For me, the presence of the horn is his way out of his purgatorial loop. I am convinced that the end is the start of Roland's Sous final journey to redemption.
There are some good reviews here so I won't spend alot of time writing one for now just abbit of my opinion feelingeelings on your review but enjoyed it mostly any way. Keep up the good work. I enjoyed the strings you tied to other works by king to show us how his mind works more so then hints to pre designed and plotted out things. Did not like you tossing out there that the god/gan of their story is the God of catholicism then latter say their god if not all powerful :p. what? Maybe you didn't go to church enough 😅 but it's said every mass he is the all mighty and creator of all things. Anyway aside from a few thinf things enjoyed this video thank you for your work.
Roland and the man in black are the same...they are one...the only thing that Roland/walter changes is that of how he get to his mean to his ends.....he's only fighting himself to achieve his goal to climb the tower. That's why he is in his causality... His motivation never changes, ....just a thought on this theory.
Thank you! Even though I've read the series again and again, my conclusion of the meaning of Roland's journey was not very clear to myself. However, your very thoroughly explained video gave me the clarity I needed. Agreeing with you isn't exactly what it is I'm doing; hell, purgatory, time loop, whatever it is, it's subjective. The conclusion that is screaming inside my head is mortifying and until today I hadn't been able to see so clearly. Roland having the horn is indeed irrelevant, he might as well have picked up a bag of Cheetos for all the good it will do. The fact that he regrets Jake's death(s) or loves whoever he loves at a certain point or other in the story is irrelevant, the little learning curve he is having is irrelevant for it will be lost. "THOSE WHO FAIL TO LEARN FROM HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT". Indeed. He will repeat it forevermore. It matters not if he learned, grew and softened. We know his mind will be erased. Every time he goes through it, it starts literally at the beginning of book one and it is the fiest time he ever experienced this for himself... EACH TIME. He has no memories so he cannot remember or learn from experiences. If this is 19 or 20 or 1 billion... it's devastatingly irrelevant. He literally CAN'T learn, therefore he is doomed to repeat the same loop, immovable for all times. It's a horrible fate.. reliving a life like his with the events from the books for lack of remembrance and learning curve. He won't change his choices or who he is if he doesn't learn or grow and his memory being wiped each time ensures he WILL make the same awful choices over and over again. I'm heartbroken.
Many people justify the ending by showing many references in the book that foretold us the ending ("the Ka is a wheel"). However, there are also many more points in the book that are in stark contrast with the ending. First of all we are told several times what the dark tower is: it's kind of the glue of the multiverse, it's what keeps reality in place. So, how could the dark tower be completely dedicated to Roland? What was of it before Roland existed? Why would the dark tower, finally saved from his fall, want to set all back to a state where it is still at risk of collapsing? And how could this even be possible, after we are being told multiple times that in the key words time goes only in one direction? I appreciated the circular conclusion of the Matrix saga in 2003, but there it made sense. Circularity in Matrix actually gives an explanation. How else could the dark tower have ended? I would have been satisfied by any of the following expected endings 1) Roland enters the tower and stares in awe to the mighty powers acting in it (with a sequence similar to the end of book 1 or to when King describes the million suns into the rose in the garden). 2) If we really want to stick to the circular conclusion, Roland finds somebody that, as a reward to his services grants him the possibility to live again his journey in his mind and this time he makes the right choices -but I would accept this only if this was happening in his own mind, not in the "real" world-.
I think Roland gets a little bit closer to redemption every loop. Him having the horn is a huge detail. Throughout the book you see references to the number 19, and even the characters comment on it pretty frequently. And to get to the next loop Roland literally ascends a set of stairs to a new floor of the tower. I interpreted that as meaning the story was his 19th loop on the 19th floor, and he is climbing the tower to the 20th loop on the 20th floor.
Everytime Roland starts over, he changes. He becomes less and less Gunslinger and mor and more Roland. His Ka-Tet changes him fundamentally. And the Tower requires a Sigil of Eld and the Guns. This time through the Tower made sure he has his Sigil this time- so now the Tower will fully accept him. After the Tower is saved- why does the Tower send him to the beginning? Its so the savior of all existence can become worthy of the prize at its top. The Tower is alredy save. Theres no need to send Roland out to save it again and again for all eternity.
The Tower gave Roland the horn. Why? Because Roland had finally changed and redeemed himself through Jake- through love. This is the Tower telling him there is a light at the end of the tunnel but it's up to Roland to find it himself.
