Has anyone else read "The Redemption of Althalus" by David and Leigh Eddings? Taking some plot features from there:
I think directions in the Fae are critical to the plot.
We know traveling east or west corresponds to changing the time of the day / night.
We know that time runs differently in the fae, Kvothe stayed a day or two by four corners time but spent a year or two there fae time. Others have come out much older than they went in.
We know the house that Jax/Iax built/unfolded has windows opening to different seasons (times of the year).
I think moving north or south goes forward or backward in time outside the fae (as Felurian described).
The Chandrian's (and Amyr) focus on historical recordings (books, vase, songs {which record history better than stories}) is both sides are trying to rewrite history, and there battle is probaly the ongoing creation war). Interestingly this is also what Chronicler is doing and relates to the magic Denna describes where seeing something written becoming your reality even if you don't understand the language.
It also explains the similarity between Kvothe and Taborlin the Great. Kvothe is the imature Taborlin the Great. He travels back in time to fix the future of the world by going into the fae and travelling south. Which is why the human world knows of him (it has happened in that time line) but Felurian doesn't (it is yet to happen in that relm).
Similarly Bast's name identifies him in latitude and longitude of the fae however the co-ordinates there are time of the day any period of time "Bastas, Son of Remmen, Prince of Twilight and the Telwyth Mael" where "Twilight" is the east-west position, and "Mael" means time period / North - south position (150 years ago in the relm men live in). Similary Felurian is Lady of Twilight. Lady of the First Quiet (from a simlar east west location but earlier period).
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Unfortunately the theory that the Cthaeh is Iax is not consistent with Bast's description of the contact the Cthaeh has had with others. From WMF chapt 105 Interlude - A Certain Sweetness
...“So a young man seeking his fortune goes to the Cthaeh and takes away a flower…. “That’s the story of the Fastingsway War,” Bast said faintly....
...Kvothe gave a wry smile. “So after a person meets the Cthaeh, all their choices will be the wrong ones.” Bast shook his head, his face pale and drawn. “Not wrong, Reshi, catastrophic. Iax spoke to the Cthaeh before he stole the moon, and that sparked the entire creation war. Lanre spoke to the Cthaeh before he orchestrated the betrayal of Myr Tariniel. The creation of the Nameless. The Scaendyne. They can all be traced back to the Cthaeh.”...
As Cthaeh spoke to Iax before he stole the moon, Iax can't be the Cthaeh.
From Hespe story we know Jax / Iax left a broken house at the end of a broken road to a Tinker and spoke to an old man sitting in the mouth of a cave who described himself as “I am a listener,” the old man said. “I listen to things to see what they have to say.”
The Tinker and the old man behave as Iax equals. The male equals of Iax we know of are Selitos and Aleph. Maybe Selitos is the Cthaeh and was the listener in the cave. Which would make Aleph the Tinker. Iax maybe the dark powerful thing Felurian hid Kvothe from by sucking out his breath (? foreign life) when collecting shadows for his Shaed.
Iax being a dark shadow fits with Haliax wearing a shadow over his face. It is also consistent with the dark shadow bent to look like a man fought off by Old holy and the lady in the tower (Lyra and Lanre) in How Old Holly Came to Be. Iax locked behind the doors of stone is consistent with him being locked in the house he created, the Fae realm.
Selitos being the old man in the cave is consistent with his preference to listening not mastery / control suggests he was an old name-knowers so would fight the great shaper Iax in the creation war. The Cthaeh behavior is consistent with Selitos holding grudges so not accepting Aleph offer to be an Angel as illustrated by Skarpi story in NotW Chapt 12 Tehlu's Watchful Eye:
"…Selitos One-Eye stood forward and said, “Lord, if I do this thing will I be given the power to avenge the loss of the shining city? Can I confound the plots of Lanre and his Chandrian who killed the innocent and burned my beloved Myr Tariniel?”
Aleph said, “No. All personal things must be set aside, and you must punish or reward only what you yourself witness from this day forth.”
Selitos bowed his head. “I am sorry, but my heart says to me I must try to stop these things before they are done, not wait and punish later.”
(It is interesting Selitos does not say he wants to punish The Chandrian for what they have done, he wants to stop them from ever doing it i.e. change the course of history)
The Cthaeh displeasure with Cinder is consistent the Cthaeh speaking to Lanre and orchestrating the seven each betraying their city. Except one remembered the Lethani. The one city (Myr Tariniel) and six of the seven cities fell. Cinder is likely to be The Chandrian / Rhinta who remembered the Lethani and did the right thing so one of the seven cities did not fall. The saying "How is the road to Tinuë?" is consistent with Tinuë being the city that didn't fall. It is also consistent with Selitos orchestrating the fall of the other seven cities, but suffering the loss of his city Myr Tariniel and achieving the destruction of only six of the other seven cities.
Aleph we would not expect to find in the world we know as he left.
The problem with this theory is I can't work out why, if Selitos is Iax enemy, why is he living / anchored to a tree in Iax house / creation? Although I suppose he may have stationed himself there as he knows the Fae realm has access to the past, and the future will eventually produce some one who can go back and change the past. Which if that is the case, will Aleph allow Selitos to change the past / have the greater vision?