Why The Dark Tower has a Good Ending, Actually

[@dantediss1]

He Has the Horn, he Does NOT Forget it on the Battlefield,... he is Learning

[@spencerherron5539]

Anything he learned was lost when his memory was erased. The Roland who follows the man in black at the end is not a character who learned from the past but a person who’s past has unbeknownst to him been retroactively changed thus invalidating his character progression and turning his next loop of the quest into an arbitrary anomaly through which he will escape the previously never ending chain he will never even be aware he was part of.

[@dantediss1]

@@spencerherron5539 only difference is having the horn.

[@maynardsdick]

He met Stephen King and then he forgot about it. He has forgotten the face of his father.

[@KipIngram]

YES. I just watched another video that claimed Roland is in Hell and will never escape it - ever. I vehemently disagree. I argued in the comments there that a) Gan TOLD Roland that the opportunity for redemption existed, and b) HE HAS THE HORN AT THE END. See, I think Roland's entire life up to that "insertion point" was different in each iteration. It's like the portion of his life up to there was simply "implied," but still had the potential to change from iteration to iteration. His possession of the Horn is undeniable proof of that. I couldn't believe the blitheness with which the other guy just dismissed that - calling it "lip service" by King. No, I feel strongly that Roland can change and grow iteration to iteration, and that ultimately he will achieve peace. Who knows how long it might take, but... yeah. That's what I think.

[@wado_ichimonji2311]

He doesn't keep memories, but he does keep character growth, that's the point of showing he grabs the horn that time through, he became the kind of man who would take the few extra seconds to do something important, whether he knows why or not, and that will cause him to make different choices.​@@spencerherron5539

[@andrewswatland4622]

Good job 👍🏻. I’ve read the 8 books twice. The first time I read the ending I thought WTF!!! Then on reflection (Ka is a wheel), I realised how perfect the ending was. I still feel that a third reading will come. Mostly because I miss the characters. Always a sign of a great saga. 👍🏻

[@dave326]

Just discovered your channel today and clicked as soon as I saw Roland. This book series was an anchor for me back in high school. The title of the segment in which Jake dies has stuck with me for more than a decade: In that haze of green and gold.

[@jelizarose4099]

My heart skipped an elated beat, while reading the final Dark Tower book, when I realized Ted Brautigan was a part of its universe. "Hearts in Atlantis" is, in my opinion, one of Stephen King's best. When I finished reading the final Dark Tower book I wasn't quite sure what I thought, so I immediately reread the last portion of the book and decided I did. After watching all of your Dark Tower critiques I am excited to reread them with new ideas in mind. Thank you and Молодец!

[@thebookmovieguy]

I agree. HiA gets overlooked by a lot of fans, but I think it's a pretty solid and unique story. Thanks for checking out these Dark Tower vids- enjoy your next readthrough!

[@RickHansbury]

At first, despite the author's warning, I did read The Dark Tower with regard only to finish. I reread it with an eye to Roland's journey and I got it. Roland needed the Artist to defeat the "indestructible" Crimson King so he could "see around corners" like the riddle contest of Roland's youth. He couldn't, his ka-mates could. He could not enter eternity without these insights. The tower "looping him back" or moving him to the next level of the tower is profound. His final insight was to change his past, something we do in a similarly profound way by healing our trauma, altering our habits, and changing our behavior in the present (whether alcoholic or emotional demons). I understood the death of Mordred to display the Crimson King's glammer. Head games. Mr. King repeated, pounded that nail, so often it had to be bragging. If the Artist had "got a growth of years" like Jake might have he could have been formidable. When Roland didn't "cry it off" or be tricked like he was by Walter under the mountains by his "red father" the Evil One sacrificed Mordred like a pawn because Roland was coming for answers. This ending was for Roland alone precisely because he had already saved the beams and now had to avenge his mother, father, and everyone in Gilead, Susan Delgado and all the rest the Crimson King had thrown in his way. Remember he killed everyone in Tull because of Walter's spell, not by choice. And at the end he gets a redo on Jericho Hill, a great trauma reflecting the whole ending of civilization and that Roland picks up his Horn rather than closing his heart and becoming like he was when he first met Jake: dead inside living only for revenge. In that choice, picking up the horn, he may save Jake and still get answers from Walter. Without the feeling of guilt in his original attempt.

