Ending of The Dark Tower Fully Explained | The Dark 'Dark Tower' Theory
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- čas přidán 11. 06. 2024
- What happens after the final pages of the series? Long time Stephen King and Dark Tower fan here and I think I've got the final answer to this one. The Theory You've Never Heard!!
Introducing The Dark 'Dark Tower Theory'. This is a never-before-heard theory. What is Roland Deschain's Ultimate Fate? Listen in and find out.
Also everyone enjoy my guitar-playing in the two Endings explained!
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UPDATE - March 23, 2024.
Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments whether you agree or disagree. A couple of minor corrections.
1. Eddie did not die battling the Breakers but their captors.
2. I've been pronouncing chasm incorrectly my entire life. Apparently, it's pronounced 'kasm'. English is not my first language. Sorry.
Please correct me of any others.
0:00 - Intro
1:44 - Disclaimer
2:23 - Synopsis
4:23 - Causality
8:49 - Ending Part I of II - The Dark 'Dark Tower' Theory
12:48 - Ending Part II of II - Sequel to The Dark Tower series
23:02 - Roland and the Tower
30:15 - Roland's Excuses
33:31 - Final Proof
37:29 - Therefore...
40:31 - The Man in Black
44:04 - Gan
46:58 - Conclusion - Zábava
First off, I'd like to rebuke your claim of being the foremost expert on the Dark Tower as that title belongs to me - I wrote my graduation thesis on the books. Now that we have that cleared up, here's some thoughts I have after watching your video.
I absolutely agree with 99% of it, but I don't believe that this is Hell in an afterlife sense. I do believe that it is a kind of torturous hell designed to punish Roland but I also believe that is the real world(s) where he is alive. As I write this I ponder whether or not the Tower itself put Roland's obsession of the Tower in his head as a kind of a crucible, where a man who exemplifies the Hell their world is is put into a situation where he could change himself and through that the world around him.
As for the Horn, I do believe that it has some sort of significance. My previous line of thought was that it would enable him to use it as the key to the Tower, leaving it at the door and carrying the revolver inside or vice versa. After watching this however, I do believe its significance is still as a possible key to the Tower, but not in the sense that Roland himself could use it. Maybe after proving himself during the journey we see in comparison to the sins he commited in loops before that we haven't seen, the Tower/Gan deemed Roland ready for a greater challenge, that being the Horn. An alternate key to the Tower removes the importance of Roland's decision to continue the quest after the Breakers reveal the Beams will heal since he doesn't control the only means for the Crimson King's victory. That could be further incentive for him to abandon the Tower because after Algul Siento falls the Red have more reason to believe they could still win. With the added pressure and conflict Roland may be pushed into a more responsible role
My friend.
First, regarding myself as the world’s leading authority on The Dark Tower - I refer you to the image of the donkey at 48:35.
Second, that you wrote a thesis on The Dark Tower is incredible. In a different life, that would have been me since I have so many other ideas. Alas, my background is in STEM so this video is the most I can do. Nevertheless, I would love to read your thesis as I find your comment to be thoughtful and provoking. I’m pinning it to the top of the video. Best.
I would also like to read your thesis to . I really enjoyed the books
🙄
Both of yall are badass in my book.
The entire series you have the number 19 all over the place, but at the end he is on highway 18. its the count down.
Wow, that actually makes alot of sense. I do believe that the whole story itself would be pointless if there wasn't a way for Roland to eventually redeem himself.
Plot hole sir. When Roland is reinserted into line one of book one he still has 2 missing fingers from the libstrocities and he now has the Horn of Eld.
Would he have crippling arthritis then too?
Oy’s death hit me the hardest.
…. “Oland? “
😢
It hit Roland hard too...notice Oy is the only one who got an appellate ("Oy, the Brave!") when he approached the Tower...
it was brutal
@@mafemartinez2235 "...Olan..." *sniff*
The moments in these books when people refer to Roland as "Older than God" turn out to be really quite specific once you finish the series.
Horn of Eld - he doesn't take it because he is concerned with himself, getting himself to the Tower mainly. Second to last loop theory - His Ka-Tet taught him to think of others and be able to focus on more than that damned tower. So if you follow the second last theory - we are told a story of a man who lets go of his obsession for humanity and all the highs and lows of it. Hence why he is worthy of the line of Eld (The horn).
The Quest isn't just the Dark Tower, it's also Roland learning to love (sounds dumb when I write it) and serve for people.
I wonder if anyone actually stopped reading when King told us to. I feel like we failed and that may have been the point - we couldn't let Jake, Suse, Ed and Oy be happy - we had to know about this damned Tower. We could have let that be the ending and just wonder if Roland made it. We, as the reader, are Roland in this way - focused on the end and not the journey.
Eddie being shot with the pistol that killed a rapist bothered me so much.
Oy is a mad lad and a good boy.
Jake also gave Roland permission "Go then, there are other worlds than these" which made it easy for Roland to forsake Jake.
Susannah the lady formally known as O/Detta always knew the score.
It has been my pet theory that The Dark Tower is an epic tale about epic tales. Hence the late stage Meta Author stuff and the connections across his books - This is a love letter to stories told as a story
Epic tale about epic tales! I love it. I have to tell you, friend. The Second to last loop theory is the one that least moves me. But if there's anything I love about DT ending, it's how many possibilities exist. The fact that we're still talking, discussing, and debating it twenty years later is a testament to it's legacy. Best!
If I’m remembering right, I made it at least a week before reading the rest of the end. 😔
Damn now I gotta read it all again 😂😂😂 When i finished i hated the end right off the bat so much i couldn't or didn't put much thought into it.