Great video. I agree with your take on this. The only part I'm unsure of is the part where he "saves" the beams and the tower. I've always wondered if the danger to the universe was ever as real as he thought it was. I always felt that If he were to finally get of the time loop by doing things different and renouncing the tower and saving his friend/friends I don't believe the universe would come to an end or anything. He would find redemption in a peaceful life or some life outside if his "quest". I think I also disagree that the horn of eld means nothing. I always felt that it symbolized a possibility of redemption but not a certainty of it. For me the ending always felt ambigious and I feel better believing in a little optimism.
47:39 He was dammed after his test of manhood. Taking the test for revenge and using an underhanded weapon. Which he sacrificed to achieve his goal. He's not the good guy. He follows the Walking Man
Bruh Carl Urban as The Gunslinger for the show?? Check him out in Priest, he already has the wardrobe there & he looks awesome, I bet he'd rock that sh*t like Dredd.
The only true peace from the Crimson King is his destruction. His power and influence still remained even if he’s “trapped”. All he may need to do is wait for that horn to get to him by other means of not Roland than by someone else less capable or more devious. Roland was given the mission by the Tower to save the tower. I don’t think he’s in hell but he is sisyphus. Carrying that bolder that is the tower. He is an anti hero that was made in dark times for dark times. I think every rotation he saves the tower he is becoming more efficient. But until he can stop the crimson king as the ultimate threat to the tower he’ll still have an excuse to go there. He is its “white blood cell”. He might have been created solely to serve the tower and that is the curse. The obsession is what keeps him going and what has kept him alive and technically all of us alive. And he’ll do it always and forever. A force of nature until the tower releases him.
Nah, I'm calling b*******. The big difference between the ending of the dark Tower and the two other stories you presented as evidence for the loop lasting forever, is again a change was allowed. That's not lip service that's a massive massive butterfly effect that's going to kick in through the entirety of the next loop. Roland isn't going to just keep doing the exact same things, a lot of what he did in the last loop was driven by his guilt for what happened in the past before the first book. Having the horn lifts a lot of that guilt off of him this go around. Those other two examples you showed, the characters in them always do the exact same thing each time they go through the loop. They never change, and change is never forced upon them. That's not so in the dark tower, change is allowed even if Roland doesn't remember the changes occurred, and those changes affect each loop. I think each loop is slowly building him up for the final loop. Like he's too rigid of a person to change all at once in one loop so the dark Tower is putting him through multiple loops, each time giving him a minor change so that he can become a better and better person each time and carry over subconsciously those self-improvements. In this way eventually he'll be the hero the Tower needs to end the cycle. If there's one thing I picked up reading the dark Tower series, it's that king really didn't want to go for the all is for not, the story is going to end sadly style he usually goes for in his horror stories. As the dark Tower series shows us, the tower and the Rose are the axis upon which all of Stephen King's stories revolve around. They represent the foundation of all universes, a thing that the evil forces want to destroy and good has been tasked with protecting. Why would such a thing also be an instrument of eternal torment and punishment? I think ultimately King wanted the core of his stories to have a thread of good, a silver lining that ultimately cancels out all the evil that happens in the rest of his stories. The dark Tower and the Rose represent that core of good, that silver lining, and Roland is not being punished by it, he's there to protect it and ultimately save it.
As Randall Flagg, or the man in black told Roland, "you have no imagination, your blind that way ....what hurt you once, will hurt you twice, this is not the beginning, but the beginning's end...."
Game and God are the same thing the Christian God created the universe out of nothing just like gan created existence from the prim. I picture the prim pre big bang. The Christian God gave living things free will otherwise what's the point of creating everything. Ka is destiny or fate and that I think doesn't dictate exactly what will happen but nudges ppl and events in a certain direction ppl still have their own choice though
I think the horn being there at the end doesn't show that it will end. but shows that things can be slightly different every time. There might be different ppl places and battles but he will always chase the man in black and the tower and he will always bring ppl he loves together and he will always get the ppl he loves killed
Good video but you don't have to look at other books to see that the loop will go on forever. Roland asks for pity and mercy to not repeat it again. And instantly he knows the tower doesn't know pity or mercy.
