Mike Flanagan’s Dark Tower Series Needs To Explore More of Roland’s Parents and their History

When it comes to the upcoming adaption of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series by Mike Flanagan, there is no more important character to this story than Roland Deschain, the last of the legendary Gunslingers. Considered the knights of the realm, the Gunslingers were protectors and fought against the forces of evil, but sadly lost to the powerful John Farson (with the help of the undermining Marten Broadcloak, aka Randall Flagg. Yet before Roland was left alone on his journey to the Dark Tower, there were two pivotal figures in his life that made Roland who he was: Gabrielle and Steven Deschain.

Roland’s mother and father played a major role in how Roland developed into the hero of the Dark Tower series. Gabrielle became a pawn in a larger game of deception and betrayal while his father, Steven, worked to protect Roland from outside forces and from his own self, knowing how important Roland would be to the future of the realm. Mike Flanagan’s Dark Tower series needs to take the time to explore more of Roland’s parents and their history within the Dark Tower universe.

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Steven and Gabrielle Deschain, EXPLAINED

The tragedy of Steven and Gabrielle Deschain helped mold Roland mentally and physically. Gabrielle was a young woman who married Steven at a young age, and grew to adopt the life of an aristocrat easily as she raised Roland, and the people of Gilead, the home of the Gunslingers, loved her, as Roland’s father, Steven, was a prominent leader of the Gunslingers. Yet it would be closer to Roland’s teen years when things would turn for Gabrielle.

Roland’s mother was seduced by Broadcloak, the court magician and advisor to Steven, and they spent two years together before Roland discovered them together. Marten planned this, knowing this would make Roland take his test to become a gunslinger too early and hoped it would lead to his exile. However, Roland proved them wrong, passing his test. However, Steven revealed that he knew about the affair, and arranged for Roland to leave with his friends Cuthbert and Alain on a mission out of Gilead, for he knew Marten would arrange for Roland’s demise.

After the tragedy Roland would find on his mission and recovering the powerful artifact, Maeryln’s Grapefruit, Gabrielle would seek penance at an abbey, only for the one hearing her confession to be Marten in disguise, seducing her physically and mentally this time to do his bidding. She took part in a plot to try and end her husband’s life, but the demonic entity in the grapefruit would make Roland think that his mother was in fact Rhea of the Coos, a powerful villain he had just faced, and he took his mother’s life by mistake. This death would haunt Roland for years, and when the people of Gilead found a knife on her body belonging to John Farson, they sought to see Roland punished for her crimes.

Steven, meanwhile, pursues John Farson with his allies, but finds nothing but slow mutants waiting for them, and when they seek him elsewhere, nearly his entire party dies except for himself and one other. When he returns to Gilead, he orders the city to be locked down, and when he seeks out the city’s ancient defenses, a guard belonging to Farson fights him, resulting in Steven’s demise, but not before leaving a message for Roland to open the pits and release the city’s defenses on Farson’s arriving army. Roland collects his father’s ancient and powerful sandalwood guns, and leaves Roland to hold the line. Eventually, Gilead and the rest of the Gunslingers would fall, leaving Roland alone with but one quest left: to find the Dark Tower.

Roland’s Parents Need a Major Role in Mike Flanagan’s Dark Tower Series

The first season of the upcoming Dark Tower adaptation needs to hone in on what built Roland into the Gunslinger destined to make his way to the Dark Tower and face the unrelenting forces of evil sent by the Crimson King. Before he was a hero, he was a boy caught in a web of lies and deceit that set him on a path of no return, and that was in large part due to the sordid events between his parents and the evil Marten Broadcloak.

Flashbacks to Roland’s youth will be crucial to his development as a character, and giving more emphasis on not only his background but his parents and the society in which they lived, will add depth to his character arc overall. The manipulation of his mother by Marten, the politics and shady dealings that made up his father’s court, and the tragic events that played out for Roland in the months leading up to his people’s demise all helped Roland develop into the hero that began chasing the man in black across the desert.

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Stephen King

Stephen King is one of the most prolific living authors. A master of horror, King’s classic works include The Shining, Carrie, Cujo, It, and the Dark Tower series. Many of his books and short stories have been adapted to film and television, including The Shawshank Redemption, Lisey’s Story, 1408, Secret Window, and The Stand.

Birthdate

September 21, 1947

Birthplace

Portland, Maine

Notable Projects

The Shining
, Cujo
, The Shawshank Redemption
, It
, Carrie