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Maerlyn, also known as the Ageless Stranger or Legion, is one of the two overarching antagonists (alongside John Farson) of Stephen King's The Dark Tower novel series. He is an age-old demonic entity, originating from the Prim, whose sole purpose is to sow chaos and wreak havoc across the multitude of worlds within the expansive Dark Tower multiverse, solely for his personal entertainment. Furthermore, he bears the burden of being the catalyst behind the emergence of malevolence and wickedness throughout the vast expanse of the mutliverse. He is the arch-nemesis of Gan.
Biography[]
Early life and deceiving the people of Mid-World[]
Maerlyn being born from the chaotic nothingness of the Prim.
Born from the chaotic primordial chaos of the Prim, a demon god was born. Maerlyn was an evil deity who cared for nothing but chaos and havoc, as it was "delightful" to his eyes. Maerlyn was one of the many demons who adapted and survived when the Prim receded. Maerlyn hated Gan, his brother and the deity who created the multiverse, he had to block the light of Gan from himself when the Prim receded. Maerlyn wanted chaos and death to be spread throughout the newly created multiverse of the Dark Tower that was created by Gan.
As Gan rose from the waters of the Prim, drops of water that were filled with the energy to make creation were caught by Maerlyn. Maerlyn held onto the drops until they solidified. He then returned to his lair, his cave, on the shores of the Prim. Maerlyn placed it on a potters wheel until it got round Maerlyn then went to work on making his new creation, eventually forging a mirror. In the mirror's surface, good appeared as an ugly thing while evil appeared as a beautiful thing. The Mirror also made the reflection of the White, such as Gan, hideous and stupid.
Maerlyn was eager to test his creation on Gan, and so, called upon lesser evil demons spat out of the Prim, and made them look at their reflections of their false beauty, and the demons got so fooled they declared Maerlyn the king of creation. Maerlyn instructed his minions to carry the mirror to the Dark Tower, so that he could make Gan look at his reflection and be hideous and ugly. However, the Mirror was hard to hold, and thus, the Mirror fell and shattered to a variety of pieces. Maerlyn was enraged, however, he called upon a servant. This servant turned into a tornado, which made the shards of the mirror hurt the Tower and Gan.
Maerlyn however, was initially unaware, but came to realize, that the shards contained massive amounts of evil energy, and this spread throughout the multiverse, effectively making the multiverse spread and get infected by evil and death. Gan had created the multiverse to be a holy place, however, due to Maerlyn's actions, wickedness spread like a plague into the multiverse. The plague of evil especially affected humans, who were blind to the beauty of good and saw evil as a beautiful thing. Thus, the battle between good and evil came, and from that day on, constant forces of good would fight against the forces of evil.
Maerlyn was not done with causing mischief and chaos, and so got to work on his next plan, taking the form of an old man as a wizard. He taught the people of Mid-World the philosophy of magic. He taught them how to built tunnels and doorways to different worlds, and under his teachings, he taught the people of Mid-World how to build Dogans, a type of technology that could be fused with magic to create annihilating superweapons. A great empire was created in Mid-World, the Imperium. Taking over the multiverse, the Imperium's leaders decided that in order to maintain control, they would have to control the very thing that binds the multiverse together: the Dark Tower. However, as they were doing this, one of the superweapons went out of control, releasing a fog that unleashed the evil creatures of the Prim.
Monsters and demons flooded Mid-World, causing death, chaos, and destruction wherever they go. Maerlyn laughed in amusement as he saw all of the agony that had occurred. However, the Tower, was not destroyed, much to Maerlyn's disappointment. Gan then let a drop of his blood fall into the earth, causing a rose to grow. The rose sang, and more roses grew, and the Dark Tower was protected, and the mist that made the monsters invade Mid-World was gone. The natives of Mid-World began to rebuild, healing their society. A man eventually rose to power named Arthur Eld, and became the new king of a society of humans, and led as people and society of humans healed.
Creating the Crimson King and training Randall Flagg[]
All of this had greatly frustrated Maerlyn, and Maerlyn now had to intervene if he was to cause more chaos. Maerlyn turned the waters of the Prim into glass. Maerlyn chanted a ritual, which made the glass divide into magical strands. Eventually, Maerlyn created magical, colored spheres. Maerlyn walked to the Prim. Maerlyn called upon the Great Old Ones, a group of demons created in the Prim, and there, Maerlyn made them manifest in physical, human forms. The eldest of all the Great Ones came, turning into a woman with crimson robes and silk. This entity came to be known as the "Crimson Queen." Maerlyn came to Arthur Eld, intending peace to be made between the others. A great party began, and Arthur Eld eventually went into an affair with the Crimson Queen, eventually impregnating her.
Eventually, after the party, after everyone fell asleep, the Crimson Queen, and the other Prim creatures reverted to their true forms, and attacked, killed and devoured many of the people in the court. Maerlyn and the Crimson Queen were driven away. Eventually, the Crimson Queen gave birth to an abomination, who would eventually become the future leader of the Red, the Crimson Prince. The Crimson Queen and Maerlyn knew that the future Crimson King would be destined to destroy the Dark Tower, letting the multiverse get destroyed and let the Prim return.
However, Maerlyn had a vision that disturbed him, and he told the Crimson Queen that a champion of Gan's side, the White, would come and destroy the Crimson King and prevent the destruction of the Dark Tower. He warned her that he must be destroyed, or else the Crimson King would be destroyed and the Outer Dark will fail to bring the Prim back. Maerlyn is also the father of the man who would be known as Randall Flagg, after his mating with the being known as Selena.
Maerlyn handed his son over to be raised by humans, so that his son could learn the ways of being human. Eventually, Randall Flagg, after burning his adopted human family's house, returned to his real father, and there, Maerlyn taught him the ways of magic, and effectively made Randall Flagg become a quasi-immortal half demon half human being who would serve as a dark sorcerer for many years, under the service of the Crimson King.
Maerlyn's eventual fate is unknown.
Appearance[]
The true form of Maerlyn is unknown, but as a human he resembles a wizard, old man with a grey beard.
Personality[]
Maerlyn is a ruthless, egotistical chaotic deity that seeks nothing but the complete annihilation of everything. He has no regard for other' lives, and will do anything to destroy the multiverse and cause chaos.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Trivia[]
- This version of Maerlyn is not to be confused with the one from the mainstream books. Maerlyn of the Prim has a twinner, an alternate version of himself within the Dark Tower multiverse, on a different level of the Dark Tower, that appeared in the mainstream Dark Tower book, The Wind Through the Keyhole. This being also is named Maerlyn. This version of Maerlyn is more neutral, and is also benevolent and less evil than his Prim counterpart. Unlike his Prim counterpart, this Maerlyn was a wizard who served Arthur Eld, and was later trapped by the Crimson King and made as a "tyger" for his cruelty. Plus, this story is also a legend, so it may not be true.
- This version of Maerlyn, other than the Crimson King, could be seen as an opposing force to Gan, leader of the White.
External Links[]
- Maerlyn on the The Dark Tower Wiki
- Maerlyn on the Pure Evil Wiki
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The Red Others | ||