The Kingkiller Chronicle | Denna – A Character Study

This video contains spoilers for The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss.

Love her or hate her, Denna has had a massive impact on the story. But who is she and what is her role going forward?

The wonderful thumbnail art is "Denna" by emmgoyer7

Huge thanks to these amazing artists.

'Doors of Stone' by That Summers Guy

Kingkiller: Denna by Izzu-shi

Red Wine by Mandy Jurgens

Abenthy's Cart by Chillalord

The University by Marc Simonetti

Stars by Marc Simonetti

At The Eolian by dejan-delic

Eolian by Marc Simonetti

Denna by Julia Maddalina

Kvothe and Denna by Gretlusky

Name of the Wind - Kvothe, Denna by leabharlann

Denna by Dan Dos Santos

Kvothe and Denna - The Name of the Wind by ClaireAdele

Auri and Kvothe by Manweri

Stolen Moments by Gal Or

Revive the Breathless by Gal Or

Bast by Manweri

Denna by AlyaW

Kvothe and Denna - Name of wind by Chibi-Rina

Rothfuss in 2014 by Kyle Cassidy

Kvothe by bablar

Denna by aschmit

Denna at night by lemonade8

Draccus by Marc Simonetti

Trebon Vase by Anastassia Grigorieva

The Chandrian by Marc Simonetti

Master Ash by dejan-delic

Cinder by by jameszapata

Kvothe by Kurogane-sensei

Kvothe meets Haliax - Name of the Wind by BradSuttonArt

Draccus by dejan-delic

Kvothe and Denna by FabioAlencarArt

Kvothe and Denna by Arbetta

Amyr Ciridae by Nathan Taylor

Playing Cards deck seal by Shane Tyree (Albino Dragon)

Cinder by dejan-delic

Denna by AmyWinterbreeze

Denna, Ring, Harp by Julia Maddalina

Lanre by emmgoyer7

Denna by abbey-tex-johnson

Looking for Denna 2.0 by GungHoGrimm

How I imagine Denna by u/adabi1414

Denna by MartAiConan

The Doors of Stone fan made cover by Kernel's Corner

Denna in the circle of Selas by AkasunaJune

Music:

Strange the Dreamer by Savfk

Lightless Dawn by Kevin MacLeod

Beautiful and Mysterious by Ross Bugden

llusory Realm by Darren Curtis

[Oensk]

Holy s***, i started reading Kingkiller chronicle in 2020, so i didn't realize how long some of you guys have been waiting for a new book...

[zxpower]

I had drink in my mouth when you said 2068...it came out my nose lol

[Sarcastic_Sophist]

I admittedly didn't see the issue with Denna (at least beyond concern for Kvothe's ideation of her). However given her parallels to Kvothe I would not be shocked if her thoughts of their interactions was much the same as Kvothe's. I remember reading once, "We often judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions". I think we give Kvothe this same leeway at times since we are privy to his thoughts. Anyway, I think you did a great job on this video, thank you for it.

[jackjennings]

All I want to say is, is that I love the dynamic between Denna and Kvothe. I think it beautifully illustrates the complications of real world romance in terms of complications and the idea of infatuation (on Kvothes part, in, like you said of not acknowledging Dennas flaws etc). I think it brings the whole story a wonderful, real, human element. I just want to where the bloody arc will go - like the rest of us...

[sif_]

"In 2068" that made me laugh 😂
Btw I like Denna, though I also had my troubles with her, but that explanation from the Eolian owner made a lot of sense and she is indeed realistic and interesting. Great video once again :D

[oswin]

Here's my take on Denna. We're supposed to see her as someone who has flaws and can be manipulative. But we also see her from Kvothe's perspective and he loves her with a young innocent love that many readers make fun of. It's actually a really tragic dynamic. Denna has been through a lot and has become hard. Kvothe loves her even after discovering her many flaws. There's a line in TNOTW that goes something like this, "Anyone can love a thing 'because', that's as easy as putting a penny in your pocket. But to love something in spite of! To see the flaws and love them too, that is beautiful and rare and perfect!" I think this line can be applied to Denna and Kvothe.

