Donate To Keep The Site Ad Free
+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 83

Thread: The 12 Guardians of the Beams

  1. #1
    Sleep Controller ZoNeSeeK is on a distinguished road ZoNeSeeK's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    5,693
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default The 12 Guardians of the Beams

    I've always liked the theme of the Guardians SK wove into the story, and have been wondering about the nature of them.

    We only really get a good look into Shardik and Maturin in the DT series and at first both seem to protect their portals in different ways - Shardik in an immense physical sense and Maturin through coercion and mind control - or is this mislead? Perhaps Shardik also possessed similar powers through little statue conduits etc but the infection in his brain prevented this kind of thing from working.

    What are your thoughts? What (if any) information is there about the other 10 guardians? Would you like to see more of them in linked books in the future?
    Last edited by Darkthoughts; 12-26-2008 at 03:23 PM.
    "You can lead a whore to culture but you can't make her think." - Duma Key
    zoneseek@thedarktower.com

  2. #2
    Satanic Mechanic B Rag will become famous soon enough B Rag's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Electric Avenue
    Posts
    405
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    I certainly would like to see the guardians in future related books. I always got the idea that the sea creature in the Talisman might be the Fish Guardian.
    Have you heard of people with short fuses? Well, I have no fuse at all, and there's a thousand could testify to it if I hadn't stilled their tongues for good.

    Quote Originally Posted by LadyHitchhiker
    my itty bitty boy parts need the movie to grow
    You can't ignore my girth.

  3. #3
    Roont Matt will become famous soon enough Matt will become famous soon enough Matt's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Parachute, Colorado
    Posts
    17,620
    My Mood
    Psychedelic
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    I would love to see more of the Guardians. In fact, the story leading up to how they were created may play a big part on this site someday.

    I like the idea of replacing the magic beams with mechanical ones, also the idea of putting something there to protect the door.
    The kindness of close friends is like a warm blanket

  4. #4
    Demon of the Prim Ruki is on a distinguished road

    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Burkburnett, Texas, United States
    Posts
    1,480
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by B Rag View Post
    I certainly would like to see the guardians in future related books. I always got the idea that the sea creature in the Talisman might be the Fish Guardian.
    cool i never thought of that before.

  5. #5
    West Coast sarah is on a distinguished road sarah's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    NorCal
    Posts
    4,876
    My Mood
    Pensive
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    I'm hoping we will learn more from Robin Furth and her little stories at the end of the comics.



    Lalalalaaaa, lalalalaaa
    Lalalalaaaa, lalalalaaa



    sugarpop <3

  6. #6
    Gunslinger Apprentice VolsToTheWall is on a distinguished road VolsToTheWall's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Neyland Stadium
    Posts
    321
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by maerlyn View Post
    I'm hoping we will learn more from Robin Furth and her little stories at the end of the comics.
    That would be nice. That would make a great history lesson. I would love to find out more about the guardians, but then again I'm eager for any additional backstory.

  7. #7
    Roont Matt will become famous soon enough Matt will become famous soon enough Matt's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Parachute, Colorado
    Posts
    17,620
    My Mood
    Psychedelic
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    Same here

    I can't wait for the second chapter discussion because it describes the last time Roland left Gilead. Stuff like that is what I love to read or hear.
    The kindness of close friends is like a warm blanket

  8. #8
    damned and saved Letti will become famous soon enough Letti will become famous soon enough Letti's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Hungary (till I move to Fatu Hiva with Brice)
    Posts
    10,962
    Country
    Country Flag

    Default

    And have you ever thought of the animals? I mean... did King choose these very animals? Did they come to his mind one by one and he wrote them down or did he use some help (some mythology maybe)?

    Roland would have understood.

  9. #9
    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

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Chinatown
    Posts
    28,087
    Country
    Country Flag

    Default

    Before we start speculating on the subject, can someone please list all twelve of them?

    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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  10. #10
    Sleep Controller ZoNeSeeK is on a distinguished road ZoNeSeeK's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    5,693
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender
    "You can lead a whore to culture but you can't make her think." - Duma Key
    zoneseek@thedarktower.com

  11. #11
    Gunslinger Apprentice VolsToTheWall is on a distinguished road VolsToTheWall's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Neyland Stadium
    Posts
    321
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Jean View Post
    Before we start speculating on the subject, can someone please list all twelve of them?
    The 12 Guardians:
    ~~~~~~~~~~~
    Bat
    Bear (Shardik/Mir)
    Dog
    Eagle
    Elephant
    Fish
    Hare
    Horse
    Lion
    Rat
    Turtle (Maturin)
    Wolf

    Note: In the original version of The Gunslinger, Walter names a 13th guardian, as he tells Roland that The Dark Tower is guarded by "The Beast". "The Beast" was said to be the originator of all glammer and even more powerful than Maerlyn. Of course this reference to "The Beast" was cut with the arrival of the revised edition of The Gunslinger.

