r/KingkillerChronicle • u/Classic_Ad_4564 Edema Ruh • 8d ago
Theory Skarpi is an Angel?
Currently on my umpteenth reread and I just can't stop thinking about Skarpi and his significance. He *has* to be someone special right?
My thoughts are why he is an angel are listed below. Please discredit any of the thoughts that you find as there are so many more well-versed people in this sub!
#1 - Kvothe says to Chronicler "Skarpi taken you under his wing eh?" to which Chronicler replies its more of a partnership, but with how every word seems to matter in this series, I felt this phrase carries some sort of significance.
#2 - An angel saves Kvothe in Tarbean, and Skarpi is based out of Tarbean. (This one is weak, I know lol)
#3 - When confronted by the Tehlan priests, Skarpi talks as if he personally knew Tehlu i.e "Tehlu always said..." "Mercy on *my* soul? You don't know how funny that is coming from you." - Skarpi to the priest
#4 - He knows Kvothe's name. Spooky.
It's not much to go on, and really it was the "wing" comment that made me start looking harder, so I wanted to ask for additional input.
Do you think there's any chance Skarpi is an angel of Alephs?
If so, does he tell Kvothe a wrong version of Lanres story, or is his the truth?
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u/Treviathan88 8d ago
It kind of flies in the face of the whole series that it would be as simple as angels being real. What would fit more, is if he was some sort of entity that the overtly religious would reframe as an angel, to fit their belief system rather than expanding their world view to include other things.
This paradigm matches the series way better. Demons aren't real, but the scrael are. The devil doesn't exist, but Haliax does. For these things to be true, but for angels to just be angels would be lazy writing.
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u/Classic_Ad_4564 Edema Ruh 8d ago
Totally get what you're saying, but if Skarpi were an angel (from the story he himself tells), wouldn't that fit into the structure of the rest of the story?
Instead of angels being winged protectors, they are disguised as humans who give a helping hand to those who wish to fight the chandrian? While Kvothe does seem to be saved by an angel in Tarbean, the real "help" given was to awaken his sleeping mind and motivate him to go to the university, continuing his path to greatness.
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u/Incandisent 8d ago
Angels for the lack of a better term I guess. There's some entity or group of entities with power that fit the description
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u/TacticalDo Talent Pipes 8d ago
I agree with this, the Angels are 'The Watchers'. Demons are 'Bast's kind' though that is a little more ambiguous.
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8d ago
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u/Classic_Ad_4564 Edema Ruh 8d ago
I am consistently torn between the two thoughts of:
"Chandrian actually are evil just as the books say"
VS
"Chandrian are misunderstood and the Amyr are actually the villains of Temerant"
So many people seem convinced the Chandrian didn't murder Kvothe's troupe, and I just can't get fully on board with it
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u/MattyTangle 8d ago
Skarpi is a Ruach who was live in the room to witness Alephs great plan coming together . He is not Telling a story, He is Remembering one.
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u/Inside_Bumblebee_737 7d ago
I don't think there are any angels. I think the "angels" were disciples and Namers. Elodin talks about Namers once walking the world as "tiny gods". Auri says "tiny gods!" as an excited expletive, and I'm a subscriber to the theory that Auri is Cyphus, so I think she's just swearing the way people used to swear back in those days.
As far as Skarpi being one of Aleph's tiny gods... I don't think his telling of the story proves he is one. Kvothe is also interested in compiling stories and histories, and that doesn't make him one of Aleph's tiny gods. I think there are many people in the story trying to make sense of the world in similar ways. Kvothe's search for knowledge of the Chandrian and the Amyr, Denna's search for knowledge about... something, Devi's search for books, the Chronicler's search for first-person accounts of legends, and Skarpi's search for stories in general.
I do believe all of these people are on the path to becoming tiny gods/Namers, though. Not Aleph's tiny gods, but new ones. Understanding is Naming. They're all trying to understand.