I don’t think Roland starting the loop with the horn of Eld means nothing. If all the other quotes going up the tower have a deep meaning to how he should break the cycle, I don’t think King would throw in the horn just for pointless flavour text. I think maybe like every time he does the loop he maybe does it a little bit better and gets closer to breaking it. Like maybe in a previous loop he killed jake a second time or something. I don’t think we’re seeing the second to last loop but him slowly getting closer to the end even if it takes many more loops. That being said this is a great video and very well done! Hope you do some more!
@chickenfly2496. Though I hold to my view, I will readily concede that the horn of Eld is the strongest evidence against my viewpoint. Another part of the reason why it doesn't sway me is because it's mentioned sparingly, once in book five during Roland's dream sequence, and again near the end. Somewhat sloppily even. Still, if I'm wrong, then the horn of Eld shows that Roland will defeat Walter and complete his quest one day after all.
To be honest that’s why I enjoy the ending so much, cause it can be taken in a few different ways.
If they ever did the TV show and started on book one I’d like him to have the horn with him. It doesn’t have to play a big part but I think it’s be a cool way to show the readers that this is the next cycle but can still adapt the books. I think it also gives them a little wiggle room if they change anything with the excuse of “oh it’s a different loop to the one you see in the books”.
Hope you do my DT videos. There’s not a lot of deep dives on CZcams for it and yours is brilliant
I agree I think every time the loop starts he gets a little bit better in my mind the first loop Roland must have been the devil not literally but like he's insufferable self righteous and will let any one die or kill anyone to get what he wants but each loop he gets softer and slowly becomes a better person the universe wants him to be
This makes me think of "The Egg" by Andy Weir -- incremental improvements over vast amounts of time. The universe is trying to teach Roland to change by endlessly looping him, and giving him a little nudge each time to see if he can come to the correct conclusion on his own. Roland has to be tempted, because only by resisting that temptation will he grow. The entire series simply describes Roland's most recent failed attempt to grow.
I think what's interesting is where the Tower looped him back to. Not his birth, to relive his life all over again. But at the edge of the desert. I wonder what's specifically important about that moment in time.
I can definitely see why some people would feel like this ending is a cop-out, but I think it perfectly encapsulates the limitless horror of the multiverse Roland is trying to save; that it will cheerfully force you to relive the suffering over and over and over again. At least it has the courtesy to wipe your memory. I wonder how many other characters in the story also made it to the top of the tower before being yeeted back to the beginning.
“It’s not a loop, it’s a spiral” vibes a la Alan Wake, I can see that being the case 🤔
The problem with this theory is that Roland is smart enough to realise that if the tower falls everything ends, it should be his prime objective no matter what. Him choosing the tower before saving anyone else is common sense, if he doesnt make it to the tower because he stopped to save someone else, it will have been for nothing when the tower falls.
That part.
Indeed. I think Roland could be forgiven if he killed Jake because he saved the Tower. However, as I explain in the section Final Proof, his mission to save the tower ended after he saved SK and freed the breakers. Beyond that, going to the Tower risked all of existence and undoing all the work his ka-tet put in and Roland knew and admitted it. Thus, even if he redeems himself, he re-damns himself by facing CK and risking losing everything.
You forget Mordred. Flagg states his birthmark can open the tower. If Roland stops the Crimson King calls Mordred and has the tower. The King on the balcony is too risky. Also the tower calls to Roland. The closer he gets the stronger the call. There was no turning back due to that call by the fall of the Devar-toi. Final counter point, Roland would have taken the hit to save Stephen but his hip failed him. He had resolved to be the one to die instead of Jake. He would have sacrificed his life to balance ka but greedy old ka had other plans. This is straight from the book, no conjecture.
@@chrismesser820I would counter this by saying Mordred has little desire to ascend the Tower, and it wouldn’t matter even if he did.
The Tower doesn’t actually give you dominion over the multiverse. It only drives you to maddening obsession.
There is a parallel drawn between the Crimson King and Roland near the end. In their exchange, you can see Roland and the CK are two sides of the same coin.
Book VII is a book about desire and choices. Mordred only wants vengeance on Roland, and it kills him. Susannah desires a life free from The Tower. Roland and the CK desire The Tower, to the exclusion of all else.
Roland wants to climb The Tower, and he says as much in his meeting at the Tet Corporation.
Roland did not find out Mordred’s mark could open the tower until he was physically standing in front of the tower. He had no reason to believe that the tower was still in danger at the time he chose to continue seeking it after saving it.
Not sure if you'll read this, but I read every comment and no one else made this point. Super, well thought out video btw, but I think it's significantly more simple than you or anyone else is making it. King is Gan. All writers are the Gods in their books. And they interfere always, as they write everyone's fate. Gan did save the universe by writing that Roland saved the universe.
BUT unlike other stories, King allowed for the main character in the book to know what happens for every character in every book ever written, no matter the ending. They are all doomed to start the journey again. and again, and again, as long as the story is re-read. The only way the Dark Tower is doomed and the cycle ends is if the reader stops reading.
Roland is not evil for wanting to get to the tower, the reader is evil for not stopping. Every page turned the cog of Ka's wheel cranks forward and Roland can't get off. So NO, the loop cannot end, it is not a spiral, it is not Groundhog's Day and Roland needs to learn to love - and I have proof: Read all the books again. You think it will be different this time?
Here's the trick though, until you start rereading the end stands and yes, Roland has the horn. You see? The readers are the evil ones forcing Roland to relive this journey. Forcing him to the Tower, time and again, for eternity. How many times has Roland gone on this journey? How many books were sold, how many times were they read and reread. So yes, Roland is in hell, but at least for one small second he knows it, whereas heroes in all other stories are reliving hells and dramas, love and loss, but without ever knowing they too are in an endless loop.
