Ending of the Dark Tower Series

[Allanon]

Was it really them or just "copies"? I guess it wasn't spelled out enough for my tastes, it gave the impression but to me it wasn't certain. I did feel quite cheated that Roland had to go to the tower alone and killing all his ka´tet.

The ending and the last few books wasn't very good either IMO as people have said. Especially not with the important characters seemingly changing in nature. Walter went from a very impressive bad guy to just some schmoe who got killed by a spider, same for the CK. Bumhug.

no i think that that time round he had to kill the ka'tet but as he goes round and round and does things slightly different as in having the horn this time he will eventually end up with his whole ka'tet, maybe new and old and solve the tower and save everyone. he's a clever lad is old roland, that tower will not beat him. anyone who has read it a few times will agree here. he's a determined old dog

 

[dustinzgirl]

no i think that that time round he had to kill the ka'tet but as he goes round and round and does things slightly different as in having the horn this time he will eventually end up with his whole ka'tet, maybe new and old and solve the tower and save everyone. he's a clever lad is old roland, that tower will not beat him. anyone who has read it a few times will agree here. he's a determined old dog

To the contrary, I believe that the tower did beat Roland, it doomed him to repeat his history. It feels like there is something Roland needs to learn, that he does not, and so he is doomed to repeat his life---Hell, I would call Roland's level of the tower. Perhaps he was supposed to learn to let go, to love, to live free. But, he never did, and so his curse was to repeat his torment.

The Tower Pwned Roland.

 

[nixie]

There was a lesson to be learned that Roland never grasped, until he learns he is doomed to repeat his journey over and over again.

 

[markrracer]

I think everyone seems to miss the whole point of him having Robert Browning's poem at the end of the book. In the stanzas starting in 29, it tell us then ending of the book. I think that this is what Steven King had in store for Roland from the first book. In fact, SK tells us of the peom in every book. Maybe he was trying to warn us or atleast have us read it.

You can't be mad at the ending of the book. Of course, SK could have it end anyway he wanted but he followed the poem. He even goes as far as giving back the horn that Roland lost.

As for him having to do the journey over and over, I think every time he does it something changes. Why give the horn this time if you did the same thing last time? It's like the movie "groundhogs day". He was doomed to repeat the same day until it was a perfect day (or he became a good person). Roland doesn't have gift of remembering the past but he atleast gains items that could change his hear. Maybe this time around, it will make him a person who deserves the top of the dark tower.

"Ka is a wheel" -Roland-

 

[Krystal]

I personally like the ending although many of the points are good specially how easy "Walter" die, I would have love to see another confrontation between him and Roland. But for me it was a strange journey and it ends strange. So I wasn't dissapointed. It was a great series.

 

[ambershadow]

The ending was no less than I expected. It was the last three books that were the big diapointment to me. there was so much promise for suspence and he seemed to be in a big hurry to just get it done with and end the story.
The last three books just didn't flow with the first four.

 

[jhon]

The ending was a dissapointment walter death was to easy and yes I do thing Roland and Walter should have met again. I thought that was a major failing in the story, CK death was to neat and to to easy. I did like the breaking of the katet and the ending of Oi and Jake you knew it was comming and that did not disapoint. The Ka-tet ending I enjoy, however I did think that the last three books should have only been two and the forever ending has been done before and was to easy a way to fininish his Opius. Having siad all that I loved all the books and even if I have had know the ending would be week I would have still read them all.

 

[Cozener]

I too was a tad put off by how easily Walter went down and I did expect a showdown with Roland. I actually liked the way that the Crimson King was taken out though.

As far as the ending...well...I can't say that I didn't like it. It was horrific which is what one goes to Stephen King for. I also can't say that Roland didn't deserve it. I never forgave Roland for letting Jake fall. Not saying I didn't like his character (I kept reading after all) but I was angry with him and I very much took on an Eddie Deanesque love/hate view of Roland. Besides, he could have caught up to Walter again. And I think that Roland is going to keep being put on square one until he realizes when its time to cry off. That time was after the breakers were set free. After this was done the nobler purposes of Roland's quest were fulfilled. There was no real reason to continue on to the Tower after that. He'd saved the universe, All-World...including Gilead, was regenerating, and the Crimson King was harmlessly trapped on a balcony of the Tower. But no, he just kept on going, kept risking those close to him just so he could satisfy his own obsession. Until he finally "gets it" I say Roland be damned.