[whutzat]

I personally love Denna. I have just always trusted that later we would learn all the whys behind her behaviors.

[thecomet]

He misses how many times she tells him that she loves him. “Seven words” means he said something that touched her deeply and made her fall in love but he ignorantly (or on purpose) disregards this.

[eliasroos]

I like Denna, not because she's particularly likeable, but because of how Rothfuss seems to treat her as something of an antagonist to Kvothe. Whenever they meet, she's all sweet words and kindness, but her presence always leaves Kvothe worse off than before. Despite the best efforts of people like Ambrose and Master Hemme, none of them ever manage to hurt him quite as much as Denna. Even the Cthaeh, an ancient fey being with perfect foresight, sees that the best way to hurt Kvothe is to bring up Denna. Whatever happens to Kvothe in the end to turn him into Kote, I believe that Denna will be the root of it all.

[gaspi]

Denna is my favorite besides Kvothe. I just can't wait for her next chapters and when they fought I desperately wanted to see them reconcile.
They would really need to talk about something of importance but I like reading about them chilling and forgetting about the world.

[matthewsteele]

It’s both bitter and beautiful that Kvothe and Denna will tell their feelings for each other to everybody but each other. Don’t most of our weaknesses come from the heart? Good characters are flawed.

[ScottnCarolJC]

I actually like the tragedy that is their relationship. Not many novels in fantasy fiction do that.

[Slughornable]

Can't wait for this quarantinee to end so Patrick can say he hasn´t finished doors of stone yet . Great video

[bigbilly]

I think this video really overlooks dennas secret knowledge of magic and manipulations. She clearly is using yillish knots to manipulate ppl and she isn’t just showing up in key situations by accident. She isn’t remotely as innocent as you make her out to be. I’m very interested in the kinds of knowledge she is hiding.

[mikepennington]

That was excellent dead-pan delivery on the 'release date'.

[bencochrane]

"... When Doors of Stone is released in 2068..." You slayed me. hahahaha.

[supergumby]

The deadpan way you said 2068 almost got past me and then made me laugh out loud at work 😂 nice videos!

[CrafterChristine]

Good job on the video! Love your chanel!

It's more likely that Braeden is Denna's patron. We have proof that he's wiser and smarter than Kvoth and Denna. Here are two examples. One is when he plays Tack and the other is how he's mastered the social games of the mayor's court. We've seen him manipulate the game of tack in his favour with ease. He also explains the rings Kvoth is given and how the social hierarchy works in the mayor's court ... We have also had a glimpse of how brutal he can be when showing Kvoth that winning tack isn't the goal. Something about it makes him beating Denna (for her good or for his pleasure) more believable.
He seems like the kind of character who would have an interest in deeper secrets: like the Chandran and the Amyr. The mayor himself came very close to finding some serious answers without even knowing it according to the Cthaeh. Maybe that was Braeden or a shared acquaintance.

If Braeden is Denna's patron, perhaps Denna and Kvoth are walking parallel paths instead of strictly mirroring each other.

If Braeden is looking for either the Amyr or the Chandran, he could easily be using Denna as an experiment on what would happen if a song was written that spread lies about the Chandran... If he knew that the Mauthen farm would be destroyed during the wedding, he definitely knows that telling the truth will get you killed.

[clementtsao]

I can't wait to read The Doors Of Stone in 2173

[JdllesTheTinman]

Has anyone ever thought that maybe Denna is right? That Lanre had been betrayed and was seeking vengeance for the death of his wife. That Seletos broke the Seven's names and used the Amir to distort their history and use story's to turn the realms against them. So they try to piece the bits of story together in hopes of getting the truth out so the can reassemble their names and finally pass on. But they are always just behind the Amir as they cover up the true history knowingly, or not? I'm not sure but the read through I'm doing now I'm reading it like Kvothe was mistaken about what he saw. I have to admit when you have that in mind things start to make more sense.