  12. #12
    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

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Chinatown
    Posts
    28,087
    Country
    Country Flag

    Default

    great, thank you! Are you sure about the bat? Where is he mentioned? And the lion?

    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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  13. #13
    Gunslinger Apprentice VolsToTheWall is on a distinguished road VolsToTheWall's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Neyland Stadium
    Posts
    321
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Jean View Post
    great, thank you! Are you sure about the bat? Where is he mentioned? And the lion?
    My pleasure Jean.
    And yes, I am sure of the list, the Bat was mentioned in books 3&4, and it was also on Hambry's Mercantile. Also, the Lion was mentioned in book 7, as the Beamquake was caused by the snapping of the Eagle-Lion Beam.

  14. #14
    Along the Path of the Beam zadok is on a distinguished road zadok's Avatar

    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Wilmington, DE
    Posts
    50
    Country
    Country Flag

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Matt View Post
    I like the idea of replacing the magic beams with mechanical ones, also the idea of putting something there to protect the door.
    I don't follow you...do you mean you liked the man-made Beams idea in The Gunslinger? Or the concept?
    There are other worlds than these...

  15. #15
    Roont Matt will become famous soon enough Matt will become famous soon enough Matt's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Parachute, Colorado
    Posts
    17,620
    My Mood
    Psychedelic
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    I just like the whole idea. The world was filled with magic and that powered the doors, which powered the beams, which powered the Tower.

    When that failed, they came up with machines to do the same job. I think that's cool
    The kindness of close friends is like a warm blanket

  16. #16
    Along the Path of the Beam zadok is on a distinguished road zadok's Avatar

    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    Wilmington, DE
    Posts
    50
    Country
    Country Flag

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Matt View Post
    I just like the whole idea. The world was filled with magic and that powered the doors, which powered the beams, which powered the Tower.

    When that failed, they came up with machines to do the same job. I think that's cool
    Yes I agree for sure. I am really hoping there is some story in the future about that whole event. And maybe tell us why there is US Army equipment and Nazi airplanes still intact ousands of years later...
    There are other worlds than these...

  17. #17
    Roont Matt will become famous soon enough Matt will become famous soon enough Matt's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Parachute, Colorado
    Posts
    17,620
    My Mood
    Psychedelic
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    I think the Nazi stuff was more of the "bleeding" between universes. Kind of an older version of what happened later--or even better, the same reason you hear "Hey Jude" throughout All World
    The kindness of close friends is like a warm blanket

  18. #18
    Awoken Enigma Sai_Rhavan is on a distinguished road Sai_Rhavan's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Kan-Ka-No-Rey...Ohio
    Posts
    178
    Country
    Country Flag

    Default

    It's also possible to be like a Bermuda Triangle effect- kind of like in From A Buick 8. That's how I always explained in my own mind how so many trinkets had shown up.

  19. #19
    aka lindakins alinda is a name known to all alinda is a name known to all alinda is a name known to all alinda is a name known to all alinda is a name known to all alinda is a name known to all alinda's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    13,083
    My Mood
    In Love
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    Some of these animals are used in native American teachings and some of thier traits are mentioned below...



    Bear – Bear is the part of the self that needs to retreat into its own space, hibernate and heal itself. Bear totem is comforting and protective. Remember those stories about “Mama Bear” fiercely defending her cubs? Bear is a common animal spirit for mothers.

    Butterfly – A bewildered caterpillar emerges from the cocoon transformed into a butterfly. Butterfly stands for our ability to accept the beauty of growth and change in our lives.

    Coyote – Coyote is the trickster totem. He created confusion, self-sabotage, humour, and that delightful sensation when you aren’t sure if you’ve gone crazy - or had a breakthrough that is going to change you and your world.

    Eagle – Eagle is a profoundly spiritual animal totem, representing wisdom and power on a spiritual dimension.

    Hawk – Hawk is the messenger and represents perspective. People who have Hawk as a medicine animal are able to see an issue from all sides and avoid jumping to conclusions.

    Horse – Horse represents power: personal power and permission to be oneself. When use of the Spanish horses began by the Native Americans, Horse came to represent power because the advantage the animals gave in hunting and foraging. In a generation where women are still working toward equality, horse is a popular totem.

    Snake – Snake is a powerful guide for healers. It carries the ability to transform, like a snake shedding its skin to reveal a renewed body and self. Snake enables shamans to transmute poisons of the body and mind.

    Spider – In some traditions, Spider is the creator Goddess who spun the world into being. With her eight legs and gift of weaving, spider is the creative totem of artists, crafters, writers and painters.

    Wolf – Wolf is the animal guide of true teachers. Wolves are connected to the moon and feminine energy. They are predatory and define themselves in relation to other people of their “pack” (even a “lone wolf” is defined by her or his distance from the pack). Like Dog totem, Wolf is loyal to family and people they consider their own. Wolf guides are very common today – increasingly so as wolves in the wild become more threatened.

