Legend of the Seeker

Legend of the Seeker
Intertitle
Genre	Adventure Sword and sorcery Fantasy Supernatural
Created by	Sam Raimi Terry Goodkind (novels)
Starring	Craig Horner Bridget Regan Bruce Spence Craig Parker Tabrett Bethell
Theme music composer	Joseph LoDuca
Country of origin	Template:TVUS
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	44 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Sam Raimi Robert Tapert Joshua Donen Ned Nalle Kenneth Biller
Production location	New Zealand
Running time	42 minutes
Production company	ABC Studios
Original release
Network	First-run syndication
Release	November 1, 2008 (2008-11-01) – May 22, 2010 (2010-05-22)

Legend of the Seeker is a television series based on The Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind. Distributed in U.S. by Disney-ABC Domestic Television, ABC Studios produced the series, which was its first foray into broadcast syndication, with Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, Joshua Donen, Ned Nalle and Kenneth Biller serving as executive producers. The show premiered on November 1, 2008 and ran for two seasons before its cancellation in 2010.

The series follows the epic journeys of a young woods guide named Richard Cypher (Craig Horner), a mysterious woman named Kahlan Amnell (Bridget Regan), a wizard named Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander (Bruce Spence), and a warrior named Cara (Tabrett Bethell) as they defend against tyranny and destruction.

Plot

The story takes place in the world author Terry Goodkind created in his The Sword of Truth fantasy novel series. The three main provinces are Westland, the Midlands and D'Hara. Westland is separated from the Midlands by a magical boundary, which was created to prevent any magic from entering Westland. On the other side of the Midlands is D'Hara, which is ruled by Darken Rahl. An ancient order of women known as Confessors oversee the welfare of the people of the Midlands.

The first season is loosely based on the first book of The Sword of Truth series Wizard's First Rule. Some of the stories feature events and characters not encountered in the books, while others loosely adapt events from the book. The story begins after the invasion of Darken Rahl's army into the Midlands. Kahlan Amnell, a Confessor, ventures into Westland in search of a wizard and the Seeker, who has been prophesied to defeat Rahl. Kahlan finds the wizard, Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander , and the Seeker, Richard Cypher, who is forced to accept his destiny. Together, they set off on a journey to seek out Darken Rahl and his minions. They soon discover that in the process of defeating Darken Rahl, they unintentionally helped the Keeper of the underworld create tears between the veil of the underworld and the world of the living. Richard's quest in the second season is to find the 'Stone of Tears' to seal the rifts between the worlds and defeat the Keeper.

Cast

Main characters

• Craig Horner as Richard Rahl (Season 1 and 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 1x01 "Prophecy", Kahlan arrives in Hartland to find Richard and Zedd and Zedd tells Richard who he really is. 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.

• Bridget Regan as Kahlan Amnell (Season 1 and 2) - The Mother Confessor. (Only named Mother Confessor in 1x10 "Sacrifice"). After Richard is named, she has sworn to protect Richard with her life and proves worthy to the team because, during battles, when she gets the chance, she confesses people so that they can find out information and add someone to their team.

• Bruce Spence as Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander (Season 1 and 2) - The first wizard and a Wizard of the First Order. After Richard was named, he swore to protect Richard with his life. He proves worthy to the team because, when there are things involving magic or there's no one Kahlan can confess, he normally finds out the right answer. He never rushes and always looks ahead to what has been done.

• Tabrett Bethell as Cara Mason (Season 2) - A Mord - Sith. She was then one who helped Richard kill Darken Rahl and in 2x01 "Marked" when her Sisters of the Agiel betrayed her, Richard saved her. Because of that, both protect each other with their lives. Cara is always fiesty and sharped - tongued and has the stomach to kill good people when none of the rest can.

Recurring Characters

• David de Lautour as Michael Cypher (Season 1) - Richard's stepbrother and First Counciler of Hartland. Michael always looked down on Richard and never told him his origin. In 1x14 "Hartland", Michael is killed while trying to help Richard and Kahlan.

• Brooke Williams as Jennsen Rahl (Season 1 and 2) - Richard's sister and a Pristinely Ungifted. As a Pristinely Ungifted, Jennsen can't be harmed by magic nor can she use magic. In 2x21 "Unbroken", the Keeper sends the Sisters of the Dark to drink her blood and they kill her.

