Finished Dark Tower 7 and have Question... (SPOILER WARNING)

Icehawk · Post by **Icehawk** » 2004-10-31 02:11am

MAJOR SPOILER WARNING:

Well, I just recently finnished DT 7. While I thought the ending was decent, it left me with a burning question. How the hell did Roland keep getting beamed back in time over and over to redo his quest when IIRC it was mentioned that his world and the world of Stephen King were worlds where time can only flow forward?

Icehawk · Post by **Icehawk** » 2004-11-01 06:13am

*Ventures back into thread and here's crickets chirping*

Hmmmm, I see....

I take it not many people here have read the final book yet, but surely at least someone else here has. Bob the Gunslinger, you out there? I'd like to here your comments on the ending and this possible plot hole if you have any.

Cthulhu-chan · Post by **Cthulhu-chan** » 2004-11-02 01:05am

There is no plot hole. You're taking the musings and gut feelings of the characters at face value. However close (or far) to the truth they were, Rolands ultimate fate shows that there is far more to the workings of the Dark Tower and the multiverse than they could have imagined.

Anhaga · Post by **Anhaga** » 2004-11-02 02:45am

I'd tend to agree.

The ending of the Dark Tower may be one of the most horrifying things I've ever read though.

Bob the Gunslinger · Post by **Bob the Gunslinger** » 2004-11-02 01:39pm

It's also possible that he must do it all in slightly different key worlds with slightly different incarnations of his ka-tet, etc.
One theory that I've heard is that this was the 19th time through for him. Next time, everything will be in the land of 20.

I really hope the next Crimson King isn't such a sissy.

Trogdor · Post by **Trogdor** » 2004-11-02 11:43pm

And Flagg, too. His death disappointed me, and I didn't like the fact that King made him Walter. I prefered the idea that Walter had really died in the Golgotha.

As for how Roland got pulled back, well, it's the Dark Tower, the point on which the universe spins, the nexus of space and time. I think it can break the rules if it wants.

Trogdor · Post by **Trogdor** » 2004-11-02 11:46pm

Forgive the double post, but I want to tack my own question onto this thread. It was my understanding that the tower won't stop resetting Roland's quest until he has the horn of the Eld when he reaches the tower. But how the hell is that possible if he lost the thing at Jericho Hill and the tower pulls him back to after that?

Bob the Gunslinger · Post by **Bob the Gunslinger** » 2004-11-03 05:23pm

Trogdor wrote:Forgive the double post, but I want to tack my own question onto this thread. It was my understanding that the tower won't stop resetting Roland's quest until he has the horn of the Eld when he reaches the tower. But how the hell is that possible if he lost the thing at Jericho Hill and the tower pulls him back to after that?

Perhaps it pulled him into a different when and where--a keystone world where the Roland in thet universe actually did pick up the horn of Gilead.

Either that or the Tower is so immensely powerful that it can alter all of space-time on a whim, which would imply that it was never really in danger but just using the Crimson King to teach Roland some all-important lesson and toy with billions of worlds.

The horn seems to represent some step toward salvation, some growth of character that Roland gets to keep with him in the next loop, so it may not even be the original horn. Maybe it's just a magic sigul that appears where ka wants it.

Trogdor · Post by **Trogdor** » 2004-11-03 07:20pm

I suppose, but the horn was so obviously ripped off from the oliphant in the Song of Roland I'd rather hoped it would be irrelevant.

Bob the Gunslinger · Post by **Bob the Gunslinger** » 2004-11-08 05:18pm

Trogdor wrote:I suppose, but the horn was so obviously ripped off from the oliphant in the Song of Roland I'd rather hoped it would be irrelevant.

The symbolism is different, so it was okay with me.

Now if Roland were to blow it until his brain exploded (or hemorraged, whatever), then it would be a problem.

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2004-11-28 01:01am

Well, the nature of all this meant it had to be a closed loop...the Dark Tower novels are really all about creativity and the act of writing...of forging a tale....which inevitably comes back on itself and is told again...

As for what the ending means in universe, the time Roland is sent back to is the only one it could have been. Rolands existence is meant to be bounded by King's tale....and thus, his loop returns to the opening line of the first novel...

As for the horn, the voice of the tower, of Gan, says to him that perhaps this time it will be different. This time the song of Gan is different, the notes slightly changed so the work which King will produce will not have so tragic an ending for Roland...that the next draft will be better