Rothfussians discussion

Kvothe always describes Denna with such longing and care that it makes me more and more inclined towards the idea that she might be dead. There is, however, a possibility that at a certain stage he realises that his being close to Denna can be pretty dangerous for her as he's wanted with a bounty on his head and simply just leaves her. What do you think?

I agree with you, I've always thought Denna must be dead. Kvothe always talks about her in past tense and just the was she is talked about, im not sure what it is exactly, but I get the feeling her death is implied. I also think it is her death which has made Kvothe become Kote.

And I think her death has similarities to the Lanre story.

Charlotte wrote: "I agree with you, I've always thought Denna must be dead. Kvothe always talks about her in past tense and just the was she is talked about, im not sure what it is exactly, but I get the feeling her..."

Something else I wish to ask, who do you think Kvothe ends up with, assuming, he does end up with someone?

I've thought she is likely dead as well or that something magical and weird happened to her. My husband has a weird theory about her being turned into that sword, Folly. But like I said...it's weird.

Also, it seems pretty obvious Kvothe doesn't end up with anyone. LOL. Unless you include Bast. :D :D

Also, it seems pretty obvious Kvothe doesn't end up with anyone. LOL. Unless you include Bast. :D :D

There are a great deal of fanfic authors out there who do. :)

I always assumed she was dead. Though that may be wishful thinking. *rimshot*

LOL, yah I know there is a whole fanbase for K+B lovin.
Have you read the one Mary Robinette Kowal did? She really pulls off the Pat voice, and I found it pretty amusing.

Eh you can't really ship bast with anyone or rather you can ship bast with everyone.

But it's hard to get a feeling for any of the other female characters since K is so obsessed with Denna. But I love Devi.

Eh you can't really ship bast with anyone or rather you can ship bast with everyone.

But it's hard to get a feeling for any of the other female characters since K is so obsessed with Denna. But I love Devi.

Read the Slow Regard, it gives you a whole new level of Auri. LOL

Here's to hoping that at the end of Book 3 Kvothe comes out of the basement of the inn with Auri.

Oh, I totally agree. I was thinking after reading Slow Regard that Bast needed to go find her!

I imagine that the death of Denna might drive Kvothe to kill a king, although I personally don't think that to be the case. But I can tell you, if anything happens to Auri, I would never forgive Pat.... NEVER!

I figured he killed a bunch of people trying to save her. Then lost her because of it

So, I'm pretty sure Denna isn't dead. I just re-read the passage where Kvothe plays at the Eolian for the first time and there is a pretty strong case that Kvothe+Denna=Savien and Aloine.

Why? Well, the obvious, Kvothe sings the part of Savien, Denna, despite the unlikelihood of her even being there, sings the Aloine part. Kvothe later calls her "his Aloine."

So, what was the actual story of the song? Love, lost, and then found again due to man's FOLLY. I generally perk up whenever I see the word folly in the text and this alone makes me think the passage is significant.

*related question, what folly is he talking about? I would imagine it has something to do with his belief in the Amyr being the "good guys" and Denna's belief that the Chandrian and Lanre weren't the "bad guys." My money is that Denna has a more correct version of history than Kvothe does, but Kvothe, being Kvothe, has a foolish pride that will not allow him to admit that he's wrong on this subject.

We've had that discussion before on the boards and it got quite interesting. The general consensus was that we didn't believe the Chandrian were the 'not-so-bad' guys. Someone even made the claim that perhaps the Chandrian didn't kill Kvothe's troupe as it wasn't explicitly written.

It's possible but the evidence didn't seem strong enough.

I think the fact that Bast recalls seeing Denna once is evidence that she is not dead. He would have been reluctant to say anything about her because he really doesn't want to make Kvothe dwell on painful memories as they cause him to go back into the shell that is Kote. Also if she were dead, he certainly wouldn't have said anything negative about her in front of Kvothe at least, but he says that she has a crooked nose and that she isn't as beautiful as Kvothe makes her out to be.

Pranesh wrote: "I think the fact that Bast recalls seeing Denna once is evidence that she is not dead. He would have been reluctant to say anything about her because he really doesn't want to make Kvothe dwell on ..."

That kind of undermines the argument. He *does* say negative things about her. And she must have been alive relatively recently to have met Bast. Unless he met her corpse. Kvothe does sound surprised when he remembers they met.

Bast saw her while still with the Fae before leaving to seek out Kvothe would also make sense, i like the idea of her being alive but im not sure... Kvothe did say it wasn't a romance but a tragedy....

Or is she like Schrodinger's Cat . . . alive and dead . . . inside the box . . .

LOL! There's a possibility that never crossed my mind...

Honestly, I think Denna dies in book 3. I think a lot of people will die in book 3.

