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View Poll Results: Were You Satisfied With The Ending

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  • 5 - completely satisfied

    110 40.44%
  • 4 - satisfied, but have some minor problems with the ending

    97 35.66%
  • 3 - satisfied, but have some major problems with the ending

    32 11.76%
  • 2 - not satisfied, although there are things I liked about the ending

    25 9.19%
  • 1 - completely dissatisfied

    8 2.94%
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Thread: The Official End Thread

  1. #1251
    Army of the 12 Monkeys pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle's Avatar

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    Quote Originally Posted by Wuducynn View Post
    ,,, Sounds to me like you've built up in your own mind your own idea of what King was "really" meaning by his essay, instead of just taking it at face value. ...
    To quote, then, sai --
    ... The Dark Tower books ... were born out of Tolkien's.
    ... I think novelists come in two types, and that includes the sort of fledgling novelist I was by 1970. Those who are bound for the more literary or "serious" side of the job examine every possible subject in the light of this question: What would writing this sort of story mean to me? Those whose destiny (or ka, if you like) is to include the writing of popular novels are apt to ask a very different one: What would writing this sort of story mean to others? The "serious" novelist is looking for answers and keys to the self, the "popular" novelist is looking for an audience. Both kinds of writer are equally selfish. I've known a good many, and will set my watch and warrant upon it.
    Anyway, I believe that even at the age of nineteen, I recognized the story of Frodo and his efforts to rid himself of the One Great Ring as one belonging to the second group. ...
    But this isn't the introduction thread, it's the official end thread. Personally, I'm not so sure that King did mean the ending as a picture of Roland being punished, I see it more as a meditation on existential questions. That idea is maybe just a projection of other interpreters. I think it is about the mystery of life and the universe's meaning. Roland sets out to see if something's wrong with the Tower, he’s worried that Gan might have gone insane, yet when it sends him back, a lot of people assume that it must be because Roland has something wrong with him. How exactly do we know that it doesn’t simply prove that Gan is insane? But the rightful punishment concept is a common one, and I do believe that if we accept it, it is, if not a mixed message, at least self-contradictory. What is he being punished for? Not being philosophical enough? Or being too philosophical? Roland and King don't appear to like each other much when they meet, and at another point, Roland says that writers tell their stories because they are afraid of real life. Also, the direct criticism of readers who are into the series for the wrong reasons by the narrator right before the coda seems to tie into the same paradox.
    You think I’m the one imagining things? Well, what about this passage from 1981’s Danse Macabre? –
    … Thomas Williams tells us that writing a long work of fiction is like gathering characters together on a great black plain. They stand around the small fire of the writer’s invention, warming their hands at the blaze, hoping the fire will grow into a blaze which will provide light as well as heat. But often it goes out, all light is extinguished, and the characters are smothered in black. It’s a lovely metaphor for the fiction-making process, but it’s not mine … maybe it’s too gentle to be mine. I’ve always seen the novel as a large black castle to be attacked, a bastion to be taken by force or by trick. The thing about this castle is, it appears to be open. It doesn’t look buttoned up for siege at all. The drawbridge is down. The gates are open. There are no bowmen on the turrets. Trouble is, there’s really only one safe way in; every other attempt at entry results in sudden annihilation form some hidden source.
    Sound familiar? Now doesn’t it seem the ending King wrote for TDT could be just a fictionalized account of his own inability to write another ending for it?
    Again, what I think is that it is an expressionistic work, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it has that fairy tale atmosphere that fools people if they don’t think too much about it. Maybe I’m wrong; if you believe there is a consistent moral of the story, please let me know what it is, and give examples if you don’t mind. Roland is made so complex by novel after novel, and there’s something vaguely judgmental around his supposed redemption, I just think after all these years of discussion that folks who are antisocial put the book down believing that it teaches we should work on our relationships, folks who are shallow put it down thinking that it teaches we should think more about self-improvement, and so on. I think a crucial point is the scene in DT4 where the ka-tet tells him about the movie Wizard of Oz. At the ending, Roland realizes that those characters already had the qualities which they wanted to get from the wizard within themselves. No one has to tell him the ending of that story: he has enough insight to figure it out on his own. But he still goes on to the Dark Tower. So are we really wrong as readers to expect him to find more there than what he does?
    I just get tired of members taking for granted that there must be some serious message in it about how to be a better person when King is constantly saying that he doesn't care about that in the same way that many writers do.

  2. #1252
    DT.Org's Official Sweetie Wuducynn will become famous soon enough Wuducynn's Avatar

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    You're right. Not the right thread for talking about the On Being Nineteen introduction. I don't remember seeing one. I'll look and if there isn't I'll make one and C&P this post into it.
    "It's his eyes, Roland thought. They were wide and terrible, the eyes of a dragon in human form" - Roland seeing the Crimson King for the first time.

