Mike Flannigan's adaptation of The Dark Tower must include this important prequel story

Key points

• A new adaptation of Mike Flannigan's The Dark Tower must include vital prequel stories like the Fall of Gilead.
• The fall of Gilead and the Battle of Jericho Hill explain how Roland became the ultimate gunslinger in the Stephen King series.
• These prequel stories offer emotional depth and crucial backstory to Roland's character and are essential to the television adaptation.

The popularity shows no signs of waning when it comes to adaptations by horror writers Stephen King's novels, short stories and short stories. And so, it's no surprise that many are eagerly awaiting acclaimed director Mike Flannigan's adaptation of The Dark TowerStephen King's most prolific and acclaimed series. The story of the last gunslinger who heads to the Dark Tower to stop the Crimson King from collapsing the structure that holds the entire multiverse together has long infused itself into many of King's other works. Yet, alone The Dark Tower the series is directly connected to the lore and myths that the author created many years ago in book 1, The gunslinger. Yet there is one key story that the first book didn't get to: the Fall of Gilead.

In more modern adaptations of the series in comic book form, writers have pieced together the events in protagonist Roland Deschain's life that led to him becoming the universe's ultimate gunslinger. Book four of the main series, Magician and Glassexplores many events leading up to this fall, including the most significant loss of Roland's young life. However, it was the fall of Gilead and the Battle of Jericho Hill that sealed his fate as he traveled to the legendary Dark Tower. That's why Mike Flannigan is Dark Tower the adaptation must include these vital prequel stories.

The Dark Tower, explained

Long considered Stephen King's magnum opus, The Dark Tower the series follows Roland Deschain, the last of the gunslingers. Descended from the Brood of the Eld (this universe's version of King Arthur), Roland decides to follow his people's final mission: to protect and protect the iconic Dark Tower. Events have occurred that have led them to believe that evil forces are working to break the powerful Rays (high-powered energy beams spread across multiple worlds that support the Dark Tower).

The first book begins with Roland pursuing the Man in Black, a mysterious enemy with answers to Roland's search for the Dark Tower. During his journey, Roland meets others who are displaced or lost in time like him. He soon forms his own gang of gunslingers, training them in the use of weapons and the fighting skills he has studied his whole life. During their journey they encounter many enemies, from murderous talking trains and mechanized wolf soldiers to “short men” or animal hybrid humanoids wearing human masks. And, of course, there is their leader, the Crimson King, a mortal ruler who seeks nothing but oblivion.

All of the books explore elements such as the multiverse, which allows the author to draw from various other books he has written. The fourth book includes the settings featured in The Standdespite being prominent Salem's Lot character into which Father Callahan makes his way Calla Wolves. King's other books draw from this as well the Dark Tower series in exchange. For example, Ted Brautigan in Hearts of Atlantis he saw Roland and his group heading towards the tower. In the meantime, Black House (co-authored by the late Peter Straub) not only introduced Speedy Parker's Twinner Parkus as a former gunslinger, but showed one of the Crimson King's facilities being used to house children with the ability to telekinetically break the beams of the Dark Tower.

The Fall of Gilead and the Battle of Jericho Hill

While the books cover a lot of the backstory and mythology of Stephen King's series, there will always be fans eager to learn more and looking for answers to lingering questions. Thanks to Marvel Comics, some of these questions have been answered. The storylines The Fall of Gilead and the Battle of Jericho Hill answered the question of how Roland became the last of the gunslingers, and are both epic and tragic.

After the events of the fourth book in the main series, Roland is once again distressed when he discovers that he has been deceived by a powerful artifact known as the Maerlyn Grapefruit. This made him think that an old enemy, Rhea of ​​the Coos, had actually returned, when in reality it was his mother, Gabrielle, who was staying there. When her father discovers that his son ended his wife's life, he also discovers a poisoned blade on her person. This leads to the realization that their enemy, John Farson, had forced Gabrielle to try to end Roland's father's life. Despite the circumstances, Roland faces trial. However, he is soon released and tasked with leading the survivors of their Gilead home when his father and the other gunslingers are ambushed and taken away by Farson's army.

The Battle of Jericho Hill takes place several years later, after a series of attacks led by Roland and the last remaining gunslingers end in a brutal final stand on the infamous Jericho Hill. As his friends and allies fall one by one beside him, Roland is shot and left for dead. But soon after Farson's men leave, he stands up, accepting defeat. He realizes that his mission to the Dark Tower is the only thing left for him to do, his people and his home destroyed once and for all.

These moments are crucial to how Roland became who he was at the start of the main series, and why he had such a difficult time letting people into his life again after losing so much as a young man. These stories add emotional depth to his character, as does the history and mythology that these comic prequels add to the story of the Gunslingers and Warriors. Dark Tower overall. They are crucial source material for the development of this series into a television show and must be taken into consideration when Mike Flannigan develops the franchise.