She's one of my favourite female characters ever written, I hope she makes it. And I hope she won't die just to give Kvothe manpain.
I vote for Denna in the box, or a /chest/ if you will. But I don't like the idea of Denna's supernatural origins, so if she's alive even with Kvothe thinking she's dead, I hope she survives by chance or is saved by... her patron maybe?
Just... don't make her a /damsel in distress/.

God i love Denna. It will destroy me if she is to die

Malcolm wrote: "God i love Denna. It will destroy me if she is to die"

Well Malcolm, honestly, It would also destroy me... Denna ist my favourit female charakter in TKKC!

Andrea wrote: "Malcolm wrote: "God i love Denna. It will destroy me if she is to die"

Well Malcolm, honestly, It would also destroy me... Denna ist my favourit female charakter in TKKC!"

Mine too, I hope we get a book exclusively hers like with Auri. I wonder what she gets up to on her travels. I suspect many gentlemen friends.

Malcolm wrote: "Andrea wrote: "Malcolm wrote: "God i love Denna. It will destroy me if she is to die"

Well Malcolm, honestly, It would also destroy me... Denna ist my favourit female charakter in TKKC!"

Mine too..."

Well, I think we as readers are pretty much informed about what she does, because she always kind of tells kvothe... I think we can not blame her for her many gentleman friends, I bet it's a hard world as a woman all alone without any family to help her out. The only thing she can do is taking the opportunity of gentleman's, even if she knows it's not a good thing or she doesn't wanna do it.

Still, for me, I find it really romantic that, even though kvothe knows what denna must go through, he still falls in love with her and sees her as the most beautiful woman. This is why I love this story so much, it's not about perfection,it's about weaknesses. Damn, Patrick Rothfuss I love you.

Andrea wrote: "Malcolm wrote: "Andrea wrote: "Malcolm wrote: "God i love Denna. It will destroy me if she is to die"

Well Malcolm, honestly, It would also destroy me... Denna ist my favourit female charakter in ..."

Here, Here! Well said.

Truth be told im hit and miss with Denna, sometimes I love her sometimes I hate her....

Reshi wrote: "I'm not entirely sure if she is alive or dead, but I have an interesting fact to point out. Maybe it means nothing, but it's interesting nonetheless. So, in "A Silence of Three Parts", WMF, It is m..."

It would make sense to me. I noticed that with my second reading I did earlier this year. My thoughts are along the same lines...ending in this...Either way she is no longer "present"

The mirroring I feel is present between Kvothe and Denna/Lanre and Lyra would make sense too. Her death or absence driving him mad just like Lyra's absence did Lanre.

Reshi wrote: "I'm not entirely sure if she is alive or dead, but I have an interesting fact to point out. Maybe it means nothing, but it's interesting nonetheless. So, in "A Silence of Three Parts", WMF, It is m..."

Wow. I hadn't noticed that before. Great catch!

The Ketan stuck out to me the most, it seemed Kvothes first real attempt to be more like the old him. A good ass kicking is what he needed, tough love. :D

Im curious about the whereabouts of his crew from the University are these days and old Ben and Skarpi... looking forward to that the most.

What sticks out to me the most is that Skarpi called Kvothe by name but Kvothe never told him what it was...

I also thought that maybe Denna isn't exactly dead but maybe isn't 'Denna'anymore. We already know that she often changes her name and we also know that names have a lot of power.

IIRC they left things pretty weird between them at the end of book 2 but Bast said that he saw her once in Fae.....so we will be seeing her leading Kvothe by the nose in book 3 at least.

I personally doubt that The Cthaeh would be thinking along the lines of letting Kvothe have the girl...I would say she either is dead or is alive wants nothing to do with him...

Jessica wrote: "Reshi wrote: "I'm not entirely sure if she is alive or dead, but I have an interesting fact to point out. Maybe it means nothing, but it's interesting nonetheless. So, in "A Silence of Three Parts"..."

This seems somewhat less conclusive to me. If I were an innkeeper hiding from the world, something like the Selas vines behind the inn could be (i) to remember that Denna is out there; (ii) to remember that she's not; or (iii) a small signal that, if noticed, would be meaningful only to Denna in finding Kvothe.

Slick wrote: "What sticks out to me the most is that Skarpi called Kvothe by name but Kvothe never told him what it was..."

HOLY CRAP!!! I have read this book 3 times and listened to the audiobook, but I have never caught this before. Mind Blown.

I don't know, but I just have the feeling that Denna is dead. No matter how unreachable is could be, I don't thing Kvothe would be so nostalgic and resigned when he speaks about her unless he knew there is absolutely no way he is going to see her again

Lucía wrote: "I don't know, but I just have the feeling that Denna is dead. No matter how unreachable is could be, I don't thing Kvothe would be so nostalgic and resigned when he speaks about her unless he knew ..."

and I have the feeling we won't see not only Denna, but anybody again.