Originally Posted by
HellBeast
I think that King had Mordred finish Flagg to show the might and power of his character, the diarrhoea elements to show that he was however in the body of a child. If you look at how he kills Flagg, with his mental psychic abilities, and contrast that with the fact he gets diarrhoea, I think this shows that Mordred has even greater potential to be such an indomitable force. However, a big contributing factor to his demise at the hands of Roland is his sickness and weakness. I've gotta say, if Mordred was in better health, and maybe more developed, Roland wouldn't have stood a chance.
In some ways to be honest, I feel as though Mordred, after being given the 'push' (to use pro wrestling terminology) of being the end to the master-villain Flagg/Walter/Marten, was deserving of at least another novel detailing his growth as a character and his deeds, but maybe King thought Roland had to deal with Mordred before he got to the Tower, else Roland would appear a coward having not confronted him.
In terms who's a more complex character, we know very little of the background of Flagg, other than from the Sorceror comic and little comments here and there through out Eyes of the Dragon and the DT series, whereas we witness everything of Mordred's life, from conception. through birth and life and ultimately death, so we're given far more of Mordred's character. We see what he does, but more importantly we are given WHY he does these things. However, with Flagg, all we ever get is at most speculation as to his motives. Also, considering the vast landscape of his deeds and doings, and the absence of his motivation, I have to say that Flagg is a more complex character because we as readers have to speculate as to why he does the things he does. Not to say Mordred isn't complex, but I just think there's far more to Flagg, which you can't argue with when you consider how long he's lived and what he's done compared to Mordred.