GAN: Apparently God. Under hypnosis, King says, “I’m Gan, or possessed by Gan, I don’t know which, maybe there’s no difference.” King says he stopped writing Roland’s story at certain points because he didn’t want to “be Gan,” the source of ka. Every time King returns to the saga, some part of him feels the eye of the Crimson King on him.
THE BLACK TOWER: The skyscraper that stands at 2 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in New York City.
HENCHIK: The Manni leader in Calla Bryn Sturgis, he helps the remaining members of Roland’s ka-tet in traveling to 1999 New York City and 1977 Maine. The Manni are an End World religious group known for traveling between worlds.
WALK-INS: Shortly after John Cullum meets Roland and Eddie, he asks them, “Are you walk-ins?” Seeing they are puzzled by his question, the caretaker/handyman explains that “Walk-ins’re people who just appear. Sometimes they’re dressed in old-fashioned clothes, as if they came from … ago, I guess you’d say.” The walk-ins have appeared in the Maine towns of Waterford, Stoneham, East Stoneham, Lovell, Sweden, and Denmark. These strange people first started arriving around the time a young writer named Stephen King arrived in Lovell. Some might speculate that the walls between realities have grown thin in that region of Maine.
BLACK THIRTEEN: An object of ancient power, it was given to Father Donald Callahan by Randall Flagg when the priest crossed over to Roland’s world. Realizing its power, Callahan hid the orb in a church he built in Calla Bryn Sturgis. Taken from its resting place when Roland and his gunslingers came to town, the object was used by Susannah/Mia to transport her to 1999 New York City.
The object having served its purpose, Susannah/Mia stored it in her hotel safe, where it was discovered by Jake and Don Callahan. The pair stored the orb in a locker deep beneath the World Trade Center. As they are leaving the site, Callahan notes that it is “safe until June of 2002, unless someone breaks in and steals it.”
Jake replied, “Or if the building falls down on top of it,” a chilling reference to the terrorist attack that destroyed New York City’s Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.
SONG OF SUSANNAH: TRIVIA
• References arise in Song of Susannah to can-toi, can-tah, and can-tak, words that are ascribed to various types of beings in King’s universe. King’s regular readers will be familiar with the words from the novel Desperation. The can-tah are “little gods,” such as the carving of Maturin that Jake and Father Callahan make use of in the Dixie Pig, objects of power. The can-tak are “big gods,” such as the evil Tak in Desperation, and the can-toi are a third group comprised mostly of various lackeys to these “gods,” including the human-taheen hybrids of Song of Susannah and the Low Men from that book and from Hearts in Atlantis.
7
THE DARK TOWER VII: THE DARK TOWER
(2004)
On Tuesday, September 21, 2004, King’s fifty-seventh birthday, Donald M. Grant and Scribner simultaneously published editions of the 845-page conclusion to his epic Dark Tower saga, ending a journey that took thirty-four years and 3,872 pages to complete. An author and his creations had finally reached their common goal.
And what a goal. After all of the struggle, the pain, the blood, the sacrifice, what does Roland find when he finally reaches the Tower? He discovers that the Tower embodies the whole of his life, his triumphs, his tragedies, his successes and failures, all the things that make him the man he is today. He briefly visits his past and finds out that he is being prepared to reembark on his journey, this time with the hope of finding redemption. Thus, the story that began with one of the most memorable lines in modern fantasy fiction—“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”—ends that way as well. We probably shouldn’t have been surprised, since we were told as early as The Waste Lands that “Ka was a wheel, its one purpose to turn, and in the end it always came back to the place where it had started.”
In an Author’s Note at the end of the novel, King says:
You may not like what Roland found at the top, but that’s a different matter entirely. And don’t write me angry letters about it, either, because I won’t answer them. There’s nothing left to say on the subject. I wasn’t exactly crazy about the ending, either, if you want to know the truth, but it’s the right ending. The only ending, in fact. You have to remember that I don’t make these things up, not exactly; I only write down what I see.