• Craig Parker as Darken Rahl (Season 1 and 2) - Richard's brother and the emperor of D'Hara. Darken Rahl once sent his assassins to kill every first - born child in Brennidon so they will kill the seeker but Zedd escaped with Richard and raised him in Hartland. After that, Darken Rahl has tried everything he can to kill Richard. In Season 2, Darken Rahl forces Richard to resurrect him and Rahl returned to the World of the Living.

• Tania Nolan as Dennee Amnell (Season 1 and 2) - Kahlan's sister and a confessor. From young, Dennee has always looked up to Kahlan. In 1x10 "Sacrifice", Dennee and the remaining confessors (except Kahlan) flee to Valeria but the Mord - Sith kill them all. In 2x07 "Resurrection", Denna and a wizard resurrect her but she flees Denna and lives with the child of the woman whose body her spirit had been put in.

• Jon Braizer as Thaddicus Zorander (Season 1 (cameo) and 2) - Zedd's brother. From young, Thaddicus has never done anything good but has always seized every opportunity to kill Panis Rahl, the man who murdered his and Zedd's father.

• Jay Laga'aia as Dell "Chase" Brandstone (Season 1) - The boundary warden of Hartland. Chase has always done everything he can to help Richard.

• Danielle Cormack as 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 advisor. General Egremont has never double - crossed Rahl and will even lay down his life for Rahl.

• Jessica Marais as Denna - A Mord - Sith. When she failed to break Richard Rahl gave her a second chance but when she failed again, Richard allowed her to flee to escape Rahl's wrath. In 2x07 "Resurrection", she kills Richard and puts a trained D'Haran general's spirit in his body but Kahlan kills the general and a wizard and Cara resurrect Richard. In 2x08 "Light" Cara shoots her through the chest with an arrow and she falls of 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 trapped Richard in the Palace of the Prophets then, she left him to die in the Valley of Perdition, then she sent a false Creator to execute him but he escapes every time.

• Jolene Blalock and Emily Foxler as Nicci - The former leader of the Sisters of the Dark. When Nicci fulfilled a promise by the Keeper that if she served him he will protect her, she became one of his most loyal and deadly serveants until Richard convinces her that her strength is hers and hers alone and that she doesn't need to serve the Creator, Keeper or him.From then on, Nicci serves her own self and exits service of the Keeper.

• Elizabeth Blackmore as Marriana - The leader of the Sisters of the Dark. After Nicci left, Marriana took over leadership. Marriana has never betrayed the Keeper and is very loyal to him. She appears as a recurring villain from episodes 39 to 44. In 2x22 "Tears", Richard kills her by stabbing her with the Sword of Truth through her.

Episodes

Main article: List of Legend of the Seeker episodes

The series premiered on November 1, 2008 in the United States and is 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. All aired episodes were previously available online at Hulu and the official website for United States residents, but most of the episodes were removed from both just prior to the DVD release.

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.Streamable episodes appeared on both the show's official website, HuluPlus, and Netflix.

Production

Development

Sam Raimi became interested in adapting The Sword of Truth novels after his business partner Joshua Donen encouraged him to read the books, and he in turn gave the books to Robert Tapert to read. Raimi considered adapting the first book into a movie or a five-part miniseries, but later settled on making a weekly television series after speaking to the books' author Terry Goodkind. A weekly television program would allow them to include most of the stories and important aspects of the series. Goodkind had resisted selling the rights of his books on multiple occasions before he met Raimi because he was not confident that other producers would maintain the integrity of his stories and characters. Raimi, who had produced Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess with Tapert and Ned Nalle, saw this as an opportunity to return to the first-run syndicated television business. However, the syndicated television business had diminished after the loss of crucial foreign markets and a gradual conversion of independent stations to UPN and WB programming that left little room for other syndicated dramas.

ABC Studios agreed to fund the project, making it its first venture into broadcast syndication, and greenlit the production for 22 episodes, after it was cleared for broadcast to stations representing 84% of the United States, with Tribune Company being the primary launch group. The show, which is heavily action-oriented and requires visual effects, was given a "network-sized" production budget of US$1.5 million per episode.

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, and it would have been too restrictive for them to only include plotlines from the first book as well as having the opportunity to cover the story within all the books in the series.

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." 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."

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. 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". 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. Tapert and Raimi maintain that while the writers have had to create events that were 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. 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.

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. 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. 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

In 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". Raimi thought that although Horner is older than the character he plays (even though he really isn't), 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." 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.

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." Like Horner, Regan had not read the books prior to the audition. 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.

