The Malloreon
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The Malloreon is a five part fantasy book series written by David Eddings, which follows The Belgariad.

1. Guardians of the West (ISBN 0-345-35266-1)
2. King of the Murgos (ISBN 0-345-35880-5)
3. Demon Lord of Karanda (ISBN 0-345-36331-0)
4. Sorceress of Darshiva (ISBN 0-345-36935-1)
5. The Seeress of Kell (ISBN 0-345-37759-1)

While the story concludes in The Malloreon, minor events occur in the prequels Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress, which otherwise cover the history of the world.

See also: The Rivan Codex

Setting

As the sequel to The Belgariad, The Malloreon is set in the same world. The following articles describe aspects of this shared setting.

• Deities in The Belgariad
• Races in The Belgariad and The Malloreon

The Malloreon greatly expands on several aspects of the setting, especially the eastern continent of Mallorea.

Series books

One of the criticisms leveled by some at the series is that it feels almost exactly like The Belgariad. Within the story, the characters notice that they seem to be doing the same things all over again, theorizing that this repetition is part of the battle of destinies that controls their world.

Guardians of the West

At the end of the previous series, The Belgariad, Garion has slain the evil god Torak and thinks that his major problems are over. Initially this seems true; the first half of the book concentrates on the first eight years of Belgarion's reign, going through many minor problems including Queen Ce'Nedra's seeming infertility and a civil war in Arendia, All of these problems are resolved without much trouble; their resolutions providing some comic relief. The book also focuses on the life of Errand, who is growing up in the Vale of Aldur as Polgara's ward. Errand, now called Eriond, is revealed to have extra-ordinary powers of extra-sensory perception, almost to the extent of omniscience. This puzzles Polgara and Belgarath. During the years of Eriond's childhood in the Vale, a dark shape approaches to warn him that the day will come that he will die, and another time the shape of a blind woman appears to him as well, to greet him and caution him that one day she might be compelled to choose against him. Eriond seems to have no fear or concern about either apparition's appearance.

Meanwhile, Belgarion and his wife Ce'Nedra are not left to live in peace. Before the dawn of a particular day, Garion and Eriond are both summoned by the Orb of Aldur to the Hall of the Rivan King. Before either one can react the Orb suddenly glows deep red, and the voice of the Prophecy warns both Garion and Errand, "Beware Zandramas!". Thereafter Garion and Belgarath seek to discover the identity and purpose of Zandramas through records of ancient, dubious prophecies.

Eventually Brand, the Rivan Warder (Belgarion's regent) is accidentally murdered by assassins sent to kill Ce'Nedra and her newborn son Geran. The assassins are traced back to the Bear-Cult, a legion of ethnocentric fanatics dedicated to world Alorn dominance, under the leadership of the Overlord of the West. They believe Queen Ce'Nedra and her children will taint the Alorn King's bloodline, since she is of Tolnedran descent. Garion hears word that the Bear-Cult have taken over several Alorn cities as their base of operations. Riva and the other Alorn nations take military action against the Bear-cult- yet while Belgarion and the others are engaging in battles, Prince Geran is kidnapped. When the cult rising is put down, it is revealed that the leader of the cultists is actually the shape-changing Grolim priest/sorcerer Harakan- who serves Urvon, a former disciple of Torak. Harakan escapes shortly after the revelation of his true identity.

The military leaders are later visited by the blind woman from Eriond's childhood, Cyradis, the seeress of Kell, the one who will have to make the ultimate choice between the Light and the Dark in the last meeting of the two Necessities. Although Belgarion's suspicion of Geran's abduction falls upons the Bear-cult, it is revealed by the Seeress of Kell that the kidnapping was carried out by Zandramas, the new Child of Dark, made from a new Prophecy (a combination of the original Divided Prophecies- see Belgariad). Garion is told that to find his son, only the following companions must he take with him on the start of his quest: Belgarath, Polgara, Ce'Nedra, Errand, Durnik, and Silk. He must also take some people unknown to him; he will gather on his travels the Huntress (Liselle), the Man Who Is No Man (Sadi), the Empty One (Zakath), the Silent Man (Toth) and the Woman Who Watches (Poledra). With these companions he must travel to the Place Which Is No More for the final meeting. While at first they are confounded by the idea of going to a place that is not there any more, they start out for Mallorea.

