Roland's Ka-Tet Trivia Game | Stephen King

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Roland is extremely determined to reach the Dark Tower and has often made some difficult and morally ambiguous choices to reach his goal. One of the worst choices is when instead of saving someone's life, he condemned them to death in order to continue his quest. Who was this individual who informed Roland that there were other worlds than the one he knew?

Answer: Jake

In "The Gunslinger," Roland meets Jake while he is chasing the man in black, believing the man in black will be provide him information about his destiny. An accident leaves Jake hanging from a bridge and Roland is unable to simultaneously catch the man in black and save Jake.

His determination to reach the tower causes Roland to let Jake fall to his death. Shortly before Jake falls, he informs Roland that there are other worlds. Ultimately Jake lives in one of these worlds and is able to come back into Roland's life and become part of his ka-tet.

2. Throughout the series, Roland and his ka-tet grow closer together and become like a family. Which member of the ka-tet had an older biological brother named Henry?

Answer: Eddie

Eddie grows up idolizing his brother, even though his brother is an extremely negative influence on him. Despite having an affection for his little brother, Henry becomes easily jealous of Eddie's talents and is verbally abusive towards Eddie. It is Henry's downward spiral into drug addiction that ultimately leads to Eddie getting addicted himself and getting involved in other illegal activities. Eddie is able to put his addiction behind him and become a true gunslinger.

However, he is unable to completely get rid of his brother's negative influence, as he can often hear Henry's voice taunting him when Eddie is in stressful situations that cause him to doubt himself.

3. Believing his ka-tet will have three members, Roland is shocked when he encounters someone with multiple personalities. This leads to confusion over how many individuals actually will physically comprise the ka-tet. Which member of the ka-tet is able to take these multiple personalities and fuse them into one unique individual?

Answer: Susannah

Originally born Odetta Holmes, Susannah has a second personality named Detta Walker. Odetta is a refined and civilized woman, while Detta is uncouth and prone to acts of violence and crime. Both personalities are unaware of the other's existence until Roland encounters them. Susannah is able to take traits from both these personalities to mold a new person.

The sweetness of Odetta helps her fall in love with Eddie and serve as a maternal figure to Jake. The harshness of Detta allows her to become a true gunslinger and stand up to some rather unpleasant enemies and situations.

4. Throughout the series, Roland instructs his ka-tet to not forget the face of their fathers. Who has a father named Elmer, who is a successful television executive, even if he's not the greatest dad?

Answer: Jake

Elmer Chambers is a successful television executive, who unfortunately has very little time for his son Jake. Jake's mother is also very distant from him and so Jake forms a very close bond with the housekeeper, Greta Shaw. Before leaving his family and joining up with Roland, Eddie, and Susannah, Jake steals his father's Ruger pistol and is able to bring it with him when he crosses between the worlds. Even though Roland had previously let Jake fall to his death, Jake eventually sees Roland, not Elmer, as his true father.

5. At various points, different members of Roland's ka-tet protect Roland and even save his life. Who is mortally wounded protecting Roland when Roland's son Mordred attempts to kill Roland in his sleep?

Answer: Oy

Mordred is technically the son of Roland and the Crimson King and can change life forms from being human to being a gigantic, vicious spider. The night before Roland reaches the Dark Tower, Mordred attempts to attack and kill him in his sleep. Oy is able to attack Mordred long enough to allow Roland to mortally kill his own son, but Oy is killed in the process. Oy had earlier refused an opportunity to go to New York with Susannah and Roland comes to believe that Oy was able to foresee Mordred's attack and stayed in order to sacrifice his life for Roland.

6. Loyal Dark Tower followers may remember that Eddie Dean was able to defeat Blaine the Mono by using a series of illogical jokes which Blaine cannot logically solve. However, one of the ka-tet had to also help solve a riddle just to get onto the train. Which member of the ka-tet was able to solve a "prime" riddle by Blaine just to get onto the train and escape the poisonous gas that was being released in the city of Lud?

Answer: Susannah

Blaine offers the ka-tet this riddle to solve "You'll have to prime the pump to get me going, and my pump primes backwards." Susannah recognizes that riddle has to deal with prime numbers, and enters them into a keypad backwards to successfully solve the riddle. Susannah uses a technique of solving prime numbers called the Sieve of Eratosthenes.