[@breckannable2612]

I think Stephen kings little talking to the camera moment at the end of the book was meant to turn the reader into Roland. Roland has multiple opportunities to turn away from the tower but he continues because he just has to reach the top just like the reader who reads on dispite kings warning

[@SubtleStair]

So it's like the Never-Ending Story in a way... 🤔

[@Brilchan]

agreed

[@valdezjones]

I love your takes on this book, man. I think the ending is great because the cycle seems to be a hell of sorts. I remember when I was first reading The Gunslinger where Roland has that feeling of deja vu and it quickly passes and he moves on, and I remember thinking at the end of the book that "there's some kind of loop going on here", but then I forgot that impression once I got into the later books. I think it was effective foreshadowing in the revised edition of The Gunslinger that many important characters and themes were mentioned and then never returned to until late in the series. Then when those topics became relevant again, we could do the Leonardo in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. A song that came to me at the finale of this book was "My Way" by Frank Sinatra. It, to me, sounds a lot like how Roland would be reflecting on his life and his journey as he climbed up the tower. He made tough decisions, he lost friends along the way, he made some serious mistakes--but he was finally achieving his life's goal! Then when he steps through the door, and the irony of it all sets in because he never did things his way: he was always a tower junkie, he was a slave to it and to ka.

[@maxbrainpauer6063]

Great summary of the series! I enjoyed your "Song Segment" of relevant music, and would add that I've long associated The Dark Tower with "There's No Way Out Of Here" by David Gilmour, even before the last books had been written. In retrospect I think the ending fits the story, although it felt wrong initially.

[@liamoconnell4073]

Callahan gets the closure he needed, faith restored and using it to blast the bad guys! He was a gunslinger in the end!

[@Peavey311]

Thank you for mentioning what IS different at the end...he has the horn! SO many people I talked to didn't remember/understand that and to me it's everything. I hadn't thought about the story being essentially about addiction, but it definitely merits another read now that I know so much about addiction on a personal level at this point in my life. The horn to me is saying that when you're fighting addiction as Roland is with the Dark Tower, you may slip up, make the wrong choice. But the horn is everything you learned from this go-around you didn't know the last time. It will help you get farther this time. I'd love to hear your thoughts about what the significance of the horn is. First video of yours I've seen and I'm going to check out others. You do a good job of presenting your thoughts.

[@spoon9488]

Just finished the dark tower today and it's so true. It's hope!

[@unperson5713]

I enjoyed this video, thanks for sharing.

[@oddiocurtiss]

Good song choices. I miss my Holy Diver CD. Someone stole it and a bunch of others out of my car several years ago.

[@thebookmovieguy]

I would have been absolutely devastated. Hopefully they enjoyed it, I guess!

[@oddiocurtiss]

I certainly hope so, but I'm sure that they were disappointed that a metal case ended up holding a bunch of CDs rather than something more valuable like a pistol. Financially more valuable of course. To me that collection was worth a lot. Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Heart, Arcade Fire, David Bowie, Coldplay, The Killers, Yes, Rush, Van Halen, Judas Priest, Panic at the Disco, Aerosmith, my uncle Luke Dowler's music, and even a goofy little Hip Hop album that I bought from a local rapper/pothead at the county fair. I think his name was Svengoolie. He was wandering around with balloons attached to his dreads. There I go, off on a tangent. Anyway, yeah, that music meant a lot to me. Gah, now I'm pissed all over again.

[@RickHansbury]

​​@@oddiocurtissthere's a Character called Svengoolie on MeTV IIRC Saturday nights doing cheesey horror flicks with an elaborate act just as punny as could be.

[@zackwalker1721]

First Video of yours that I've seen. Funny enough I was going for a run and went on Spotify looking for a dark tower playlist because though I read the series years ago it's just been on my mind for whatever reason (hence me finding this video) was caught off guard by the song segment at the end. Really interesting touch.

[@thebookmovieguy]

Thank you for watching!

[@mmrobersful]

Perhaps this next time he doesn’t leave Jake. That’s something he has to make right.

