If you plan on reading Stephen King’s Dark Tower saga or you haven’t read the whole thing (so far), you may not want to read this.
That having been said…
I’ve been taking my audiobook copies (on cassettes) of the first four books and ripping them to CDs. As I re-read it and read news on the upcoming sequels, I am wondering who from Roland’s ka-tet will survive to see the Dark Tower.
It would be cruel, but not wholly unexpected, for King to kill Roland off before he can get there.
I have a feeling at least one of the five (Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and Oy) will die before they get to the end.
Considering what Roland has been through so far, I would think he will be responsible for said death. Most likely to die this way? Jake.
Of course, the opposite could happen: Roland dies saving Jake AT the Tower.
I’m guessing that they’ll pick up at least one more gunslinger before it’s over. Likely a character from another King world.
Will our merry band, once they make it, save the multiverse and repair whatever damage the Tower has suffered? Tough call. Probably.
Will faithful readers be satisfied with the ending? Tougher call.
Probably not.
I’m betting that Susannah bites it giving birth in Song of Susannah. I also have money down that the baby will be some unholy demon-human halfbreed.
Oy won’t last through the final fight, if he even makes it to the Tower. Look for him to make the final sacrifice so that the ka-tet can receive the final piece of the puzzle to make it to the center of the Beams.
Eddie and Jake will be the only ones standing.
I fully expect Roland to make it to the Tower and to a final fight, despite SK’s comments contradicting that. Roland’s had too many visions of himself standing in a field of roses in front of the Tower. Unless he pulls a Moses (allowed to see the Promised Land, but not allowed to enter. Of course, that Promised Land could be whatever happens after the fight…).
I haven’t made it through the new The Gunslinger yet, but I’ll report back in the next few weeks with any new changes/additions/exemptions.
My guess is that Roland will be the sacrifice that restores the Tower and makes everything right. He will somehow merge with the Tower.
I don’t see them adding another gunslinger to the group. Maybe a travelling companion. Maybe. But not a gunslinger.
I think Susannah will die giving birth, as Munch said. I think Oy will die sometime before or during the final confrontation.
That way, there are two left standing when the dust settles – Eddie and Jake. Both have been scarred emotionally and invested their total being in saving the Dark Tower, which makes them the perfect tragic heroes to help restore Mid-World to the way it was before.
I remember somewhere along the line someone having a vision of Oy impaled on a spike or somesuch, so I figure he’s a gonner. As for the rest of the crew, I believe Susannah will die giving birth, and while it’d suck, I believe that, in the end, Roland will have to once again make a choice whether to save his friends or reach the tower. And he’ll make the wrong one. Because that’s the way King usually writes.
I’d definitely say Susannah-- especially because she is the only one who (so far, anyway) has not had her own visions or dreams of the Dark Tower. I think that means she’ll never see it. And ditto on the baby being at least half-demon. You don’t get raped in a Speaking Circle and then miss your period out of sheer coincidence. As Susan died for Roland, so will Susannah. Or, another possibility is that if her baby is half- or wholly-evil, she’ll be unable to recognize that out of mother love, and will run off with it, and resurface later as an enemy of the current ka-tet.
I have a theory that I’ve come up with that I really, really hope I am wrong about, because it makes things much less interesting. About the Great Old Ones:
What if Mid-World is merely our world in the far, far future? The cars, planes, language (low speech seems to be English) could be the things that survived whatever cataclysm it was that created the Waste Lands and muties and whatnot. So our world is related to Roland’s by time, not by being connected to a different level of the Tower (as I originally thought). The only real hole I see in this is that the constellations are different in Roland’s world, but if enough time has passed and the Universe as a whole is moving on, constellations also could have shifted.
Anyway, I too think that Eddie and Jake will be the only two to survive into the healed world when they have reached and corrected the Dark Tower. And that it will be Roland who ultimately fixes it (and that maybe he’ll see Susan again).
Beadlin, I don’t think you’re off on your guess. That’s always been my interpretation of Roland’s world. And I’ve interpreted the levels of the Tower to be levels of both time and space/dimensions as well.
Don’t forget, space itself shifts quite a bit in Roland’s world. The continent has become much much larger even in Roland’s own lifetime (even though it appears that his life has spanned an incredible length of time - many refer to the gunslingers as a group that disappeared centuries/generations ago).
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking of. Plus, it seems that every time the ka-tet sits down, the conversation takes about 20 years (what was the word for their talks, parley?).
While we’re on the topic can someone explain to me what in the hell the whole sequence inside the emerald castle was all about? I’ve read Wizard and Glass four times, and I still don’t feel as if I understand what the Ageless Stranger/Richard Fannin/Flagg and Tick-Tock Man/Andrew Quick were up to with all that. It seemd like a very elaborate but very stupid ruse to pull, and I don’t know what outcome they were hoping for.
I’m glad this thread is here – it’s helping refresh my memory. I’ve forgotten almost everything about all the books except the first one, which I read more than once. It’s still my favorite.
King’s doing a lot of touring to promote these books. He’ll be with Aaron Brown on CNN later tonight. I wonder if he’ll give anything away.
I would really hate to see roland die before he finishes his quest
…but I’m pretty sure thats whats gonna happen
As far as oy…just like a Disney movie…The cute pet always dies. But I bet he dies a hero.
In the end I believe it will be Jake and Eddie who will survive and finish the quest
I still think Stu Redman would be a great Gunslinger…
Oddly enough, I actually hadn’t thought about this issue. Of course, I’m the kind of person who doesn’t try to predict movie outcomes, either. I’d rather be immersed and surprised.
That being said, I dig the notion of Eddie and Jake being the Last Men Standing. However, I think Roland will actually be the last one there. And wracked with guilt. Susan, Susannah, Jake (twice), Eddie, Alain, Cuthbert, Jamie… Remember in the Palaver – “Death. But not for you, Gunslinger.”
Another interesting possibility – Roland and Oy. Roland at the Tower because he has to be, and Oy at the Tower looking for vengance…
can someone explain to me what in the hell the whole sequence inside the emerald castle was all about? I’ve read Wizard and Glass four times, and I still don’t feel as if I understand what the Ageless Stranger/Richard Fannin/Flagg and Tick-Tock Man/Andrew Quick were up to with all that. It seemd like a very elaborate but very stupid ruse to pull, and I don’t know what outcome they were hoping for.