A few questions about the storyline ***SPOILERS!!!!!!

1. When you get to the end of "The dark tower", you find out about the red king. He's apparently stuck on some balcony of the dark tower, unable to ascend and get to the top. Why was he stuck?

2. What exactly was the Crimson King? Supposedly a were-spider, but he was only in human form at the end. Where exactly did he come from and how did he get to be the king? Its all very vague. And why would the people have served a spider man? Seems like they would have killed him.

3. Why didn't Mordrid use his awesome psychic powers to kill Roland or the rest? Seemingly, he only used them to kill the man in black. There were a couple of other things he killed, but it didn't seem that he used this ability to do so.

4. Why is Roland just starting the quest over again? What purpose could that possibly serve? Now he has the horn, but that gives no indication of how many times he has completed the quest previously. I'm not really asking about the quality of the ending, just why. Also it makes no indication that he's somehow regained his missing fingers, or regressed in age back to when he started the quest. It seems to me like he could only do it once, perhaps twice more before he simply died due to age combined with the punishment that the quest gives him. That is unless, every time he enters the door, he's completely healed and de-aged. But none of that was said.

Hello? Is anyone still here? Is this forum still active?

Good morning, bennylava. I'm sure there is someone here that will pop in and join your discussion. To avoid anyone reading something about the story they may have not gotten to yet could you add spoiler tags around your questions?

You might have better luck getting answers if you ask in this thread:

The-Dark-Tower-Ask-a-question-get-an-answer!

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Originally Posted by Ben Staad

Good morning, bennylava. I'm sure there is someone here that will pop in and join your discussion. To avoid anyone reading something about the story they may have not gotten to yet could you add spoiler tags around your questions?

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THIS

(he who quickly averted his eyes)

Spoiler:

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Originally Posted by bennylava

1. When you get to the end of "The dark tower", you find out about the red king. He's apparently stuck on some balcony of the dark tower, unable to ascend and get to the top. Why was he stuck?

As I recall, he went crazy and removed the sigul on his body that permitted access to the tower.

2. What exactly was the Crimson King? Supposedly a were-spider, but he was only in human form at the end. Where exactly did he come from and how did he get to be the king? Its all very vague. And why would the people have served a spider man? Seems like they would have killed him.

There is an entire prequel that goes in depth into the questions you have raised. It is written by, Robin Furth (Kings' asst.) and appears in the marvel comic series.

3. Why didn't Mordrid use his awesome psychic powers to kill Roland or the rest? Seemingly, he only used them to kill the man in black. There were a couple of other things he killed, but it didn't seem that he used this ability to do so.

Good question. There are a couple of things that I still think, King screwed the pooch on in wrapping up the series.

4. Why is Roland just starting the quest over again? What purpose could that possibly serve? Now he has the horn, but that gives no indication of how many times he has completed the quest previously. I'm not really asking about the quality of the ending, just why. Also it makes no indication that he's somehow regained his missing fingers, or regressed in age back to when he started the quest. It seems to me like he could only do it once, perhaps twice more before he simply died due to age combined with the punishment that the quest gives him. That is unless, every time he enters the door, he's completely healed and de-aged. But none of that was said.

A lot of folks feel that the cycle in the books we read was his 19th (hence all the "19's) It is also pretty much understood that he does a time travel re-boot of sorts which would therefore, "Re-Heal and de-age him" as you state. A lot of folks feel that the fact that he has the horn this time will make it the last re-boot. However it's up to each reader to determine his/her own interpetation.

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And the others are right you should have spoiler tags.

spoiler warning added to the title

Thanks for the link I'll post up in there!

Honestly though, if you read that title and don't think there are spoilers, I don't think that spoiler alerts can help you. I don't think things could be any more obvious. Someone who reads that title, and clicks on the thread and doesn't want spoilers, probably shouldn't be reading the dark tower series because its likely way too advanced a read.

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Originally Posted by bennylava

Thanks for the link I'll post up in there!

Honestly though, if you read that title and don't think there are spoilers, I don't think that spoiler alerts can help you. I don't think things could be any more obvious. Someone who reads that title, and clicks on the thread and doesn't want spoilers, probably shouldn't be reading the dark tower series because its likely way too advanced a read.

