I read through the Keeper of the Lost Cities series twice from March 13 through May 22. I continued thinking about the books throughout the summer and perused online discussions periodically. In August, I decided that I should read the books again, for the third time. For my third reading, I had a specific focus that was different from my previous one.
I have created a page with handy links to all of my posts on this series.
View them here: Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories
This post and upcoming ones contain my thoughts on my third reading of the books.
Do not read further unless you have read all of the books including #8.5 and #9. This post contains MAJOR SERIES SPOILERS.
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I continue to wonder about Fintan and the scene where he and Kenric appear to die. We know that Fintan faked his death, and Kenric had to have faked his death as well, even though that hasn't yet been revealed in the books.
Quite a few people speculate that Kenric is alive. This theory gets shut down fast each time someone mentions it. The fans who say Kenric is dead dominate any discussion where anyone thinks otherwise. My frustration with the lack of discussion about Kenric's uncertain death is what led me to read through the set three times. Since I can't find much discussion supporting what I believe, I have had to search the books for evidence.
Fans think that Kenric must be dead because it's unthinkable that he would hurt Oralie by faking his death. They feel that Oralie would be devastated if she were to learn that Kenric faked his death. In one brief discussion, a fan did pose the thought that Oralie would be happy to learn that Kenric is alive. I'm not sure why no one else thinks of that.
Yes, Oralie would be very angry with Kenric at first if he were to reappear alive, having faked his death. However, Kenric would no doubt have a good explanation for his actions, which would result in Oralie forgiving him. Ultimately, she'd be happy to have her Kenric back.
Some fans also believe that Shannon Messenger hasn't killed off enough characters. This is considered a weakness on her part. These fans are very against the idea that Kenric could be resurrected at some point. I guess I have trouble understanding why it's so important for enough characters to be killed by a children's book author. The series is, after all, a children's book series.
Besides, the elves are said to have no crime and very few deaths. It seems to me that having few deaths fits Messenger's near-ideal elf world perfectly.
I believe Kenric is alive, because of all the clues. His name is Kenric Elgar Fathdon, which is an anagram with all letters used exactly once and none left over: "Forkle grin and teach."
That's rather specific. "Grin" refers to Kenric, and "teach" refers to Leto. The phrase translates to "Forkle, Kenric, and Leto." Kenric is Forkle and Leto. If you've read my past posts, then you know that I'm 100% convinced of this and that I've found plenty of evidence to support my belief, in addition to the anagram.
When I can use every letter in a name exactly once and create a phrase that is relevant to the series plot, then I believe that the name was crafted to form that specific anagram. There is no way this means anything other than what it appears to mean.
These are the anagrams I've found.
Kenric Elgar Fathdon is "Forkle grin and teach."
Connor Kate Natalie Freeman is "one Forkle at a main entrance."
Ethan Benedict Wright II is "grin teach tweed inhibit."
Eleanor Olivia Wright is "love Oralie with a grin."
These are very simple anagrams that are much easier to spot.
Kerlof is "Forkle."
Tiergan is "Granite."
I also believe that Kenric is Sophie's biological father. There are just too many clues pointing to this for anything else to be true. I have detailed the clues in one of my past posts. This is another theory that has been mentioned online quite a few times and is also shut down fast with little dissent.
People think Kenric isn't Sophie's father because Forkle has told Sophie that Kenric isn't her father. But Forkle lies.
Book 8.5, Page 375 [Mr. Forkle] lies sometimes. Maybe all the time. Who knows?
We've been told multiple times that Mr. Forkle is a liar. Forkle has admitted that he's lied to Sophie about important information. Forkle can be quite convincing, but I think he's lying or tricking Sophie with what he says. If Forkle is Kenric, then he's going to lie about Kenric being Sophie's father.
Book 4, Page 368 "Someday you may understand," Mr. Forkle told Sophie. "But
for now I can at least assure you—as I did with your concerns about
Jolie—that I am not your genetic father." Keefe grabbed Mr. Forkle's wrist. "He's telling the truth. And... he actually feels kinda bad about it."
That just means that the Mr. Forkle speaking in that scene isn't Sophie's father. His twin could be.
Book 4, Page 369 Mr. Forkle sighed. I can tell you're still pondering
possibilities. So I will add that your genetic parents had no
connection to each other. There was no unrequited love. They weren't
even friends. I did that purposely, because I couldn't allow them to
know who each other were.
This statement is part lie and part clever wording.
Forkle says that Sophie's parents had "no connection." This part is an outright lie. But then, it also could be clever wording. What is meant by the word "connection"? Kenric and Oralie certainly knew each other, so they were connected. However, a synonym of connection is relationship. A relationship could just be friends, which Kenric and Oralie were. A relationship could be marriage or by blood, which they were not. Kenric and Oralie had a connection, but then they didn't.
A phrase can be twisted to mean the opposite of what it means at face value. Mr. Forkle is speaking in a clever fashion that is deliberately misleading.
Forkle says that there was "no unrequited love." "Unrequited love" is when one loves another person who doesn't return the feelings. Kenric and Oralie both loved each other; the feelings weren't unrequited. They simply didn't act on their feelings. "No unrequited love" is a true statement about Kenric and Oralie.
