History Fridge / TheDarkTower

* The idea that Roland's constant recourse to ''ka'' throughout the previous books is not out of any genuine sense of destiny, but simply because he has trodden this same path so many times that on some level he remembers what's coming.
* In-universe example in ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series - when Eddie and (O)Detta come to Roland's world, the first explanation they get for its state of repair is "The world has moved on". Both new arrivals regard the wide open spaces and total solitude of the place very romantic. Then they get to [[AfterTheEnd L]][[DeusEstMachina u]][[KillEmAll d]], and ''my'', their opinion changes...

** It is your last chance to cry off the Tower. You, dear reader, '''your'' last chance to forswear it. But we both know it has infected you the same as Roland, and you will turn the next page and climb to the top with him.

** It urges the reader to let the story end with Roland walking into the Dark Tower. It adds that the following pages are only for those readers unwilling to let fictional characters go to the Grey Havens (a ''LordOfTheRings'' reference) and take their rest. So in other words, when Roland reaches the top and [[spoiler:is reset to the beginning of the first book]], it can be seen as a YouBastard take on readers who can't let a story or characters go and start reading again from the start.

* When Roland [[spoiler:loses two fingers of his right hand]] he thinks to himself "At least I jerk off left handed." Because a gunslinger's dominant hand is for a gun and nothing else.

* Roland is, in some ways, an AuthorAvatar of Stephen King. When they meet, they're described as looking very similar, not quite twins but easily mistaken for father and son. Roland's father's name is Steven. Also, a characte explicitely notes that the similarity in names of the Crimson King and Stephen King.

* The idea that Roland's constant recourse to ''ka'' throughout the previous books is not out of any genuine sense of destiny, but simply because he has trodden this same path so many times that on some level he remembers what's coming.

* Nineteen is an arc number of the series. When Roland and Stephen King meet, it's on page 289, one of many numbers in the series that adds up to 19.

* The SnicketWarningLabel before the Coda describing what Roland finds in the Dark Tower makes more sense when you consider that Roland has already saved the Tower by destroying Algul Siento. Getting inside the Dark Tower was a personal obsession of Rolands and an end unto itself. What he found inside doesn't matter because he had nothing left to accomplish.
** The label urging the reader to let the story end with Roland walking into the Dark Tower. It adds that the following pages are only for those readers unwilling to let fictional characters go to the Grey Havens (a ''LordOfTheRings'' reference) and take their rest. So in other words, when Roland reaches the top and [[spoiler:is reset to the beginning of the first book]], it can be seen as a YouBastard take on readers who can't let a story or characters go and start reading again from the start.

* The warning before the Coda describing what Roland finds in the Dark Tower makes more sense when you consider that Roland has already saved the Tower by destroying Algul Siento. Getting inside the Dark Tower was a personal obsession of Rolands and an end unto itself. What he found inside doesn't matter because he had nothing left to accomplish.