The book elicited a mixed response from critics. Writing in the October 17, 2004, issue of The New York Times Book Review, in an article titled “Pulp Metafiction,” Michael Agger wrote:
At this point, readers of the series will be howling at the simplification of their heroes, but the whole project eludes description—it’s a double-black-diamond ski run for fantasy nerds. There are the multiple worlds, the multiple names and characters who die and come back to life in different times and places. Even King can be overwhelmed.
The Washington Post critic Bill Sheehan had another take on the book. In his review, called “The Return of the King,” Sheehan stated:
Although King’s detractors—a vocal, often contentious bunch—will doubtless disagree, The Dark Tower stands as an imposing example of pure storytelling. King has always believed in the primal importance of story, and his entire career—encompassing forty novels and literally hundreds of shorter works—is a reflection of that belief. On one level, the series as a whole is actually about stories, about the power of narrative to shape and color our individual lives. It is also, beneath its baroque, extravagant surface, about the things that make us human: love, loss, grief, honor, courage and hope. On a deeper level still, it is a meditation on the redemptive possibility of second chances, a subject King knows intimately. In bringing this massive project to conclusion, King has kept faith with his readers and made the best possible use of his own second chance. The Dark Tower is a humane, visionary epic and a true magnum opus. It will be around for a very long time.
We agree with the second interpretation. As King notes, many may not like the ending, but it is appropriate. After all, the true test of fiction is whether it rewards rereading—novels are meant to be revisited, reinterpreted, and reexperienced. By having Roland reembark on his adventure, King at once tacitly acknowledges that fact, even as he invites us to once again make the journey with him.
THE DARK TOWER: PRIMARY SUBJECTS
ROLAND: In The Dark Tower, the last gunslinger finally reaches the end of his centuries-long quest, but only after witnessing the death of several members of his ka-tet. Although not alone as he makes his final approach to the Dark Tower, he is the only member of the ka-tet to actually enter the structure.
Still in 1977 Maine at the end of Song of Susannah, Roland and Eddie reunite with John Cullum, and recruit him to assist Aaron Deepneau in gaining the cooperation of Moses Carver, Susannah’s godfather, in setting up the Tet Corporation. Returning to Mid-World after eliminating Jake’s pursuers at the Dixie Pig, the gunslinger and his ka-tet decide they must perform two tasks: first, liberate the Breakers enslaved by the Crimson King, and second, protect Stephen King’s life at all costs. They achieve these goals, preventing the fall of the Tower, but only through great sacrifice.
His ka-tet dwindling, Roland finds himself back on the road to the Dark Tower, accompanied by Susannah and Oy, and pursued by his son, Mordred. By the time he reaches the Tower, Susannah has left him, and Oy and Mordred are dead. Although joined by Patrick Danville as he makes his final approach, only Roland enters the Dark Tower. There he finds his destiny.
Though Roland’s evolution into the paternal figure of this ka-tet and the reawakening of his emotional self made it possible for him to reach the Tower, his love for his companions never makes him waver from his quest. In the end, however, he calls out the names of all of the good and loyal people in whose name he approaches the Dark Tower.
EDDIE DEAN: Eddie returns to Mid-World, only to be cut down by a bullet in the battle to free the Breakers held by the Crimson King at Devar-Toi. Eddie li
ngers for many hours after being shot, telling Jake he must protect Roland from Mordred and Dandelo.
JAKE CHAMBERS: As The Dark Tower commences, Jake and Don Callahan lay siege to the Dixie Pig. Jake survives that battle, and the battle at Devar-Toi, but dies protecting Stephen King, absorbing much of the impact from the van that strikes him and the writer. Like Eddie, he dies with a warning about Dandelo on his lips.
SUSANNAH DEAN: Susannah watches as Mia bears the child she carried, known as Mordred. Seeing Mordred for what he really is, she wounds him as she escapes her captors. Reunited with her ka-tet, she participates in the battle at Devar-Toi, and watches helplessly as her husband, Eddie, dies a slow death. Although she is with Roland as he nears the Dark Tower, she is not destined to enter the structure herself. Realizing the extent of Patrick Danville’s talent, she asks him to draw her a doorway that will enable her to leave Mid-World. She does so, entering another reality where another Eddie awaits her, an Eddie with a little brother named Jake. We are left with the impression that this alternate version of Roland’s ka-tet will have a peaceful, happy life.
