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 character

Craig Horner as Richard Rahl – Raised under the name of Richard Cypher, he starts out in the series as a young woods guide living in Hartland, a town in Westland and a place where no magic exists. Richard is the adopted son of George Cypher and brother of Michael Cypher, but he does not know who his real parents are or that Zedd is his grandfather. He discovers that he is the first true Seeker in a thousand years - "a hero who arises in the times of trouble and suffering and seeks out evil". Although Richard is, at first, reluctant to take on his role as the Seeker, he is earnest in fulfilling his role as he is the person prophesied to defeat Darken Rahl. Along the way he grows closer to his new friends, and soon falls in love with Kahlan. Craig Horner describes Richard's character as someone who is "what you see is what you get" and is "so truthful", adding that "the only thing he's been taught to reserve his whole life is his anger, and he can release that once he starts to get hold of this Sword of Truth."

Bridget Regan as Kahlan Amnell – the Mother Confessor and, in contrast to the novels on which the show is based, she is not the last living Confessor, at least until partway into the second season. As a Confessor, she has the power to control any person she touches by magnifying and manipulating his capacity for love, making him confess the whole truth and nothing but the truth. This power allows her to serve as the highest judicial authority of the Midlands, whose people respect and fear her. Her mother is deceased at the beginning of the series, and she meets her father later on after many years of being estranged. Her sister appeared to have been killed at the beginning of the first episode of the series, but later we learn she has survived, and gives birth to a male confessor. In Kahlan's quest to defeat Rahl, her role is to protect the Seeker with her life, and guide and assist him as his Confessor whenever necessary. She develops a deep love for Richard, which results in torment for them both since her Confessor's powers would be inadvertently unleashed in a moment of intimacy, making it impossible for Richard and Kahlan to act on their feelings for each other without Richard becoming her slave. Executive producer Robert Tapert describes Kahlan as "a female action hero for 2009… she's perhaps more feminine at the same time as being as ruthless as Xena was."

Bruce Spence as Zeddicus "Zedd" Zu'l Zorander – a Wizard of the First Order whom the people of Hartland believe to be a crazy old chicken man. In order to protect his grandson Richard and avert the prophecy, Zedd brought him into Westland after his birth to protect him from Darken Rahl and gave him to George Cypher to raise. After Richard accepts the name of the Seeker, Zedd becomes his mentor and is sworn to protect him with his life. He rarely panics and always looks ahead to what has to be done.

Tabrett Bethell as Cara – a Mord'Sith who first appears in the Season 1 finale and is sent into the future along with Richard. Cara became part of the main cast in Season 2. Cara is one of the feared order of women known as Mord'Sith. When Mistress Denna failed to train Richard, Cara was personally recruited by the evil ruler Darken Rahl to eliminate the Seeker once and for all. But instead of fulfilling her mission, Cara was forced to work with Richard to save herself, which ultimately led to the Seeker fulfilling the prophecy, killing Rahl and ending his reign of tyranny. From the Underworld, Darken Rahl commands the Mord'Sith to dispose of Cara for her role in his demise. They beat her and leave her for dead, after which Richard helps Cara. Deserted by her people and sworn to protect Richard as the heir to the title true Lord Rahl, Cara joins the Seeker and a wary Kahlan and Zedd on their new quest. Richard trusts Cara, and believes her unique abilities could prove invaluable in finding the Stone of Tears and defeating the Keeper of the Underworld. She grows to embrace the side of good in the fight against evil, and loves Richard, Kahlan and Zedd as her family.

Craig Parker as Darken Rahl – the emperor of D'Hara, the Seeker's enemy, and an evil tyrant who wants to annex the Midlands and Westland into his empire and enslave the people living there. While he has wizards and legions of soldiers at his disposal to help him achieve his goal, he is defeated and revealed to be Richard's older half- brother (even though in the books he was Richard Rahl's father). He returns as a spirit in the second season, claiming to work for the Keeper.