    "When the King comes and the Tower falls, sai, all such pretty things as yours will be broken. Then there will be darkness and nothing but the howl of Discordia and the cries of the can toi" - From Song of Susannah

  3. #1253
    Traveler CamiDeschain is on a distinguished road

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    I just finished the series a week ago, and I gotta say, i like the ending. To be quite honest, I had done the most ridiculous thing and I read the last line of the book before I started reading the book itself (I do that sometimes cause im an idiot). So I knew Roland probably had to start over...
    Anyway, I like the ending.
    I think there was no other true end to it. Roland had been on that quest for ages, it makes perfect sense he would stay on it for a while longer (and hes almost there now).
    I dont think its an unhealthy obsession, I think hes doing what hes supposed to do. Gan is not crazy. Roland wanted to get there and prevent the world from moving on. In order to accomplish such an amazingly epic task of course he would have to achieve a certain level of enlightenment. I think what he was missing the last time was compassion. You can tell how much he'd changed throughout the story, on the first book he lets jake fall, on the last he tried everything to save him. He even tries his best with Oy and Patrick. But it just wasnt enough. He needs to do it again. (i actually think that if he hadnt dropped Jake he might have reached redemption that time).
    But i do think Roland will make it there somehow, and i think he just needs to love more and search for the tower as a result of that and not the obsession it had always been. Do it for the right reasons.
    Roland's a good guy, he'll make it, I'm sure.

    ps. I like Suze's ending with Jake and Eddie (and Oy). They truly deserved it.

  4. #1254
    Traveler LennySimms is on a distinguished road

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    Quote Originally Posted by CamiDeschain View Post
    To be quite honest, I had done the most ridiculous thing and I read the last line of the book before I started reading the book itself (I do that sometimes cause im an idiot). So I knew Roland probably had to start over....
    Why would you do that?!!? (Really, please answer)

  5. #1255
    Traveler CamiDeschain is on a distinguished road

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    I dont know... It's a tradition from when I started reading a lot, probably from when I was like, 12...... It's just a silly thing, it had never revealed much about anything, until this time. Haha. Just reading that last line I could tell what was up and it made me wanna puke or something. Altho i did learn to appreciate the ending anyway and it did not ruin the experience.

  6. #1256
    The Tenant Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean has a brilliant future Jean's Avatar

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    I do it all the time.

    Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
    When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)

    bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  7. #1257
    John F. Kennedy Forge of the King is on a distinguished road

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    I was going to start a thread "Did you peek and spoil the ending?". I didn't but I remember sometimes reading the books at a feverish pace for many hours at a time, day in and day out because I so wanted to get to the end and find out what happens. I still got to enjoy the series without ruining the surprise at the end prematurely. I couldn't live with myself if I did that with The Dark Tower.

  8. #1258
    Demon of the Prim blavigne is just really nice blavigne is just really nice blavigne is just really nice blavigne is just really nice blavigne's Avatar

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    I have often "peeked" at the end but not once with this series, I just couldn't because it was for me mostly about the journey which I never wanted to end.

    "Head Clear. Mouth shut. See Much. Say little." Roland Deschain


    "Go your way, I'll take the long way 'round. Ill find my own way down, as I should." Ben Howard

  9. #1259
    John F. Kennedy Forge of the King is on a distinguished road

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  10. #1260
    Army of the 12 Monkeys pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle's Avatar

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    I just couldn't because it was for me decades from existence.

  11. #1261
    Traveler CamiDeschain is on a distinguished road

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    Well, I did it when i was reading wolves of calla i think, so i there was plenty of time for me to forget about it and get involved in the story. i had practically forgotten about it when i got to the coda chapter... anyway... i knew something horrible was to happen cause a friend mentioned something about it before i even considered reading the series...

    I suppose i wanted to know who was alive by the end of the book. Haha.
    It was just like reading Harry Potter 6 knowing about Dumbledore's death and who killed him...

  12. #1262
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    Quote Originally Posted by pathoftheturtle View Post
    I just couldn't because it was for me decades from existence.
    That works too LOL

    "Head Clear. Mouth shut. See Much. Say little." Roland Deschain


    "Go your way, I'll take the long way 'round. Ill find my own way down, as I should." Ben Howard

  13. #1263
    Traveler CplDLB is on a distinguished road

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    Default The Ending

    First let me admit that it's been awhile since I've read the books so I may be way off on this.

    From reading the forums about the ending I see a lot of people feel that he looped back in time to the start of the first book. Some think that he needs to somehow make up for choices he made during the journey to the tower and make some sort of perfect quest to break the loop.

    When I read the ending (years ago) I had a totally different idea of what was happening. I think that, while Roland does loop back to the begining of his quest for the tower, time continues to roll. I always got the feeling while reading the books that the timeline was off. While Roland is certainly not a young man I figured him to be no older than mid 40's, possibly 50. Yet some pleople they meet along their journey seem to act like Gunslingers are something from a much longer history than Roland's age would make it seem. Roland also says that time is funny because of the break down of the beams and the tower. But what if time is not funny, what if that is just how Roland rationalizes the gaps in the time frame from his perspective. I think Roland and the Man in Black and the Crimson King are constants. Roland is constantly trying to save the tower while the Crimson King is constanty trying to destroy it. Roland's Journey can never end because there will always be a threat to the tower.

