Roland and his young friends come across a very dangerous enemy in Wizard and the Glass. What is it that makes them so dangerous?
Answer
They are trained gunslingers who never passed their test
In Wizard and the Glass, the dangerous enemy is a group of trained gunslingers who never passed their final test.
The enemies are the Big Coffin Hunters, led by Eldred Jonas. They are exiled or failed gunslingers operating under the influence of the sorcerer Marten Broadcloak. Their danger comes from military training, familiarity with gunslinger tactics, and practical experience in violence—not from being sorcerers or possessing the ability to destroy the Dark Tower.
The novel is the fourth book in Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series, although much of its story is a flashback to Roland Deschain’s youth. Roland and his friends Cuthbert Allgood and Alain Johns are still young gunslingers-in-training when they become involved in the political and military conflict surrounding the town of Hambry.
The Big Coffin Hunters are formidable because they represent a corrupted version of the path Roland and his friends are following. They know how gunslingers think and fight, but they have failed the moral and professional standard required to join that order. Their threat is therefore both physical and thematic: they show what trained warriors can become when discipline is separated from honor.