MIA: After bearing Mordred, she is literally consumed by her monstrous child.
RICHARD PATRICK SAYRE: A minion of the Crimson King, he is killed by Susannah after ensuring that Mia gave birth to Mordred.
OY: Although he mourns Jake, Oy honors his master’s last request to protect Roland by distracting Mordred at a key moment. Unfortunately, his actions cost the billy-bumbler his life, as Mordred impales him on a tree limb.
JOHN CULLUM: Enlisted by Roland and Eddie to assist Aaron Deepneau in forming the Tet Corporation, Cullum joins with Deepneau and Holmes family friend Moses Carver to form what becomes known as the ka-tet of the rose. Cullum successfully carries out their wishes, creating an organization that exists to thwart the plans of the evil Sombra Corporation. John Cullum dies in 1989 at the hands of the Crimson King’s Low Men.
IRENE TASSENBAUM: On the scene of King’s accident on June 19, 1999, Irene becomes involved in Roland’s quest when she agrees to drive him to New York City. On the way to New York, they rent a hotel room in Harwich, CT, Bobby Garfield’s hometown. She leaves the scene shortly after bringing him to visit the Tet Corporation, forever changed because of the time she spent with Roland.
FATHER DONALD CALLAHAN: Callahan dies a noble death battling Low Men and vampires in the Dixie Pig. His bravery buys him redemption for the cowardice he displayed in ’Salem’s Lot.
MORDRED DESCHAIN: The son of Susannah/Mia, Roland, and the Crimson King. In The Gunslinger, Roland had consensual sex with an invisible demon in payment for information given to him by an oracle. Somehow the seed he spent in that encounter was saved by the demon and later, when Susannah was raped by a demon, she was impregnated with it. At some point after Susannah was impregnated by the demon, the Crimson King “reimpregnated” her so that his genetic material also became part of the mix. Thus Mordred has two fathers, Roland and the Crimson King. Given that Susannah has the second personality of Mia inside her, Mordred also has two mothers.
Although born in human form, Mordred’s true shape, reminiscent of It, is that of a heinous giant spider. Mordred’s first act after birth is to kill his mother Mia. Possessed of a deep hatred of his White Father, Roland, the rapidly maturing Mordred follows him, looking for an opportunity to kill him. Although Mordred easily dispatches Randall Flagg, establishing his ferocity and lethality, he is unable to kill Roland and fulfill the wishes of his Red Father, the Crimson King. Mordred dies at the hands of Roland.
RANDALL FLAGG: Intending to use Mordred to gain access to the Dark Tower, Flagg (a.k.a. Walter O’Dim, a.k.a. Marten Broadcloak) confronts the beast in a subterranean lair in which he is hiding. Mordred easily overcomes Flagg’s defenses and forces him to rip out his own eyes and tongue before devouring him.
DEVAR-TOI: Also known as Algul Siento, Pleasantville, and Blue Heaven, Devar-Toi is home to roughly three hundred Breakers (humans with various psychic abilities who work on behalf of the Crimson King to destroy the Beams that emanate from the Dark Tower). Kept in the dark about what they’re doing, the Breakers, misfits in their respective worlds, have it relatively good in Devar-Toi, and thus have little desire to be “freed.” Devar-Toi is managed by a taheen named Finli and an ex–Attica prison guard named Pimli Prentiss. Prentiss fires the bullets that take Eddie Dean’s life.
TED BRAUTIGAN: The most powerful Breaker at Devar-Toi, Ted is the leader of the resistance there. When Ted first lays eyes on Jake, he mistakes the boy for Bobby Garfield. Ted tells the gunslingers what he suspects regarding the reason the children of Calla Bryn Sturgis were kidnapped—that their brains provided food to increase the Breakers’ powers.
Ted, Dinky Earnshaw, and Sheemie are instrumental in helping the gunslingers engineer the downfall of the prison camp. He is last seen leading his fellow Breakers toward Calla Bryn Sturgis, where they hope to start a new life.
DINKY EARNSHAW: Dinky, who first appeared in the King novella “Everything’s Eventual,” was captured by the Crimson King’s low men and brought to Devar-Toi, where he met up with his co-conspirator, Ted Brautigan.