Forkle says that they weren't friends. At first, Kenric and Oralie were not friends. This is revealed in the Forgotten Secrets of Book 9. Forkle's statement about them not being friends was true at one point in time. They were friends later. But then, one could say that they secretly loved each other, so they weren't friends. They were lovers who weren't acting on their feelings.
Book 4, Page 43 "Was Kenric my father? He was a Telepath. And he was always
so kind to me." Her throat closed off as she remembered his bright
smiles. The red-haired Councillor had been one of Sophie's strongest
supporters, right up until the day she'd lost him to Fintan's inferno of
Everblaze. Magnate Leto reached for Sophie's hand, tracing a finger
across the star-shaped scar he'd accidentally given her when he healed
her abilities. "Kenric wasn't involved with Project Moonlark. And
that's all I can tell you. Some secrets must remain hidden."
I believe that Leto's statement is technically true but highly misleading. I finally worked out what he is doing. Councillor Kenric was not involved with Project Moonlark; rather, Mr. Forkle was involved. Kenric's Black Swan activities were, technically speaking, completed as Mr. Forkle. So, it is true to say that Kenric wasn't involved.
Also, Leto is tracing Sophie's scar as he says that Kenric wasn't involved. It's like he's talking about the scar, which was caused by Forkle. Kenric didn't cause the scar, not technically.
I put little weight on Leto's statements, since I believe he is twisting his words to mislead Sophie.
A lot of fans don't think Kenric is Forkle because they doubt he would have hurt Oralie by faking his death. I even believed that at first, which threw me off. However...
If Kenric is Forkle, then Kenric is a pair of identical twins. This means that Oralie was in love with a pair of twins, which is an impossible situation. Kenric (the two of them) could never be with Oralie, so I can see why Kenric would fake his death instead of resigning from the Council. If Kenric had resigned, then Oralie might have resigned as well. How would the twins have dealt with that?
I do go back and forth on whether one twin or both were in love with Oralie.
1. When I first wrote this post, my thinking was that one twin loved Oralie. The other twin was in the Forgotten Secrets where he wasn't being very nice to Oralie. I thought the deceased twin is the one who did not love Oralie, and the one still alive does.
2. By the time I revised this post, my mind had changed. I now think that both twins loved Oralie. They had to feel the same way about everything because of their shared identity. In the Forgotten Secret from Oralie's cache, Oralie tells Kenric (page 533, Book 8.5), "You can't hide your feelings, Kenric. They're there—every time I'm around you." Both twins must have loved Oralie, or she would have detected a difference.
I assume that the living twin is Sophie's father.
A very popular fan theory is that Elwin is
Sophie's father. This belief comes from one statement made by Elwin.
Book 8, page 510: So she told Livvy and Elwin, "He won't tell me who my biological parents are. Even though I deserve to know." "You definitely deserve to know that," Elwin agreed, narrowing his eyes at Mr. Forkle.
Fans have decided that Elwin's statement means that Elwin
is her father. However, Elwin was simply stating his belief that Sophie has a right to know, and most anyone would agree. If Elwin were the male
donor to Project Moonlark, he'd be leery of the consequences, so I doubt
that he would have made that statement if he were Sophie's father.
A lot of fans think that either Brant, Gethen, or Fintan is Sophie's biological father. If either Brant or Gethen were Sophie's father, it would just be gross. Brant and Gethen are both murderers with no redeeming qualities.
Fintan, at least, has some redeeming qualities, even though he's one of the villains. I feel kind of sorry for Fintan with how he was forced not to use his talent. Even so, I very much doubt that Fintan is Sophie's father. Fintan is not where the clues lead. They lead to Kenric.
Going back to how I began this post, I believe that Fintan is very important and in ways that have not been revealed. Fintan is connected to Elysian somehow. The butterflies mentioned in the Forgotten Secrets of Book 9 are in Fintan's memories in Book 2. As I reread the books, I checked every mention of Fintan very carefully to see if I could figure anything out.
Fintan is always saying, "Something's missing." Indeed. Readers are missing information about Fintan, which is why we can't quite make sense of his plans.
Tiergan is also of deep interest to me. I believe his allegiance is exactly what we believe it to be, which is with the Black Swan, but there is something from his past that has been withheld from us. I wonder what it is and whether it is something very important. I paid close attention to Tiergan as I reread the books.
Fans really dislike Oralie. This is because of Sophie's attitude towards Oralie in the later books. Sophie is highly resentful that Oralie kept secrets, not telling her that she was Sophie's mother. Sophie is also resentful that Oralie is a Councillor, which means that Sophie can never reveal her mother's identity and can never be matched.
Sophie's attitude is understandable but a bit irrational. After all, Sophie would not exist if her biological parents hadn't donated to Project Moonlark.
I think Sophie has such intense anger towards Oralie for reasons that she hasn't articulated. Sophie says that it's because of the secrets and because of her unmatchable status. I believe that the real reason for the anger is because of how very much Sophie has always liked Oralie. If Sophie had been raised by Oralie, then she would have quite naturally had a very close relationship with her. Sophie feels cheated. Sure, she's had other great parents, but she can never experience what it would have been like to have been raised by her biological parents.
Additional posts will follow. I will include a brief synopsis of each book. I am having trouble remembering when certain events happened, so I want to get that information in this blog. I also will include any additional thoughts that I have.
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