thank you Path, for pointing me here...great discussion...
sometimes i become very conflicted about the meaning of the loop when thinking about this "theory-arc" (if you please, say thankya).
it is the Tower, the voice of the Tower, that tells Roland "Death. But not for you Gunslinger, Never for you. You darkle. You tinct. May I be brutally frank? You go on." This is as Roland is reaching the top and is about to be pushed through to the desert. My focus is on the "Never for you." if Gan's intention was to give Roland more chances at saving himself, it would seem to contradict this statement since Gan would know whether it was possible for Roland to redeem himself or not. So to say "never" and then send him on his quest anyway seems rather cruel. In the end, Gan seems to have no hand in whether Roland repeats his quest or not. so, in this theory, the Tower and Gan cannot be one and the same. No one has outright said they are, however sometimes the will of the Tower and that of Gan are used interchangeably in these discussions (even King himself does this in the books, even though he presents varying degrees of contradictory evidence)
that being said, it would be logical to conclude that the Tower wants something else from Roland. Perhaps the Tower wants Roland to be satisfied with the completion of his quest. The Tower, clearly aware on some level, knows Roland would only be disappointed with what he finds inside, when compared to the friendships, knowledge, wisdom, and growth he has found on the journey there. His "redemption" is letting go. Much as King himself emplores us to do at the end of OUR quest, when we have finally reached the Tower.
again, much of this is predicated upon the theory arc in question. still an interesting thought though.
like Roland, would we even know that we were on our own "salvation quest"....?