[@MrPhbahia]

This series deserves more love!

[@owensaenz1065]

Great review.

[@LordAlnwick]

I finished this book 5mins ago and felt the coda impactful as I ignored the warning in my own bloody minded quest to reach the top of the tower and it made Roland’s ending mean more as it made me reflect on my own life and choices. Maybe I’ll feel differently over time also

[@ReverendBenzo]

I've read all of the books and I just flat out never got the whole rose thing.

[@Scape3183]

I think it was a perfect ending. With Roland’s quest starting over again at the end it makes the gunslinger immortal.

[@PerfectCell9]

Killing off Randal Flagg like that ruined the entire series for me personally

[@wastingtime1441]

I enjoyed it, I saw it as his ego, overconfidence in his power that he’s been exerting for so long finally getting to him.

[@e.g.evermore4390]

Did he died tough? I think he appears again in the Gwendy's trilogy, and that takes place after the dark tower finale, they even mention the crimson king has died

[@charliekowittmusic]

I don’t know if it ruined the entire series for me lol, but it was disappointing without a doubt.

[@charliekowittmusic]

@@e.g.evermore4390He lives in many worlds and whens, but he’s for sure dead in the DT. In Gwendy, King insinuated the tall, dark man is the man in black. But then he realized it’s not him at all, and the 2nd/3rd books change course. He said this in an interview or a Twitter post or something as well. The RF from Gwendy turns out to be a pretty decent fellow from what I remember.

[@Connor.Klassen]

It’s worse than that. The main 3 villains who have been built up, some since the first book, die in increasingly disappointingly anti climatic ways

[@aidensmith2081]

Thanks for this video! It's a great analysis of the final book and I completely agree that whilst its not perfect its a fitting end to Roland's journey. The wheel of Ka really was foreshadowed throughout and makes a lot of sense to the the series in this way. I also had a dislike for all the Stephen King meta stuff (really pulled me out of the last couple of novels) and I'm really glad the Crimson King didn't turn out to be an evil version of Stephen King, which I was dreading. I kinda hope that when the inevitable TV adaptation comes they leave all the meta stuff out and create some original concepts instead. As I agree with you saying that King's strengths are really with his narrative and story ideas and not in his writing style or ego.

[@MaleckinJinx]

I don’t need to watch your video but I agree. The horn is symbolic of a fresh start and signifies that the Battle of Jericho was a victory for Gilead. Which could mean Cuthbert and Alain are out there, somewhere. That is my take on it anyway.

[@oddiocurtiss]

The ending was mind-blowing to my teenage brain.

[@kyguy3242]

I believe King has gone on record saying that he feels Randall Flagg is the greatest villain he's ever written... well, then why did you do him so dirty, Steve? I almost stopped reading this book because of how unceremoniously King disposed of a villain that he had built up over several books; a staple main villain from one of his greatest earlier works, no less. I think we all expected there to be some final confrontation between the Man in Black and the Ka-tet, only for him to get completely overshadowed by another villain we were only just barely introduced to. Screw subversion of expectations, sometimes you need to give the readers exactly what they want or expect. He hadn't even interacted with the ka-tet since Wizard & Glass, and even that was hardly at all, at the very end of the book. He couldn't face off against the protagonists and do some real damage just one last time before dying? Like seriously, what was the point in including him in this series if he ultimately served no purpose to the plot or to the other characters? Utterly ridiculous.

[@JustinHappenstance]

I think that you're right about the man in black, flag, or walter character. Ended up being nothing, and I didn't understand the bit about him being with Roland's mother or why he killed her. Maybe it's just me but I thought that there could have been more back story there and I missed something. Could be because I just listened to audiobooks while riding my bike. I liked the overall story but so often I would not know what the heck was going on because of it jumping around so.

