Dark Tower Question (Major, Huge Spoilers, Unboxed)

Cafe Society
1

I recently finished Stephen King’s Dark Tower Series, and was not expecting the ending (spoilers, so I’ll move down a few lines for preview purposes)…

…the loop. Upon reading some Dark Tower forums, I see that many people had already suspected/predicted this ending. What I want to know is - how did they know? Did any Dopers know about this theory, and what signs in the earlier books pointed to a loop? Was it a wild-ass guess or were there pretty telling signs?

I re-read the series prior to the final three books, so I’m not sure that I want to go back through them all again looking for hints. Can anyone help?

2

FWIW, I’ve read all of them several times, I didn’t see it coming until he had gone inside.

3

The clues are there, once you realize what’s gonna happen.

“Death, but not for you, Gunslinger,” said the Man in Black when reading tarot cards to Roland, for example.

The fact that Roland seems much older than he appears.
The well-worn grips of his guns.

Probably a lot more tidbits if you look hard enough.

4

I didn’t see it either. I can’t think of anything that hinted at it. I was expecting a parallel universe kind of thing, with Roland continuing the quest in another world.

I didn’t see a traditional ending-type ending though – not with a story as complicated as this.

Still haven’t read DTVII but I’ve read a summary and lots of spoilers. Couldn’t resist. I’ll have forgotten it by the time I get around to reading it for myself. :slight_smile:

5

I didn’t see it coming, but looking back after I read it, I realized it’s one of only two ways it could have ended (he could have died, too).

6

Well, Smeg, in one of his fore- or afterwards in the series, King mentioned death, and said, (I’m trying to quote from memory) “you may have to prepare yourself, Constant Reader, that he [Roland] may not,” referring to reaching the Tower alive.

That could be what planted the thought in your head.

7

When King revised “The Gunslinger” last year, the added content was practically big fat fucking spoilers spelled out in red paint for the ending.

The worst was in the first few pages - when Roland’s walking in the desert, the text says something like “For a moment, the world shimmered like a dream, and Roland was overcome with a seasick-like feeling that he had been here many times before and would be here many times again.”

There were others, but that one - literally on like page 2 or 3 - practically spelled it out.