Summary
Within the grand tapestry of Stephen King’sDark Towerseries, there are many prolific and memorable characters that make the series so remarkable. Of course, there is Roland Deschain, the protagonist of the series and the last surviving member of the fabled gunslingers. Then there’s the Man in Black, aka Randall Flagg, and his master, The Crimson King. When it comes to the possible first season ofMike Flanagan’s adaption ofThe Dark Tower, there is one character that is more vital to the story than most others, and needs to be included in the show. That character isJake Chambers.
First introduced in Stephen King’sThe Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger, the young boy became Roland’s traveling companion as he chased the man in black. But as the series progressed, he became so much more. The boy’s impact not only on Roland’s life, but on the events of theDark Towerseries, become critical to the direction that theDark Towerseries will take inMike Flanagan’s live-action adaptation.
Jake Chambers, Explained
When readers are first introduced to the young boy, it iswhen Roland is on his journey to chase the man in black. Roland stumbles upon a way station where he finds Jake Chambers, who helps a dehydrated Roland by bringing him water. Jake at first doesn’t recall how he got to the way station or what happened to him, and reveals he hid from the man in black when he appeared at the way station. Roland uses hypnosis to reveal that Jake was from a world similar to Earth, and that he perished in a car accident before waking up at the way station.
As Jake travels with Roland on his quest, Roland saves the boy from a demon. Later, they travel together into a tunnel in the mountains, hot on the trail of the man in black. However, a pivotal moment in Roland’s journey occurswhen they are attacked by creaturesknown as slow mutants, and Jake hangs perilously from a ledge leading deep into the cave. Roland, torn between saving the boy and chasing the man in black, ultimately fails to save Jake. The boy tells him, before plunging to his demise:
Go then, there are other worlds than these.
Jakereturns in book three of the series,The Wastelands,when both he and Roland in their own worlds begin having two separate sets of memories plaguing them. In one, Jake died in that car accident and met Roland; in the other, he lived after Roland altered Jake’s fate, stopping the man responsible for the car accident to begin with. When Roland and his allies find a way to save Jake and bring him to their world, he joins Roland and even becomes his adoptive son, calling Roland his true father.
Jake Chambers in The Dark Tower Series
Not only does Jake Chambers play a significant role in the majority of the series, but he holds the key to Roland’s emotional journey as well. Alongside Eddie Dean and Susannah, Jake becomes an extension of Roland’s own humanity, helping break down the rough exterior he has had to develop through his many years as he goes on this journey. Through so many losses and so much pain, Roland has lived a solitary life for most of his many years. Jake is the first person he encounters that starts to reawaken his emotional core,albeit not enough to deter his mission to the Dark Tower.
Without Jake and his sacrifice, there would be no Eddie or Susannah. There would not even be Oy, the creature known as a billy bumbler who joins Jake as his pet and best friend, and becomes one of the group’s protectors towards the Dark Tower. Jake and Roland’s connection is undeniable, taking on not only a mentor and mentee relationship, but that of a father and son as well.After the complex relationship Roland has with his own father, taking the boy under his wing and learning to care for him and the others becomes a cornerstone of Roland’s overall journey in the series.
With director and creator Mike Flanaganknown for his significantly emotional storytelling in a horror setting, this relationship is no doubt significant to be a cornerstone of the show’s first season. The connection Roland forms with Jake and the shocking twist of fate that occurs in the first book will be a shocking and driving moment in the show’s first season (if they adapt it exactly). But either direction the showrunner takes, the emotional weight of their journey together will shape the direction the overall series will take as the story progresses. No matter what, it will add more depth to the multiversal arc that Roland’s mission takes in the grand tapestry of Stephen King’sDark Towerfranchise.
