Tales from Earthsea

This 2006 anime attempts to take the first four books of Earthsea and combine them into one epic tale. The attempt was not successful. Sparrowhawk (Timothy Dalton), hero of book 1, is now the Archmage of Roke and is travelling the lands to discover what has thrown the world into imbalance. On his trek he encounters Prince Arren of Enlad, hero of book 3. Arren has fled Enlad after having slain his father, the king. The action has split him into two beings, which was what had happened to Sparrowhawk in Book 1 but not to Arren in Book 3. A little bit of character scrambling to fit it all in. The duo discovered villages that had been abandoned as crops failed. In one bustling city, Arren rescues Therru, heroine of Book 4, from slavers. Therru says nothing to Arren, merely running away once rescued. Finally, Sparrowhawk and Arren travel to the farmstead of Tenar (Mariska Hargitay), hero of book 2. They discover that Tenar has a ward, none other than Therru. The story mostly follows that of Book 3, The Farthest Shore, where Arren and Sparrowhawk seek the reason why magic is draining from the world. The cause proves to be an evil wizard named Cobb (Willem Dafoe) who seeks to attain immortality.

Arren is the central figure. He must overcome the division of his self that resulted from slaying his father, and, since Sparrowhawk's magic has been drained away, Arren must battle Cobb with a magic sword he stole from his father. Then, the surprise ending. Therru is a half-dragon. She banishes Cobb to darkness and transforms into a dragon. The narrative gave no hints at this coming transformation and nor does it explain it afterwards. Annoying.

The art is good. This was done by Goro Myazaki, son of the famed Hayao Myazaki.

 

Though I have no recollection of it, Cheech Marin played Hare.  Was that the name of a character or was he a talking rabbit?  In any case, it's always cool when Cheech Marin finds his way into a movie.