Filming

Production was set to begin in May 2008 but was delayed by six weeks. The series is shot entirely in New Zealand in high-definition. Though based in Auckland, filming has taken place in various places in and outside of the city: at Henderson Valley Studios, in the city's outskirts and in the mountainous region around Queenstown.

Cancellation

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

Response

Ratings

Legend of the Seeker premiered on the weekend of November 1–2, 2008 in the United States and attracted more than 4.1 million viewers over the two days. The first two episodes obtained an average of 1.5/3 Nielsen rating among 54 metered markets with a 1.4/3 rating on Saturday and a 1.7/3 rating on Sunday. In addition to improving its broadcast time periods in several top markets, Legend also improved the audience numbers in the key 18 to 49 year old demographic in all airings. Over its first month of airing, the show averaged more than 3.6 million viewers. It was renewed for a second season after obtaining a 2.0 household rating average for its first ten episodes.

Critical reception

The premiere of Legend of the Seeker, which included its first two episodes, received generally mixed reviews from critics earning a 53 out of 100 average rating as calculated by Metacritic. It was criticized for not being as "fun" as Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess (also produced by Robert Tapert and Sam Raimi), and not having enough excitement. Another major complaint about the show was its lack of distinguishing features and that it was "too derivative of other works" like Star Wars, The Matrix, and The Wheel of Time, with the "300-style" slow-motion action sequences often cited as an example. Brian Lowry from Variety called the show "a hodgepodge of better sci-fi/fantasy fare", while Ray Richmond from The Hollywood Reporter described it as "[b]ig on style but more challenged in terms of substance" with "too little provocative/evocative interaction aside from the ultra-violent kind".

Legend was praised for its high production value and the use of New Zealand exteriors, with Robert Lloyd from Los Angeles Times commenting that the show is basically "good-looking fun". Although both Lloyd and Diane Steenbergen from IGN commended the performances of the lead actors Craig Horner and Bridget Regan , they were not pleased with the supporting performances. Steenbergen thought that the series' third episode was "far more entertaining than the previous two that were weighed down with too much exposition."

Awards

In 2009, the series won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series. In 2010, the series was nominated for an Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music Emmy. In 2011, Costume Designer Jane Holland, Cinematographer Kevin Riley, and Sound Designer Chris Burt all won awards at the Aotearoa Film & Television Awards for their outstanding work in Legend of the Seeker. 

International broadcast

In addition to the United States, broadcast rights for Legend of the Seeker have been picked up in more than 60 international markets. In Spain, the show began airing on Telecinco on March 15, 2009. In New Zealand, it premiered on March 29, 2009 on Prime and airs weekly in the Monday 7:30 pm timeslot. In the UK & Ireland, SyFy Channel picked up the rights for Season 1 and Season 2 with the air time slot of 8:00pm starting on August 13, 2009 Irish Broadcaster RTE1 aired the show on August 19. In French Canada, the first season aired in 2009 and the second season in 2010 on Ztélé under the French title L'Épée de vérité.

In South Africa the show was picked up by pay TV operator M-Net, broadcasting on Saturday nights since July 2009. In Germany, it premiered on October 11, 2009 on ProSieben and airs Sundays around 5:00pm. In Singapore, it premiered October 15, airing on Thursdays at 2030hrs.In Poland it premiered September 4, 2009 on TVP1 and airs on Fridays around 10:00pm. In Australia, it will premiere on Fox8 on November 29. In Italy, the show will premiere on SKY Uno on December 8. In Sweden, the series will premiere on TV6 5 February at 20.00 local time. In Ukraine, the series will air on 1+1 channel 14 November at 12.30 local time In Norway, the first episode aired 28 December 2009 on Tv2 Zebra Sundays at 20.00 (Norwegian time).

DVD releases

DVD Name	Release dates			Ep #	Additional Information
	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
The Complete First Season	October 13, 2009	TBA	January 5, 2011	22	The five disc box set includes all 22 episodes. Extras include "Forging the Sword: Crafting a Legend", "Words of Truth: A Conversation with Terry Goodkind", deleted scenes, and audio commentaries. Running Time: 950 minutes.
The Complete Second and Final Season	September 28, 2010	TBA	TBA 2011	22	The five disc box set includes all 22 episodes. Extras include extended scenes, "Under the Underworld", and "Redemption of a Mord'Sith: Meet Cara". Running Time: 946 minutes.

External links

• Official Legend of the Seeker website
• Terry Goodkind's official website
• Legend of the Seeker at IMDb
• Legend of the Seeker at Hulu
• Template:Tv.com
• Legend of the Seeker at TV Guide