[@cognitivedissonance8406]

My interpretation of the Dark Tower ending is that King is meditating on the nature of stories themselves, and how people consume them. Human beings have been telling each other stories for as long as we’ve existed, but we don’t just tell them once. We love revisiting old stories, we rewatch our favorite movies, we reread our favorite books. And back when stories were nothing more than spoken words, the storytellers would recite the most beloved stories time and time again to the recycled delight of audiences everywhere. King, like any good storyteller, loves his characters. He’s invented their entire existences and they were given life as his fingers danced across the keyboard and filled the pages with their essence. And when the reader experiences these stories, the characters live and breath once again for as long as we are engaged with the story; they are alive within our minds and their stories play out in endless repetition as new readers discover what old fans relive time and again. I think the Dark Tower is a meta narrative down to its core, going beyond just connecting the universe of King’s other stories, beyond simply having King himself be a character within the world of the series. I think its metatextual meaning extends to the very existence of the Dark Tower, both the book series and the titular tower itself. King knows these characters only truly live within the minds of his audience, just as he knows that same audience will be rereading this story until it is eventually forgotten by history, or until human beings cease to exist. That means the character of Roland Deschain, whom King clearly loves and cares for dearly, is doomed to live through the trials and tribulations and triumphant highs and devastating losses of this story over and over again without end, without knowing why or even that he is trapped in an unending cycle. This is why the series must end the way it does, warping Roland back to the beginning and leaving him to repeat the entire story over again. King even warns the reader in the author’s note before Roland enters the tower. He says you can stop reading right here, right now, let this be the final and ultimate conclusion to this story. Because there will be no coming back from this, there will be no way to unknow what you will know once you read the final pages. But King knows us as he knows himself. We are as helpless to stop reading as he is to put down his pen and let Roland be at peace. This is why I think the horn of Eld is such a brilliant addition to the ending. A small, seemingly insignificant change that potentially implies to the reader that things could be different this time, that Roland’s journey might come to some significant and true end this time around, somehow. But you will never read that story. That alternate journey can only exist within the readers’ mind, and if you choose to turn back the pages and reread the Dark Tower series, you will only find…the same journey you experienced last time. You can never accompany Roland on this new and more hopeful version of events. So what do you choose, intrepid reader? Will you let Roland finally rest, will you let him know peace at last? Or will you follow him once more, just as he follows the man in black across that desert, only to return again and again to the same fateful conclusion? A conclusion that is no conclusion at all, one that can only ever be a return to a story you can never experience for the first time ever again.

[@jeremy4375]

The story stopped being great in the 90s. King got hit by a car, and made sure we all got to suffer for his feeble grasp of his own mortality. He has a very fragile, yet comically huge ego. Fuck that meta BS. He doesn't know how to write a satisfying ending for an audience that loves his characters more than they love him. He punishes us for that. He's like George Lucas...an obnoxiously awkward egomaniac with an exceptionally beloved work of fiction on his hands, and he sold-out for nothing more than envy. I would almost pity him, but it's hard to feel sorry for man who's become a parody of himself.

[@cognitivedissonance8406]

@@jeremy4375 You have an awful lot of personal feelings and assumptions toward the character of a person you’ve never met. I suggest you apply these strong emotions toward yourself and your own life, and remember that these are only stories, they can’t actually hurt you. Best of luck to you on your journey, sai.

[@jeremy4375]

​@@cognitivedissonance8406 you criticize me for being exactly what you are. You worship at your idol and if Stephen King left a turd in your mailbox, you'd thank him for it . You're no better than a George Lucas fan. Grow TF up and realize that our favorite creators love $$$ more than the intellectual properties that have brought us so much joy. 🤠🖕

[@DreadPirateRobertz]

​@@jeremy4375Go then......there are other books than these.

[@Bigguy13-sy6mk]

Just finished the 7th book. That ending left me feeling empty inside. I’d love to see how it turns out his next time around to the tower

[@SubtleStair]

If the ending of the dark tower cycle left you feeling cheated, you're not alone.

[@errwhattheflip]

@@SubtleStair I...don't think that's what he meant

[@Scape3183]

I felt the same way when I finished the "Stand"

[@Bigguy13-sy6mk]

@@SubtleStair cheated no. Just wish I knew more

[@Scape3183]

When Roland is looking into Black 13 in his flashback Wastelands he has a vision of the future. Black 13 was essentially a time machine. Roland could have gone back and saved Susan Delgado before she was burned at the stake.

[@JustinianG]

Considering what you think about the ending of the Dark tower and that you loved Blood Meridian. I think you'll love a book I'm writing. Can you give it a read and review when I'm done?