This method involves crossing numbers that are factors of smaller prime numbers, with the remaining numbers being primes themselves. A mathematical error in the book is that the number "1" is not crossed off Susannah's list, indicating it is prime.

In reality, the number one is considered a special case, neither prime nor composite and should have been omitted from the list.

7. Throughout the series, the ka-tet is able to help Roland get out of trouble. In some cases though, the ka-tet is able to warn Roland of upcoming danger. Which member of the ka-tet warns Roland to be wary of Dandelo?

Answer: Oy

Eddie is mortally wounded after being shot by Pimli Prentiss after the battle of Algul Siento. Shortly before dying, he warns Jake to look out for Dandelo. Jake in turns relays the warning to Oy as he lays nears death. Ultimately it is Oy who is able to communicate the warning to Roland, but the gunslinger is unclear what he means.

When Roland and Susannah encounter Joe Collins of Odd's Lane, neither of them initially recognize him as the man Eddie warned them about shortly before his death. Ultimately Susannah remembers that the "s" from Odd's Lane was handwritten in an effort to trick them.

The letters from the original sign read "Odd Lane" which can be rearranged to read Dandelo. Susannah realizes this just in time to save Roland from certain death.

8. The Tet Corporation is formed in New York, ostensibly to protect the rose in New York as well as combat the Sombra Corporation and North Central Positronics companies. When Roland visits the Tet Corporation in 1999, two of the founding members, John Cullum and Aaron Deepneau, have already died. The only remaining founder is Moses Carver. Carver is actually the godfather of which member of the ka-tet?

Answer: Susannah

Moses is Susannah's godfather and is recruited to help start the corporation because of his position with the Holmes dental company. Carver was a partner with Susannah's father and was able to use the funds from the successful company to help form the Tet Corporation. Cullum is a Maine resident from 1977 who helps Roland and Eddie escape the chaos after the shoot-out at the general store and helps them on their way to finding Stephen King. Deepneau is a friend of Calvin Tower who helps convince the selfish book store owner to sell the lot containing the Rose to the Tet Corporation.

9. Many elements of other Stephen King's books manifest themselves throughout the series. Some times it happens to be a character who appears on another story like Father Callahan. Other times, it's a general them. In "The Shining," one of the many characters has the ability to communicate telepathically. In the Dark Tower series, one of Roland's ka-tet seems to have this special ability. Which member of the ka-tet has the gift know as "the touch?"

Answer: Jake

Jake's ability to use the touch is similar to one of Roland's old ka-mates, Alain Johns. While Jake successfully demonstrates this ability throughout the series, it is under the Dixie Pig when he uses this skill most impressively. Jake goes through a mind trip set up under the Dixie Pig, which uses someone's fears against them to prevent them from successfully reaching the door to Fedic. Jake keeps seeing dinosaurs from a scary movie and is unable to proceed normally.

However, he is able to use the touch to literally swap minds with his traveling companion Oy. Oy is not daunted by the dinosaurs and is able to take Jake's body all the way through the door.

10. Several years after the seventh book of the series was released, King authored an eighth book entitled "The Wind Through the Keyhole." This book centers around a dangerous storm called a starkblast. Which member of the ka-tet has the special ability to predict the storm?

Answer: Oy

As a billy-bumbler, Oy has a special ability to predict the storm. He is acting somewhat funny at the beginning of this book. Bix, a ferryman who helps the ka-tet cross the River Whye, warns them of the oncoming storm. Roland remembers a story from his childhood of billy-bumblers predicting a starkblast.

As the ka-tet waits out the terrible storm which matches the severe intensity of a hurricane, Roland relates both the fictional tale as well as a tale of his younger exploits to his ka-mates. While the eighth book in the series, chronologically the events of the book take place between the fourth and fifth books, right before the ka-tet gets to Calla Bryn Sturgis and helps the Calla defend against the wolves.

Source: Author kstyle53

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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Roland's Ka-Tet Trivia Quiz

Roland Deschain is the main character in Stephen King's magnum opus work, "The Dark Tower." How much do you know about the very special group that forms his ka-tet?

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