Warning: This article contains spoilers for the final book in The Dark Tower series.
It's more than two decades later, and I still have a bit of a hard time accepting how Flagg's malevolent powers propelled the story of King's The Stand, cementing him as an incredible and terrifying adversary.
Truly, he'd been such an integral part of Stephen King's universe held together by The Dark Tower for so long that it was hard for me to think that he could ever possibly be bested or killed. At best, he's temporarily defeated, only to reemerge with a new face and a new plot to topple order and corrupt goodness. It's why it was so baffling to me that he was, in fact, killed in the final Dark Tower book. And while I might have been able to accept that - even quasi-immortal demonic sorcerers have an expiration date, after all - it was the way in which he was killed that I didn't buy, and it still sits wrong with me today.
Randall Flagg's Mind Reading & Manipulation Failed Him At The Worst Time
It Was So Uncharacteristic Of The Demonic Sorcerer
It's always been a little unfathomable to me that Randall Flagg, a.k.a Walter, had lived for centuries and defied the workings of the universe thanks to his vast gifts as a sorcerer, only for those gifts to fail him at the most crucial moment. A shapeshifter, a fortune-teller, and many other things, above all, Walter/Flagg was most adept at mental manipulation and psychic abilities. That's why his underestimating how powerful Mordred's own psychic abilities were was so uncharacteristic to me. Flagg had always lived by the ethos that game recognize game; it's why he survived for so long - he had to be aware of his surroundings and his adversaries.
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But Mordred blindsided him with how powerful he was, not only getting the psychic jump on Walter, but also turning those psychic abilities against him. Surely, I thought, Walter would have felt Mordred reading his thoughts and intentions; Flagg showed he had that ability in other Stephen King books. And yet, when the were-spider got into his mind, Walter not only didn't notice it at first, but then was also powerless to stop it when Mordred overpowered him and turned Walter's own mind against him. It was just an inexplicable, head-scratching way for Stephen King's greatest villain to be taken out of his universe.
It was just an inexplicable, head-scratching way for Stephen King's greatest villain to be taken out of his universe.
On the one hand, I understand it - it's almost impossible to take one of the most complicated game pieces off the board in a way that is satisfactory. On the other hand, Walter/Randall Flagg's ending had the same issue as so many Stephen King book endings in general in that they are often a little lacking after so much buildup, seemingly because King either grows bored with the story or simply doesn't know how to wrap up such an epic tale. It appears that carries over to him not knowing how to wrap up the story of his most interesting antagonist.
His Ending Was Gruesome But Happened With The Wrong Character
It Should Have Been At Roland's Hands
Don't get me wrong, Walter's ending was gruesome as hell. Being mind-controlled into tearing out his own organs and tearing off chunks of his skin to feed to the malevolent, starving were-spider boy who then consumed Walter alive in front of him is horrific. It's easily one of the goriest and worst endings for any character in any Stephen King book, and if it had been any other character, it would have been incredible. The problem was that it was Randall Flagg. And it was done to him by Mordred.
Book/Story Title |
Publication Year |
|---|---|
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger |
1982 |
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three |
1987 |
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands |
1991 |
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass |
1997 |
"The Little Sisters of Eluria" |
1998 |
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla |
2003 |
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah |
2004 |
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower |
2004 |
The Wind Through the Keyhole |
2012 |
Even beyond how easily Flagg was overpowered and killed in the books, it always rubbed me the wrong way that it was Mordred who killed him. Mordred, who had ties to him, but not a relationship. It should have been Roland squaring off with Walter in a final showdown. Roland and Walter were always like Batman and Joker, a multiversal, multi-lifetime cat-and-mouse game ongoing between the two. They were the central pillars; Roland on the side of light and Gan and Flagg on the side of dark and the Crimson King. It should have been the two of them in a final fight, and if anyone were going to kill Flagg, it should have been Roland, not the random were-spider son who only showed up in the last few books.
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Even if the way Flagg died had been underwhelming or uncharacteristic, it at least might have softened the blow had it been Roland to take him out of the world. Walter had been the evil, shapeshifting shadow that had been responsible for so much death and loss in Roland's life, and it would have been a full-circle moment had Roland been the one to end it. Mordred being the one to kill Walter just rendered the scene largely meaningless, the character stripped of any real connection and history. It wasn't as though I had a real investment in their relationship as a reader - they didn't really have one. So while Walter's ending was as gory as I could ask for, it was hardly poetic justice, or even in character.
Randall Flagg Might Actually Not Be Dead, Though
Who Knows? He Could Reappear One Day
That said, I still hold hope in my heart that Randall Flagg/Walter isn't permanently dead, only dead in that particular karmic loop in The Dark Tower series. He's shown up wearing so many faces and going by so many names, jumping back and forth between worlds and timelines, that it's near impossible to fully understand when his story begins and ends. In theory, he hasn't shown up in any books since the end of The Dark Tower series – at least, no appearances that have been completely confirmed by King. But the way King wrote Flagg out of The Dark Tower series, with just a few, dismissive lines, indicates he's grown tired of the character and, much like Roland's world, he's moved on:
"He pounced upon Randall Flagg, Walter o’ Dim, Walter Padick that was. There were more screams, but only a few. And then Roland’s old enemy was no more."
- The Dark Tower, p. 149
Still, Stephen King has often gone back to the old well, drawing from old stories and reintroducing old characters, sometimes after decades, as was the case with The Stand anthology The End of the World As We Know It; if another author decides to tackle Stephen King's iconic villain, it will be interesting to see what they do with him.
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- Birthdate
- September 21, 1947
- Birthplace
- Portland, Maine, USA
- Height
- 6 feet 4 inches
- Notable Projects
- The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining, It, The Stand, Misery, The Dark Tower, Mr. Mercedes, Carrie
- Professions
- Author, Screenwriter, Producer, Director, Actor
Discover the latest news and filmography for Stephen King, known for The Dark Tower series, The Stand, IT, The Shining, Carrie, Cujo, Misery, the Bill Hodges trilogy, and more.
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Randall Flagg
- NAME
- Randall Flagg
- Alias
- The Dark Man, The Walkin' Dude
- Created By
- Stephen King
- POWERS
- Shapeshifting, Dark Magic, Charisma, Mind Control, Immortality
- RELATIONSHIPS
- Mother Abagail (adversary), Lloyd Henreid (follower), Nadine Cross (ally)
- HISTORY
- Flagg is a malevolent wanderer with many aliases across King's works. In The Stand, he gathers the survivors of a deadly pandemic under his rule in Las Vegas, promising order but delivering chaos and destruction. His ultimate goal is to crush the forces of good led by Mother Abagail.
Randall Flagg is the central antagonist of The Stand, and one of Stephen King's most iconic villains, appearing in multiple works. Known as "The Dark Man" or "The Walkin' Dude," Flagg is a charismatic and malevolent force, leading the forces of evil after a global plague. He embodies chaos and destruction, with supernatural abilities that make him a near-immortal figure of terror.