  14. #1264
    damned and saved Letti will become famous soon enough Letti will become famous soon enough Letti's Avatar

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    Welcome on board CplDLB. You are not alone when you think "Roland's Journey can never end because there will always be a threat to the tower." For my part I could never accept this interpretation because it makes everything (every fight, each blood drop) so meaningless. I love to think Roland has a chance to get out and the Tower is safe without him, as well.
    But that's why this series is so amazing. There are so many doors ajar, so many interpretations.
    Anyway it would be great to read more from you.
    (And we will need to merge this thread of yours with another ending thread.)

    Roland would have understood.

  15. #1265
    Traveler NickP will become famous soon enough

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    I thought the whole repetition was very interesting, and I loved it when Roland walked towards the Tower, shouting all of the names. My only issue with the ending was the anti-climatic nature of the battle with the CK.

  16. #1266
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    many people say so

    I personally thought that its being anticlimactic is the very point. Crimson King doesn't really matter; only Roland does. The real climax is, indeed, his shouting the names.

    Ask not what bears can do for you, but what you can do for bears. (razz)
    When one is in agreement with bears one is always correct. (mae)

    bears are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  17. #1267
    Along the Path of the Beam twice is on a distinguished road twice's Avatar

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    I disagree. I think the answer is in the Gunslinger, when the story begins (starts over) and Hey Jude is playing "Take a sad song and make it better." "Don't carry the world upon your shoulders" "For well its a fool who plays it cool by making his world a little colder"

    I think the idea in the story is for Roland to be a better person. Whether it was intended for the the readers to take that and apply it to themselves..I dont think King cares 1 way or the other.

  18. #1268
    Army of the 12 Monkeys pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle's Avatar

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    Nothing matters at all except Roland and his need to learn that other things matter.

    Do you see the problem with this?

  19. #1269
    Along the Path of the Beam twice is on a distinguished road twice's Avatar

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    Quote Originally Posted by pathoftheturtle View Post
    Nothing matters at all except Roland and his need to learn that other things matter.

    Do you see the problem with this?
    No. I never saw a problem with any of it.

  20. #1270
    Army of the 12 Monkeys pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle is a glorious beacon of light pathoftheturtle's Avatar

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    Well if the whole world depends on him seeing he's not the most important guy inthe world, it's no wonder he's going in circles.

  21. #1271
    Traveler jertoncvv is on a distinguished road

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    Initially I was a bit frustrated, mainly I guess because from now on all that stunning world and stories are concluded. After some time thinking about the ending I'm satisfied, imo it's the only one acceptable. I still got some problems with the ending; it seems like King made a great effort to finish the story; imo, he was no more letting the story flow, but fighting to connect the loose points and come to an end. I really dislike the final battle and all Patrick Danville drawing

  22. #1272
    Traveler SDZald will become famous soon enough SDZald will become famous soon enough

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    I was a bit disappointed in the last three books. I was not at all pleased when he wrote himself into the series, it kind of ruined the immersion for me. To say I was displeased with the they way Flagg died would be the understatement of the century. I was not happy with Suzz going off to be with a fake Eddie, a fake Jake into a fake world, no way could I accept cheap rip off's of the real thing if I had been in Suzz's shoes (no pun intended)

    With that said I was blown away by the ending. I been around a long time and have read many books and watched many movies where I loved the story and hated the ending and to be honest I was expecting to hate the ending, after all I didn't really want the story to end.

    Roland's quest was NEVER to enter the Tower, it was to save it. Also the ends never justify the means, those were two things Roland had to pay for and needed atonement for. Yet how could you punish a person for giving up everything he was to insure that all of existence survived? With the way the story ended Roland got it all, punishment, redemption and a chance for peace. What better ending could there have been. For all you complaining about the ending I would challenge you to come up with a better one, I don't think it can be done.

  23. #1273
    Gojo fernandito seldom gets put on hold fernandito seldom gets put on hold fernandito seldom gets put on hold fernandito seldom gets put on hold fernandito seldom gets put on hold fernandito seldom gets put on hold fernandito seldom gets put on hold fernandito seldom gets put on hold fernandito seldom gets put on hold fernandito seldom gets put on hold fernandito seldom gets put on hold fernandito's Avatar

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    What is the significance in

    Spoiler:
    Susannah being the only member of the Tet to not perish?

    It's been years since I read DTVII, so the importance of the above - if there is any to begin with - has been completely lost on me over the years.

  24. #1274
    Word Slinger Bev Vincent has a brilliant future Bev Vincent has a brilliant future Bev Vincent has a brilliant future Bev Vincent has a brilliant future Bev Vincent has a brilliant future Bev Vincent has a brilliant future Bev Vincent has a brilliant future Bev Vincent has a brilliant future Bev Vincent has a brilliant future Bev Vincent has a brilliant future Bev Vincent has a brilliant future Bev Vincent's Avatar

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    Quote Originally Posted by fernandito View Post
    What is the significance in

    Spoiler:
    Susannah being the only member of the Tet to not perish?

    It's been years since I read DTVII, so the importance of the above - if there is any to begin with - has been completely lost on me over the years.
    No particular significance. Or whatever you want to ascribe to it. That's just how things worked out.

  25. #1275

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    I been around a long time and have read many books and watched many movies

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