Read: The Dark Tower–“The Last Palaver (Sheemie’s Dream)”

The thing in the world that makes me the saddest is roadkill. Roadkill makes me so, so sad. This is because when an animal is hit by a car on its way someplace else, that animal isn’t dying for a reason–not even for a bad reason, like avarice or ignorance or cruelty. That animal dies for no reason. Its death is literally pointless.

With Sheemie’s beautiful nightmare King has finally sold me on the threat to the Dark Tower, and why maybe neither Flagg/Walter’s death nor the lameness of the Crimson King and Mordred as villains ultimately won’t hurt the sense of urgency to stop the Tower’s destruction that much. Different people may have their own reasons for helping the destruction of the Beams and the Tower along–the Crimson King and Blaine and Jack Mort because they’re crazy, Mordred to spite Roland, Walter/Marten/Flagg to try and sneak in and take over at the last minute, Pimli and Finli because they’re hard workers and get satisfaction from that, the Breakers because they need to feel appreciated and can’t face the truth of the circumstances behind why they’re appreciated, the low men out of religious fundamentalism, the vampires because they like killing things and eating them, Rhea for revenge and cruelty’s sake, Balazar’s mafia and the Big Coffin Hunters because it pays well, Ben Slightman Sr. because he wants to protect his kid and maybe get something out of it himself, Andy the Robot and the Wolves because they’re programmed to, John Farson and his followers because they hate the prevailing order that props the Tower up–but what it all adds up to is nothing, no reason. The Beams are being broken, the Tower is being knocked down, reality is being destroyed, joy and beauty are being torn apart and replaced by the sad, meaningless entropy of the first few books which itself will then be replaced by nothing at all, all ultimately for no reason at all, other than that’s what happens to good things in this world.

That dream is one of the best things King’s ever written.

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