SHEEMIE RUIZ: An acquaintance of Roland, the somewhat dim-witted Sheemie made prior appearances in The Gunslinger and Wizard and Glass. One of the residents of Devar-Toi, Sheemie has the power to transport himself and others over great distances, a power he uses to assist Ted Brautigan in his efforts to free the Breakers of Devar-Toi. Sheemie’s power transports Jake, Oy, and Roland to 1999 Keystone Earth Maine to save Stephen King. He later dies from an infected foot wound sustained during the battle of Devar-Toi.
AARON DEEPNEAU: Together with John Cullum and Moses Carver, he formed what came to be known as the ka-tet of the rose. The trio proved to be the driving force behind the creation of the Tet Corporation, whose main goal was to stand in the way of the evil Sombra Corporation. He dies in 1992 from cancer. Nancy Deepneau, his grandniece, carries on his work as an employee of the Tet Corporation.
THE TET CORPORATION: The end result of the formation of the ka-tet of the rose, its New York headquarters was built on the site of a formerly vacant lot on Second Avenue and Forty-sixth Street in New York City. In its lobby lives the fabled rose, protected against those who seek to destroy it. Roland travels to New York to visit the leaders of the Tet Corporation. Cullum and Deepneau are gone, but a surprisingly hardy Moses Carver (he’s 100 years old in 1999) still works there. Roland is given some key intelligence by the Tet Corporation, information that aids him in pursuing his quest for the Dark Tower.
MOSES CARVER: One hundred years old in 1999, Moses is the last living member of the ka-tet of the Rose. Meeting Roland is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream of the old man, Susannah’s godfather. He likens Roland’s gun to King Arthur’s sword Excalibur.
THE CALVINS: Tet Corporation scholars, they spend their days reading Stephen King’s works, trying to glean important information about the Dark Tower. They tell Roland that Insomnia is the most important of King’s non-Tower books, and that he should be on the lookout for Patrick Danville.
THE THREE KINGS: Known as Feemalo, Fimalo, and Fumalo (calling to mind “Jack and the Beanstalk”), these three entities, representing the id, the ego, and the superego, all look like Stephen King circa 1977. Their attempts to delay Roland and Susannah fail, as the gunslingers kill Feemalo and Fumalo. Roland leaves Fimalo behind to warn Mordred off, saying, “And tell him that he if comes forward, I’ll kill him as I intend to kill his red father.”
DANDELO: A final obstacle for Roland and Susannah to overcome on the road to the Dark Tower, this creature feeds off misery. One of its main sources of sustenance is young Patrick Danville, kept imprisoned in its basement. He initially appears to the duo as a harmless old man named Joe Collins. Before Susannah kills Dandelo, he briefly shows the face of a deranged clown.
PATRICK DANVILLE: The same boy whose fate was at stake in Insomnia. Patrick is imprisoned by Dandelo, who feeds off the boy’s misery. He is freed
by Roland and Susannah, and accompanies them as they approach the Dark Tower. A gifted artist, Patrick can change reality through his drawings. First, he heals a cancerous sore on Susannah’s face by drawing her countenance, then erasing her malady. Then Patrick draws a doorway that allows Susannah to leave Mid-World. Finally, he crafts an uncanny likeness of the Crimson King, which he then erases entirely but for the King’s red eyes, eliminating him as a threat. Roland does not allow Patrick to enter the Dark Tower. Instead, he instructs him to seek out Dandelo’s service robot Stutterin’ Bill, who might be able to take him to a door that opens on Patrick’s America.
STEPHEN KING: The author, who lives on “Keystone Earth,” plays a rather passive role in the Dark Tower. On his way to his death by automobile accident at the hands of Bryan Smith, King is saved from his fate by the intervention of Jake Chambers, who absorbs the killing force of the van’s impact. Thus spared, King begins a slow recuperation, eventually mustering the determination to finish writing the Dark Tower saga, allowing Roland to meet his fate. After the accident, the stiffness and pain that have plagued Roland are transferred to King.
The Complete Stephen King Universe Page 7