The "loop" is the most meta of metas, it represents us, the readers, turning back to that first page, time and again.
Interesting! So can the fate of all the characters be different depending on how the reader interprets\misinterpets the story? Based on people's wildly varying imaginations the entire world and cast of characters could look dramatically different yet the end result is the same. Very nice.
King is Gan? what a most interesting theory. One that I hadn't considered since in Book VII, the book version of SK admits that it isn't so. However, in the afterword, King himself admits it's not very realistic of his character. so who knows? interesting idea, my friend.
@@guitarkindofguy oh thank you, well, I wouldn't say that the King in Book VII is Gan, but something like his "twinner" in mid-world could be, or King himself from the real world, but referred to as Gan in the book. Kind of like how we refer to our creator as "God", but in God's world he could just be a dude that wrote our book/universe. If that makes sense.
@@edvfya9922 Thanks, yes that would be true unless otherwise written or declared by the writer. I mean, if King just came out and said, "Roland does come back to the Tower and succeed the next time," then that would be the case, but until that is said or written, their lives are in every reader's hands and I really do believe that was what he was hinting at when sending Roland back to the beginning. The seven books are the spokes of Ka's wheel.
This is exactly how it was explained to me and makes the most sense. Roland is trapped in a story and his quest for the tower is the reader's quest for the ending. It's why I like this ending more than any other king story.
Stephen King wrote that he had been contacted by a woman who was terminally ill, begging him to give her the ending. He wrote that he couldn’t, as he didn’t know what it was at that point. Therefore, I don’t believe any “hints” were intentional. But I understand that they could be interpreted as such. I’ve read the series twice and may well return again to this wonderful saga.
He did add hints to the first book when he re-wrote it. I'm personally not a fan of the retconning but it does help the first book tie in better with the last four.
I'm on my second trip. And I know there'll be more
@@KoldBreeze Did you read book 4.5 this time? "Wind thru the keyhole" it's meh but worth the read..
letting a couple people die to save ALL UNIVERSES is not an excuse. It's prioritization.
But the Tower is NEVER going to fall, because Roland is ALWAYS saving it. Let the punishment fit the crime.Let the punishment fit the crime.Let the punishment fit the crimeLet the punishment fit the crime..Let the punishment fit the crime.Let the
@@TheThansen669 Roland is perpetually unaware that he's perpetually saving the tower because the tower wipes his memory of those events at the restart
I think Roland's multiverse is King's multiverse. It's like Bastion's Fantasia in The Neverending Story. It's the world of King's imagination, the skeleton that holds it all together, the meta story that links all of King's stories. Roland is an avatar of King himself, his heroic and imagined self in the hero's journey as a writer inventing the universe of ideas that spans all his books. Wasn't there a character in the Langoliers who often has a recurring fantasy of himself as a gunslinger in the Wild West? Roland is a personal symbol for King. Roland's flaws are an imagined version of King's own flaws as a person, flaws he explored in The Shining with the Jack Torrance character. King explained that Jack Torrance was a version of himself, but all the characters in King's many stories are him. They can't be anyone else because King can't actually be anyone but himself when writing them, flaws and all. The Tower is dying because King himself is dying, as is everybody else one second at a time. The story does, in fact, end. The end will come when King stops writing.
Some people might not like this theory because it means everything in the The Dark Tower books is imaginary, but of course everything in every story King ever wrote is imaginary. In referencing himself and placing himself in the The Dark Tower multiverse, The Dark Tower is linked the real world in a way none of his other books are. Roland in a sense becomes more true or real than any other character King created. It's in The Dark Tower that the line between reality and fiction begins to blur in a way that it doesn't in any other book King wrote. To consider the way in which Roland (or the Tower) "exists" is to consider the nature of autobiography that is inevitably coded in fiction, or the way ideas generally can be said to "exist." King himself alluded to this in one forward or another somewhere by pointing out that in art, the truth is found in the lie, and the lie is found in the truth.
Roland actually exists in reality outside of this or any other book. His name is Stephen King. He's a literal, real guy. King is Roland and vice versa. As for the Tower, I think it's a personal psychological symbol for King. It's the object of desire, an archetype, like the muse which inspires us to create or the addiction that inspires us to destroy ourselves. Roland's compulsion to chase the Tower is like the compulsion that led King to drink but also to prioritize his art over his family. King admits that he is a junkie by inclination or nature, a junkie for alcohol, but also for the Faustian creative endeavor which might cost him everything. Remember how the Overlook tried to seduce Jack with the scrapbook which he might use for his book? One compulsion is easily substituted for the other: Alcoholism can easily be swapped for workaholism and both are a way of building a wall around yourself and everybody or everything else in your life.
Roland in the story is like King in real life: They are Faust, basically. Look at King's whole body of work. His fears about his personal failings and his alcoholism haunt those works or loom over them in the same way the Dark Tower looms over Roland's quest. It's Eddie Dean trying to shed his former life as a junkie and become a hero, or it's Jack Torrance trying to write and be a worthy father and husband, but it's also Larry Underwood being haunted by the idea that "he ain't no nice guy!" and so on. It's everywhere throughout King's books.
It's unclear if finding the Tower will damn Roland or be his salvation. It's unclear if the tower is a symbol of those weaknesses or if it is the final destination where he does battle with them and conquers them once and for all. Does the archetypal object of desire lead us to greatness or to destruction? From everything King has said about writing and creativity, it's likely that he thinks the same way about his work. Roland chases the Tower in King's books, King himself chases the Tower when he writes. King himself has said that he rarely knows how a story will end when he starts it; if the Tower is a symbol for conclusions generally -- y'know, The Conclusion -- if it is the place where everything gets added up and we decide what the meaning of it all was, then there's no way King could know for sure what it is because he hasn't reached it yet. As he's joke repeatedly, people always hate his endings.