King of the Murgos

In this book, Belgarion and his fellow travellers take up the chase of his kidnapped son Geran. They learn more about the murderous woman Zandramas and of her minion, a white-eyed Angarak named Naradas. During their stay in Nyissa they recruit Sadi, who is no longer Chief Eunuch to Queen Salmissra after a slight misunderstanding with the queen. Sadi convinces the group to pose as slavers searching for escaped runaways as the Mallorean army ravages through Cthol Murgos. When they enter the wastelands of Cthol Murgos they are captured by the desert dwelling Dagashi and given the task of secreting an assassin through the Mallorean army lines. Eventually, they arrive in the palace of the King of the Murgos, Urgit- and discover to Kheldar's surprise that his father had sired the Murgo King while on a diplomatic mission many years before.

Urgit embraces his half-brother and arranges for the group to travel south to the Isle of Verkat. Before they leave the city, they find that the Dagashi assassin they are supposed to take with them is in fact Harakan. Garion and Harakan duel with swords until Harakan realizes he is about to lose and resorts to sorcery to save himself. The group then sails south. En route, their ship wrecks and they must travel to the coast on foot. When they reach the coast, Toth tells them that Cyradis has pre-arranged for a boat to take them to the island. On the island, they discover that they must travel to Ashaba. Before they can leave the island, Mallorean soldiers come looking for them, and Cyradis, who must abet both Necessities equally, tells Toth to alert the guards to their presence, which greatly angers Durnik, who that Toth, a trusted friend, had betrayed them, and almost strikes him down with sorcery . The book ends with the company being imprisoned and sent to Emperor Kal Zakath's Imperial Palace.

Demon Lord of Karanda

At the beginning of this chapter, Belgarion and his fellow travellers are brought to Mallorea. There, Belgarion finally meets Kal Zakath, and during their stay at the Imperial Palace Zakath and Garion become best friends. Belgarion and his followers, needing to continue their pursuit of Zandramas, come up with a plan to distract the Emperor so they can escape; however, a sudden plague spreads, which allows them to slip out of the city unchallenged, due to the quarantine.

After escaping the palace, they join up with a travelling jester named Feldegast, and they approach the kingdom of Ashaba. However, problems arise when it is revealed that the reports of demons in the country are true, as is the report of a Demon Lord named Nahaz, who has turned the once deadly Uvron insane to control him.

Reaching Ashaba, Garion is tricked into believing that he sees Zandramas and his son meeting with Urvon, and heedlessly charges into the throne room, only to find out that they were illusions. Feldegast, upon seeing Harakan, changes back into his real form- its Belgarath's 'brother' Beldin, and this starts a battle with Urvon's forces, which ultimately results in Harakan's death by Velvet getting close enough to Harakan to throw Sadi's deadly pet snake Zith at his face, striking him down. Nahaz faces the group of sorcerers and the Orb, ready to fight, but when Eriond comes to stand with Garion, the Demon Lord flees, carring the insane Urvon with him. The group continues east.

Travelling through the demon-infested countryside, and seeing horrors such as women impregnated by demons (the births usually resulting in the mother's death), the group encounters Zandramas, who attempts to coerce Ce'Nedra to come within killing distance. At the last moment the supposed dead Poledra, Polgara's mother and Belgarath's wife, appears and forces Zandramas to retreat. Poledra returns Ce'Nedra to safety, smiles at her family- and vanishes.

Sorceress of Darshiva

The party continues their pursuit of Zandramas into the Melcene Empire; upon reaching the University at Melcene, they discover that the Sardion, the polar opposite of the Orb of Aldur, was once kept in an undersea cove there- traces of its power still resonates in the walls of the undersea cove.

Belgarath finds the unmutilated copy of the Ashabine Oracles, which he has sought, and figures out that the party must go to Kell to learn of the location of "The Place That Is No More". Garion makes a disturbing discovery; in his sole moment of sanity, Torak specifically addressed Belgarion at the back of the Ashabine Oracles, demanding that if need be he should destroy the world, even kill his own son, rather than let Zandramas complete her plans. This reflects a similar warning made by Cyradis in Guardians of the West. Garion is stricken by the pain of Torak's request.

The party is finally recaptured by Zakath, who threatens to take Garion back to Mal Zeth with his companions as collateral. Cyradis appears then and persuades him to release the party, offering herself as a hostage; Zakath does so and joins them on their quest. Shortly thereafter, Poledra appears in the guise of a wolf, bringing with her an orphaned cub, no longer in the shadows of the company but as a full member of the quest now.