[@Tombleweed13]

I'm interested. It's been a year, hows the book going?

[@liamoconnell4073]

Both the Crimson King and Mordred had pathetic endings over being built up so much. So did Randal Flagg. Love the books but a proper throw down between Roland’s Katet and the bad guys, avenging the deaths of Roland’s lost friends would have been epic

[@overkillforever1]

My guy, how do you mention songs that go along with The Dark Tower when a band has made songs about it! Blind Guardians “Somewhere Far Beyond” and “Carry The Blessed Home”, dropped the ball my friend. Go recommends though.

[@jesselaplante1040]

Flagg raised and nurtured Mordred. Id say that was pretty important. But you're right, Flagg was used in OTHER Dark Tower related books to further world build.

[@4-a-e]

Do you script your videos or do you just riff and improv? Either way your style is very engaging.

[@thebookmovieguy]

It depends on the video. If I want to be really specific and thorough about something, I write an entire script. For most of my videos, though, like this one, I create an outline and then riff and improv off each bullet point. I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[@JustinianG]

@@thebookmovieguy Considering what you think about the ending of the Dark tower and that you loved Blood Meridian. I think you'll love a book I'm writing. Can you give it a read and review when I'm done?

[@ikester123]

Alternative title: Patrick Danville recounts his experiences

[@donstuie]

I would also recommend "Breathing lightning" by Anthrax. Clearly inspired by Roland.

[@brettjunge5545]

King has rarely been known to have story endings that tie up the loose ends, or "complete" the story. He has always left much to the reader to interpret. If you pay attention to the forwards and writers notes of this series, you now it started in late 60's and ran to early 2000's with only 7 original books (other materials are cannon but not concurrent with his vision). So, his thoughts and ideas changed over time. Just as 'Gunslinger' had to be edited for content after books 2 and 3 were published. However, once his accident in 1999 happened, King decided to finish the series to placate fans. This caused him to truncate 'Dark Tower' and finish "Rolands Tale" ; without finishing it. The reason it only took 3 years to publish final 3 books, but completed in 18 months

[@tankrage17]

i think these books are long and complicated at sometimes and hard to follow in certain situations . but i do think it's still worth the read

[@chriswardwell5170]

Dude if all those books behind you are real than damn dude you are a fan of Stephen King and I can say he is one of my favorite authors ever .. To think he use to work at new Franklin laundry and was a writing professor at UMO. I had a teacher that took one of his classes and my mother worked with him at new Franklin

[@Kiljoy_]

Roland is like the Buddha and he's going around and around until he finally becomes a perfect being

[@KipIngram]

I was a little bummed to see Flagg turn out to be mostly a buffoon. Like many people, my introduction to this fictional 'verse was The Stand. And of course there Flagg is the big bad, though I never thought of him as Satan himself - I thought of him as a high ranking subordinate of Satan's.

[@dlvnmedia]

Honestly I would go with the original Stairway for the beginning but the version by Heart from the tribute show for the actual ending as it is so damn epic.

[@WungusBill-lf4iu]

There is the very end of book 7, in which Roland's unnecessary obsession with the tower leads him to an endless cycle of addiction. That, in isolation, is a good ending, one I think I might've loved under different circumstances. There is the rest of the books, in which Roland absolutely, unambiguously MUST reach the tower. That, in isolation, was a very good story. The problem is that the previous story and the ending are entirely disjointed, and the only thing to connect the two are a few pages where Sheemie runs down the street yelling "BEAM SAYS THANK YA". They spent a lot, A LOT of time throughout the series emphasing that the world has moved on, the beams are failing and there is no way to stop it, the magic is gone from the land, the breakers are expiditing the process but it has been happening for hundreds or thousands of years and it's gonna keep happening regardless, the only hope left is to reach the tower and find an answer there. More than once, it is explicitly stated that stopping the breakers will only delay the inevitable, it's a side quest to buy time. Then all of the sudden, in the middle of book 7, with zero foreshadowing and very little explanation it is revealed that the breakers were the ONLY problem, the beams are gonna hold just fine, not only that but they can heal themselves, not only that but they can regenerate the other beams! Everything is good, the day is saved, the folks back at Tet corporation checked the radar and it looks like sunny skies from here on out. This felt like a completely unbelievable and unforgivable ass pull, and I really didn't care what happened in the rest of the book. I think King came up with this ending too late in the game, he didn't lay any groundwork for the sudden left turn and made a very poor effort at justifying it, and the ending fell very disappointingly flat.