In real life, of course, King didn't put writing or alcohol before his family. He got clean and situated his writing within his overall life rather than sacrificing his life for it by replacing alcoholism with workaholism. He describes this in On Writing when he talks about his writing desk, which became a symbol somehow of his unhealthy relationship with creativity in his youth, and how he got rid of it so his family could use that room while he just took a little place in the corner to do his writing. This part of On Writing probably tells us more about the Dark Tower than anything else King has said or wrote. I think the Dark Tower is a personal allegory for King's relationship with his vices and his struggle with personal weakness in the face of them. Roland can't see that the people around him are what matter, not the Tower, just like King couldn't see it in his years as an alcoholic. From everything King has written, we can guess that this has been the real narrative of King's life, the real struggle, his real life quest. If he was a character in a book, this would be the conflict which had to be resolved, the Tower which had to be reached to conclude the story, regardless if it ended happily or unhappily.
As for the ending, I think it's perfect. "Ka is a wheel." In some sense, the story never ends. Even when King is gone and there are no new stories, they will live on anyway in people's imagination, and the archetypes they employ will be taken up by others just as they were before King. It's a really elegant way to end the story because, if nothing else, it's a way of describing stories themselves and our relationship to them. They never really end. Even after the final chapter, the hero will appear in some new iteration and will journey to some new conclusion through some new conflict and face down some new villain. Narrative itself could be understood as having universal features and reduced to a theoretical model in Euripides, for instance, because it really is like like wheel. The end of one story is always the beginning of another.
Now that’s a banger, and if you recall how afraid of Roland, how uncomfortable around Roland King is. Aren’t we all in fear of our darkest most driven side? Isn’t that something we are all afraid to dwell on.
Add on the use of twins, both in the Tower and books adjacent to the Tower, and comparison coincides with the character King said himself was most autobiographical in The Shining.
Yes. Jake getting hit by the car and Rolands's sympathy pain of Jakes eventual death surely represents 'Kings' jogging accident when he was hit by a drunk driver, and it almost killed him.
Written quite eruditely. A beautiful moment when you see all the thoughts you have had(and some you haven't) about this series over decades now said so coherently and structured so well in one piece. Thank you for the time you took to write this.
You should have just made your own video for all of this.
@@algsunshine7075 Too lazy.
The thing about causality loops is, if 1 person is in a loop then so is the rest of the universe. For the story in the loop to reoccur the same people must be in the same positions so the same events can happen at the same times. Thus punishing a character by trapping him in a causality loop would also mean condemning every other person to that fate regardless of whether or not they did anything to deserve it.
My generous thought is that Roland will get out of the loop when he consistently and actively puts the people in his life first. It's not enough just to think he'll do it or do it once. And I think the Horn is a hint to him of that.
Good video, I like the theory but respectfully disagree about Roland being stuck in a version of hell. My interpretation was having the Horn of Eld was meant to signal that Roland would finally be able to end the loop, and the reason he got it this time specifically was because he had learned what it meant to love and care for others. Yes, he was still selfish in his pursuit of the Tower, and yes he ultimately sacrificed his Ka-Tet in that pursuit, but he had also learned enough (about the Tower and himself) to break the cycle the next time through, and his "reward" was the thing he needed to do just that.
All good, friend. The DT community is passionate and I figured many would disagree.
So you’re just wrong. You’re going to pretend like Roland WASNT REALLY given the horn this time in the cycle, at the end, and just throw that out…
Except. IT HAPPENED!
He HAS the horn, and it IS the glimmer of hope that maybe this time it will be different. On NO OTHER cycles did he have the horn. It changes EVERYTHING. And your theory just goes “NOPE, pretend he never got the horn at the end”. Sorry to burst ur bubble. He DID get the horn!
I like to think the next cycle (which im DESPERATE for king to write), will be the final cycle for him, and he triumphs at the end along with ALL the characters alive!
Afterall, King himself writes in the book “Truly, i meant for all the characters to make it to the tower”. Leading me to believe this next time, they will!
I love this interpretation. I always saw the loop as a punishment, but it being hell with no actual redemption possible works so well
Liked this video and your theories. Also liked everyone else's theories that followed. My theory is that King is a genius who left the ending open for each to interpret it on their own.
Eddie didn't die battling the Breakers. Breakers were people with special abilities that were enslaved in that town under the beam to break it (somehow). It was their captors that the Gunslinger and his Ka-Tet were battling to free the breakers.
You are correct, I mispoke!
Well, i agree with a lot of your points. But not quite all of them. For instance, when i first finished The Dark Tower after listening straight through for weeks, i had a solid minute of silence and then my brain said "so, he was in hell all this time?" So that matches your theory. But i don't think the tower "causality loop creates him" or anything.
I think that everything we know he experienced, and his entire trip across the face of existence was "a level" of the tower. I don't think he's done the trip "countless times", i think he's done it a dozen and a half times before. What we went through _with_ him throughout the series was the nineteenth level of the tower. No idea if that has some special significance, or if it's just "one of the levels, just as good as any other." But the same part of my instincts that says he's somehow in hell tells me that nineteen was a kind of "universal theme" for a reason.
I still hold that he's in a version of a causality loop where he repeats over and over. however, like I said before, created maybe was the wrong word to use.
@@guitarkindofguy Such a great series!