Recurring characters

Jay Laga'aia as Dell "Chase" Brandstone – the head of the Councilor's Guards in Hartland. He is also a family man and Richard's closest friend. Aided by his large frame and strength, Chase is a skilled fighter. He is loyal to his friends and does not hesitate to help them.

David de Lautour as Michael Cypher – Richard's older brother and the First Councilor of Hartland. In the Season 1 episode, Hartland, Michael is killed helping his brother escape into the Midlands after Richard, Kahlan, and Chase go back to try to break a D'Haran stronghold on the Westlands.

Brooke Williams as Jennsen Rahl – Richard's younger sister. She is referred to as "pristinely ungifted", meaning that she cannot use magic nor can magic affect her directly. Although Jennsen was introduced in the first season, she does not appear in The Sword of Truth series until the seventh novel, The Pillars of Creation.

Jessica Marais as Denna – a ruthless Mord'Sith sent by Darken Rahl to torture Richard into swearing his allegiance to Darken Rahl. When her efforts are in vain, she is given a second chance but when that fails, Richard allows her to flee to escape Darken Rahl's wrath. When she captured Zedd for her own purposes, Kahlan and Cara track her down, since Richard is being trained by the Sisters of the Light. Cara shoots her through the chest with an arrow and she falls off the edge of a cliff.

Danielle Cormack as Shota – a powerful witch who controls a part of the Midlands. While Zedd (with whom she has a complicated history) warns that she is "no friend of The Seeker", she antagonizes Darken Rahl for he threatens her current state of power. After' Rahl's death, Shota aids Zedd with her knowledge of prophecy, as she does not want the Keeper to destroy all life.

Alison Bruce as Verna Sauventreen – a Sister of the Light from the Palace of the Prophets who devoted twenty-four years of her life to find Richard and bring him to the Palace to be trained as a wizard. She later in the series was found to have left the Palace of the Prophets after betraying the Prelate and helping Kahlan find Richard in Perdition. She was told of another prophecy having been written after she had left that the Keeper would be disguised as a child and blindly lead Richard after Nicci, a former Sister of the Dark, blinded him with pieces of glass and a spell. She did nothing major in the episode, Tears, but went to a temple where she told a Brother that he needed to send riders to kill the boy or else "all hope would be lost."

Jolene Blalock and Emily Foxler as Nicci – a Sister of the Dark at the Palace of the Prophets. Nicci forms a dark alliance with Richard and helps him escape in the hopes that he will find the Stone of Tears and give it to the Keeper, as written in prophecy and also was the leader of the attempts on Kahlan's life because of a prophecy saying that the Keeper would fail as long as Kahlan lived. Though Jolene Blalock's Nicci was destroyed by Zedd's Wizard's Fire in 2X10, Perdition, she was recast and returned in 2X13, Princess, as Nicci with a new body who was played by Emily Foxler. Interestingly, Foxler's physical appearance is more similar to Nicci's appearance, as described in The Sword of Truth series, than Blalock's. Nicci renounces her title as a Sister of the Dark when she eventually comes to realize that she doesn't need to serve the Keeper, the Creator, or even the Seeker and that her strength is hers alone, to do with as she pleases, to be her own person and ruler.

Elizabeth Hawthorne as Annalina Aldurren - the Prelate of the Sisters of the Light. She believes she does the work of the Creator and will stop at nothing to make sure that her interpretations of the Creators will are carried through. Awhile after Richard's escape from the Palace, a young woman believed to be the flesh and blood manifestation Creator was brought to the Palace. Annalina instructed all the Sisters of the Light to give all their han to the alleged Creator.

Jon Brazier as Thaddicus Zorander - Zedd's ne'er-do-well brother, who resents living in Zedd's shadow because of Zedd being more relied upon as a child than Thaddicus because Zedd had magic and Thaddicus did not. He is a dead-beat irresponsible person and a swindler, but his heart is in the right place and he tries to do honor to the Zorander family name. Despite their initial differences and problems with each other, Zedd cares deeply for Thaddicus. Since childhood, they both share the interest of getting revenge on Panis Rahl, who murdered their father, Carracticus Zorander.