I agree but I think the horn being in his possession at the end signifies that really even the tower wants Roland to get it right. It doesn't want to punish the savior, but it must because he lost sight of his true goal. Which was that of a savior. But it gives him hope and an out.
this is one of my all time favorite book series, I feel its right up with other popular fantasy stuff like lord of the rings or game of thrones. I can't believe it isn't a lot more popular
This analysis has resonated with me. It took me around ten years to reread the DT books. I was disappointed with the ending, but your theory is profound. I think Roland will only break the cycle is he gives-up the tower before the deaths of his friends.
You present a compelling argument. Even with the issue of the horn, I can't disagree with anything you've said here. I just started the audio books again today and noticed for the first time that he mentions several things that he feels strongly that he has done before. I don't remember if that stuff was in the original version of the gunfighter, the audible version uses the revised edition.
Roland is destined to save the Tower, but he is not worthy of taking it. I think that responsibility lies with Jack Sawyer from The Talisman and Black House, who is also very likely a variant of Jake in the same way Eddie and Cuthbert are connected.
I do think that the entire reason Roland was forced through the door at the top of the Tower to repeat his long struggle again - the reason he's been pushed through many many times - is PRECISELY because he climbs the Tower. He did not need to - that was made clear. In the end he climbed it because he WANTED to. It's a sin of pride - he feels that he is worthy to know such secrets, when in reality no one is. His punishment for his impudence is to live it all again. I think there really IS still a chance for redemption and rest for Roland. All he has to do to gain it is... turn around and walk away from the Tower. I think he could even see it from the outside, but by going in he condemns himself to a repeated cycle. If he ever chooses to let it go, I think he will live out his life in peace and will be done. Of course, that doesn't make a great story - this just isn't a tale that should end with "and they all lived happily ever after." We GOT happily ever after for Susanna, and kinda-sorta for Eddie and Jake. It would have been foolhardy to expect it for Roland too. Roland is a necessary part of the cosmogeny - without him, the forces of evil prevail and darkness falls for eternity. On everyone. It required a man with Roland's drive and WILLINGNESS to pay any price to achieve the important goal of saving all of existence. It's TRUE that THAT part of his quest was worth any cost. What good is it to save one person if everyone everywhere is going to perish? If LIFE ITSELF is going to perish? I don't see how anyone can question that even a little bit. But, with that task accomplished, he persisted and even took a RISK (the risk that the Crimson King could have somehow gotten his guns out of him). As soon as the Beams were saved, Roland's drive to carry on was no longer a goodness - it was a sin. And it's his failure to discern that that keeps him on his treadmill. I saw a video a few days ago that basically claimed Roland's in hell and can't change ANYTHING. I think that's patently not true. Not only do I think he can make different decisions during the actual events of the repetitions - I think that the repetitions happen in a way that IMPLY different decisions earlier in his life. Else how could he have had the Horn in that new cycle that starts at the end of the series? He clearly DID NOT abandon it this time. So things can change and change quite a lot cycle to cycle. We don't get an explanation of how those "settings" are decided. This means that it IS possible that he might eventually decide to stop after saving the Beams. Of course, we've never going to get that story given to us, but it's not unreasonable to assume that someday, eventually, it will happen. Roland is changing and developing as the cycles unfold. And besides, Gan TOLD him there was still hope - are we going to label God a liar?
I don't think it's right to say Roland "doesn't care" about good and bad. I think he cares very much. What he decided, though, is that the Tower was more important, and "side quests" addressing lesser good/evil issues couldn't be allowed to get in the way. It's clear from reading the book that he and his ka tet do a great deal of good for people (like the people of the Calla) as they make their way to the Tower. Roland is still an agent of good - he's just not going to get "distracted" from his core mission by pursuing those other things.
If you knew anything about religion or mythology, you'd have deeper insights. Horned God > Shiva > Enki > Cernunnos, etc El > Baal El > YWHW > Brahma - Demiurge Yaldalboath Sophia El is Hebrew "Kal El" = voice of God Etc
I read the judgement of the causality loops brought up differently. If I were in Arthur Harris' position, I would convince my clients to walk through the door on the right. He doesn't really even seem to try. In those examples, the person caught in the loop possesses the key to their freedom. In the end, their choice is to learn their lesson or suffer. There are no other options. Everyone gets the fate they chose, so everyone deserves their fate.
Wrong on the significance of the horn my friend. If you study literature, there are what are called the "Seven Stories". Every story is one of these same seven told in a different way. Each one of the Dark Tower books is an ode to one of the seven. So although you are correct that it will be the same story, it is always told in a new way. IE having the horn, it will turn out the same, but the story will change in each retelling.