[@timschell4246]

Good review.

[@BobBob73271]

It’s not a loop, it’s a spiral

[@ThatHatGuy95]

I think what you’re getting at is that there is a difference between a good ending and a fitting ending. The dark tower, the more you reminisce is a fitting ending, but if you only glance at it, the ending is bad.

[@booknerd1949]

They should've given 3 characters more. Instead of having Dandelo, Stephen King could've focused more on the Crimson King, Mordred & The Man in Black. They could've had a satisfying battle between The Crimson King & Roland Deschain. Apart from that I loved The Dark Tower book series alot.

[@sarahmcdonald9624]

Just finished the series today and ai still don’t know how I feel😑

[@Brilchan]

19:03 I disagree with you on this. Loved that Coda part this book series was VERY meta and I felt like King had some very harsh reactions from his readers in the past and I get why he needed to put that into the book. Also, yeah King is gross, will always be it's just a part of his writing like horror you are welcome to dislike it, but it's just part of King's style. I also disagree with your opinion on Mordred, sure it was an anticlimax, but anticlimax is a valid writing technique. In the end, Mordred was a lost child who could not control his animal cravings, but his existence was important to the characters. That said I thank you for making and sharing this video I did not catch the metaphor of the Dark Tower being an addiction, so thanks for that idea I quite like it, and it enriches my reading experience

[@Aniblasfemus]

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 worlds 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-.

[@errwhattheflip]

What if it was destiny that it would be down to Roland to save it? This is a strange argument. In Dark Tower it makes sense but it's almost more of a punishment for Roland. Roland's fate, so long as he keeps choosing the tower over his comrades, is to keep repeating his journey over and over again. That's simply the point. The choice you're talking about doesn't really work imo. Roland wants to see the tower due to the mystery of it. He doesn't know what he'll find. It's like climbing Mount Everest or something for him. If you let him choose to repeat everything, you're basically destroying the point of his journey. Roland's choice came earlier when he had the choice of following Susannah or going after the tower Roland's conclusion is both very well and extensively set up, but even thematically it's perfect for his character

[@errwhattheflip]

Okay, I can't actually see your reply, so I'll just respond here. I think looking at the story in the lens of "Roland was just a character in a much bigger universe" is fundamentally missing the point. From the beginning Roland was destined on this journey. Of course there are thematic ties to this with Roland's cyclical journey being much like the cycles of addiction and self-destruction, with Roland's character even being called a "tower junkie" in the story. But even more obvious is that after Roland saves the multiverse, he's simply not supposed to go back to the tower. Roland was destined to save the multiverse yes, but the reason he repeats it is because he wasn't pure enough to see anything else. He wasn't ready, so Gan makes him repeat the journey, and when he is ready, he'd never even go to the tower to begin with after it was saved. Of course, I think labeling Roland's journey in the series was pointless is a bit ignorant as King does take time to detail out the Horn of Eld being present with him unlike before, signifying that Roland is slowly but surely changing his fate, and that whatever he had learned and however he grew wasn't fully lost on him. I've seen people say that Roland might be on his last repetition but I don't think that's really what's being implied there. I wouldn't even say the Dark Tower is about it being circular either as it's shown that each cycle shows different changes in Roland's personality. This is mainly through implication from the Horn being present But yeah. you don't have to like it but the ending is both clearly set up by King and really the only actual ending that would fit the story and Roland's character

[@Aniblasfemus]

