By Neil Kleid
Treachery has breached Castle Gilead, and history repeats for Roland Deschain. Twice now, he has caused the death of a loved one— the first time, burning Susan Delgado from existence through his actions, and now he stands over the lifeless body of his mother, Gabrielle Deschain. Steven Deschain, Roland's father, prepares for war with John Farson and faces his both his wife's tragic murder and the beginning of Gilead's end. The Good Man draws near and both moments and lives fall aside as Roland, Steven and the Affiliation ride towards the final battlefield.
Following the tragic events of DARK TOWER: TREACHERY, the most recently concluded chapter of the New York Times best-selling series of comic books based on Stephen King's "Dark Tower" novels, DARK TOWER: THE FALL OF GILEAD finally sets Roland on his long journey to the Dark Tower. Reeling
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DARK TOWER:
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Richard Isanove |
from his mother's hideous death, caused by his hand and bound to haunt him until the end of his days, he joins his fellow gunslingers as they head to war.
Before we faithful readers saddle up our rides to join them and load our steel, we take a moment to remember the names and faces we'll be seeing as the pages fall thin, for some we'll be seeing here for the very last time, say sorry.
ROLAND DESCHAIN: Caught in the Grapefruit's insidious web, Roland returned from Mejis with his friends to receive a hero's welcome, the full title of gunslinger and his family's legacy: the great guns of Gilead. Sadly, the glamour of the Grapefruit, the machinations of his father's sorcerer, Marten Broadcloak, and the vindictive witch-woman of Mejis, Rhea of the Coos, kept Roland in a trance-like state, confusing and afflicting his mind. Roland's friends finally convinced him to hand the Grapefruit to his father, but even from afar the terrible seeing stone manipulated Roland, tricking him into killing his own mother.
CUTHBERT ALLGOOD & ALAIN JOHNS: Roland's closest companions and saddle-mates, Bert and Alain supported their friend in Mejis and along the long road home. Upon their return, Bert and Alain were made full gunslingers as well, though some of the classmates they left behind resented their success-by-association. Alain and Bert normally keep cool heads and let insults roll off their back, but even they could not ignore Roland's fascination with the deadly, destructive Grapefruit and risked their friend's ire to convince him to hand the stone to Steven Deschain.
STEVEN DESCHAIN: Leader of the Affiliation, Steven and his
tet have been preparing to protect their inner barony from the threat of John Farson, the Good Man, while also ferreting out traitors and spies within their own walls. After a near-miss death while rounding up some of Farson's men, Steven returned to Castle Gilead and accepted Roland's shamefaced admittance of guilt that he'd kept secret the existence of the Grapefruit. Steven hid the stone in a vault but his actions were witnessed by Justus, a Farson spy, who used the information to set Steven's death into motion—a death ordered to be carried out by Gabrielle, Steven's loving wife.
JUSTUS: Treachery lurks within Gilead's walls, and the most base and vile traitor to the Affiliation is the mane named Justus. Arming Gabrielle Deschain with the means to kill her husband, Justus secretly tried to orchestrate John Farson's evil masterstroke against Gilead's royal family. Instead, he set events in motion that would not only strike a blow to the house of Deschain, but also fan the flames of anger, betrayal and remorse that Roland passed
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variant cover
by Adi Granov |
through to forge his quest for the Dark Tower and makes of him the last, great enemy of Farson, Marten and the forces of the Crimson King.
JOHN FARSON: Commonly known as "The Good Man," Farson united a vast army of warriors and barbarians against Gilead, organizing the common man against the gunslingers toward a redistribution of power in All-World. From behind his terrible fright mask he commanded his followers to march on Gilead, urging them forward to bring down the Castle, while deftly seeding his web of spies within the ranks of his enemies. Farson raised a formidable obstacle to all truly good in the world, and that angry, seething armada howls outside Gilead's walls.
CORT ANDRUS: Stocky and gruff, Cort trained Roland's tet in the ways and codes of the gunslinger. A master of intrigue and deceptions, he revealed one of Farson's spies during Roland's welcoming banquet. Farson's nephew, Kingson, masqueraded as a musician in an attempt to infiltrate the Castle and subvert the festive riddle contest by cheating in hopes to win its final prize. Cort—after conferring with riddle master Abel Vannay—killed Kingson and though he's wanted nothing more than to turn pups into soldiers, he finds that the cheater's death draws him further into the deceptions infiltrating the Castle, the result of which could mean endangering the only one in the Castle who can crack that gruff demeanor: his niece, Aileen.
AILEEN RITTER: Struggling within and against a misogynist "no girls allowed" attitude, slim, willowy, beautiful Aileen has fought desperately to become a gunslinger. Though her pleas have fallen on her uncle's deaf ears, Aileen finds ways to train and learn from her peers, notably by tricking Roland into giving her shooting lessons. Torn between her passion to fight and her growing attraction to Roland—still nursing the loss of his beloved Susan—Aileen's anguish grows deeper as circumstances and treacheries strike someone she well and truly loves.
MARTEN BROADCLOAK: Also known as Walter, Flagg and the Walkin' Dude, Marten acts both as Steven Deschain's adviser and executioner. He seduced Gabrielle, encouraged and armed John Farson, attacked Roland and now prepares to gleefully war with the Affiliation. Marten has done this for years; in the barony of Delain, he used Dragon's Sand. In post-apocalyptic America, Flagg capitalized on a world-altering superflu. Each time, Marten—or Flagg or Walter—showed his face and set one side against the other—good versus evil, right versus wrong—and always came out for the better, stained in blood and tears. Here's no different: he clouded Roland's mind, befuddling him within the Grapefruit so that both Rhea and the Crimson King could lash out, test the young pup and use him for their evil purposes. Now, as Marten's grand manipulations have finally shattered the family Deschain, he paints his face for battle, hefts his weapon and happily pushes the two forces to meet each other on a final, bloody battlefield.
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DARK TOWER:
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THE CRIMSON KING: And wheels away, as the pain and treachery draws to a sad, painful climax, the spidery master of another castle—Le Casse Roi Russe—straddles his bloodstained throne and watches all through his ever opening eye: the Eye of the Crimson King. The treachery has ended, now the fall commences, and as the towers of Castle Gilead crumble, a quest for another tower becomes forged in blood. Gilead's fall is Roland's rise, and the journey to the Dark Tower begins here.
Don't miss the next exciting chapter in the Dark Tower epic: DARK TOWER: THE FALL OF GILEAD #1 hits stores on May 13! You can read DARK TOWER: TREACHERY #1 for free with Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited. And for more on Dark Tower, visit Marvel.com's hub page and Stephen King's official web site!
Also currently available, the DARK TOWER: TREACHERY PREMIERE HARDCOVER
DARK TOWER: TREACHERY PREMIERE HC (JAN092437)
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DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER BORN PREMIERE HC (SEP072167)
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