* When Creator/StephenKing tries to warn you off at the end of ''TheDarkTower'', at first it seemed to me, like it seemed to most people, kind of lame. Like I wasn't going to finish the story that I'd been reading for the last decade of my life. The more I think about it, though, the more I like the warning. Throughout the series King managed to play havoc with the line between fiction and reality, drawing multiple worlds together, including many of the worlds he created, and, perhaps, our world. At the very end, though, the line between us and Roland is completely torn apart when we're given the same decision he is: accept the happy ending that we've earned, or keep pressing forward, despite the fact that reality has been saved and there's no more NEED to see the Tower. Just like Roland, we have to push on, despite being warned, and that puts us right there with him in a way that mere narrative alone, without the author's warning, wouldn't have been able to do. The line between fiction and reality has blurred one more time, and we're consciously deciding to be there with Roland at the end. None of that sense of participation would have been possible without that warning. Awesome. - Hitchopottimus.
** And to make it even ''more'' awesome, it's ''foreshadowed''. When Roland and Susannah reach the Crimson King's (former) palace, the guardians there tell them explicitly that there's no need whatsoever for Roland to go further: the Crimson King undid himself by trying to scale the Tower, which then trapped him outside for all eternity. The guardians ''also'' resolve the other biggest hanging issue in the books, which is whether the Tower remains in danger with only two Beams, one damaged, one true, left securing it. The guardians indicate quite clearly -- as the Beam itself did at Algul Siento -- that, given time, not only will the Beam of Bear and Turtle repair itself, but in time it will actually respawn the other six Beams as well. The Crimson King can't access the world anymore, and thus the threat to the Tower ''really'' ended when Roland and his ka-tet freed the Breakers at Algul Siento. Going further Roland risks everything since he risks freeing the Crimson King.
** The whole VillainDecay in the Dark Tower: at first, you would think that King was just being lazy and/or did not know how to conclude his story. Then I thought about the objective of the Crimson King was to destroy the order of the universe and remake it from the Todash darkness or rule the Todash darkness: the fact is the Crimson King did a good job in screwing up the universe by destroying most of the Tower's Beams. Or, one of the recurring theme of the Dark Tower verse is that the universe is degrading, becoming insane on a cosmic scale: The universe is losing its sanity thanks to the effort of the Crimson King, who become insane as well: Using the FisherKing trope on the BigBad was ''brilliant'': The goal of the Crimson King was to un-make the universe, but being himself part of the universe, damaging it damaged '''him''' and made him unable to win in the end. This also give a new meaning to the ResetButton at the end of the cycle: Roland is reliving his life again and again and again until he becomes able to face the Crimson King ''before'' he becomes insane and therefore ''before'' he starts screwing up the Universe – Nixou
*** Not quite. In the post-script sections of the prequel comics (''Long Road Home'', ''Treachery'', etc.), Robin Furth goes into detail about some characters' origins or motivations. The Crimson King's mentions that he isn't insane because he's NOT intertwined with the world. (That's Gan.) He's insane because he's the potentate of the non-place Todash, where chaos rules, and he's stuck outside of it. Furthermore, he loathes creation because it is everything that his home ''isn't'' and seeks to topple it so Todash can rule alone as it did in the beginning.
* More on ''TheDarkTower'': Stephen King in the last three books has this weird obsession with the number 19. Now then: Stephen King actually meets Roland of Gilead in ''Song of Susannah'', and they first speak on page 289. Think about it for a second. I bet you now have a hunger for a big old cup of WTF. -- Saintheart.
** Further to this: when they ''do'' first meet, the implication is that King and Roland are almost twins. Eddie goes further: "Could you mistake them for twins? Maybe not. Father and son? Definitely." Now then, what is Roland's full title? Roland Deschain, son of Steven, of Gilead. More to the point, is anyone surprised that Roland is the son of '''Steven''', and that the principal antagonist in the piece is the Crimson '''King'''? -- Saintheart
** Pretty good, but sort of diluted by the fact that Roland's father is seen.* FridgeHorror: [[spoiler:The idea that Roland's constant recourse to ''ka'' throughout the previous books is not out of any genuine sense of destiny, but simply because he has trodden this same path so many times and on some level he remembers what's coming]].
* FridgeHorror: [[spoiler:The idea that Roland's constant recourse to ''ka'' throughout the previous books is not out of any genuine sense of destiny, but simply because he has trodden this same path so many times and on some level he remembers what's coming]].

** Pretty good, but sort of diluted by the fact that Roland's father is seen.

* When StephenKing tries to warn you off at the end of ''TheDarkTower'', at first it seemed to me, like it seemed to most people, kind of lame. Like I wasn't going to finish the story that I'd been reading for the last decade of my life. The more I think about it, though, the more I like the warning. Throughout the series King managed to play havoc with the line between fiction and reality, drawing multiple worlds together, including many of the worlds he created, and, perhaps, our world. At the very end, though, the line between us and Roland is completely torn apart when we're given the same decision he is: accept the happy ending that we've earned, or keep pressing forward, despite the fact that reality has been saved and there's no more NEED to see the Tower. Just like Roland, we have to push on, despite being warned, and that puts us right there with him in a way that mere narrative alone, without the author's warning, wouldn't have been able to do. The line between fiction and reality has blurred one more time, and we're consciously deciding to be there with Roland at the end. None of that sense of participation would have been possible without that warning. Awesome. - Hitchopottimus.

** Pretty good, but sort of diluted by the fact that Roland's father is seen.