Why Eddie? **SPOILERS**

[~Ally~]

I just don't know. I don't feel Eddie overcame or accepted his demons, I really don't. He always had a wise crack to cover that weakness. I saw weakness in his abilities after his wife killed the Bear and the flying bird came at him. He always seemed to doubt himself to me. All my own personal thoughts of course. I'll have to re-read to get another better understand but this is my initial reaction.

I don't necessarily feel the wisecracks were to cover his weakness, those were just part of his personality. Yes, he sometimes used them as a defense mechanism in awkward situations...but that is what most real people with his personality would do anyway. We all have our own coping mechanisms, wisecracks were his.

Eddie doubted himself at times as he had always lived in Henrys shadow. Whenever he showed a talent for anything that would surpass Henrys standards he would squash that talent so as not to overshadow his elder brother, and if not Henry would taunt him until he gave up. It's natural for a person to doubt their abilities when they have lived like that, yet in the end he always overcame the doubts and succeeded in whatever he was attempting.

Again, I do feel Eddie overcame his demons. There were times he was unsupervised in "our world" and could easily have used drugs again, yet he never succumbed. Even in Rolands world he could have chewed/smoked the ole devil grass, but didn't. That shows inner strength of character and great willpower.

[cameroncrazy27]

Eddie had to go for this exact reason. As bad as Eddie's death hurt you (me as well), it hurt Roland even more. The whole principle of the Dark Tower experience is sacrifice. Roland and his ka-tet needed to be willing to sacrifice themselves for King, the rose, and the tower. Eddie ended up being a monumental sacrifice but regardless the tet needed to push on through his death.

[Aericanwizard]

I agree that the sacrifice was necessary, but I think that the manner of the death was profoundly important. The fact that Eddie died after the battle was done, basically for no gain, showed Roland that there were more important things than being willing to die for the Tower. Eddie died, but did it gain anything? Like a lot of you, Eddie was my favourite member of the Tet (besides maybe ol' long, tall and ugly), and I was devastated by his meaningless death. In the long run though, Eddie's death is one of the pivotal points in the journey to the Tower. Without his death, Jake may not have been able to do all that was necessary of him. Without Eddie and Jake's sacrifice, Susannah may have stayed with Roland to the end (and with a whole Tet, maybe Roland would have been more likely to storm the tower, guns blazing, do ya ken?), and without Jake's death, Oy would not have been so sure to carry out Jake's dying request. Ka is a harsh master, and although there is water if ka wills it, there is poison as well.

Long days and pleasant nights.

[thebarbster24]

Oh, I cried for Eddie. His death caught me completely unprepared. And then the next chapter focusing on Jake (my other fave character) dealing with this only to lose him too, so shortly after Eddie. I know that people die suddenly in real life, with no prior notice. And I know that stories often reflect real life. It's just that it's been some time since a book left me in tears for days.

[J.T. Adams]

Why? Because, just like in real life- people we love die! Uncle Steve never guarantees a happy ending, and it damn near killed ME when Eddie came to the clearing at the end of the path- but our Inkslinger stayed true to the face of his Muse in this case.

Well said. This is I believe perhaps one of the largest keys to understanding why sai King is so successful.

[Robert Gray]

I suspect, given things Sai King has said himself about the process of writing, that he didn't know that Eddie was going to reach the clearing until shortly before it happened. I would suggest that both Eddie and Susannah were essentially "good" people whose lives were going to hell (if not already there) due to circumstances beyond their control. Their selection by Gan (for it could have been no other) to be people Roland drew from the cosmic tarot deck is likely because they deserved a shot at redemption, obvious or not.

Eddie ended up in his predicament because of love for his brother. He followed his brother into drug addiction and crime. Susannah was victimized by a genuinely evil monster and ended up with a chemical imbalance and an alternate identity over which she exuded little control. We can even look further to Jake, a good boy who is victimized by the "man in black" first and then later by Roland himself. We will leave him out of it for now though, as the imagery is most clear with Eddie Dean and his wife.

One could argue that both Eddie and Susannah were already dead, existing in a self designed hell. They existed in halve lives of drug addiction and insanity. The real question isn't why did Eddie have to die. We all die. We all reach that clearing one day. The more interesting question, from a philosophical and theological point of view, is why Eddie Dean was lucky enough to be saved before he reached that path. Eddie Dean was blessed in that he got to live again before he died. We don't weep for Eddie; we mourn for ourselves. He is no longer our companion on the path.