been an Ash leaf), which in itself is telling. Master Ash sent Denna to the Mauthen wedding and had her give him a guest count right before the Chandrian arrived and slaughtered all of the guests. The day that Denna met Master Ash, the canister holding the reagent shattered because it got too cold, and Cinder is depicted as surrounded by snow on the urn. If it's true that Cinder is Master Ash, it's interesting that he's researching genealogies. Maybe he's looking for progeny of the Amyr or Selitos (though they've said that none of the Amyr were human), I think it's more likely that he's looking for Iax's descendants, to try to find the Loeclos box. 

Amish at a forum here also shared that ferule is an actual word for a rod, cane or flat, ruler-like piece of wood used to discipline children. Foreveraloneboy at the same forum shared that ferula is also a plant from which the Romans used to make hollow rods, also used for punishment. We know that names are extremely important in this world, so I definitely don't think that it's a coincidence and I think it points further to Cinder being Denna's patron.


Given that he's depicted on the vase in snow, I think it's likely that Cinder's sign is storm (or other weather-related changes).

3. Cyphus
According to the Adem blue flame is his sign. We don't hear a real description of Cyphus on the pot, but Nina mentions fire, so I'm guessing he was depicted with blue flame. 

Cyphus is probably fire.

4. Stercus
The Adem's poem describes Stercus as "in thrall of iron". I'm guessing that Stercus is Faen, and that he's the man on the plate with a dog biting his leg. 

Given that he's depicted by a dog biting his leg, I'm guessing that Stercus represents Strife.

5. Usnea
"Usnea lives in nothing but decay". 
I'm guessing that she makes metal rust and is the woman portrayed on the vase as holding a broken sword.

I think Usnea's sign is Collapse.

6. Dalcenti
 Dalcenti is the only one without a sign specifically mentioned by the Adem, but  I'm guessing that his sign is death (hence the silence) and that this is the man depicted on the Vase next to a dead tree. The only thing this doesn't fit with for me is the song, "see the woman, pale as snow, silent come and silent go", as I don't think Dalcenti is a woman.

I think Dalcenti's sign is Death.

7. Alenta
"Pale Alenta brings the blight". I'm guessing this is the woman depicted on the Plate with some of her clothes off, mostly because I couldn't think of anyone else that would be. Maybe she causes infertility in people, as well as killing crops.

Alenta's sign is likely Sickness. 

It's obvious from the fact that they hunted down and killed Arlidan's troupe, and from the rules that the Adem have surrounding their story that they can track the people who use their names.


The information about the meaning of Ferule and Ferula made me curious as to whether any of the other names have meanings in Latin that might be relevant. Stercus means manure in Latin (although I'm not sure if that's relevant), Cyphus means chalice (again, I'm unsure of relevance).Usnea is a type of lichen, which is interesting because lichen is often a sign of sickness in trees. 


The Chandrian fear The Amyr, the singers, and the Sithe. 

2 comments:

  1. Girl. I want to be your bff. Thanks for putting this down so neatly! I agree with most (maybe all?) of your theories, but I kind of want someone's theory (from the fb group) about Caudicus being Denna's patron to be right. No facts, I just want it. ;)

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    1. Haha, thanks! I have another post with all of my theories and thoughts about the Kingkiller Chronicle if you've got a lot of time to kill. I don't know if that would work. It was pretty strongly implied that Caudicus was killed.

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