Mordred Deschain
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Mordred Deschain is a fictional character from Stephen King's Dark Tower series. He is the son of Roland Deschain and the Crimson King, carried to term by Susannah Dean and Mia.
Mordred can appear as either a human child, or a gigantic spider, and grows incredibly fast.
It is important to note that the son of King Arthur was named Mordred. The significance is that the guns Roland uses were forged from Excalibur, the legendary sword of Arthur Eld. Mordred is another throw back to the Arthurian legend, which is used extensively throughout the Dark Tower Series.
Biography
Mordred Deschain actually began his existence when Roland engaged in intercourse with a succubus in order to have a vision that would aid in his quest for the Dark Tower. The gunslinger's sperm were carried in a form of stasis inside the succubus, which was in truth an androgynous elemental demon, who would later take the form of an incubus and impregnate Susannah Dean. Later a simple succubus, who would become Mia, possessed Susannah and took over the care of her "chap", Mordred. In the process, Mia's consciousness actually became intertwined with Susannah's (left porous by her preexisting personality disorder), and remained so until they physically met each other just before Mordred's birth.
Mordred was the literal son of Roland, but considered his true father, in a spiritual sense, to be the Crimson King. This was reflected in the dual nature of his birth: after being transferred from the body of Susannah into that of Mia, cell by cell, Mordred came into the world as a rather healthy (if unseemly) baby boy. When taken to Mia's breast to nurse, Mordred revealed his demonic nature by turning into a giant spider, savagely tearing off her breast and draining all of her bodily fluids.
Mordred spent most of his life alternatively sleeping in his human form and feeding in his spider form. He grew and matured more rapidly when properly fed: after gorging himself on many small animals (and eventually larger ones), he would often have to sleep in his human form. His metabolism was much greater in his spider form, so he had to balance out how far he wanted to travel in his spider form with how plentiful food was in the area.
Mordred's most notable feeding came after his encounter with Randall Flagg, who intended to kill him and bring his foot to the entrance of the Dark Tower. Mordred sensed his intent, and displayed his telepathic abilities by assuming control of Flagg's body, a feat which Flagg himself had been known for in The Stand. After this display of power, Mordred made Flagg tear out his own tongue and eyes and feed them to the spider. He ended the life of the Dark Man immediately thereafter.
Mordred spent the remainder of his life, the exact length of which is difficult to gauge, hunting and tracking down Roland. His motivation for wanting to kill Roland is never made entirely clear, but it's probably the strongest stated goal that Mordred has. During his pursuit Mordred undergoes malnourishment, food poisoning, extreme cold, and something like dementia: near the end of his travels, Mordred's control over his own powers begin to unravel, and his spider and human forms become less distinguishable.
He meets his end when attempting to kill Roland: except for Oy the billy-bumbler he most likely would have succeeded, and he manages to kill the animal, but Oy's barking and the sound of the fight alerts Roland to Mordred's presence. Before Mordred can attack Roland, the gunslinger puts four rounds into his head, killing him utterly, and leaves his corpse on the ruins of a campfire.
Criticism
Mordred's character was met with a great deal of controversy among King's fans. Although his character has been foreshadowed since The Waste Lands (or possibly The Gunslinger), he only made a real appearance in the final novel and was set to become the major villain. Whereas the other characters grew and matured over the course of seven books, Mordred only had one and because of this many fans feel his characterization was awkward and forced.
Mordred killing Flagg, one of King's most popular characters, didn't win him many fans either. Many consider it to be a deliberate attempt by King to give his new character credibility and notoriety.
When asked on forums who their least favorite character is, the general consensus of the fans either point to Mordred or have him in second place.
Additional Theories
Mordred is thought to be an extension of a theme in King's works in that some of his most major villains, most notably It and Randall Flagg, are obssessed with either procreating or more directly creating an heir. This is probably part of why it is theorized that Flagg, It, and the Crimson King are all iterations of the same archetype: all of their children are treated with a fear like unto that held for the anti-Christ, even though Mordred was the only one to ever have been born.
Some further theorize that when Mordred killed Flagg and ate his power, he was actually working towards a goal of re-establishing the apparently dwindled power of the Crimson King, though whether the final step of this process would consist of him killing the king or the king killing him is unclear. This would be in line with the idea that Flagg's power decreased in proportion with the Crimson King's: in The Stand, Flagg himself would sometimes possess people so completely that they were not conscious of him doing it until afterwards, and the fact that Mordred was capable of doing this to him at such a young age has been a major influence in such reasoning.
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