Being a huge Flagg fan, I have to vote yes. We can't get rid of my favorite character.
Yes
No
Being a huge Flagg fan, I have to vote yes. We can't get rid of my favorite character.
Hannibal Lecter's one of my favorite characters, but I wouldn't like it if he appeared in a series, was in one chapter for each of the books, and was killed in off a half-assed fashion.
A hound will die for you, but never lie to you. And he'll look you straight in the face.
My Collection
Originally Posted by All_Hail_The_Crimson_King
Letti you are SO right about that! That is exactly how I've felt in most fiction.
And that is why I heart Randall Flagg... not in the lovey sense but in the I love to read about him sense.
This is my blog/page:
www.facebook.com/thespermwhaleandbowlofpetunias
This is my donation page:
https://www.razoo.com/br/causes/Maje...h-Resorption-1
well put, and flagg should have been afforded the same respect by king as he is one of king's greatest creations. he deserved a better role in the magnum opus.
Well, I'd maybe have liked to see Flagg do greater things in the series, but really I gotta' agree he was unnecessary if one makes a distinction between his various manifestations. With that said I agree people (sometimes even great people) have stupid senseless deaths. That is what death is. There is rarely any glory in it.
That's no how things work.well put, and flagg should have been afforded the same respect by king as he is one of king's greatest creations. he deserved a better role in the magnum opus.
Most of the people and characters would deserve much more.
Anyway I don't think Flagg's death was so... horrible. He didn't break his sull in the bathroom but a powerful mosnter killed him. (Yeah, it was young and looked innocent but still powerful.)
Roland would have understood.
it's more than just the circumstances of his death. i agree pretty much with most of what cyber has said in this thread, that he could be seen as superfluous and could disappear with few changes to the text. flagg deserved better. he was roland's nemesis, and deserved a larger role in the final events. he plays so much less of a role in 5-7 than he did in 1-4.That's no how things work.well put, and flagg should have been afforded the same respect by king as he is one of king's greatest creations. he deserved a better role in the magnum opus.
Most of the people and characters would deserve much more.
Anyway I don't think Flagg's death was so... horrible. He didn't break his sull in the bathroom but a powerful mosnter killed him. (Yeah, it was young and looked innocent but still powerful.)
I agree there, his death seemed 'just wrong' to me, but, what are you gonna do. I didn't write it, so I have to live with it.
Said powerful monster was a shit character who was just introduced, and the sole purpose of Flagg's death was to give Mordred credibility. "OMG, he just killed Flagg! Roland sure has his hands full now! LOL!"That's no how things work.well put, and flagg should have been afforded the same respect by king as he is one of king's greatest creations. he deserved a better role in the magnum opus.
Most of the people and characters would deserve much more.
Anyway I don't think Flagg's death was so... horrible. He didn't break his sull in the bathroom but a powerful mosnter killed him. (Yeah, it was young and looked innocent but still powerful.)
A hound will die for you, but never lie to you. And he'll look you straight in the face.
My Collection
I really wish Flagg had been given a larger, better role, and I positively hate that Walter, Marten, and Flagg were merged. They were much better as separate characters and merging lessened each rather than adding depth to any. Mordred... Mordred leaves me bleh, but then I hate hate hate a baby as a plot device as much as a forced death. Ack ack gag!
However, Flagg's death alternately bothers and satisfies me. On the one hand, I feel that he deserved more because he was such an epic character. His appearance could've been limited to W&G and been fine since it was obvious they crossed a bit of the world in The Stand. I'm not sure how that would've exactly worked; maybe Flagg doing a solid for the CK because the CK helped Captain Tripps get going. Little cross-world cooperation for mass destruction. Go Team Evil!
On the other hand, I feel that he got exactly what he deserved because he had lived so long he had become complacent. And I can buy that. I could see someone like Flagg making a critical mistake in thinking he would know how to deal with such as Mordred (or at least what Mordred was supposed to be but never seemed to become *psi*). Great people make great mistakes, etc.
Man, I love these books.
It'll take a lot more than words and guns,
A whole lot more than riches and muscle.
The hands of the many must join as one.
And together we'll cross the river.
Puscifer, "The Humbling River"
I like Flagg being in these books, but I agree that the way he was used, he wasn't really needed.
Rather than bringing in a new character like Dandelo, I wish that Flagg had been the one to create that trap, or at least been the one behind Dandelo. I think that would have been so much more satisfying.
Of course if it had been Flagg, they would have had to have found another way of killing him since we know his magic renders him immune to Roland's (and therefore Susannah's) guns but even so.