​@@errwhattheflip OK, I will try to explain myself with an example. Consider at first Homer's Odyssey. This classic poem is about Ulysses's journey to get back to his homeland Itaca. We all know how the Odyssey ends: Ulysses gets back after 20 years and after slaying the suitors of Penelope he sits on his throne. Now suppose that we change the ending of the Odyssey by saying that after that Ulysses discovers that he is still into the Hades (he as to go down there at some point) and this was all in his mind and he is damned to forget and repeat this over and over. Let's set this aside for a second and let's consider Homer's Iliad. This poem is not about a single character, it's a collective story about the fall of Troy. Suppose that we change its ending, for example by saying that the Greek leader Agamemnon (or the hero you prefer) after conquering Troy finds out that he has done this a million times and that he will now forget and do everything again. Now changing the ending in this manner would be outrageous in both cases but in the case of the Odyssey would be more tolerable whilst in the case of the Iliad it would be just atrocious and pointless. Anyway, if you read well my first comment I am arguing that yes, there are reasons to accept King's ending but there are also other reasons (more fundamental) which are in contrast with it. Also, please don't say that this is the only ending, there could have been so many more, I just suggested two in my previous comment even without thinking much, I'm sure a consumed writer as King could have found many more given the time he had.

[@errwhattheflip]

@@Aniblasfemus But there's a crucial thing you're missing. You're missing the fact that you'd have to consider whether it fits or not. I don't think there are any actual reasons why King's ending doesn't work beyond just not liking the concept of a cyclical ending. I don't really think there was anything else that could have been done with Roland's character without seeming cheap. And yes it is objectively the only ending that would have worked for Roland had he continued to go after the tower. Of course it could have ended with him going off with Susannah or something, but if Roland continued to go off to the tower, then yeah I don't think there is any other possible ending that would fit his character thematically and even narratively. Dude, King himself believes to this day that it's the only possible ending. I think the idea of it just being "given more time" is silly.

[@johnsayre9935]

My favorite book series

[@JasonsChannel62]

Ka is a wheel... Interesting about wheels, they do both... Go around and in straight lines. So if you wanna write happy endings.... Just saying...

[@AAM-9289]

I also think the ending is good, but explain to me - why did the Tower send him to the desert again?!

[@KipIngram]

Ah, but Father Callahan REDEEMED HIMSELF. He failed in Salem's Lot, and ended a lost soul. But the world gave him another chance, and this time he stood and was true. He will rest in peace.

[@leecarruthers6473]

Your take is great. Never even thought about it that way

[@jordancarter3258]

This is my favorite series. I can be the only Towerjunkie that is just waiting for a third Talisman novel. If there is any character in all of the Multiverse that is capable of saving Roland from the loop it is Jack Sawyer. The way that Blackhouse ended practically screams that Jack will play a crucial role in the Tower saga. I know that Peter Straub has died but he would want the trilogy to be completed.

[@scitchmunkey5587]

I think there is a way to kill off without it being for someone's arc but it's very tricky and would be locked in to themes about how arbitrary death can be

[@brettjunge5545]

You blew over Oy passing. If odetta/detta/susannah living, than Oy should have lived too. Or passed in Jake's time, running to save him.or similar circumstances 'ake, ake' Also he ached when Jake hurt The only reason he was there. Jake was Allian, Eddie was Cuthbert. Roland's first Ka-Tet Who were susannah? (susan) allowed to live Oy, mayby a new ka-tet member? This isn't the first or the last.

[@Andrea-nom]

Susannah chose love. Jake and Eddie came to her in dreams. She knew she could have the Tower and die or find a way to Eddie and Jake. Roland begs her to stay. She choses to leave the path of the BEAM and lives. She won’t follow the way of the GUN any more.

[@mastertuc1]

when Patrick draws the crimson king, why was a second crimson king not created?

[@hpwilliams0]

Am I wrong in remembering that Randall Flagg was the Crimson King?? I was almost certain that The Man In Black, Marten, Randall Flagg, and the The Crimson King were all the same entity.

[@Silentwraith365]

No

[@zane01235]

Did anyone else feel let down with the Crimson King? The most underwhelming villain in any book I've read, i had zero sense of any threat from him and that last battle was ridiculous, throwing flying disks? Lol. Didn't mind the ending though, seems to me the Dark Tower was never at risk, it was all for Roland's benefit so he could transcend through improvements in his journey, almost like being in hell continuously fighting for redemption. Called Crimson King Scarlet King....if only CK had 1/10th the threat.

[@benmcfee]

Remember that another character of King's described Hell as Repetition.

[@Richard-x2p]

I thought it was a cop out.

