The Dark Tower Q&A - Ask a question, get an answer! *spoilers*

[Brainslinger]

Yeah I automatically thought of Guy Fawkes when I read about the stuffy guys (I'm English too.)

It's interesting how they take a familiar concept and do something else with it in Mid-World though. (I.e. the stuffys being in place of human sacrifices etc, whilst our guys representing Guy Fawkes.) Ours usually have padded heads of some description too (not sure what they are, pillows maybe) rather than root vegetables, although they might have used those in the past. Oh and they don't have painted red hands either (although there is something rather iconic about the stuffy guy version!)

As for the historical situation, a lot of it was the whole protestant vs Catholic thing if I remember correctly, Guy Fawkes being a 'catholic terrorist' (he wasn't strictly an anarchist, I don't think although his action was anarchic, in the loose sense of the word) attempting to blow up parliament (no doubt there was probably more to it than that.) The catholics were rather heavily persecuted and often outright murdered, which is part of the reason. Ironically both catholicism and protestantism is against murder, which just shows the ridiculousness of that kind of conflict.

Theres no getting round it, what Fawkes attempted to do (and he was just one activist for an entire body to be fair) was attempted mass murder though. The way they executed him was needlessly cruel though. (Hung, drawn and quartered.)

It's been a long time since I went to a bonfire gathering. Last one with an actual bonfire was some years back. I remember the kids with guys (I accidentally actually wrote 'stuffy guys' then ) outside the supermarket; "Penny for the guy!"

Have a nice view of the fireworks displays every year where I live. (I live on a hill and have a good view across part of London, including Crystal Palace. When I was a kid my mum used to sometimes make hot dogs and we'd watch) Last fireworkd display I actually visited was 2-3 years ago at Blackheath. That's another place with a dark history (a graveyard for plague victims. A big green field now!)

[wildfire1290]

Oh well, turns out i'm just crazy. It's cool, I can totally live with that.

[Jean]

that's all right

this thread is very soon going to be merged with Quick Questions Regarding the Dark Tower

[Shadow4437]

Hey,I had a pretty interesting theory.Arthur Eld,being both in our world "Keystone",and Roland's,perhaps means that he is of the Manni.Now Roland's world,and ours are nearly right next to each other,touching at one point.This point brings in Walk-In's,and consists of New York,and the states near it and Maine.If Arthur Eld had predated the Great-Old ones,that means our world has been around for longer.Now,onto Roland.Roland is possibly in the 19th cycle,a constant repetition if him doing the same things.Now on MY understanding,once sai Stephen King is old enough,a beam will snap.In constant repetitions,this means that indeed,if the writer is destroyed,a beam falls.The tower will thus weakens.Now when Roland obtains the Horn at the end of DT 7,this means that perhaps he had a different thought in Jericho hill.Once the writer dies,the Dark tower shall weaken.This means that constant repetitions will begin to change.Roland at ONE point will remember that he has either A:Been at the dark tower or B:Seen the mistakes he has made,and will correct those.Eventually however,the tower may fall.Near its falling point,it may be weak and reveal to him the past of EACH cycle.I believe Jake,Eddie,and Odetta,are not from the Keystone world.There are many differences in their worlds,although Jake perhaps might be.This means indeed,Jake/Eddie/Odetta cannot die,as time will reverse.In Rolands world if they die,perhaps the repetition of a cycle would revive them as the Dark Tower weakens,bringing them to..A copy of themselves?
Intro about self:Hey,thought i'd just say hello,and that i'm possibly one of the youngest persons on the forums,and possibly one of the youngest to read a Stephen King books,or several.I've read Cell,Tommy knockers,The full DT series,and Hearts in Atlantis.

[Ves'Ka Gan]

Hi. Welcome.

That's a lot of theory for just one post! I think you'll find if you snoop around the board that there are several threads that discuss each of your points (and many more) in depth--I'd love to see you expand on some of them there.

As for this post, I guess I can't really get into debating your points with you without writing a short novel, but you do have some interesting ideas.

[LadyHitchhiker]

The mind boggles.. I like that this person has some new fresh ideas...

[mica]

hey everygunslingers here~~
i am a non-english-reader, but finished reading DTs now.
just few questions, hope not be too stupid

1,DT7, why the 3 SK in the castle of Red King called the king as " Los' "? i just know it's the shortterm of Los Angeles..sigh..

2,hume, is actually human, right? but they change names when start servering RK? in DT7, Sk explained what are low-man, what are can-toi, but never talked directly about hume?

3,at first, the red birth-mark was on left foot of Mordred, but later changed to RIGHT foot!! do you guys saw this fault?

[Jean]

mica! is that you my Chinese friend??? please post in our Itroduce Yourself thread!

[mica]

oh my... never guess there's someone remember me!!!

i forgot my password and had to re-registe..ha!

