Tales from Earthsea

Alternative Titles
English: Tales from Earthsea
Synonyms: Ged Senki, Tales of Ged, Ged's War Chronicles
Japanese: ゲド戦記

Information
Type: Movie
Episodes: 1
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Jul 29, 2006
Producers: Studio Ghibli
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Magic
Duration: 1 hr. 55 min.

synopsis
A war galley is caught in a storm at sea. The ship's weatherworker is distressed to realize he has lost the power to control the wind and waves, but is more so when he sees two dragons fighting above the clouds, during which one is killed by the other—an unprecedented and impossible occurrence.

The King of Enlad, already troubled by tales of drought and pestilence in the land, as well as the news about people going insane, receives news both of the strange omen at sea and of the disappearance of his son, Prince Arren. The King's wizard Root tells the tale of how dragons and men were once "one", until people who cherished freedom became dragons, and men chose possessions; and of his fears of how the land's plight is because of the weakening of the world's "Balance". The King has little time to ponder on this before he is killed in a dark corridor by a young boy who is revealed to be his son Arren. The young prince steals his father's sword and flees the palace.

Later, the Archmage Sparrowhawk (Ged) arrives at the desert, where he witnesses Arren being pursued by wolves. He rescues Arren, who later agrees to accompany Sparrowhawk on his journey and travels to the city of Hort Town, where vendors scam people and slavers sell and trade slaves. Arren, after earning a cloak from Sparrowhawk, who buys it at a cloak vendor's stand, almost eats some Hazia from a Hazia dealer. Sparrowhawk stops him and tells him that Hazia is a drug that makes people hallucinate and then eventually die if they continue to eat it. Sparrowhawk returns to the inn while Arren goes to explore the town alone. Arren suddenly becomes scared, as if something is following him. While fleeing in fright, Arren sees a young girl with a burn scar on her face named Therru, fleeing from slavers and their leader, Hare. Although Arren saves her by fighting off the slavers, he also shocks her with his indifference to the life of any person, even his own, causing Therru to not trust him.

Later in the evening Arren falls asleep by the port and is captured by Hare and the slavers. Hare thinks Arren's sword is worthless junk and tosses it in the sea. Arren is rescued from the slavers caravan by Sparrowhawk. Together they travel to a farm where Therru is looked after by a woman named Tenar, an old friend of Sparrowhawk. Despite Therru's distrust towards Arren, Tenar welcomes the young prince with open arms.

Hare reports back to his master Lord Cob about the slaves' escape, and almost pays with his life for the loss, until he tells Cob that it was Cob's rival Sparrowhawk who freed the slaves. Cob orders him to bring Sparrowhawk to him at the castle. Back at the farm, Arren learns more about Sparrowhawk, Tenar and Therru's lives. Sparrowhawk tells Arren that he is looking into the cause of the upset of the Balance. He soon leaves the farm to return to Hort Town and investigate further. While there he discovers Arren's sword has been recovered and is on sale at a merchant's stall. Sparrowhawk is then confronted by Hare, but transforms his face to disguise himself. When the slavers leave, he changes back and buys the sword.