[@BillyBong]

You kind of look like 1983 Dave Mustaine.

[@KipIngram]

No - Roland is infinitely better off than the Crimson King. The King is STUCK. That's his fate - forever. Roland can choose on any cycle to just walk away. I have to admit, that particular notion had never occurred to me before - I'd always assumed that it was mistakes made along the way that Roland needed to correct. But I do like the idea that he just has to choose to let go of the obsession. Either way, though, he HAS THAT CHANCE. And the Crimson King doesn't.

[@williamgragilla7007]

Patrick Danville spoiled the end for me, I’m also not a fan of causality loops. Unsatisfying

[@jimthecasual7007]

..... What movie? 😐

[@loilt5091]

Visually speaking…not buying your rose garden title page ❌

[@djohns9295]

Meh, that ending trick is cute for a short story, but not for the end of a loooooooong epic.

[@gunslinger9171]

How it should have been written: 1) Either Jake, eddie, oi should have died and stayed dead, or they get injured and have an epiphany of why they can't follow roland to the dark tower. Multi-verse versions just kind of cheapen their death. Its like having your cake and eating it too. I understand the multiverse is built into the series. 2) Roland should have killed the man in black. You waited 6 blooks for roland to catch him. Mildred just easily kills him... ugh boring... Roland cant kill him with his guns ok have him brutally pistol whip Randell to death. It should have been primal man-rolling on the floor battle and savage fight to the death. 3) Mildred should have killed the Crimson king. Whats the point of all powerful Mildred anti christ character. Roland should have had his back against the dark tower with crimson king and Mildred and had his desperate reasoning to Mildred turning him against the Crimson king. Mildred destroys the king and dies saving Roland. Patrick the artist just erases the Crimson king.... wtf?

[@kenhammscousin4716]

I just finished reading IT tonite for like the 10th time and I knew what you were going to say as soon as you said "THAT scene" haha. I don't think King is racist or diddles kids but nobody is wrong for asking those questions... Why use the N word 200 times? I don't mind the racist language tho because it's real and the racists are ALWAYS bad guys The kid sewer orgy.. He didn't HAVE to do that, so he must have wanted to.. didn't even give a solid reason why they do it. I guess it brings them together and helps them get out of the sewer.... how does an orgy do that? Because King wanted to write it.

[@benstakowitz3034]

the ending was weak. Flagg getting killed like the 8th lead in a horror movie was weak. The crimson king getting erased by a pencil was so bad. I liked the books and the story but it was a letdown after 7 main books and 12 orbital books. I mean king wrote himself in the story......weak.

[@silvypetrisor6979]

If the ending was so great, why did Stephen King have to literally interrupt the entire story to explain his ending?

[@nathanexplosionn]

trash question, that points to your obviously trash opinion

[@KipIngram]

I don't see why people are unsatisfied with the ending.

[@PeteOnTheBeat]

Nope. What a waste of my time.

[@robdurfee6861]

So was me reading this comment, now we’re both disappointed

[@travisjohnson622]

"Steven King being Gross and wierd when he doesnt need to be." In response to the "lovemaking" analogy he draws? The kid from the Stand and Trash mans B-Hole has entered the chat.

[@bjabbott8717]

For reasons I don’t want to spoil, the fact that you made a video a video about the ending to The Dark Tower being “good” is infuriatingly stupid. You know what? I will spoil it. The spider guy died from food poisoning, and the big bad was defeated by a pencil eraser. IT’S FUCKING STUPID.

[@errwhattheflip]

That doesn't even make sense as a critique. Yes it's dumb, but that isn't the ending

[@bjabbott8717]

@@errwhattheflip bro, if you like shit… like complete fucking garbage, then, by all means, don’t let me stop you. You continue to enjoy the two sequences I mentioned, and everything that came after, then I honestly hope you think about them often. I hope when you think of them, your heart is filled with light, knowing you were privileged enough to have experienced the wonders of Stephen King’s writing prowess. I will continue to to sit here and be pissed off that I spent dozens of hours listening to these books, only to have this hack not stick the landing AT ALL. Almost everything that happened after Spiderboy died of food poisoning sucks. IT’S FUCKING STUPID.