[Letti]

hey everygunslingers here~~
i am a non-english-reader, but finished reading DTs now.
just few questions, hope not be too stupid

1,DT7, why the 3 SK in the castle of Red King called the king as " Los' "? i just know it's the shortterm of Los Angeles..sigh..

2,hume, is actually human, right? but they change names when start servering RK? in DT7, Sk explained what are low-man, what are can-toi, but never talked directly about hume?

3,at first, the red birth-mark was on left foot of Mordred, but later changed to RIGHT foot!! do you guys saw this fault?

1. That's the other name of him. I can't tell you more about it. I hope the others will be able to give you more information. (But I don't think there is any connection to Los Angeles.)

2. yes, hume is the short for of human
Yeah, that's what they do. They change their names forget their past and serve the King.
I can only hope I am right. Feel free to correct me, all of you.

3. Really?!?! I didn't catch it! But I am not good at noticing mistakes.
Let's see if others have noticed it or not.

And don't hesitate to ask.

[John_and_Yoko]

I think "Los'" is short for "Lord of Spiders," but I'm not sure where I picked that up....

"Hume" does mean "human."

And I did not pick up on that....

[Letti]

I think "Los'" is short for "Lord of Spiders," but I'm not sure where I picked that up....

Oh great! I haven't known it. Thank you for the information.

[Bev Vincent]

3,at first, the red birth-mark was on left foot of Mordred, but later changed to RIGHT foot!! do you guys saw this fault?

You could see it as a fault. Or you could say that Mordred is a shape-shifter, so each time he changes from one form to the other there may be some small alterations in his new form. Like a genetic mutation!

[Letti]

I prefer the second option.

[cozener]

For my part, I think I like it better on the left...

[The Lady of Shadows]

For my part, I think I like it better on the left...

why is that? do you think the left has some ritual significance? like in ancient time when left-handers were presumed to be witches? or is there some other reason. i find this thought of yours fascinating so please let me in on your process.

[mia/susannah]

hey everygunslingers here~~
i am a non-english-reader, but finished reading DTs now.
just few questions, hope not be too stupid

1,DT7, why the 3 SK in the castle of Red King called the king as " Los' "? i just know it's the shortterm of Los Angeles..sigh..

2,hume, is actually human, right? but they change names when start servering RK? in DT7, Sk explained what are low-man, what are can-toi, but never talked directly about hume?

3,at first, the red birth-mark was on left foot of Mordred, but later changed to RIGHT foot!! do you guys saw this fault?

Welcome to the site, Mica
i am not sure as to why they called the King Los, maybe as someone said, Lord of Spiders.
Hume is human
I did not notice the birthmark changed feet myself.

[cozener]

For my part, I think I like it better on the left...

why is that? do you think the left has some ritual significance? like in ancient time when left-handers were presumed to be witches?

Actually, yeah. This is exactly what I had in mind. Get out of my head woman!

[The Lady of Shadows]

For my part, I think I like it better on the left...

why is that? do you think the left has some ritual significance? like in ancient time when left-handers were presumed to be witches?

Actually, yeah. This is exactly what I had in mind. Get out of my head woman!

[mica]

haha, you guys are really imaginative!

Dan-tete COULD be shape-changeable! but i personally prefer that was a mistake. maybe my mistake. thanks for your reply, i checked again.
my edition is 1st trade edition, Scribner. almost all the other description related was LEFT, just for example:
Page 62, "mark on the babe's left heel"
Page 181 "(WAlter) taking his valuable left foot"
Page 549 "the boy's marked left foot rested on the horse's flank."

Actually, the RIGHT foot occured only ONCE-------
Page 66 "stained heel of its right foot",
that's why i firstly believed that stain was the blood-mark. but now, I thought that should be the REAL BLOOD stain on right foot, taken from the womb of Mia. Am i right this time??
so, please don't fight on left or right ritual significance.

and thanks for suggesting "Lord of Spider"!! clever!!!!
i remember somewhere online, once i read that LOS should be showed up in other books, Insomnia,or The Heart of Atlantic, but i haven't read these in original copy, so don't know.

so to speak, another question aroused------
why the dan-tete is spider??? not snake, not tiger, etc.?
is there any clue for that the baby-CK&Roland have to be a spider??

[bangoskank1]

riddle me this batman...Soon after mating with the male and weaker of the species...the black widow (hence the Crimson) kills and eats him...But...you say...the crimson king is male...as this may (or may not) be true..the females always seem to want Roland dead...lest we forget how many legs the spider does have...

[alinda]

Lots of spiders in SK's stories. I think he may be secretly afraid of spiders myself....what about it bangoskank1?

[bangoskank1]

spiders scare the hell out of me....I think maybe more than reaching for the lightswitch in the dark.

[alinda]

Ah HA! I knew it!!

[mica]

my guess is...
spider has many legs, so the ka-tet could destory him one by one..