If Mordred had then come across him in a weakened (rather than dead) state, then I would at least have accepted that. His ending with Mordred was freaky and gruesome, but I don't think it should have happened in the book where it did. (Perhaps Mordred could have also been wounded in his battle with Flagg too, rendering him weaker when confronting Roland, rather than the 'eating sick horse' thing?)
Anyway too late now but I was very disappointed with Flagg's demise. Come to think of it I was somewhat dissatisfied with the other villains as well, although I didn't mind the Crimson King canceling out trick too much.
I agree totally with this entire post.
Hence, Mike Beck must be a genius.
"So many vows. They make you swear and swear. Defend the King, obey the King, obey your father, protect the innocent, defend the weak. But what if your father despises the King? What if the King massacres the innocent? It's too much. No matter what you do, you're forsaking one vow or another."
I don't think Flagg was necessary at all, and his death was just so anticlimactic if you've read all of King's works. I've pondered this for a long time, and the only thing I have come up with so far is that perhaps it is some sort of comentary on the banality of evil, blah, blah, blah....nope. Can't do it. I adore this series. It's my favorite story of all time, but that one thing just jangles my nerves...so I try not to think about it too much.Denial is a wonderful thing.
Donna
Its not just a river in Egypt anymore!
I was glad to see Flagg in the series because of The Stand but I'm on the fence as to what was really contributed by the character.
Something to think about.
The kindness of close friends is like a warm blanket
I think that making Walter also Flagg was a cool aspect to the series, linking King's books together and giving some more insights into the background of our Man in Black. I agree that Flagg/Walter was a wasted opportunity for some chaotic coolness, but you can't exactly criticize King's forethought in how he would end the character since King has openly stated that he doesn't plan out his stories ahead of time. If any of us had written the character, we all would have done things differently than what King did, but since he was pretty much writing out of his ass the entire time, one shouldn't get their hopes up that any of it will make sense or give any sort of consolation.
But yeah, King screwed the pooch when it came to the entire end of Walter/Flagg's story.
"I serve only one masta: DAAKNESS" - Peter Boil, Swashbuckler
He did the Walter change when he was writing the final three books, and at that time, he did appear to have some sort of bigger plan. And he revised the Gunslinger to include the change *after* he finished the series. It still would have been anticlimatic if he wasn't Walter, but revising the series so that Flagg was present from the very first sentence only makes it more so.
A hound will die for you, but never lie to you. And he'll look you straight in the face.
My Collection
One of the things that is bothering me about this is that Flagg's memories are really vacant about his own past. This is very consistent with our twinner theories, but I'm not sure Walter should have such a clear recollection unless there's something to the Keystone conscious being the most dominant of the bunch.
Anyways, I'm thinking the story would make a lot more sense if he was just left out. I've read Wizard and glass five times and I still don't understand the ending, rather it becomes even more obscure and incongruent with each reading.
For my part I have given up to understand that part.
Roland would have understood.
I'm not far behind you.For my part I have given up to understand that part.
I'm not far behind you.For my part I have given up to understand that part.
Roland would have understood.
What was so confusing?
A hound will die for you, but never lie to you. And he'll look you straight in the face.
My Collection
While I liked Flagg in Lud (had just finished the miniseries of The Stand by this point, and it hinted at the fulfillment of Walter's prophecy), it seemed like he was cast aside for a while. I was really looking forward to him making good on his promise to Roland at the end of W&G. Sadly, in the grand scheme of things he seemed to be as needed as Sandman in Spider-Man 3.
flagg, marten and walter are all the same person, 2 seperate them is silly
Without the walking dude there would be no series, he is responsible 4 Rolands early test of manhood, the fall of gilead, the breakers, the birth of mordred (by way of mia), jakes first death, his tarot mapped out rolands whole future, SO I think that if u look closely enough (especially at the signifigance of the tarot) then he is responsible for everything in a covert manner, he manipulated EVERYTHING behind the scenes without him the series simply would not b the dark tower, I think that he is as important a character as roland, just in a much more subtle way
if the worlds gonna end then let's get it over with, i got shit to do
Did Walter know? *big spoilers*
ok so i think that RF knew everything that was going to happen judging by his flawlessly accurate tarot reading at the end of the gunslinger, because of this i think he is still alive, his physical body has been destroyed before, most notably right after the tarot reading, i think that not only is flagg alive but HE KNEW EVERYTHING and played everyone like fiddles!!!
what do u think about this controversial theory?
if the worlds gonna end then let's get it over with, i got shit to do
Oooooooooooh I would love to believe that all. I would love for it to be part of his plan that he was defeated by Mordred...
This is my blog/page:
www.facebook.com/thespermwhaleandbowlofpetunias
This is my donation page:
https://www.razoo.com/br/causes/Maje...h-Resorption-1
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