Dude. Real talk. Oy is not a dog. He is a Billy Bumbler, a species more akin to a cross between a badger, cat and raccoon. Oy was brave and noble and protected "Oland" and "Ake" to the very end. I loved Oy.
I think the point of him having the Horn of Eld this time is that he's not actually going to save the universe, but condemn it. What happens when he finally presents the horn, with his guns, at the base of the Tower? The Crimson King gets all three, and then the Tower falls.
I don't think Gan is using him. I think the Crimson King is. Roland is too dense to realize it, though.
Series changed my life for the better and I think about it every week of my life
I hear that there isn’t a day that passes that the tower isn’t on my mind
@@anthonyriccio8487 agreed...
He isn't in a true loop he has a bag of Goodies. A knife that never dulls, a bag of infinite money, he gets the horn of eld. In that bag lies his previous adventures. His successes he will break the wheel of kha eventually the end of the book says as much this isn't his last but maybe soon.
the fact the series ends with the horn in his possession at the beginning means that things can change. the multiverse was saved forever if he walked away. he chose to continue. the crimson king has another change to win. that is his sin.
As far as your Dark Dark Tower theory of hell,no Hell would be torment,pain and suffering, not a full complete and full life where at the end you successfully complete your task and start again, definitely not hell,more like restarting your favorite video game. That first description of hell you used as a mentally draining soul crushing repetition is more accurate in my humble opinion. Excellent video on the Dark Tower series,looking forward to more.
Great explanations and I definitely agree it makes a lot of sense. I didn't really over think it after reading, I just enjoyed the end of an amazing journey. Thanks for the video.
This is an amazing take on it all! My take on the series:
1. I am from the line of Eld, I have a duty to defend the tower & vanquish evil.
2. My parents died, my brothers died, my lover died, my ka-tet died (twice). I must avenge them. No matter the cost.
3. The tower is how I fix all of this - OR - how my story ends. (i.e. I save the world because it's my duty/to kill the forces that killed my people, and all of my sacrifices are worth it.)
Each floor of the tower was closure for Roland. When he got to the top & it all came back around, I believe he was looking for 2 things:
A. To fix everything that happened. Everybody comes back (in 'heaven' or in reality as a 'reward' for saving the tower).
B. He ends. His mission is complete, he's avenged everyone he's loved. It's over.
The 'it's personal' concept really stands out to me. I truly think that Roland's obsession with the tower is that if he saves/fixes the tower:
1. He gets everything he wants (his family/friends back).
2. He dies feeling fully accomplished. This goes back to what you said about 'no matter the cost'. This is his end-game and it happens on his terms.
Just my thoughts -- no right or wrong answer!
Great video! Thanks for all the info.
Dude What a wnderful and complete analisis from this epic saga, please continue making these kind of videos¡¡
A few things:
He did have the horn, and it is important.
I don't believe he was immediately dropped back into the desert. In book one we first find him in that place.. yet he had an entire life before that we get it bits and pieces as the series goes on. I believe when we find him in the desert again it's simply a mirror of the first book.. we find him there but he has lived an entire life before, and made different choices. The horn is the proof of it.
I think he is creating his own loop by becoming obsessed with seeing the top of the tower, a place he has no business going. At that point he isn't trying to save it anymore, he's trying to own it. When he invades that space he is rejected and reborn to repeat his life, with the guidance that "if he reaches the Tower again, perhaps this time the result will be different; there may yet be rest and redemption, if he stands true". He was "infected" by the grapefruit, that was it's power. All the spheres were cursed to bring despair and sorrow to those who wielded them. The grapefruit was put in his way on direct order by the Crimson King and it did it's job. The after effects of it's power contaminated his entire life. He was willing to do anything, and sacrifice anything or anyone to not only reach the tower but to see the top. He stood true to no one.. not his friends, not his family, not his ka-tet. He came to the tower alone and empty handed. A lot of people ignore Wizard and Glass, but it's where he went from morally grey (willing to sacrifice David, who he claimed to love, in his challenge with Cort only so he could seek revenge) and really turned to the dark side... and things got really bad for everyone after.
Dude i loved this video. Please PLEASE make more Dark Tower content
I second this!
I legit thought the time loop was just so that when you read the series again, it’s almost a part of it. If that makes sense
i never comment on youtube videos, but great work on this man. just commenting to hopefully boost engagement for you
thanks so much, friend. Even if I am wrong, I'm a longtime hyper DT fan so appreciate the vote of confidence.
IMO-----That betrayal of Jake, and 'letting him go' is why he was sent back. He didnt get it right. Didnt matter what Jake told him to ease his conscious. He had a choice obsession or love.
Instead of doing his quest for love, Roland chose his obsession with the Tower over his love for the boy.
While my opinion changes the fact that the Tower isnt really in mortal danger from being destroyed (how could it be in real danger if it has time to waste by sending Roland back again?)
I believe the 'danger' to The Tower is the struggle it gives to Roland and something for him to accomplish. The second i read the ending, i literally moaned 'Roland why did you let him go'.
Truely is the greatest series of all time.
Try again Gunslinger!
I screamed aloud when I finally finished the series.
Right??! That was a long EPIC dope ass journey. Wore me tf out and can't wait to read it again. BEST HORROR WRITER EVERRRRR! PERIOD!🎉🏆
That was very, very interesting. And now I go to contemplate your theory.
When I finished reading... I thought the crimson king wanted to let the tower fall and reset to something new. So the tower created the loop to keep the status quo. Reminded me of Dantes Inferno. And souls wanting out any way possible.
Oooh. Nice analogy. Never thought about it but that's good.
Thank you for really interesting essay!
