The Horn of Eld

**coolambindang** · December 17th, 2009

It seems like a lot of you think Roland was either thrown back in time or he was sent into another dimension, but in this dimension or time he has possession of the horn. If he was thrown back in time does he have the memories from his last round with the Tower? Is he in another dimension with the horn but on his journey for the first time(in his mind). If it is a continuation from the journey we are privy to, does that mean only a few beams hold the tower together or are the beams that broke still broken? In that case the Tower would be even closer to destruction. I think that he was sent back in time and he is in another dimension, that being said there are as many beams holding up the tower as there were when WE(readers) met Roland for the first time. As has been mentioned before he has another piece to the puzzle in the form of the horn but not necessarily all the right pieces. As stated before Ka is a wheel and Roland has turned to the right place. The fact that Gilead fell hundreds of years ago just goes the fact that time is becoming thin. As Roland continued his quest years and years have gone by. After his conversation with Marten on the beach, Roland awakes thousands of years later. Time is thin.

**SleepingWarrior** · December 17th, 2009

Originally Posted by coolambindang

It seems like a lot of you think Roland was either thrown back in time or he was sent into another dimension, but in this dimension or time he has possession of the horn. If he was thrown back in time does he have the memories from his last round with the Tower? Is he in another dimension with the horn but on his journey for the first time(in his mind). If it is a continuation from the journey we are privy to, does that mean only a few beams hold the tower together or are the beams that broke still broken? In that case the Tower would be even closer to destruction. I think that he was sent back in time and he is in another dimension, that being said there are as many beams holding up the tower as there were when WE(readers) met Roland for the first time. As has been mentioned before he has another piece to the puzzle in the form of the horn but not necessarily all the right pieces. As stated before Ka is a wheel and Roland has turned to the right place. The fact that Gilead fell hundreds of years ago just goes the fact that time is becoming thin. As Roland continued his quest years and years have gone by. After his conversation with Marten on the beach, Roland awakes thousands of years later. Time is thin.

Ahhhh but that was answered by Flagg (Walter) himself later in the series... he placed another set of bones in his clothes to trick Roland into believing he is dead.

As for remembering he has been on the journey before... that only happens momentarily after he opens the door at the top of the tower and is kicked back.

In The Wastelands when they come to River Crossing before reaching Lud some of the townsfolk talk about last seeing a gunslinger 100 years before, give or take. My personal belief is that it was Roland they saw.

**Wordslinger2** · December 22nd, 2009

Ok, I have read the posts up to this point, and I have to ask, did none of you read the part where when he opened the door at the top of the Tower he cried out No, and then his vision blurred(I think I would need to re-read that passage again) and he didn't remember a thing. Once the hands of Gan threw/pushed him through the door he lost his memories of the journey. But he has the horn, the voice whispered to him that perhaps this time it would be different, that there was hope, Redemption instead of Resumption. I think we think of the ending is what we have taken from the story ourselves.

As for Flagg, was he ever killed in Keystone Earth? I don't think so- Nor in any other earth but he was killed by Mordred in the world of The Dark Tower. So he still isn't realy dead. Flagg/Marten can be plucked out of time just as easily as Roland was plucked out and placed back at the edge of The Mohaine.

**knittinjen** · January 4th, 2010

This is interesting discussion. I always thought since first reading the last page that this was his 19th trip to the Dark Tower, and the one he was thrown back into would be his 20th - for obvious reasons. I hope SK writes a novel about Jericho Hill one day - about the end of Alain and Cuthbert, when Roland was snatched away (into the Mohaine where we first find him?). I see there is a comic book about Jericho Hill - I'll have to learn to like that format because I gotta read it!

**BlaineThePain** · January 6th, 2010

I love this thread. All of the ideas for possibilities here enrich the story that much more for me. Because the story is left open-ended (or, to make up a word, open-beginninged) there are so many ways to look at everything, and I was of the mind that the horn was simply a symbol of hope for the salvation of Roland's soul. But the idea that the the horn is a key, that the books are Roland's 19th trip, Roland being the gunslinger seen 100 years ago in River Crossing...I just love it. I think it's really something that a story can keep growing well after the author typed out The End.
I sometimes think that the journey to the Tower itself is what's bringing it down. Or, at least, the ending of the journey. Every time Roland's stepped through that last door and was dragged back to the beginning he kind of ripped up the world as he went. Like erasing a picture on a piece of paper. You can start all over again, but the paper's going to start to wear and thin and eventually rip apart. And if this is Roland's 19 trip, he probably has about 1,980 more to go until he gets it right, or he may never at all. Ka is a wheel, but Roland's a stone cold son of a b****. Then again, if he kills with his heart, he must have one helluva heart.

