Stephen King is set to write a new ending to The Stand series for CBS All Access. Will this ending answer the novel’s great existential question?

The Stand is considered by many to be Stephen King’s greatest work, the ultimate examination of good and evil in a post-apocalyptic world. News that CBS All Access will adapt the novel into a nine-episode series sent fans buzzing, and now the excitement and speculation will only escalate further with announcement that King will write the final episode of the series with a story that goes beyond the book.

CBS All Access EVP Julie McNamara promises that the last episode will reveal what happens to the survivors after the events of the novel. This will reportedly be a major part of the final episode and not just a quick epilogue tacked onto the ending.

The original ending to The Stand is fairly ambiguous, at least from a thematic perspective. (Spoilers ahead for those who haven’t read the novel.) After all the conflict between the camps of Randall Flagg and Mother Abagail comes to a climax in Las Vegas, Stu Redman reunites with his wife Frannie and gets to meet his child for the first time. As they make a new home together, Stu and Frannie question whether the human race can learn from its mistakes this time, with both of them unsure about the answer.

This is the existential question that drives the whole novel as humanity’s mistakes lead to the outbreak of the deadly super flu in the first place, and the survivors who flock to Mother Abagail’s camp seem determined to learn from these mistakes while those who flock to Randall Flagg seem doomed to repeat them.

The Complete & Uncut edition of the novel offers a darker and somewhat more definitive ending, with an epilogue revealing that Randall Flagg survived the atomic blast in Las Vegas, now waking up on an island surrounded by a group of individuals who he quickly convinces to worship him as a deity. This ending suggests a cyclical nature to things, that Flagg’s ability to manipulate humanity means they are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past once more.

With the CBS All Access series following the survivors after the events of the novel, King can provide a more concrete answer to whether the human race will actually learn from their mistakes. Unlike the book, Frannie and Stu will have a clear answer to their final question. What becomes of Frannie, Stu and their child can reveal whether or not there is a positive way forward for humanity. Even though he didn’t go back east with them in the book, it would also be terrific to see what happens to survivor Tom Cullen after the events of the novel and his role in the future.

Perhaps more will also be shown of Flagg manipulating the group on the island in the epilogue, only for that group to rise up against him and prove that humanity will not always follow their darker and more selfish impulses by following the likes of Flagg.

There are many possibilities, but given that Stephen King is the one writing the ending, we can trust that whatever direction it goes in, it will likely be faithful to the source material. With James Marsden and Amber Heard added to the cast as well, the adaptation of The Stand continues to become an even more compelling project.