Many of Stephen King’s books connect to The Dark Tower series, but few are as connected as The Stand. Roland Deschain’s journey to the Dark Tower spans multiple universes and features familiar characters from many of King’s other stories, including Father Donald Callahan from Salem’s Lot and Ted Brautigan from Hearts in Atlantis. The Dark Tower series is the linchpin that connects all these stories and the multiverse of King’s works together.
Mike Flanagan’s upcoming Dark Tower adaptation will see King’s ambitious series translated into the format of a streaming show. While the 2017 film adaptation starring Idris Elba was a more self-contained version of the story, Flanagan’s series is expected to be a more faithful adaptation that will fully embrace the connections to King’s other works. This includes the connections to The Stand, which are a vital part of The Dark Tower‘s world-building and its themes.
7 Randall Flagg/The Man In Black Is A Major Villain In The Stand & The Dark Tower
He Has Many Names
Randall Flagg is not the only primary antagonist in The Stand, but is also a prominent villain in The Dark Tower series. In the first Dark Tower book, The Gunslinger, he is first referred to as the man in black in the book’s iconic opening line, “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” The villainous Flagg takes on many personas and uses many names throughout The Dark Tower series, including Walter O’Dim, Marten Broadcloak, and the Covenant Man.
Flagg’s nefariousness can also be seen in another King novel, The Eyes of the Dragon. Throughout all these stories, Flagg manipulates and corrupts others, and uses his abilities to spread evil and increase his own power. In The Stand, he takes a significant faction of humanity down a dark path after they survive the superflu epidemic, while in The Dark Tower, he is a constant obstacle during Roland’s quest, and seeks the power of the Dark Tower for himself.
6 Flagg Is An Agent Of The Dark Tower’s Crimson King
Flagg Is Part Of A Greater Evil
Flagg is a formidable villain in his own right, but The Dark Tower series clarifies that he is one of the many agents working for the Crimson King. The Crimson King is essentially an embodiment of evil, not only in The Dark Tower series, but also in King’s novels Insomnia and Black House. Since the Dark Tower binds all the universes together, the Crimson King wants to destroy the Dark Tower and reshape the universe in his own twisted ways.
Patrick Danville, a character from
Insomnia
, is critical to defeating the Crimson King.
Since Roland and his ka-tet are on a quest to reach and save the Dark Tower, much of Flagg’s story revolves around stopping them from achieving their goal. In The Stand, there is no mention of the Crimson King, yet Flagg still serves the Crimson King through the ruthless society of superflu survivors that he builds around himself in Las Vegas. This is in direct opposition to the hopeful Boulder Free Zone civilization in Boulder, Colorado.
5 The Stand’s Universe Is Part Of The Dark Tower’s Multiverse
The Dark Tower series is a means of tying all of King’s works together into a single multiverse. The Dark Tower holds together the entire multiverse and its many worlds, which are also referred to as levels. This means that The Stand‘s universe, where the superflu epidemic and the conflict between the survivors happens, is part of the same multiverse that includes Mid-World, where Roland comes from, and where much of The Dark Tower series takes place.
The multiverse concept explains how Flagg can exist in Mid-World in addition to existing in The Stand‘s universe. Such a premise also raises the stakes for The Dark Tower series, as it is not only Mid-World that will be affected if the Dark Tower falls, but the world of The Stand and all of King’s other stories will be destroyed as well. It is a clever way to connect the various genres, settings, and narratives throughout King’s extensive career.
4 The Stand’s Superflu Was Also An Epidemic In The Dark Tower’s Topeka
Captain Trips Is Deadly
Roland, Jake Chambers, Eddie Dean, Susannah, and Oy travel through The Dark Tower‘s Topeka after their harrowing experience with Blaine the Mono. While in Topeka, they learn that the city’s population has been wiped out by an epidemic, referred to as Captain Trips in a newspaper that Roland and his group encounter. Captain Trips is a nickname given to the superflu that killed most of the human population in The Stand.
This makes Captain Trips a literal and thematic connection between
The Stand
and
The Dark Tower
.
With Mid-World being a post-apocalyptic wasteland, the post-epidemic nature of The Stand‘s universe is common in some of King’s most well-known stories. The reasons for Mid-World’s decline and the decline of The Stand‘s universe are different, but both settings leave survivors struggling to pick up the pieces, with some embracing evil and lawlessness, while others aspire to be better and rebuild a peaceful and harmonious civilization. This makes Captain Trips a literal and thematic connection between The Stand and The Dark Tower.
3 There Is Graffiti Of Mother Abagail In Topeka
She Is A Powerful Symbol
Topeka has more than one connection to The Stand, with Roland and his traveling companions encountering graffiti of Mother Abagail Freemantle. While some survivors of the superflu epidemic are drawn to Flagg, others are drawn to the elderly Mother Abagail. She and the survivors drawn to her build a new society in Boulder, Colorado known as the Boulder Free Zone, where they rebuild civilization overseen by the Boulder Free Zone Committe, whose members are determined through a democratic election.
Mother Abagail is a deeply faithful and resilient individual acting as a positive symbol, counteracting Flagg’s sinister and corrupting nature. Part of her power is derived from her ability to have visions from God, helping her guide the survivors who have not lost their way and joined Flagg. The enduring impact of Mother Abagail’s symbolic and literal power extends to The Dark Tower, where Roland and the rest of his group see her depicted despite never meeting her.
2 Flagg’s The Stand Ending Is Similar To Roland’s Dark Tower Ending
Time Is A Wheel
The expanded edition of The Stand features an epilogue in which Flagg is reborn on a beach and encounters a group of individuals he deems to be primitive. He introduces himself as Russell Faraday, continuing to use the R.F. initials, and begins taking control of the primitive group. The epilogue ends with Flagg reflecting on how life is a wheel that is in constant motion, but that always ends up going around and ending back in the same place that it started.
The expanded edition of
The Stand
was published in 1990, while the original version was published in 1978.
This parallels Roland’s ending in The Dark Tower as he finally enters the Dark Tower and climbs to the top of it, only to realize that he has reached it multiple times before, and is then thrust back to the beginning of his journey. Both Flagg and Roland are stuck in loops where, despite some changes, they ultimately and repeatedly end in the same position. The key difference is that Flagg seems to be fully aware of this at the end of The Stand, while Roland only briefly realizes it before having his memories taken away from him again.
1 Both Stories Feature Ka-Tets
“One Made From Many”
In The Dark Tower series, the group of close companions that Roland travels with are known as a ka-tet. Ka-tet translates to “one made from many,” indicating the closeness of the group and that they have been brought together by higher powers. Jake, Eddie, Susannah, and Oy are Roland’s ka-tet for the majority of the series, acting as a found family as they work together to reach and save the Dark Tower from the forces that threaten it.
The phrase “ka-tet” is not directly used in The Stand, but it works perfectly for the group of survivors that Mother Abagail sends to Las Vegas to stop Flagg. This group includes Boulder Free Zone survivors Stu Redman, Glen Bateman, Larry Underwood, and Ralph Brentner. In The Stand and The Dark Tower, the relationships between the various members of the ka-tets and their epic journeys are at the heart of the stories and their overarching themes.
