The Name of the Wind

Kvothe sleeps for 18 hours straight, then receives a call on the horns. Ambrose accuses Kvothe of malfeasance. Kvothe counters and accuses Ambrose of theft, destruction of property, and Conduct Unbecoming A Member of the Arcanum. Kvothe and Ambrose both lay down their grievances and defenses. The masters charge Ambrose for the lute and the theft but disagree with Kvothe about suspending Ambrose from the Arcanum.

Ambrose seeks six lashes against Kvothe for the malfeasance charge, in which expulsion is the mandatory recourse. Kvothe asks to say a few things, but the Chancellor says he has already given his defense. Although Kvothe still isn’t sure what he did and says so, the masters conduct the vote to expel him.

The Chancellor then asks if any master opposes the six lashes and expulsion. Elodin says he does, and all the masters except Hemme vote with him. The Chancellor then suspends the expulsion. Elodin moves to raise Kvothe to the rank of Re’lar, and all except Hemme vote to do so. Elodin comes to shake Kvothe’s hand and says he’ll explain.

Elodin reveals that everyone has a waking mind and a sleeping mind. Ambrose’s breaking of the lute roused Kvothe’s sleeping mind, causing it to call the name of the wind. When Elodin used another name, it “settled the angry bear, eased it back to sleep” (616). He says Kvothe was never in real danger of expulsion—other students have called on the wind in anger.

Now that he is a Re’lar, he will learn advanced bindings but still won’t get access to the Archives. Kvothe asks about the four-plate door, and Elodin says now that Kvothe is a Re’lar, he’s willing to admit the door exists. Kvothe still doesn’t understand about how names have such power, but Elodin says he will teach him.

Kvothe tells Wil and Sim that Elodin is mad, and that he will receive a whipping for malfeasance. Back at the University, he goes to see Auri. He brings honey wine, complete with sunlight, a smile, and a question. The question, he says, after they have a meal on the roof, is whether she will show him the Underthing where she lives. Auri makes a joke: “Imagine, asking to see a girl’s underthing” (621).

She takes him under the University to crawl through the tunnels and pipes and down three spiral staircases to a place like the bottom of a canyon. The deeper one goes, the stranger things become. Stairways and half-collapsed rooms, with windows even though they are 50 feet below ground, replace the pipes. They enter Throughbottom, a room like a cathedral containing huge and ancient machines—some ruined, some intact.

The evening crowd begins to come in, including the smith’s apprentice, who says he’s having bad dreams about the spider creature. Chronicler starts to tell stories of legendary Kvothe, but the locals interrupt him and reveal their mangled versions of the hero’s tale.

The door opens, and the mercenary who robbed Chronicler enters. However, the man appears changed. A horrifying fight commences, ending in the death of local man Shep and the death of the mercenary at the apprentice’s hands. During the fight, Kote tries to perform sympathy but fails. Eventually, the townspeople agree the mercenary was a deserter and denner addict who went crazy. The smith’s apprentice sticks around for a while, simply wanting verification that he isn’t crazy because he thinks the mercenary was a demon.

Kote, Bast, and Chronicler try to make sense of what the demented mercenary was “looking” for, and Kote believes it was looking for him. He blames himself for the war and the scrael. Bast believes the man was one of the Mahael-uret—a skin dancer—but neither he nor Kote knows for sure. Bast checks Chronicler’s shoulder where the thing touched him and asks for ingredients to create a salve. While Kote gets them, Bast admonishes Chronicler and tells him not to mention the sympathy Kvothe tried to do.

Kote asks if Chronicler is up for more writing, as they are still days away from any true ending. Bast wants to know what was under the University. Kote offers, “I found what I had wanted most, yet it was not what I expected” (640).

Kvothe receives his whipping in the courtyard called the Quoyan Hayel, in front of an impressive audience. As before, he doesn’t cry or bleed, and he leaves on his own two feet. Mola gives him 57 stitches. Then, Kvothe uses Ambrose’s money to buy a lute, two sets of clothing, a bottle of his own blood, and a new dress for Auri: “It was, all in all, a very pleasant afternoon” (641).

Auri takes Kvothe exploring in the Underthing, and he gets a feel for the place. In an area called the Billows, they find an ancient, moldy door leading to a room that slants to a 3-foot ceiling. Kvothe goes for a look, asking Auri to wait for him, and finds what he’s looking for.

He knocks on Fela’s door, though it is late at night. She emerges with a bedsheet around herself. He says she told him to call on her for a favor, then asks her to meet a friend in the Archives the following evening at fifth bell, by the four-plate door.

Kvothe is the one who meets her at the Archives. He found a door that led to the lowest level of the stacks, using the smell of leather and dust on the wind of the Billows as his clue. He needs Fela’s help because he can’t figure out the place’s organization. Fela tells him that it would take more than a lifetime’s work to organize it.

Fela introduces Kvothe to the workings of the Archives, and Kvothe tries to figure out the answers to his questions. Elodin teaches Kvothe yet seems more interested in confusing the student than offering clear answers. Kvothe frequently travels to Imre and sees Denna, although she usually has someone there with her. He hates those men, and they fear and hate him in return because “there is a part of her that is only for [Kvothe]” (651).

Wil and Sim, sitting in the courtyard one day, urge Kvothe to tell Denna how he feels, but he won’t; he is one of her few friends and he won’t throw himself at her. Sim calls her cruel. Kvothe agrees but adds that she isn’t mean or spiteful.

Kvothe changes the subject and tells Sim that they call this place the Questioning Hall and people write questions on slips of paper and let the wind blow them around. After Sim leaves, he writes Denna’s name on a piece of paper and lets it fly. However, the wind never takes it away and gives him no answers. Ambrose is still at large. Kvothe thinks he learned his lesson and is staying away, but he is wrong.

Kote finishes his tale for the day, saying that he has laid the groundwork for the story. He dismisses Chronicler and Bast and does his nightly ritual. Chronicler gets ready for bed. He locks the door of his room and puts the iron wheel he used earlier with Bast around his neck. He has trouble sleeping until he moves a heavy chest of drawers in front of the door.

Chronicler awakens with something soft against his face—Bast. Chronicler demands to know how he got in there, but Bast tells him to be quiet. He says they must talk about why Chronicler is there. Chronicler says that Bast let something slip to a wagoneer, and a rumor reached him. Bast says that was on purpose.

Bast tells Chronicler that Kote is wasting away. Bast believes that Kote must tell his story and doing so will transform him and help him remember what his heroic life was like. He tells Chronicler to keep Kote from focusing on “the dark things” (659) and to dwell more on the good parts. When Chronicler protests that he isn’t supposed to steer Kote one way or another, Bast threatens him with a curse, saying that he owns him and proving that the iron is no deterrent to his desires.

Mirroring the Prologue, the concluding chapter is an exact copy, outlining the three types of silence inside the inn. Now, however, the second silence is different: Instead of men huddled at the bar, there’s a man huddled in his bed in “small, frightened silence” (661) compared to the sullen one of the customers of the first chapter.