Legend of the Seeker

The series premiered on November 1, 2008 in the United States and was broadcast weekly on Saturday or Sunday, depending on the local television station. It is based on the novel Wizard's First Rule. In addition to the 22 episodes of the first season, the series was renewed by Disney for a second season.^[1]

Filming of the second season started in July 2009; it was based on the sequel to Wizard's First Rule, Stone of Tears. The first episode aired on November 7, 2009. The season consisted of 22 episodes.

Cast and characters

Main

• Richard Cypher^[2]
  – The Seeker of Truth. When Darken Rahl sent his soldiers to kill every first-born son in Brennidon, Zedd helped Richard by bringing him into Hartland and giving him to George and Mary Cypher. In season 1, episode 1, "Prophecy", Kahlan arrives in Hartland to find Richard and Zedd. Zedd tells Richard who he really is - the Seeker destined to defeat Darken Rahl. Together, they stand to defeat Darken Rahl, but when they defeat Rahl, they caused a tear in the veil which separates the World of the Living from the Underworld and they have to find the Stone of Tears to seal the rift. It is later revealed that Richard's half brother is Darken Rahl and that he is to inherit the throne, which he decides to reject.
• Kahlan Amnell^[2]
  – The Mother Confessor. (Only named Mother Confessor in the first season, episode ten, "Sacrifice.") After Richard is named, she is sworn to protect him with her life and proves worthy to the team because, during battles, when she gets the chance, and when necessary, confesses people (uses her powers to put people under control) so that they can find out information and temporarily add someone to their team.
• Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander
  – The First Wizard and a Wizard of the First Order. After Richard is named as the Seeker of Truth, he swears to protect him with his life. He proves worthy to the team, especially on matters involving magic. When there is no one Kahlan can confess, he normally finds the right answer. He never rushes, always considering the consequences of his actions, and never fails to consider what has to be done. In episode 4 of season 1, he reveals to Kahlan that he is Richard's grandfather.
• Mord-Sith
  . She is the one who helped Richard kill Darken Rahl. In season 2, episode one, "Marked" when her Sisters of the Agiel betray her, Richard rescues her. After that incident, and realizing that Richard is the rightful Lord Rahl, both protect each other with their lives. Cara is always feisty and sharp-tongued and has the stomach to kill good people when none of the rest can. She approaches problems with the simplest, most direct and usually most violent solutions, often to the chagrin and amusement of the others.

• Darken Rahl
  – Richard's half-brother and the emperor of D'Hara. Darken Rahl once sent his assassins to kill every first-born child in Brennidon so that the Seeker may be one of the children killed and this can keep the "destiny" of the Seeker from being fulfilled, but Zedd escaped with Richard and raised him in Hartland. After that, Darken Rahl tries everything he can to kill Richard. In season 2, Darken Rahl forces Richard to resurrect him, and Rahl returns to the world of the living. After realizing that his defeat has also caused another threat which involves the prophecy saying that the Seeker will deliver the Stone of Tears to Keeper, he reluctantly join forces with Richard to destroy the Keeper for good, by sending the group of Mord-Sith in order to help Richard and the others reach to the Pillars Of Creation. In the original novel, Darken was Richard's father, not brother.
• David de Lautour as Michael Cypher (season 1) – Richard's stepbrother and First Councilor of Hartland. Michael always looked down on Richard and never told him his origin because their father, George Cypher, made him promise not to tell Richard. In season 1, episode 14, "Hartland", Michael is killed by a D'Haran while trying to help Richard and Kahlan.
• Brooke Williams as Jennsen Rahl – Richard's sister and a Pristinely Ungifted. As a Pristinely Ungifted, Jennsen cannot be affected by magic, nor can she use magic. In season 2, episode 21, "Unbroken", the Keeper sends the Sisters of the Dark to drink her blood in order to become immune to magic themselves, killing Jennsen in the process; however, this takes place in an alternate timeline.
• Tania Nolan and Gina Holden as Dennee Amnell – Kahlan's younger sister and a Confessor. From childhood, Dennee has always looked up to Kahlan. In season 1, episode 10, "Sacrifice", Dennee and the remaining confessors (except Kahlan) flee to Valeria with Dennee's son (a male Confessor), but the Mord-Sith eventually kill them all. In season 2, episode 7, "Resurrection", Denna and a wizard resurrect her, but she escapes them and lives with the child of the woman whose body her spirit had been put in.
• Jon Brazier as Thaddicus Zorander – Zedd's brother. From childhood, Thaddicus has always held resentment towards Zedd, since the latter had magic like their father, while he did not, and has gotten frequently into trouble. He has taken every opportunity to kill Panis Rahl, the man who murdered their father.
• Dell "Chase" Brandstone
  (season 1) – The boundary warden of Hartland. Chase has always done everything he can to help Richard.
• Shota
  - The witch woman of Agaden Reach. In season 1, Shota tries to help the team with her knowledge of prophecy and witch woman skills. In season 2, Shota tries to kill Richard and name a new Seeker because of the prophecy saying that the Seeker will deliver the Stone of Tears to the Keeper.
• Kevin J. Wilson as General Egremont – Lord Rahl's most trusted adviser. General Egremont has never double-crossed Rahl and will even lay down his life for him.
• Jessica Marais as Denna – A Mord-Sith. When she fails to break Richard, Darken Rahl gives her a second chance. When she fails again, Richard allows her to flee to escape Rahl's wrath. In season 2, episode 7, "Resurrection", she kills Richard and puts a trained D'Haran general's spirit in his body. Kahlan kills the general and a wizard and Cara resurrects Richard. In season 2, episode 8, "Light", Cara shoots her through the chest with an arrow and she falls off a cliff and dies.
• Elizabeth Hawthorne as Annalina Aldurren – The prelate of the Sisters of the Light. Ann will do anything to fulfill "the Creator's will". First, she traps Richard in the Palace of the Prophets, then she leaves him to die in the Valley of Perdition, and, finally, she sends a false Creator to execute him. Richard escapes every time, however.
• Emily Foxler
  as Nicci – The former leader of the Sisters of the Dark. When Nicci fulfills a promise by the Keeper that he will protect her if she serves him, she becomes one of his most loyal and deadly servants. This changes when Richard convinces her that her strength is hers and hers alone and that she does not need to serve the Creator, Keeper, or himself. From then on, Nicci serves herself only and ceases serving the Keeper.
• Elizabeth Blackmore as Mariana – The current leader of the Sisters of the Dark. After Nicci leaves, Mariana takes over leadership. Marianna has never betrayed the Keeper and is very loyal to him. She appears as a recurring villain from episodes 39 to 44. In season 2, episode 22, "Tears", Richard eventually kills her with the Sword of Truth.