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We try to err on the side of caution and there is no need for you to make innuendo's to the good folks here. Some may click out of confusion or not paying attention is all. You asked some valid questions and I gave you my responses. You may not agree with them and that is fine, but I have debated them in length with others on this site and I think I fairly summarized the consensus for you.

Remember, your original thread title did not specify the "Storyline" you wanted to discuss. It could have been any, King book. You have to remember this is the internet and folks from all walks of life visit here. They cannot assume what you may intend. It's all been worked out and we can move forward to a spirited discussion/debate.

Ok thanks for the heads up. I'm not sure if I can account for people who click things and are confused or aren't paying attention, but I'll do my best. I tend to expect a little wherewithal out of my fellow man. Also this is in the sub forum "Gilead" so you'd think they'd be able to draw their own conclusions about the likely subject matter. Perhaps I'm giving them too much credit.

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Originally Posted by bennylava

Ok thanks for the heads up. I'm not sure if I can account for people who click things and are confused or aren't paying attention, but I'll do my best. I tend to expect a little wherewithal out of my fellow man. Also this is in the sub forum "Gilead" so you'd think they'd be able to draw their own conclusions about the likely subject matter. Perhaps I'm giving them too much credit.

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Hey, we're all cool. Lord knows I have gotten my ass into my fair share of Internet beef's!! LOL

More important, so what do you think about my responses? Agree? Disagree? have some modifications? Debate makes the world go round.

I think your response to the questions was pretty good. As for the tower, the king was actually inside the tower. He was on a balcony, so maybe he must have at least made it inside the front doors. Unless, as a spider, he sort of scaled the walls up to that balcony. Who knows, I guess.

Another question I have is in regards to the Dark planet that holds all the Todash Monsters. I think they should write a book about actually visiting it, even though they already have "The mist", where it sort of spills over into our world a little bit.

My question is, what purpose does it serve? Not just in the tower series but in the whole mythos. Every world seems to have a purpose for existing, even those that are essentially copies of one another and are simply a place for more people to exist/live. Each one serves a purpose, seemingly Gan's purposes or whatever higher power put all this in place.

My theory is, that the Dark planet full of monstrous species is actually a sort of barrier world. After all, what better barrier than an entire world dedicated to breeding and housing a giant army of super evolved gargantuan insects? If this world is like all the others in King's series, it has a purpose. Some worlds' purposes are great, others are small. But they all have a purpose, he states that numerous times in numerous books. So by his own words, the Dark world that is the Todash Darkness planet that the old people stumbled upon, must have a purpose.

I think its a barrier. Whoever put it in place, or was responsible for it being where it is, seems to have wanted it to be quite inaccessible or at least impassible. So I guess the real question is, what is it a barrier to? What is it guarding?

Gilead is still not an ending spoilers forum. We want people who are still in progress of reading the series to feel free to participate. Putting "*SPOILERS*" on a potentially spoiling thread's title bar is not difficult, and I see small reason for any controversy over this policy.

Roland finds evidence that the CK entered, then went up by the stairs a couple of floors, and he thinks that he went out on the balcony after that just for a look back, which the ghost of Mordred in the Tower seems to confirm.

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If it was only a look he wanted, why did he bring his ammunition with him when he stepped out?

...Because... My Red Father would never go unarmed... away from his castle.

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Earlier in the history of End-World, he ruled by fear and power, making it irrelevant whether the people wished to submit or not. Further back still, when the people had had considerable defenses against monsters like him, he had used Farson and other agents to turn them against each other, divide and conquer.

The todash space is a medium to the Outer Dark, a plane of the Random. Trying to determine how the Random serves the Purpose is paradoxical, deeply frustrating to the rational mind.

As to the closing themes, I remain somewhat uncomfortable with them as well. It seems as though SK wedged in a moral about being generally introspective because he felt there was a popular demand for such a moral, but those are incompatible motives. Insincere introspection is self-defeating, but it's exactly that which he awkwardly and half-heartedly ended up pushing, in my opinion. Maybe. For more analysis of these apparent problems, please try:

The Official End Thread
That Thing, You Can Only Talk About If You've Finished the Series
and other DT7 forum threads.