Urvon's Karand army under Nahaz and Zandramas' Darshivan army meet each other, as do Urvon's Demon Lord ally Nahaz and Zandramas' Demon Lord ally Mordja. The demons go after Garion's group, sensing the Orb's presence, but Aldur steps in and infuses Durnik with his own powers, increasing his size. His sledgehammer at this point is implied to partake of the power of the Orb, much like the sword of Riva Iron-grip carried by Garion. The awesome power of the three defeats Nahaz and Mordja, banishing them back to Hell, and causing Nahaz's final act on earth to drag Urvon down into Hell with him. Aldur, before leaving, informs Belgarath, Beldin, and Polgara that Durnik is "also my beloved Disciple, as he was the best suited of ye". An amulet (the only one made by Aldur without the aid of Belgarath) is finally bestowed by him, which has the sledge's image upon it.

The Seeress of Kell

The group makes it to Kell, where they meet with Cyradis. As promised, the Seeress surrenders herself to Kakath as his "hostage", and tells them that the next stop of their journey is Perivor, an island to the southwest of the Mallorean continent. Here, they will find the last clue to their journey to the Place Which Is No More.

Garion's party and Zandramas's servant Naradas attempt to find maps in Perivor, a kingdom of shipwrecked Mimbrates, that point the way to the Place Which Is No More. Naradas, disguised as a court minister, delays Garion by sending him on red-herring quests; Sadi successfully poisons him, and with the aid of a Necromancer, they expose his treachery to the King and find the ancient map. The Place Which is No More is revealed to be the High Places of Korim, an ancient temple of Torak.

The group sets sail to the Place Which Is No More, rests on the island, and confronts Zandramas. A battle ensues against her Grolim priests, as well as the demon Mordja, who now resides inside the body of their world's last living dragon. To everyone's horror Mordja kills the blindfolded Seeress's guide Toth, but Garion slays both the dragon and the demon with the Sword of the Rivan King.

The group then follows Zandramas into the Sardion's resting place, where Zandramas chooses Geran as the next Child of Dark, while Garion chooses Errand as the next Child of Light. Cyradis, still grieving over the loss of Toth, unable to consult with her people, experiences a few moments of terrible panic of making the wrong choice, until Polgara removes her blindfold so that she may see with human eyes. Receiving a final challenge from Zandramas, Cyradis ultimately chooses Eriond, causing Zandramas and the Sardion to be changed into stars and transported into outer space.

The Voice of Prophecy explains that the events of the preceding books were the result of an ancient, cosmic event that resulted in the Light and Dark prophecies, and that Eriond, the final Child of the Light, is actually the original, true God of Angarak, whereas Torak was never meant to be a God at all. Zandramas and the Sardion were now sent to fill the tear in the Universe that was never meant to be, which started the divergent Destines to begin with. With this, the final Destinies complete their fusion and now speak with the Original Voice they were meant to speak with to mankind. Just then Zakath's personal guard arrives on the Imperial ship, and meeting them in the harbor, Barak, Lelldorin, Mandorallen, and Hettar arrive in Barak's ship, with Barak's son tied to the ship's mast; as Barak was Garion's inherited Protector, so is Barak's son the inherited Protector of Geran. Belgarath explains that at the moment that Geran was in danger from Cyradis's choice, Barak's son must have turned into the next Dreadful Bear. For the grieving Cyradis and Durnik, the gods honor the fallen Toth by populating his funeral slab with eternal growing flowers and sealing off the section of mount Korim with glowing quartz and crystal forever.

After saying goodbye to Eriond, Zakath and Cyradis, the adventurers return home in Barak's ship, Garion seeing to everyone else home personally. When he and Ce'Nedra finally reach the Citadel at Riva she informs him that they will have another child, and soon.

The story ends with Garion reading a letter from Zakath telling of his marriage to Cryadis and Eriond's divine changes in Mallorea, while he, Belgarath and Durnik in the Vale of Aldur with Polgara as she gives birth to twins; this is theorized by the gods to be the first "new" event that is not a repetition, as Polgara has spent thousands of years helping to raise other people's children and has not, until this point, had a child of her own.

See also

• The Belgariad
• Characters in The Belgariad
• Deities in The Belgariad
• Races in The Belgariad and The Malloreon

External links

• A Timeline for The Belgariad and The Malloreon
• Glossary of Characters
• A MUSH set in the world of the Belgariad and the Malloreon
• A MUD set in the world of the Belgariad and the Malloreon