Now...another thing I didn't like was Callahan's death. I didn't mind the setting but what I did mind was that he only took out one vampire. I would have liked to have seen him take out a couple more. I would have liked to have seen the power of the white flow through him to bring down mass devastation to the Grandfathers. You see...I was always ticked at what Barlow did to him and I wanted to see Callahan come down on those blood sucking bastages with some real righteous vengeance.

 

[Goldenforce]

The way I see it, his journey is almost always the same. He always sacrafices everyone and everything for the tower. But on this road, he did not in fact sacrafice everyone for the tower. Suze was not sacraficed and the tower knows this fact. Roland had in fact changed because he didn't give up everything for it. In order to finally complete his journey, he must blow the horn of the eld to enter the tower and not use the the gun of eld to open. Thats why the browning poem was at the tail end of the story. He finally enters the tower the correct way because he did not give up everything for his quest. What happens in the tower, we may never know. But this last time (in the browning poem) his tale will finally come to an end.

 

[idioteque04]

I thought it was great!!!!

 

[HoopyFrood]

Ah, I actually quite liked the ending. I didn't mind the way that Walter died, although getting killed by Roland would've been nice to see. However, SK doesn't usually do the ordinary, or what you expect...like the death of the Crimson King, you'd expect some huge show down between him and Roland, but in the end it's just one kid and his drawings. One thing I love about this part is the Snitches being used as weapons...ha!
I couldn't bear Oy's death, I knew it was inevitable but I hated every moment of it! I was fine with Eddie's, though sad, I was fine with Jake's (never really warmed to that kid to be honest) but Oy's! Argh!
The Ka-tet getting together in a new world is all very nice, it's what we all wanted to see...although I actually felt it was a bit...I don't know, it seemed a bit too heart-warming...I suppose I'm just used to SK's endings where everyone ends up in an not-so-happy outcome!
Still, there was some hope for Roland...he's got the horn of eld, hopefully this time around he'll learn that it's not about reaching the Tower, but the journey he takes to reach it...

 

[tigertailz10]

I'm torn on the ending as well. While I can see why it ended the way it did, I think that anytime you are dealing with a saga that spans 7 books and countless hours of the reader's time, some are bound to be disappointed on some level.

 

[Tridentus]

well how is he meant to end it? reaches the top of the tower and meets god? if there was something actually there, it wouldnt work, reall think about it.

i do have to question why it went back to where it did, obviously it is the beginning of the story and makes sense, but at birth would have made more sense. i also think him having the horn second time around is iffy, although any ending would have been awkward

 

[HoopyFrood]

It didn't need to go back to birth because it was the Horn of Eld that was important...I think it's supposed to help Roland remember his old friends and as such not be so cold hearted and willing to sacrifice his friends. I think the whole point is that Roland needs to realise it's not reaching the Tower that is important, but the journey along the way. The other characters all had a happy ending because they were truly Ka-Tet, but because of Roland's inability to open up, he never fully integrated into it (shown a few times in the series)

Well, that's just my interpretation of the plot, anyway. Roland goes back to that point because not long after he meets Jake, and that's when he has to start interacting with other people. I suppose there is the idea that this time around, he won't let Jake fall...

 

[jackarcalon]

I enjoyed it a lot, but the scale wasn't as immense as it could have been. At the start, it seemed there would be a revelation about the universe and existence itself. King is not that interested in plot, even though he does it better than 99% of all other writers. Maybe he could have explained that the battle between Flagg and Walter lasted a billion eons in other dimensions. He also could have explained that sneetches, lightsabers, and green goblin robots would be difficult to use by ordinary mortals (they're unstable, blind the person wielding them and release toxic fumes, make a lot of noise etc), something unexpected. I liked how he brought back the monster from IT one last time as a stand-up comic.

