Tales from Earthsea

Plot
A war galley is caught in a storm at sea. The ship's weatherworker is distressed to realize that he has lost the power to control the wind and waves, but is even more disturbed when he observes two dragons fighting above the clouds, one of which is killed by the other in a fight.

Shortly thereafter the King of Enlad, already troubled by tales of drought and pestilence in the land, receives news both of the strange omen at sea and of the disappearance of his son, Prince Arren. The King's wizard tells the tale of how dragons and men were once one, until dragons chose freedom, and men chose possessions, and of his fears of how the land's plight is due to a weakening of the "balance". The King has little time to ponder on this before he is set upon and killed in a dark corridor by a young lad, who turns out to be his son Arren. The prince steals his father's sword and flees the palace.

The action now moves to a desert where Arren is pursued by wolves, and rescued by a wizard who turns out to be Ged or Sparrowhawk the Archmage. Arren accompanies Sparrowhawk and travels to the city of Hort Town. Arren goes to explore the town alone, suddenly becoming scared as if something is following him. As Arren runs away, he sees a young girl, Therru, fleeing from slavers from whom he then saves her, although he also shocks her with his indifference to her life and his own.

Later in the evening Arren is captured by the slavers but loses his sword as the head slaver believes it to be worthless junk. Arren is rescued by Sparrowhawk from the slavers, and they travel to a farm where Therru is looked after by a woman, Tenar, whom Sparrowhawk knows.

The head slaver ("Hare") reports back into a castle to Lord Cob, and almost pays with his life for the loss, until he tells Cob that Sparrowhawk freed the slaves. Cob orders him to bring Sparrowhawk to the castle. Sparrowhawk at the farm reveals that he is investigating the cause of the Balance being upset and leaves for Hort Town, in which he discovers the sword that Arren had is in a merchant shop. Sparrowhawk is then confronted by Hare, but transforms his face to disguise himself. When the slavers leave, he buys the sword.

Arren, at the retreat, reveals to Therru, who eventually opened her heart to him, that he killed his father and that he is scared of the unknown presence following him. Later he leaves in secret. Tenar is captured by the slavers as a bait to lure Sparrowhawk into the castle and leaves Therru behind tied to a post as a messenger. Arren is again pursued by the unknown presence and runs away, falling into a lake and falling unconscious underwater. Lord Cob who sees this, saves him and brings him to the castle, where he manipulates him, saying that Sparrowhawk wants to use Arren to discover the secret of eternal life. Cob blackmails Arren to reveal his true name, Lebannen, in order to control him. Sparrowhawk, on the way back to the farm, encounters Therru, who freed herself, and gives her the sword, telling her to stay and give it to Arren if he returns. He goes to the castle to save Tenar but instead finds Arren, who tries to kill him, but fails. Sparrowhawk tells Arren that death is natural and that no one can live forever causing Arren to realize what he almost did, before being captured as his power is weakened within the stronghold of Cob's castle.

Therru sees a copy of Arren and follows him to the castle, where he reveals he is the light of Arren. He tells Therru his true name, and says that while he cannot go into the castle, he will be with her at all moments. Inside the castle, Therru finds Arren, guilty and all full of hopelessness, and brought hope back to him by saying his true name, breaking Cob's control over him. She also tells him her true name, Tehanu. Both go to rescue Sparrowhawk and Tenar from Cob who is about to throw them off a high tower. The sword that Arren possesses unsheathes, revealing that this is due to its magical nature, and he cuts off Lord Cob's hand, which flies away still holding his staff, rendering him unable to use magic. Cob becomes old due to the loss of the magic cast on himself. Cob captures Therru and flees to the highest tower on the castle, with Arren in hot pursuit. Cornered, Cob strangles Therru to death. However, she does not die, and instead becomes a dragon, thus killing Cob and rescuing Arren from the collapsing tower that Cob destroyed to prevent Arren from advancing.

Therru and Arren land in a field, and Therru returns to human form. Arren says he will go back home to face his crime, but will come back to see Therru in the future.

History
This feature film from Studio Ghibli is the first anime film adaptation of any part of the Earthsea series. In the past, numerous directors have attempted to adapt the Earthsea cycle for film only to be refused by the author herself.[2] Hayao Miyazaki had desired to create an anime version of the cycle, before he made Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.[3] In 2003, after winning an Oscar for his film Spirited Away, he received approval but was busy directing Howl's Moving Castle. On behalf of Studio Ghibli, his son Gorō Miyazaki, who was working as advisor on the film took charge of this film adaptation.

Voice cast

 * Bunta Sugawara (Timothy Dalton, English) as Ged/Sparrowhawk
 * Junichi Okada (Matt Levin, English) as PrinceArren
 * Aoi Teshima (Blaire Restaneo, English) as Therru
 * Jun Fubuki (Mariska Hargitay, English) as Tenar
 * Kaoru Kobayashi as the king
 * Yui Natsukawa (Susanne Blakeslee, English) as the queen
 * Yūko Tanaka (Willem Dafoe, English) asCob
 * Teruyuki Kagawa (Cheech Marin, English) as Hare
 * Mitsuko Baisho as a vendor
 * Takashi Naito as Hazia dealer