Production

Development

Originally named Wizard's First Rule (after the first book in The Sword of Truth series), the show was retitled to Legend of the Seeker at Goodkind's suggestion since the producers wanted to differentiate the show from the books, it would have been too restrictive for them to only include plot lines from the first book, and because this would allow them the opportunity to cover the story within all the books in the series.^[6]

Writing

Executive producers Raimi and Tapert intended Legend of the Seeker to be "just about telling the stories of these characters and the sacrifices they make for each other. Sometimes it's about the meaning of real friendship. And always, it's the stories of the hero's journey."^[9] Tapert added, "We didn't want to have the '90s postmodern attitude where the audience is in on the joke. Seeker is much more serious than Hercules and Xena."^[10]

With show's production based in New Zealand and a writing staff based in Los Angeles, one of the biggest challenges has been dealing with the time differences and the communication issues.^[11] Kenneth Biller noted that the biggest challenges the writing staff faced were to create standalone episodes while integrating the storylines and mythology created by Terry Goodkind, and to "honor the books without literally translating them".^[11] As such, the series contains some stories from the books and new stories and events created by the series' writers. Raimi's reason for the changes is that the structure of a novel differs from a weekly one-hour television program.^[12] Tapert and Raimi maintain that while the writers have had to create events that are not portrayed in the books, they have remained faithful to the characters, themes and overarching story of the books:

...I think the most important thing, at least for me, is that we remain true to the heart and soul of the characters, what they represent, what they stand for, the good things that they're fighting for, what are their weaknesses and how to overcome them, what the villain represents to the hero, the love story. Those will all be intact and brought as close as possible by our writers to the screen. The actual plot of it, though, happens in a slightly different order and sometimes different stories will be told, as depicted in the series of novels.

Goodkind released a message to his readers on his official website prior to the show's production, saying: "No series (or mini-series, or feature film) can follow the underlying book exactly. Sam Raimi and his team want to keep the TV series true to my vision, so rest assured that I am going to be intimately involved in the writing of each of the episodes." He added, "If you love the book just the way it is, then enjoy the book for what it is and come to the TV series prepared to enjoy the show for what it is."^[13] However, after production started, Goodkind released another press statement in response to questions posed to him by fans: "I want you all to understand that ABC studios chose not to consult me on actors, scripts, or any other aspect of the show," he stated. "I have had no input whatsoever on the TV series, so I am the wrong person to write to or complain about the show. If you wish to make comments, positive or negative, please direct them to Disney/ABC." He continued, "For my part, I trust in Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert to at some point be able to exert their immense creative talent and do a great job at bringing to life the characters we all love."

Casting

When casting the role of Richard Cypher, Tapert recalled that when he saw Craig Horner's audition tape, he "absolutely thought he was the guy, instantly".^[12] Raimi thought that although Horner is older than the character he plays (even though he actually is not), he was "very believable" and that "he's got enough good qualities in him, in real life, and he will probably make the audience believe that he's taking that ride towards making a responsible person and that growth of character that's so important for me in the stories of Terry Goodkind."^[12] Horner had not heard of the books prior to the audition, and was convinced by a friend to read the books and try out for the role.^[14]

For the role of Kahlan Amnell, Raimi credits Tapert for finding Bridget Regan, whom he saw on one of the audition tapes they received. Raimi thought that she grounded the fantastical situations by being "very human and real", and recalled, "I was moved by her and I believed her and I thought we couldn't ask for anything more."^[12] Like Horner, Regan had not read the books prior to the audition.^[15] Horner and Regan were brought together for a "chemistry reading" in Los Angeles, upon which the producers concurred that they had found their two lead actors.^[12]

Filming

Production was set to begin in May 2008, but it was delayed by six weeks.

Tribune Broadcasting, the major station group carrying the show, decided not to renew the series on March 4, 2010, but according to a statement from ABC Studios,^[3] this was not a deciding factor of its cancellation. After an apparent deal with Syfy fell through,^[18] Ausiello Files reported on April 26 that Legend of the Seeker had been cancelled and would not return for a third season.^[19] Fans of the series responded by launching an ongoing renewal campaign titled "Save Our Seeker".^[20] Terry Goodkind expressed his support for the campaign.

International broadcasts

In addition to the United States, broadcast rights for Legend of the Seeker have been picked up in more than 60 international markets.

In