    The answer is within

    all matter is energy, all energy is GOD

  20. #20
    Roont Matt will become famous soon enough Matt will become famous soon enough Matt's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Parachute, Colorado
    Posts
    17,620
    My Mood
    Psychedelic
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    That's some great stuff Linda, thanks for posting it.

    We were in the hospital when Lily was born and they have it divided up with symbols on the elevators.

    Ours was fish. I asked my daughter if she knew what the others were and she said she thought one was bear

    I was going to fucking flip out if the other were bird and hare but they weren't
    The kindness of close friends is like a warm blanket

  21. #21
    Citizen of Gilead CPU is on a distinguished road CPU's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Memphis, TN
    Posts
    571
    Country
    Country Flag
    Gender
    Gender

    Default

    Yeah, I always figured something like the Bermuda Triangle as well (which is a thinny perhaps?). Off the top of my head I don't remember how much time had passed between David Quick's arrival in Roland's world, and the katet's arrival at Lud - and time appears to move differently between the worlds also - But Roland's world had been in it's "moved on" state for a very long time before Quick's arrival (imo).

  22. #22
    Kingslayer John Blaze is a jewel in the rough John Blaze is a jewel in the rough John Blaze is a jewel in the rough John Blaze's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    8,079
    My Mood
    Breezy

    Default Beam and Beam Guardians,...WTF?

    OK, First off let me say that if I'm right and SK screwed up, this does not diminish my love for The Dark Tower in any way, and it shouldn't for you neither. But here's something I've thought about for awhile, and I started a reread yesterday to see if it's just me. I am now starting The Wastelands.

    Let's talk about page 34 on the hardcover edition of The Wastelands.

    Design 4 GUARDIAN
    Type/Species BEAR
    SHARDIK

    Made by North Central Positronics.

    Ok, So North Central Positronics made a Beam Guardian, code named Shardik, and his job is to protect? The Beam.

    Page 75 Paragraph 4

    The snake, also designed by NCP, built for maintenance of Shardik.

    Then they go to the metal humming box, which I think is explained later, (or maybe I just inferred it?) is a beam generator, a way of helping the natural beams that are weakening.

    Help the natural magical beam that is weakening. The Old Ones, they wanted to HELP the Tower, but this stuff was made by NCP?

    NCP, whom is a subsidiary of Sombra?

    Sombra, whom is the enemy of the White?

    So I hear your thoughts. "What's your point, Bruno?"
    Here's my point.

    Did Stephen King screw up? Did he start writing the Wastelands, and wrote in NCP using it as a kind of company who the Old Ones had to help out the failing beams, and then forgot and used them as part of the Bad guys?
    "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."

  23. #23
    Salvation Comes w/ a Cost OchrisO has a spectacular aura about OchrisO has a spectacular aura about OchrisO has a spectacular aura about OchrisO's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Richmond, Ky
    Posts
    4,041

    Default

    I had just assumed that Sombra had at some point purchased NCP when it was a growing company. I'm probably way off, though.

    Subsidiaries are usually created by buying stock in a company until you control 51% of the stock and have controlling interest. So I thought that maybe NCP was not an evil company per se, they were purchased after the things were made.
    There's one hole in every revolution, large or small. And it's one word long.. people. No matter how big the idea they all stand under, people are small and weak and cheap and frightened. It's people that kill every revolution.

  24. #24
    Kingslayer John Blaze is a jewel in the rough John Blaze is a jewel in the rough John Blaze is a jewel in the rough John Blaze's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    8,079
    My Mood
    Breezy

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by OchrisO View Post
    I had just assumed that Sombra had at some point purchased NCP when it was a growing company. I'm probably way off, though.

    Subsidiaries are usually created by buying stock in a company until you control 51% of the stock and have controlling interest. So I thought that maybe NCP was not an evil company per se, they were purchased after the things were made.
    But I've always understood that Roland's world is a futuristic version of our World, and what can happen if we put too much trust in technology. I also think the slow-mutants are a result of nuclear warfare.

    So what I'm saying is, NCP in Roland's world was already an established company, who knew about the Beams, and tried to do something to help.
    "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."

  25. #25
    Salvation Comes w/ a Cost OchrisO has a spectacular aura about OchrisO has a spectacular aura about OchrisO has a spectacular aura about OchrisO's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Richmond, Ky
    Posts
    4,041

    Default

    Right, before Sombra held controlling share in the company(in my opinion anyway). They built the stuff, did good for the beams and them Sombra managed to win over the controlling shares in the company. Hostile corprate takeover happens in our world all the time. I'd imagine they did in Roland's world before it moved on as well.
    There's one hole in every revolution, large or small. And it's one word long.. people. No matter how big the idea they all stand under, people are small and weak and cheap and frightened. It's people that kill every revolution.

+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 ... LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts