The End. (spoilers)

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HollyGolightly

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2013
9,660
74,320
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Heart of the South
Woo Hoo Holly!! Your comments make me want to start all over again. I had read up WandG and started all over again when it was clear he was going to finish it. So it's been many years for me. And the ending was as it should be.
It was a beautiful and memorable journey. I'm sorry to see it end, but
that ending leaves enough to the imagination that you can play with it in your mind for years to come.
 

RandallFlagg19

Well-Known Member
May 5, 2014
809
6,209
38
I read the coda, but I would have been ok with the ending of Roland just entering the tower. I got about a third of the way through “the dark tower” and realized it didn’t really matter what was in the tower.
I like the concept of “it’s the journey that matters, not the destination”: though I picked this concept up from Dan Millman, another author with a shattered leg who writes metafiction.
 

Evil Queen

Well-Known Member
I finally finished this one a few weeks back. I was surprised at the ending because I had avoided most spoilers about it so I had no idea how it was going to end. It was good. And the end to the Crimson King, that made me think he(evil) is never really gone, it's always watching us, waiting for us....very true. I was sad though that there will be no more stories about Roland. I have grown to seriously love him. Isn't that crazy? :D
 

VikingVagabond

New Member
Apr 1, 2016
1
6
71
I just finished the series last night (say hallelujah, say amen) and although I am still processing it all, at this point I do know these two things:

1) As others have said, Ka is a wheel and the ending was so beautifully reflective of that. I agree with those who feel it could not, should not have ended any other way. I felt it was brilliant.

2) During my reading of the series, there were so many times when I would shriek with frustration when King would write that Roland or Eddie or Susannah or Jake knew something, but they didn't know how they knew it. I thought - at the time - that King was being just downright lazy and simply didn't want to do the work that was needed to explain. But now, now I feel differently and I need to cry Sai King's pardon. As we now know, Roland will be making his journey to the Dark Tower yet again (and perhaps again and again and again, and has probably already made that journey countless times already), so when he knows something but doesn't know how he knows it, it's most probably because he learned it or discovered it on one of his previous journeys to the Tower. And I feel the same goes for the rest of our beloved ka-tet, that the reason they know something (but do not know how they know it), is because they, too, have learned or discovered it on a previous incarnation of the journey that they are destined to continue to take with Roland until...well, that part, I don't know, but I suspect as so many others do, that Roland needs to get "something" right. Now, I don't know if King intended it that way, but I'm so in awe of his storytelling genius right now that I'm more than willing to give him credit for it.

I apologize for the long post, but I just must say one more thing...thankee, Sai King, for an unforgettable journey that made me laugh and cry and yell and swear and hold my breath and forget to make dinner and sit on the edge of my seat and feel like I was part of Roland's ka-tet...thankee big-big!
 

blunthead

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2006
80,755
195,461
Atlanta GA
I just finished the series last night (say hallelujah, say amen) and although I am still processing it all, at this point I do know these two things:

1) As others have said, Ka is a wheel and the ending was so beautifully reflective of that. I agree with those who feel it could not, should not have ended any other way. I felt it was brilliant.

2) During my reading of the series, there were so many times when I would shriek with frustration when King would write that Roland or Eddie or Susannah or Jake knew something, but they didn't know how they knew it. I thought - at the time - that King was being just downright lazy and simply didn't want to do the work that was needed to explain. But now, now I feel differently and I need to cry Sai King's pardon. As we now know, Roland will be making his journey to the Dark Tower yet again (and perhaps again and again and again, and has probably already made that journey countless times already), so when he knows something but doesn't know how he knows it, it's most probably because he learned it or discovered it on one of his previous journeys to the Tower. And I feel the same goes for the rest of our beloved ka-tet, that the reason they know something (but do not know how they know it), is because they, too, have learned or discovered it on a previous incarnation of the journey that they are destined to continue to take with Roland until...well, that part, I don't know, but I suspect as so many others do, that Roland needs to get "something" right. Now, I don't know if King intended it that way, but I'm so in awe of his storytelling genius right now that I'm more than willing to give him credit for it.

I apologize for the long post, but I just must say one more thing...thankee, Sai King, for an unforgettable journey that made me laugh and cry and yell and swear and hold my breath and forget to make dinner and sit on the edge of my seat and feel like I was part of Roland's ka-tet...thankee big-big!
That phenomenon happens in "real" life, of course, via deja vu so for the reader it doesn't seem like cheating. In The Dark Tower's case it's foreshadowing of and on a grand order.
 
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The Nameless

M-O-O-N - That spells Nameless
Jul 10, 2011
2,080
8,261
42
The Darkside of the Moon (England really)
I just finished the series last night (say hallelujah, say amen) and although I am still processing it all, at this point I do know these two things:

1) As others have said, Ka is a wheel and the ending was so beautifully reflective of that. I agree with those who feel it could not, should not have ended any other way. I felt it was brilliant.

2) During my reading of the series, there were so many times when I would shriek with frustration when King would write that Roland or Eddie or Susannah or Jake knew something, but they didn't know how they knew it. I thought - at the time - that King was being just downright lazy and simply didn't want to do the work that was needed to explain. But now, now I feel differently and I need to cry Sai King's pardon. As we now know, Roland will be making his journey to the Dark Tower yet again (and perhaps again and again and again, and has probably already made that journey countless times already), so when he knows something but doesn't know how he knows it, it's most probably because he learned it or discovered it on one of his previous journeys to the Tower. And I feel the same goes for the rest of our beloved ka-tet, that the reason they know something (but do not know how they know it), is because they, too, have learned or discovered it on a previous incarnation of the journey that they are destined to continue to take with Roland until...well, that part, I don't know, but I suspect as so many others do, that Roland needs to get "something" right. Now, I don't know if King intended it that way, but I'm so in awe of his storytelling genius right now that I'm more than willing to give him credit for it.

I apologize for the long post, but I just must say one more thing...thankee, Sai King, for an unforgettable journey that made me laugh and cry and yell and swear and hold my breath and forget to make dinner and sit on the edge of my seat and feel like I was part of Roland's ka-tet...thankee big-big!
Welcome to the boards. I'm glad you learned the error of your ways ;) you can be forgiven for thinking it was laziness by king, the real reason wasn't revealed until the very end of a very VERY long tale.
 

twiggymarie

Daughter of One
Mar 17, 2011
332
1,911
Texas, United States
I didn't read the coda....for a whole minute.:cocksure:

I sort of felt that the whole reason King even offered the coda was because he KNEW we couldn't just leave the journey like that. Just like Roland couldn't cry off the Dark Tower, even when
he lost Eddie,Jake, Oy and Susannah.
He had to see it through, no matter the cost, no matter that he could have
chosen to go with Susannah through the last door and been happy. I mean, the Tower was safe, the beams unbroken, and the Crimson King stuck and stark-raving mad.

We could have, too...but we didn't.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
I didn't read the coda....for a whole minute.:cocksure:

I sort of felt that the whole reason King even offered the coda was because he KNEW we couldn't just leave the journey like that. Just like Roland couldn't cry off the Dark Tower, even when
he lost Eddie,Jake, Oy and Susannah.
He had to see it through, no matter the cost, no matter that he could have
chosen to go with Susannah through the last door and been happy. I mean, the Tower was safe, the beams unbroken, and the Crimson King stuck and stark-raving mad.

We could have, too...but we didn't.
...Kings version of Pandora's Box....
 

mal

content
Jun 23, 2007
4,714
27,243
61
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
I like the idea of cycling through almost infinite versions of Roland's journey to the Tower. I believe that eventually all permutations and combinations would be tried and one of these configurations would 'click' and enable him to overcome. What then, though?
 

twiggymarie

Daughter of One
Mar 17, 2011
332
1,911
Texas, United States
See, I thought the fact that he had the horn symbolized that Roland chose to go back for it, meaning he put something else first besides his quest for the Tower, (a first for him). And that's the lesson Ka was trying to reach him.
I like your take as well, but I would have that same question at the last as you do. Maybe there's no wrong or right answer, and
Sai King left it purposely free to open interpretation, sticking us in our own endless loop of ponderings.
:indecisiveness:
 

Steffen

Well-Known Member
Aug 9, 2015
2,233
12,800
The fist time I finished volume 7, I was annoyed. Then, some years later, I saw Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood and understood: it wasn't the ending that I may have wanted, but it was the one that best served the story.

I've been revisiting this series in audio book format and completed the last book yesterday evening on my drive home. Volume 7 is one big beautiful heartbreak after another. The only thing I'm still iffy about is
the Crimson King turned out to be a tad underwhelming
. But as a whole, King will never do better than this series.
 

twiggymarie

Daughter of One
Mar 17, 2011
332
1,911
Texas, United States
In response to your spoiler, I somewhat agree. Remember though, that
the CK was around as long as Roland, remaining in control of his wits throughout the time Roland wandered away from his. His, (CK's), was a reign that was in its waning hours, having lost Algul Siento and his breakers, along with most if his soldiers. Having greedily sought the Tower for his own sinister plot, he therein lost the rest of his bag of marbles out there on the balcony. That said, without Patrick, even Roland might have fallen. So... perhaps it was not so anti-climatic as one might posit, rather a fitting end for an over-reaching usurper.
 
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GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
The fist time I finished volume 7, I was annoyed. Then, some years later, I saw Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood and understood: it wasn't the ending that I may have wanted, but it was the one that best served the story.

I've been revisiting this series in audio book format and completed the last book yesterday evening on my drive home. Volume 7 is one big beautiful heartbreak after another. The only thing I'm still iffy about is
the Crimson King turned out to be a tad underwhelming
. But as a whole, King will never do better than this series.
...I agree with your opinion on the CK.....after being the big bad boogeyman through this epic, he was reduced to nothing more than a Jack Russell Terrier with a sore ass......[\spoiler]
 
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Steffen

Well-Known Member
Aug 9, 2015
2,233
12,800
...I agree with your opinion on the CK.....after being the big bad boogeyman through this epic, he was reduced to nothing more than a Jack Russell Terrier with a sore ass......[\spoiler]

You never fail to crack me up, bro. ;;D
 
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