I always thought Roland started over to save different beams and worlds.
this was an outstanding video..thank you for this
Realizing your already in hell repeating your existence over and over for eternity is hard to admit. Props on saying the quiet part out loud 😅 .
the book does say over and over several times that Roland was damned and for many more reasons than just letting Jake fall
This was fantastic!!
Excellent production quality considering this is your first video. When do you plan on releasing another video-essay?
Also erasing the memory of a punishment makes the punishment itself pointless because he is not even aware that he is being punished.
I thought Carol did have some happiness with her husband. That line about how schoolgirls didnt understand this kind of love. This weedy thing.
Only a third through, but amazing so far and cant wait to see more of what you say. I wonder if youll touch on Rolands casual cruelty and if that's part of why hes stuck
Thank you for putting this together. It was actually a pleasant listen, however, I was hoping to hear how you could explain the 19th or and the Twin Towers in NY as well.
I Love the dark tower! I named my kid Roland.
It's Purgatory, not Hell. Taking the horn into the next cycle, offers variation and a new chance for a different outcome.
I've always assumed this to be true. When I got to the end, it just made sense. He has to complete the loop until he gets it right.
He left the horn. He betrayed his family, his friends, his world, and his honor in his quest.
Ain't no rest for the wicked...
Definitely a good theory, a lot of strong points. However, I tend to think of these events in a manner that, in order to ultimately save the tower, Roland must continually repeat his actions in the exact same way. Taking into consideration all possible outcomes of the multiverse, in which time travel is a factor, there are likely a near-infinite number of scenarios in which Roland fails to reach the tower (or does but fails to kill the CK) and it eventually falls and ends existence. Similar to Infinity War/End Game, there is only one outcome in which success is guaranteed, which requires a series of specific events to be realized. Any deviation from this will result in failure. Therefore, the Tower has essentially engineered a method in which one specific outcome is assured that is continuously realized.
Awesome video. I just finished the series last night, after a 20 plus year journey. My favorite author , my favorite series .
can't wait to watch this, i remember skipping school on the day i had the money to buy the last book, then sitting down in a park and reading until school was over and i could run home to read the rest of it
Oy is the real hero of all, Roland fell asleep and Oy, without a thought, jumped infront of Mordrids death bite, that's why he stayed, best Billybumbler or Throcken ever.
indeed. not to mention that he fearlessly faces off against the were-spider Mordred. Oy is the unsung hero The Dark Tower
I've read this story over and over for years. My conclusion is that Roland is, in fact, in a type of purgatory. The tower chose him to be both champion and penitent for his many crimes, such as betraying all his friends for his obsession, the tower itself. The horn is a small reward for finally learning to do the right thing, learning to love. There will be an end, eventually.
You know your wrong right? Mr King talked about this at length. The Dark Tower series is about His creation process and the relationship between author and reader. Roland going back to the beginning of the Gunslinger, represents the reader going back to reread the story.
The books were phenomenal and there's no way that a proper movie franchise could be made in today's age.
I think Gan not doing anything had also a purpose. Which was to see to what extent humanity could be influenced to do evil things or the true motives behind their decisions and actions, that is why Gan somehow made the time loop for Roland. For him not to be punished but for him to learn a lesson to which Gan seeing if he acted this time differently from the lessons he learned, might seek for redemption and eventually get out of that cycle. 🔄
I believe that the Horn will enable him to do things differently-The Tower is empty except for rooms displaying events in his life-the tower is always expecting him so it can spin him out. I think its preparing him to sit at the top of the Tower but he keeps proving himself unworthy.
Great video and neat interpretation not my conclusions but still awesome.
thank you, friend.
Dear reader, while I agree it's Dante's inferno, it is also Captain ahab and golem. The story is obsession for both King and his readers and how that obsession danms us all. 9:00
When the gunslinger began. Stephen didn't think he would write it all in his lifetime ( which is what I hoped for) who doesn't like stepping into Roland's world every few years? The journey was the best part of all. He even mentioned this.
Most readers(fans) not all. Demanded an ending. Mr. King gave them one An ending without an ending.
A split between having our cake and eating it to.
Always thought they would do a movie and Clint Eastwood would play the Gunslinger.....
Now it's gonna be Chris Pratt
Your causality loop has a flaw. The tower didnt create roland and roland didnt create the tower. Both already existed as the tower is a remnant from the age that came before and roland was an established knight. There IS a loop but not for one to be symbiotic with the other. Also unless you mention it later, he starts the new "loop' with a new item. He retains the horn.
Roland is in hell fighting his groundhog day over and over. But we don't know if Roland can ever escape. Love your analysis.
I think the main theme of the 8 books is not about Roland getting to the tower or giving it up for Jake & his friends. The main theme is Rolands fight against his own moral thinking, about him......let's say ,,beeing real". Roland had so many moments thru out all of the books where he's almost getting ripped apart between him and his destiny, him beeing a gunslinger, him beeing a lover, a brother, a friend, a father,....whatever: Roland did good things, but not for everyone and didn't cared. He could have been the greatest gunslinger ever but he seeked the tower instead, he could have been a father and a friend but he seeked the tower, he was the saviour of the multiverse and could have leaved it by that but he went on to seek the tower...
What does sounding the horn at the tower do?
I thought the ending made it pretty clear that Roland was stuck in a karmic loop as the fated protector of the Tower, with no guarantee of an end in sight. Of course, I haven't read the book in a good fifteen years, so I could be mistaken.
The scope of damnation, the gunslinger's fear and pain do not lie therein. Roland seems to have been there all along.
According to this theory, if Roland is actually in hell, is possible that he died somewhere after or during Jericho Hill's battle.
He never saved the universe, he never really reached the tower. All the story is just his endless punishment.