 

[Revelation]

SPOILERS





I think a lot of you are either overthinking the ending or missing the ending. Yes it's true that Roland has been travelling to the Dark Tower over and over again, but in the outcome of this particular journey he gets his Horn that he lost all that time ago. So if he makes it to the tower in the next cycle, the poem says he will finally finish his quest with the help of the Horn.

That's all there is to it.


Now that I think about it, Roland is a Jesus-like figure, suffering for the sake of the world until the power of the Horn grants him release.

 

[Marvolo]

Like it? Dislike it?

There's a lot of wind going around that Stephen King kind of cheated his fans with that ending of his. I'm kind of split down the middle on it. At one point, I can see how it HAD to end that way. There's a bit of genius worked into that ending, like that.
On the other hand, I do feel cheated. And I think it has to do with the horn. Roland's supposed to blow it after his arrival at the Dark Tower but he doesn't have it, and I believe that's where we get cheated. A mistake several books back that Stephen King just couldn't correct successfully. So the only way he could write himself out of the mistake was to give us a back door ending.

What do yo guys think? Should he have written in that Roland found the horn down the road somewhere after loosing it at the battle in Mejis (sp?), even though it'd be an obvious patch and go? It would have forced him to write a true ending at least. Comments?

Well, I don't think it was a mistake. Besides, were we even supposed to read the rest? Isn't Sai King's advice very good? Why must we continue on, into the tower? Everyone stop for a moment and ponder. . . Isn't Roland's ending, our ending?

We have seven good books, but we cry foul at the ending. I read seven books for that!?! Shouldn't we enjoy the seven books we read. The ending was Roland calling the names of all those who fell on the way, all those who impacted his life, all those who begged him to cry their name at the foot of the tower. That was the ending, and the only ending necessary. The next part was Stephen King's critique on the idea of a series in general. People TEAR through a series to get to the end, why the hell for?

Roland is the reader who gets to the end only to discover that the ending isn't what he wanted. So, read another series and tear through it to get to another ending. Anyone can end a story. Can anyone write a series that captured (most of) our hearts like this?

See, watch this.

THE END

That wasn't hard. King had to end it, and I don't think it could have ended any better.

P.S. I tore through page after page too, wondering how it would end. I'm no different, but the ending made me think. And I appreciated it, honestly.

I also didn't find the afterword offensive. An author with a reader base like King's is going to have to put something like that in a very obvious place eventually. Especially since he was a character in the books and some would construe that as being an open invitation to get to know him better.

 

[deathwizard]

I'm a huge King fan and find myself constantly defending him to those who label him as a commercial hack. But even I was disappointed by the ending. It felt to me that throughout the writing of the series, he had no idea how it was going to end. Instead, he was depending on his genius to come up with something really cool when it counted. Only this time, at crunch time, he didn't quite pull it off. Still, I loved the series overall, including the last three books.

 

[Marvolo]

I'm a huge King fan and find myself constantly defending him to those who label him as a commercial hack. But even I was disappointed by the ending. It felt to me that throughout the writing of the series, he had no idea how it was going to end. Instead, he was depending on his genius to come up with something really cool when it counted. Only this time, at crunch time, he didn't quite pull it off. Still, I loved the series overall, including the last three books.

He was very honest about flying by the seat of his pants during books 1-4. But books 5, 6, and 7 were written extremely close together and he seemed to have found his stride. I think he knew the ending near the beginning of writing Wolves of the Calla.

I still like it. It shocked me, but the more I reflect the more appropriate it becomes. Can such an epic story truly end? Roland is the ultimate quester. He'll continue on.

 

[deathwizard]

He was very honest about flying by the seat of his pants during books 1-4. But books 5, 6, and 7 were written extremely close together and he seemed to have found his stride. I think he knew the ending near the beginning of writing Wolves of the Calla.

I still like it. It shocked me, but the more I reflect the more appropriate it becomes. Can such an epic story truly end? Roland is the ultimate quester. He'll continue on.

A lot of what you say makes sense, and I agree with most of it. I guess what I was trying to say was that -- being a huge King fan -- I expected/hoped for something even better. Maybe that's too much to ask, even of King.