Roland and Susan remain in their early courtship, both attending to their own duties while being drawn toward one another, yet resisting the attraction.

I’m noticing more empathy for Susan this go round. She is immersed in her own life and community when suddenly a stranger appears with a new perspective, and after she’s made hard but practical decisions to support her family and future. Forced into her decision by circumstance and accepting it when an alternative appears. Roland brings forth her inner will, and she sets it against him to preserve the status quo, while longing for him all the same.

Meanwhile, Roland and his ka-tet are illustrating a developing theme I might call the tripartite man, to borrow from feminine images of the Hera/Aphrodite/Artemis triplicate. Cuthbert as the Fool/Trickster, Alain as the Squire, Roland as the Knight. Incomplete in their adulthood and forming a whole man together. Eventually Susan will join the ka-tet to form a quaternity, reflecting the group of characters that form the saga’s arc, but the idea of masculine trinity is compelling. These are youthful roles that will ultimately be integrated into the man Roland will become.