Stephen King's Dark Tower

[A Gunslinger]

big big indeed Furls!

I was happy for Jake Eddie and Susie (Oy too), but the end was sad.

SK really threw us for a loop with Danville, eh?

[Furls Fire]

YES!!! I expected him tho. Especailly after Ted showed up. The Breakers were amazing. I didn't know what to expect when we finally SAW them. And to have Ted a breaker was awesome!

And Patrick!! WOW!!!

Spoiler

what a way for SK to do away with the Crimson King, just ERASE him!

Another question....how did Roland get the horn back???

Whew...

Hey..where was Jack Sawyer????

[A Gunslinger]

I don't know where Jack was....if there was anything that made me sore, it was not having Jack there.

I think the horn returned because Roland earned it. You might recall that Roland left the horn of Gilead behind because he was so fixated on the Tower. That was part of the beginning of the selling of his soul.

I beleive that Roland is damned to repeat his journey over and over until he fails to sell any portion of himself to the Tower. This eternal struggle will assure that over time the Tower stands. The real danger for all worlds is when Roland (the hard case to end them all) never sells his love for the quest.

[Roland of Gilead]

I think the very next time, Roland succeeds. Because for whatever reason, the horn makes the difference.

This is the message of hope within the atmosphere of despair, one of King's trademarks.

[Old Darth]

I agree Roland, though one could argue just as well that many more iterations lay ahead.

[Zahir]

I was very impressed with the whole series, and in many ways the ending is one of the most powerful I've ever read. Yeah, I can understand how some folks would hate it, but not me.

This is also in some ways the most open ending I've ever seen. What does the Horn of Eld mean, really? My take is that Gad/the Tower gave it to Roland because this time he came closest to salvation. And each turn of the cycle allows him another chance to save or damn himself, because after all he created this fate for himself. And the presence of a single horn might make a huge difference, after all... Look how much difference a single song heard by Mia turned out to be. Or the staggering walk of Pleasantville's manager.

But then there are the unanswered questions.

How different is each of Roland's journeys?
Will he summon the same Three, variations of them, or a different set altogether?
Is the Crimson King a twin of Roland himself, and is perhaps that a realization he needs to come to?

[Roland of Gilead]

Good points, Zahir. But refresh my memory - what is the "staggering walk of Pleasantville's manager?" You lost me with that reference.

[Zahir]

Here's the reference, from pages 380-81:

(Pimli Prentiss) went to the Weasel, weaving slightly from side to side--it was this drunken weave that Roland would later blame in his bitter heart for the final outcome of that morning's work--probably meaning to take command of the operation....
...He leveled his gun on the back of Prentiss's head, pulled the trigger and watched as blood and hair flew.

Then, from pages 383-85:

But perhaps he could do something about that. His right hand began its slow and painful journey toward the docker's clutch and the Peacemaker holstered there.
...
(Eddie) caught movement from the corner of his eye as he did so and caught another one--the boss of the show--had struggled up onto one elbow. His gun, the Peacemaker .40 that had once executed a rapist, was leveled. Eddie's reflexes were quick, but there was no time to use them.

[Roland of Gilead]

Okay, thanks. I didn't recall the place being called Pleasantville. I always think of it as the Devar Toi or Blue Heaven.

[Lord Wombat]

I was very impressed with the whole series, and in many ways the ending is one of the most powerful I've ever read. Yeah, I can understand how some folks would hate it, but not me.

This is also in some ways the most open ending I've ever seen. What does the Horn of Eld mean, really? My take is that Gad/the Tower gave it to Roland because this time he came closest to salvation. And each turn of the cycle allows him another chance to save or damn himself, because after all he created this fate for himself. And the presence of a single horn might make a huge difference, after all... Look how much difference a single song heard by Mia turned out to be. Or the staggering walk of Pleasantville's manager.

But then there are the unanswered questions.

How different is each of Roland's journeys?
Will he summon the same Three, variations of them, or a different set altogether?
Is the Crimson King a twin of Roland himself, and is perhaps that a realization he needs to come to?

Well, Childe Roland is supposed to blow his horn when he comes to the Tower

Man...Sudden moment of brilliance...or something

To be less vague, I think that each time, it likely starts off the same, and then gradually becomes more different as he makes different decisions. I expect on his next iteration, he will have to save Beams 3 and 4 (I'll call the ones he saved this time 1 and 2, as they were the only ones left and I forgot the beam names). If he ever gets all the beams up and running without failing, I expect Ka will find other things for him to do. But it will always end with him being sent back to the beginning, until he overcomes his willingness to do anything to get to the Tower.

(I expect it's one of those things where seeking the Tower just to seek the Tower makes you unworthy to seek the Tower )

I expect he'll draw a different three next time, but probably it's over and over on the same 'themes'.

The Crimson King is, I think, the Discordian reflection of old Steven King, a being born to break the beams instead of preserving them.