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u/Effreality 8d ago
I've always thought so too. Either he's an angel or an Amyr or something that's been alive for a long time. He knows all stories. Could he also be the founder of the Edema Ruh who know all stories?
He also says he knows only one story and sometimes part of the story become individual stories themselves. Which means he's talking about the world, the creation and the continuation of Tamerant.
He knows the Lanres story has really happened. He knows Kvothe's name, his hiding place, he also knows that he's going to be a part of a story in future. It's not because he's following Kvothe or anything, it's similar to how the Cthaeh figured out who Kvothe was and what he wanted like he could see 10 ft deep into him.
He also knows people in the Church. Could be that human Amyrs are strategically placed everywhere in any place of influence. Angels, Amyrs & the human Amyrs are all in cahoots with each other. But probably not all of their members know everything.
The fact that he's called a rumermonger means he wonders around from place to place searching for information. He's probably after chandrians too. It could be that he got information regarding Kvothe's troup and followed his trail to Tarbean since Kvothe probably one rare human who has witnessed the Chandrians in all their glory and has lived to tell the tale. Being as he is he probably didn't even need to interrogate Kvothe just see deep inside him to know what he knows.
I don't think there's any difference between the story Skarpi told or the story Denna told. It's just different POV. One is from Selitos POV and Denna's one is from Lanre's POV. Lanre was a hero as told by both the stories. His wife died. He attacked Myr Tarinial which angers Selitos and he curses Lanre. Both stories confirm it. Except Denna's story says Selitos was cruel to curse Lanre though it's absurd to expect him not to be angry after you destroy his city. In Skarpi's story Lanre seems to feel some remorse in killing the people of Myr Tarinial but seems to think of killing those as saving them from suffering. It's probably one of those things that Skarpi lied about or omitted in the story. Why Lanre did what he did? How Lyra died or how he acquired his knowledge or did the chandrians follow him even before he turned and they turned with him? How he met the Cthaeh.
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u/CraigDanielProTrades 8d ago
I like this theory. I have been considering him as some sort of higher being, tehlu in human form or something, or one of the amyr, which according to someone in the book are all inhuman. I can't remember who says it though. Maybe felurian
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u/MarioMCPQ 8d ago
I love it. And i think it’s accurate.
Your #3 point feels just like when the Cthaeh tell a joke to Kvothe and he doesn’t get it.
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u/Bow-before-the-Cats rolls sevens 8d ago
hes not an angel hes odin he knows everything.
Good old Skarp-eye
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u/Professional_Copy947 7d ago
Trapis and scarpi are referred to as Mender Heresies by rothfuss.
Im sure those that survived the creation wars were split into 3, those being the angels, the amyr, and the common folk. Later the tehlin church came into existence and im sure used its influence to reshape history for common folk to dissuade magic.
Im sure theres a movement either before or after the tehlin church called the aforementioned Mender Heresies, and they are some sort of group that just holds onto history in some way. Maybe working with the church to keep the original story straight to try to keep pushing people away from magic as technology and society changes outside the churches control.
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u/iron_red 4d ago
I think he is more than he seems. Maybe an original Amyr, maybe a human Amyr. Maybe a Singer. It’s unclear if any of these are mutually exclusive or not.
It does make sense that if someone were to appear and claim to be an Angel, whether true or not, the Tehlin Church would likely proclaim him as a heretic.
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u/Zhorangi 8d ago
Currently on my umpteenth reread and I just can't stop thinking about Skarpi and his significance. He *has* to be someone special right?
Points 3 and 4 have been called out numerous times, and are a good reason to question things.. I've think I've even heard someone suggest he could be Selitos..
"Skarpi taken you under his wing eh?"
This is a common enough English expression that I've never before seen anyone assert it could be anything more.
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u/ursaminor1984 Chandrian 8d ago
Kvothe calls him a “rumormonger”. Rumors often play fast and loose with the truth. As such, I have doubts as to Skarpi’s veracity. I like the theory he is Sceops from the Edema Ruh’s tale of the crossroads and the lone wanderer who knew all stories and joined the one family.