Don't forget that he was ready to abandon his first love in the first place. He claims that the sphere tricked him to believe that she was safe...or maybe he choosed to believe so and decided to take the risk?
The possibility of a personal hell for Roland (all in his mind and soul, for eternity) after his death somewhere before the beginning of the first book opening could explain why the cycle starts from the desert and not before.
Please keep in mind that a separate short story can be just a short story. It doesn't make it an allegory for another of the author's works. The fan service bit of the ending was the "you can stop reading here" bit before he enters the Tower, I believe.
Yes, friend. It may be that one story has nothing to do with another and, if so, then a lot of my argument falls apart and I am wrong. I have to counter that this is not a John Grisham or Michael Crichton novel but an SK novel and we know many (delah) SK works are related to DT. A few examples are UR, Everything's Eventual, The Mist, Hearts in Atlantis, and probably more that I can't think of. Additionally, many stories not directly related to DT are related to each other. 11/22/63 and IT. The Stand and Night Surf. Desperation and The Regulators. All the Castle Rock, Derry, and Jerusalem's Lot stories. My point being, it's not a wild theory among Constant Readers that everything in the SK universe is related and that The Dark Tower may be the central lynchpin of it all.
But hey. I could be wrong:)
man, I just finished the DT and immediatly searched for answers in the internet, reddit and all that stuff... I can say you fucking saved me, this is is such a great interpretation of the ending of DT.... thanks!!!
thank you for the kind words, my friend.
@@guitarkindofguy I'd like to add something, now that I watched again your video. I don't remember anyone mentioning this at reddit or anywhere. I might be wrong and will read it all from the beginning to confirm this, but I think all the members of the ka-tet had moments of deja vu at some point. Also, remember that the clock given to Roland was "perfect" and the people from the Tet Corporation told Roland that as he eventually approached the DT, the clock would stop and even run backwards. So maybe, just maybe, this means that Roland did in fact go back in time when he reached the Tower, and Patrick too as he was there and confirmed that the clock turned anticlockwise like crazy, AND maybe the whole set of universes rolled back in time with him. And maybe this means that not only Roland is trapped in this - possibly unending - loop, but all universes, all wheres and whens. So maybe we are all in Roland's hell - to use your terms - in Stephen King's world. And maybe every character is doomed to repeat it until Roland learns to be "human" and leave the obsession behind, freeing not only himself but all his loved ones and hated ones, and every character in all universes. The fact that he has the horn in this new loop means that every loop can be slightly different, leaving room to improvement, but there is no guarantee that Roland will learn everything and make every right move, thus saving everyone from this hell. And when you put other characters free will in the equation, including the ones who can affect Roland's storyline, this means that the only way to liberation from the cycle is when EVERY little thing that can be done has to be done as Gan wants. Talk about a hell! (sorry about my english, I'm brazilian)
I think Roland repeats his quest for the Tower endlessly because he is damned for his actions in Tull, always coming back to the point just after he has left Tull behind having shot down every man, woman and child in the town...because for Roland Deschaine of The Line Of Eld, Gunslinger to have the moment in front of him where he could have tried to save the people of Tull only to say "You now what, the hell with these people." and mow them all down, Roland has transgressed his station of Gunsinger and he will spend eternity trying to atone, knowingly or not...
For what I've heard, Mike Flanagan is really into wanting to make a streaming series of the dark tower
I'm scared of how the general public will react to this ending
You read The Gunslinger at 10? Wow thats fairly impressive. Not because it is complicated but because it was so slow.
While I respect your opinion, I disagree. The Horn of Eld appears to be proof that Roland has at last learned what he failed to learn every other time through the Tower saga. He will rest the next time through.
Loved the video
Interesting analysis. I think Stephen King uses many themes found in Joseph Campbells "Power of Myth" and Michael Moorcocks "Eternal Champion" series.
Page 829 of book 7, Gan himself tells Roland "This is your promise that things may be different, Roland- that there may yet be rest. Even salvation." Using the sources you did is a baffling choice to me, since there's not a single hint they're tower related at all, and the conclusion you drew chafes against all the rest of the text as I have read it. It's an interesting theory, and the video kept me engaged, but I don't agree that Roland's punishment is endless.
All good, thanks friend!
"Ka is a wheel....." Excellent!!! At first reading I was disappointed by the ending of the series. I have read many explainations of this ...yours being one of the best. I can't tell you how many times I have listened to the audio versions of all 7 books. They are, as all King's book are unabridged. Listening to an audio version of a book you hear how people, places etc. are pronounced. Does the author and audio reader discuss this beforehand ? I hear ka-tet as KA-tet
While im not saying you are wrong, there is a piece YOU are missing. The loop is allegory for story telling its self. What happens when you finish a book? You feel like you will be missing something. But know you will pick it up again some day, Every time you close the book roland climbs the tower and enters the next loop.
The book ends, and then the beginning is the start of that loop.
Hes not in hell, hes in a book. Or hell is allegory for the nature of being a character in a book series. who have no choice but to live again in the imagination, everytime we start over. Reading the same thing again.
Could be thats the final layer, since TDT exists in layers. upon layers. Where do you go once you leave the highest realm featured in the book?
You come back to reality.
Also fuin fact, the movie sucked, but it was approved by king to be a sequel to the books, where something has changed and the story has changed and roland has changed. I doubt its canon. But im willing to bet, king WILL write that story. The dude is like some kind of writing monster. HE will come to a point where he wants to revist TDT and take all our ideas.
I appreciate your candy mountain reference
Good theory.