**Deesha** · January 28th, 2010

Hello, new member here..

I agree completely, I think he continues the same cycle over and over and each time he and his ka-tet get better at it, if you know what I mean. There are too many situations where things should not have worked out, but they did. I think he's been at it plenty of times, and now has gotten to the end with almost the right sequence of events. He simply has to get the right pieces before the quest is really over. If any of that makes sense. In my mind that explains the uncanny intuition they all have. I'm rereading the series, and I'm now halfway through the last book (I've shed many a tear through most of it, I won't lie). Just adding my five cents worth, recently discovered this site. I read about the new Dark Tower book, I'm really amped about it.

**Robert Gray** · February 3rd, 2010

He won't actually repeat the same cycle over again. He will likely draw new companions from other worlds. Some might be familiar but they will not be the same. The Gunslinger is the only one who stands in the eye of the hurricane, next to the Tower. Certain things are concrete in the infinite variety of the many worlds. In some places time only goes in one direction. Thus, while Roland can go back in time to restart in his own world (we know that place isn't limited by one direction and speed) at least one world cannot be visited again by Roland, at least not in that time. I hope you can follow. Sai King has not given ups a reset in the bad movie/television variety. It is far more complex than that. Roland will move forward again, but the other people whose lives Roland has already touched in previous incarnations continue forward (or not) as he touched them. This isn't truly a Groundhog Day situation, and Roland isn't Bill Murray. Those things happened. They are not backtracked to be replayed. Mrs. Dean continues forward in the world she met alternate Eddie and Jake. She will remember even if Roland does not.

**KyleKarabekian** · February 24th, 2010

Childe Roland had the horn when he reached the Tower, and Roland Deschain did not. Roland also wasn;t affected by sacrficing people to get to the Tower, at first. Then by the end, he was all sad about the great loss he had suffered, and Ka let him have the horn, the key to breaking the cycle of the Tower. That is what I got out of it anyway.

**One Man Ka-Tet** · March 1st, 2010

I just finished the series and have to say....AMAZING! But, my opinion on the horn is that it is just another piece of the puzzle that is Roland's redemption. He is doomed to repeat the Tower Cycle until he ultimately understands that there are far greater things than climbing the Tower; friendship, love, self-sacrifice, etc. I believe that on this cycle, the one we read, that Roland understood the meaning of love/true friendship by way of Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and of course Oy (remember Roland yelling at Oy saying that he could have left if he wanted to but chose to stay, Roland was conflicted about apologizing to a Bumbler, but in the end did). Therefore, upon repeating the cycle the Tower offers him the Horn, which now understanding true friendship, Roland would have picked it up following Cuthbert's death at Jericho Hill. Along with this we come to see that several times he was asked to abandon his quest for the Tower, that it was saved because the Beams were saved (stopped the Breakers and saved King) and that he can now live his life in peace knowing that the Tower is safe. We know that the Crimson King is locked outside of the Tower and as a result is of no importance. The Tower will stand, the Beams will heal, and all of existence is saved. Yet, Roland continues his single minded quest to scale the Tower. In my opinion, it is the abandoning of the Quest, following the rescue of the Beams that will be Roland's ultimate redemption. Ka pushes him to save the beams, but the Tower is not meant to be climbed. Afterall, he did decide to do so only after seeing the image of the Tower in the Pink glass, and remember it says that only sad/depressing images are shown in it. The Pink glass was showing Roland his futile quest for the Tower, understanding the pain it would bring him for all eternity. I hope that my rambling makes sense to those who read it and I want to say that it is a pleasure to meet all of you and that I am glad to be in the company of fellow DT fans. Perhaps my theories are the musings of a madman, but I know that I will continue to ponder the meaning of Roland's quest for a long time. Look forward to hearing other theories on the horn/cycle.
Say thankya.