Who is Randall Flagg?

There is often a lot of talk online about the relationship between Walter o’ Dim, Marten Broadcloak, John Farson, and Randall Flagg. Indeed, Stephen King appears to have changed his mind about these characters as the Dark Tower series progressed, gradually weaving them into one single character.

In order to better understand this process I have systematically gone through all seven of the main Tower books including both versions of The Gunslinger, and come up with an infographic which I think represents the gradual weaving together of these characters over the space of the 34 years it took King to write the story. I’ll go through each book more-or-less chronologically, but you can download the completed infographic here: –

https://i.imgur.com/fIpCoje.jpg

The Gunslinger (1982)

Walter is the man in black.

Marten is the good man.

Farson is a town.

Walter and Marten are allies, yet Walter betrays Marten and delivers him to the gunslingers, who kill him.

Marten seduces Gabrielle, yet Walter also comes to Gabrielle, disguised as Marten.

There are some confusing parts to the story, but the most perplexing one is that Roland and his fellow gunslingers have killed Marten, yet when he finally catches up with the man in black at the Golgotha, Roland shows surprise that the man in black is Walter, not Marten.

“Walter,” the gunslinger whispered. “You . . . you’re not Marten at all. You’re Walter!”

The man in black tittered. “At your service.”

The Drawing of the Three (1987)

In Book 2, Farson is now the name of the good man, and hence he is also Marten.

Additionally, Roland mentions a magician and demon called Flagg. It is shown that this is the same Flagg that fled the Kingdom of Delain in The Eyes of the Dragon. He plays no part in Drawing of the Three though. This is the first mention of Flagg in the main Dark Tower books, although at this stage Stephen King had already written both The Stand and The Eyes of the Dragon, featuring Randall Flagg as a main character.

The Waste lands (1991)

Walter, Marten and Farson have the same relationship here as in The Drawing of the Three, i.e. Walter is an ally of Marten, who is also known as Farson, the good man.

A character called Richard Fannin, who also goes by the name the Ageless Stranger (who Roland had been warned about in The Gunslinger) appears and rescues Andrew Quick – the Tick-Tock Man.

Wizard and Glass (1997)

Walter, Marten and Farson have the same relationship here as in The Drawing of the Three and The Waste Lands, i.e. Walter is an ally of Marten, who is also known as Farson, the good man.

Richard Fannin reappears and has the same appearance as Marten. However, it is revealed that he goes by the name of Flagg.

It is established that Roland and Steven Deschain don’t know that Marten and Farson are the same person. Additionally, it is shown that Latigo and the big coffin hunters think that Walter and Marten/Farson are different people.

Marten’s full name is revealed to be Marten Broadcloak.

Wolves of the Calla (2003)

It is revealed that Walter and Marten, up until now presented as allies, are in fact one and the same person. Thus although we were shown in Wizard and Glass that Roland thinks they are different people, and that Latigo and the big coffin hunters think Walter and Farson are separate people, they are all mistaken.

Richard Fannin, The Ageless Stranger, the man in black, Walter, Marten Broadcloak, and Farson, the good man, are all in fact Randall Flagg.

Song of Susannah (2004)

In Song of Susannah it is driven home to us that Walter is in fact Randall Flagg. There are many quotes throughout the book that labour this point.

Then, in the diary entries of the fictitious character Stephen King (presented at the end of Song of Susannah), it is revealed that in 1995 King got the idea that Walter might in fact be Randall Flagg, who had appeared in some of his other books. This is consistent with the revelation in Wizard and Glass (published 1997) that Walter is Marten is Farson is Flagg.

The Dark Tower (2004)

It is established that Walter is in fact the same Randall Flagg from both The Stand, and The Eyes of the Dragon.

It is also revealed that Walter goes by the name Walter o’ Dim, but was born with the name Walter Padick.

It is further established that Flagg/Walter/Marten is also John Farson, since Flaherty recognises Roland as having the same mouth as his mother, “who did suck John Farson with such glee”.

However, to add confusion to this part o the tale, Walter tells us of “his time in service to the Good Man, implying that he is not the Good Man. It is possible that here Walter is referring to his time using the moniker “John Farson, the good man”.

The Gunslinger (revised edition, 2003)

In this revised version of The Gunslinger it is established that Walter and Marten are one and the same person(unlike in the original version). This makes things consistent with the later books.

Walter therefore comes to and seduces Gabrielle as Marten (rather than “through Marten” as the 1979 edition tells us). Also, Marten is no longer betrayed to the gunslingers, nor is he killed.

The good man is known as Farson.

So, in summary, the man in black, Walter o’ Dim, Marten Broadcloak, John Farson, the good man, the Ageless Stranger, Richard Fannin are all the one and only Randall Flagg.

There are hints in The Dark Tower (book 7) that Roland is thinking Randall Flagg might also be Maerlyn. However, we are told in The Waste Lands by Flagg (as Richard Fannin) that he had been called Merlin or Maerlyn, but that “he was never that one”.

So that’s it. It all comes down to Flagg.

Finally, I have created a new chart that shows all these quotes and inter-relationships. I see it as a literature review of the Tower books, and it can be downloaded at 300dpi resolution from here: –

https://i.imgur.com/fIpCoje.jpg

Long days and pleasant nights,

Chris