It could be as simple as the tower is Stephen King’s mind, hence the Crimson King, the only one there, sharing a name, and Roland is the main character in the series, as we are told throughout by King, and therefore he is always sent back to the beginning ready to reread the series and discover something new the next time through. The Tower will be different for everyone, showing their own story written by King.
Ka is the writers and artists (hence his power) will.
I believe King said he wanted to rewrite parts of the Gunslinger. Ultimately the story will be the same and it has nothing to do with Roland’s feelings/ behaviour.
That said, I believe the ending is also an open ending, saying to readers to come up with your own story. Now he has the horn and we know things can change, how would you write the sequel to the series. Would he be caring this time? Would they travel along different beams, different worlds, different periods in history, different companions? King is saying, you write Roland’s story (not Roland himself).
Roland had decided bf they saved Stephen King, that he would sacrifice himself, instead of letting Jake die. Character arc complete.
Excellent counter! The point you just made and the horn of Eld are both great points against my argument. I think Roland undermined that complete character arc when he chose to go to the Dark Tower after all SK and the beams were saved and the CK was trapped outside the tower for eternity.
That was great! More please!! Keep this shit up man!!
Thank you, friend! I've had this theory in my head for almost a decade and have been wanting to share it with other DT fans.
I think the man in black is Isaac. He sits with Roland and tries to convince him to stop his madness
The thing that always makes me wonder about the 'loop' is that when his story restarts he has the horn with him this time... In past or future loops will other items or events have changed too helping or hindering him? Does he always succeed - he has to in order for the loop to continue - but if something like the horn being there changes then other things can change too, for better or worse...
Another thing i have often wondered is about Jake, Eddie and Suzie - are they always his companions? Are they part of the loop? My theory is that they are not and that each repetition there are new companions chosen from 'our' world in order to save SK - then i change my mind and think ' it must be them' for different reasons So, are Rolands 3 companions also doomed to this loop for eternity (if so, at least they get a life prior to and after their quest ends)?
This is why i read and reread...
after seeing your video, all can think of is the dark tower sustaining Roland's nightmare, no existence itself. His error and what dooms him to repeating the same journey over and over again is precisely his inability to let go of his egothistc desires and cherishing what he has of most precious: his tet. that's why the tet breaks at the same moment they save the tower by freeing the breakers. That's the first sign that the tower will not crumble, therefore sustaining Roland's hell: Roland is sustaining his own hell, he's the reason for the loop, because he can't let go of the tower. I think the horn may symbolize that, that's the thing he is missing: the love he shares with others. If he hadn't do everything to get to the tower he would stop his quest and realize that the tower (the end of the journey) is not the only thing that matters, in fact, the journey is everything that matters (as said Stephen King in the final book). This time he picked up the horn, this time he had spared seconds of his life to show how much he valued his friends down deep in him. This time, he may choose to be with his loved ones and let the tower fall, ceasing his existence and his eternal nightmare.
Just finished the series for the second time a little bit ago. It had such a stronger impact on me than before. The story of Susan and Roland cut really deep now that I’m married and have a family. I had to pause after finishing the Mejis flashback for a day or two before continuing on to Emerald City.
Book 7 was crushing, over and over again. I don’t remember being so upset about Eddie; and Roland’s despair at Susannah’s decision to leave was a punch to the gut………..but who’d have thought the death of a make believe animal could produce such waterworks?!
The Susannah in New York chapter is one of my favorite moments in all of King’s work. The emotional rollercoaster book 7 puts you through is intense.
Whoa! But also can't forget the horn brother! Didn't that mean his ending/beginning changed?
If only, every time he has to choose between the Tower and doing the right thing, he would do the right thing. When he chooses to go after Susannah instead of pursuing the Tower, he actually ends up getting closer to the Tower, and that is really tragic. If he could stop choosing the Tower maybe he would actually succeed in reaching the top because then he would be worthy of it.
The ending was perfect
How'd you get past my security? Door was unlocked. S.O.B😮
Please make a video about GAN I love this video I have watched it 4 times :-D excellent work.
so glad you enjoyed it. While many people disagree, it speaks to the passion that people have for The Dark Tower. After almost thirty years of reading the books, I had to get my thoughts out. Best!
The one glaring flaw in your theory that I can see, is that in all of your comparisons regarding hell being a repetitious reliving of lives wherein everything is exactly the same, when Roland starts over at the end of The Dark Tower, things are different.
A part of me wants to say it's a videogame.
I guess that could also mean addiction, which might also work.
Roland exists in a story and once the story ends the only way to revisit it is to start over at the beginning. Its more of a 4th wall break than it is hell.
Court always said he was damned
Stephen Kings watching this video going 'yyyyyyyeeeaaaaahhhh, that's what I was going for'. If all this is true, King is a genius of the highest order. He wrotr the dark tower in such a way that Noone would get the true meaning.
What if he is a guardian of the tower, indefinitely, and every loop he is inadvertently tasked with something that threatens to destroy it. This time it was the beams but the next time it might be something else, makes sense when people say how old he is in referenfe to gilead. It could have fallen thousanda of years ago and roland is stuck in the same weird time loop taking out threats to the tower as they come along
Hmmmm. Not sure about some of your statements. In book one, Roland cared about Jake was always aware he was a trap. I don't think love was there yet. His ability to let susannah go showed a massive altruistic feeling. He needed her but let her go. I think you've ignored a lot of lessons Roland learnt. I think you've forgotten the face of your father
Further- Roland didn't really fight the Crimson King. He warded him off, but it definitely wasn't "biblically epic battle" , sadly. Also, Roland didn't forget about the horn of Eld due to blood lust, he didn't even forget about it at all. He wanted it, but knew he had to play dead. It was a risk he didn't want to take.