When exploring a series as expansive and in-depth as Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, it is easy to get lost in the heart of the story and forget about all the little details that make that story as vast and engaging as it is. The heart of the story, Roland the Gunslinger’s quest to protect the Dark Tower from the evil Crimson King, is always at the forefront of the narrative. And yet, there are so many other figures and characters involved in the story that deserve a place in the upcoming Mike Flanagan adaption. One group of people who deserve a voice in the series is The Great Old Ones.
Also known simply as the old ones, this group was an ancient race of humans who lived thousands of years before Roland and his home of Gilead existed. They were instrumental in the construction of not only the cities and landscapes of All-World, but the machines and technology that Roland comes into contact with over the course of his journey. Most importantly, they had a hand in how the Dark Tower exists in Roland’s time, merging science with magic in ways that would impact Roland’s journey forever. For this and many other reasons, the Great Old Ones deserve a presence in Mike Flanagan’s The Dark Tower.
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The Great Old Ones, Explained
A powerful race of humans that mastered technology and science at a rapid rate, the Great Old Ones were instrumental in the ways in which All-World would one day exist, much like humanity did before the bombs fell in Fallout. They helped create a wondrous society built on technology, founding great cities like Lud (a primary location in Book 3 in the series, The Wastelands). They were also key in creating powerful machines like Blaine the Mono, an advanced artificial intelligence fused into a train that could travel over 800 miles per hour. They would later become a foe of Roland and his band of heroes.
The society’s culture is vastly unknown, having never been experienced in books or comics before. But according to the man in black, aka Randall Flagg, they were responsible for curing cancer, traveling to the moon, and even mastering artificial insemination. Yet once they gained an almost godlike control over their technological advances, they began to turn on one another, using their works to destroy each other rather than lift one another up. Corporations like North Central Positronics appeared, using their technology to fuel their own greed and, in the process, poisoning the air with pollution and radiation.
Their greatest achievement was mastering the ability to manipulate the fabric of the multiverse itself, such as the energy beams that hold it and reality in place. They could replace or merge these with their technology, and could use the Tower’s many doors to travel to different worlds and time periods. They used the doors to travel to tragic and momentous moments in time for entertainment. This travel also influenced how much All-World and the Keystone World took on similarities to one another as well.
It was discovered that the Great Old Ones and their destructive behavior were influenced by none other than Maeryln, the ancient entity and agent of chaos, who was one of Arthur Eld’s greatest foes. He helped North Central Positronics find a way to merge their technology with magic. However, all of this war and greed led to their people’s sterilization. All of their vast knowledge and ability to maintain the technology they built was lost once their people eventually died out.
Impact on Mike Flanagan’s The Dark Tower
The Great Old Ones have a large impact on the world of The Dark Tower. While a television series would allow greater exploration through flashbacks and discoveries throughout different seasons of the time the Great Old Ones operated, the biggest impact they would have is on the technology and machines they left behind. The tower itself, via its use of doors to travel between worlds, has the biggest impact by far. This is instrumental in Roland’s recruitment of new heroes to his cause.
There is also the use of the massive machines known as Guardians, which were built to protect the integrity of the beams that serve The Dark Tower. As each beam is destroyed or weakened, and without any sort of maintenance, these machines go “mad,” often becoming like untethered and rageful animals that attack on sight. One such guardian, Shardik, attacks Roland and his group, as does another robot named Andy later on in the series. The lack of knowledge about how to take care of these machines creates a lot of chaos that befell Roland’s world.
The weapons that they built also played a major role in Roland’s life, from the RPGs and machine guns that were used to attack Roland’s people to the screaming bombs known as sneetches. These, along with other inventions and technology, either aid or hinder Roland’s progress towards the Dark Tower. They also make up a great deal of the backstory and history that Roland’s world occupies. Any successful adaption of The Dark Tower should take the time to not only bring these creations to life, but to explore The Great Old Ones in much greater detail.
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Stephen King
- Birthdate
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September 21, 1947
- Birthplace
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Portland, Maine
- Notable Projects
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The Shining
, Cujo
, The Shawshank Redemption
, It
, Carrie