Who saved Stephen King?.... SPOILERS

.... as a youngster? (I ended the question here, not wanting to include a spoiler in the title.)

I am particularly thinking of the time when Roland hypnotized Stephen King and he told them about his childhood experience of the the red spiders. He states that Cuthbert or Eddie saved him that day.

We know that Eddie had no memory of this. So...

-Did Eddie travel to the keystone world in a previous loop and save King?

-At some point did Cuthbert travel to the keystone world through a door and save young King, no doubt keeping it quiet from Roland, or possibly suffering amnesia?

-Did Cuthbert actually travel to the keystone world through death, much like how Callahan and Jake traveled to Mid-World?

-Did King merely think up a hero, and his imagination allowed him to take his mind off the spiders allowing him to escape?

-Did King literally make them there and then in the flesh?

-Some other theory?

Did the fear of young King cause him to inadvertently create a door through which Cuthbert could travel? (Ok this is linked to second point, so need not be in the poll, if created.)

I actually started a poll for this, but apparently I exceeded the 3 minutes required. Never mind. Anyway, if anyone with the know how would like to, please feel free (options indicated by dashes '-') but it's not a big deal.

I can't add a poll in this forum, but as I read it just days ago I can say that Eddie is literally another incarnation of Cuthbert, as I read it this time.

I have added the poll, dear Brainslinger.

Thank you lovely Letti.

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I can't add a poll in this forum, but as I read it just days ago I can say that Eddie is literally another incarnation of Cuthbert, as I read it this time.

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That was strongly suggested in the last books wasn't it? I wasn't sure whether that meant they were kind of twinners (although not physically identical) or if it was a form of reincarnation after Cuthbert died. I got the impression from the books it was the latter, what with the mention of the wheel of ka spinning him out etc. Or maybe I'm getting my terminology mixed up with the Wheel of Time series. That could partly fit in the 'death is a doorway' part, although obviously in a rather different way to how Jake and Callahan did it.

The poll is really about how Eddie or Cuthbert saved King though, so I'm not sure that'd fit above. (I'm happy for that to be discussed in this thread though as it is related.) I did consider adding an option where the Keystone Eddie saved King (i.e. without flipping worlds, and that'd fit with the reincarnated Bert too) but then I realized those events would have happened before he was born...

Incidentally, although I wrote the poll options, I can't decide which I believe it to be. Hee, hee. Sometimes I'm happy to just list all the options though. I like to think it was something literal rather than King just thought him up though. Although it could be a bit of both, the whole 'pulling oneself up by one's own bootstraps syndrome'.

i thought that eddie was the reincarnation of cuthbert. placed in a different where and when. i find it interesting that it appears that he, too, is stuck on ka's ever revolving loop and wonder if it is just because of his actions with roland.

if he/they had never known roland would he/they be stuck in their own kind of loop? this gets into a question in another thread about who eddie is (i can't find it now but when i do i will post it) when susannah finds him and jake later on.

there are countless worlds and dimensions. just as there are other versions of keystone earth, there must be another version of Roland's world. one where maybe cuthbert survived, so drawing someone wasn't necessary. therefore. maybe eddie was still drawn, but Jake or Susannah weren't. in this version, perhaps cuthbert and eddie went to kings childhood.

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Originally Posted by razz

there are countless worlds and dimensions. just as there are other versions of keystone earth, there must be another version of Roland's world. one where maybe cuthbert survived, so drawing someone wasn't necessary. therefore. maybe eddie was still drawn, but Jake or Susannah weren't. in this version, perhaps cuthbert and eddie went to kings childhood.

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the whole point of it being the keystone earth is that there is only one of it. right? did i miss something in the books that said otherwise? i was always operating under the impression that the keystone world was the most crucial because it was the one and only. no do-overs. time flowed in one direction. what was done couldn't be undone.

did i misread that entire last book. was there more than one keystone earth? am i going to have to reread the series again because i fucked up this crucial part?

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Originally Posted by turtlesong

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Originally Posted by razz

there are countless worlds and dimensions. just as there are other versions of keystone earth, there must be another version of Roland's world. one where maybe cuthbert survived, so drawing someone wasn't necessary. therefore. maybe eddie was still drawn, but Jake or Susannah weren't. in this version, perhaps cuthbert and eddie went to kings childhood.

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the whole point of it being the keystone earth is that there is only one of it. right? did i miss something in the books that said otherwise? i was always operating under the impression that the keystone world was the most crucial because it was the one and only. no do-overs. time flowed in one direction. what was done couldn't be undone.

did i misread that entire last book. was there more than one keystone earth? am i going to have to reread the series again because i fucked up this crucial part?

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No. As stated in both SoS and DT, there is one keystone earth.

In my opinion, which I also voice on the Roland: Saved or Damned companion thread/poll, is that in each loop, the ka-tet is the same, but there are differences in each loop. That's why I voted that Eddie saved King in a different loop.

The 3 Kings refer to Roland's earth as 'Tower Keystone'. This suggests there is two, but I think they're applying the term in a different way, so it doesn't really contradict the 1 keystone idea. I.e. it's a fundamental world as it is the only one where the Tower is in the form of an actual tower.

This raises the question, would there be another Cuthbert who never died? A Cuthbert, from a previous (or future) loop maybe, but I'm not sure there would another Cuthbert in a world containing Roland and the Tower. (I'm not saying there couldn't be other Cuthberts though, just not in another Tower world, as there is only one. Unless the Kings were incorrect... which is possible.)

When the hypnotized SK tells them the story, Roland says to Eddie that he's apparently been attacked by the Red and saved by "our side" and that "this makes him very special." I've been trying to understand that... did he mean that it was that event that made King special, or that he was already special, and the fact that that had happened just proves it? Or what?

Also, I am not exactly sure how to answer this poll, either, but it sure is a fascinating bit of backstory. I tend to think that it was just Cuthbert there... somehow... and that King just knows that Eddie is his twinner.

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Originally Posted by pathoftheturtle

When the hypnotized SK tells them the story, Roland says to Eddie that he's apparently been attacked by the Red and saved by "our side" and that "this makes him very special." I've been trying to understand that... did he mean that it was that event that made King special, or that he was already special, and the fact that that had happened just proves it? Or what?

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I think it means he was already special, that was the whole reason the Crimson King sent the red spiders to bite him and turn him into his vampire slave. (Incidentally, I know it's off topic, but I wonder what kind of vampire it would make him, since the other vampires are changed a different way, or born that way from the prim? You don't have to answer that, just a thought that occurred as I write this...)