Introduction

Over the years, a lot of people have grown to know and love the books of David Eddings. The stories of Belgarion and his companions have touched the hearts and minds of many. For all of the people, who read the books, and wish to reminisc about them, here is the summarized story of the Belgariad, the Mallorean and of course the prequels to the series, the two books about Belgarath and Polgara.

The funny thing about the Belgarion-cycle, is that it begins at the end, and the last books describe the beginning. Perhaps it's best to start with listing the books involved.

The Belgariad:

• Pawn of prophecy
• Queen of sorcery
• Magicians gambit
• Castle of wizardry
• Enchanters end game

The Mallorean:

• Guardians of the west
• King of the Murgos
• Demon Lord of Karanda
• Sorceress of Darshiva
• Seeress of Kell

The others:

• Belgarath the Sorcerer
• Polgara the Sorceress
• The Rivan Codex

The actual story

The Belgariad is about the kitchen boy Garion, who is raised by his aunt Pol. After a few peaceful years on a farm, an old storyteller named Wolf turns up and after a tough conversation Garion, Aunt Pol and Old Wolf pack up and leave in pursuit of somebody who has stolen something. Who and what is not told to Garion, but Old Wolf seems to be very anxious to retrieve both the person and the stolen object.

Along the way, the party meets with other people who become companions in the hunt. These people go by names like Silk (whose real name is in fact Kheldar), a prince of the country of Drasnia, Durnik, a blacksmith from the farm where Garion grew up, Barak, a clanleader from Cherek and cousin to the king, Hettar, the adopted son of the king of Algaria and Ce'Nedra, princess of the Empire of Tolnedra. Also, the old storyteller, Aunt Pol and the companions seem to be well-known by the kings of the lands. At this point of the story, Garion gets very confused, especially when his Aunt turns out to be Polgara, the legendary sorceress, and that Old Wolf is in fact Belgarath, the 7000-year old and even more legendary sorcerer. Garion is very confused, not sure what his life has been about and who he is.

After a while, the story advances to the plot. The thief turns out to be a renegade wizard called Zedar, who seeks to revive his master, the evil God Torak. Zedar had been a disciple of Belgaraths master, the God Aldur, but was tempted by Torak, who promised him victory plus rewards. The relationship between Belgarath and Zedar, and how it changed, is described in the prequel to the series. The object is classified as an Orb. This Orb is in fact one of the instruments involved in a prophecy. A long time ago, a star exploded at a time and place where it was not supposed to. Because of that accident, the Goal of the universe split. Now there are two Goals, each of them trying to become the ultimate. There are two prophecies as well. One that tells about the course of the Light, and one that tells about the course of the Darkness. Only one of them can survive, for the splitting of the Goal was never meant to be. There can be only one.
Because Light and Darkness cannot battle each other directly, there are always a Child of Light and a Child of Darkness. These two are substitutes for the two Goals, and they fight the battles. These battles have been going on ever since the Accident, and the two prophecies race towards each other to a Final Battle.

Now, as the plot advances, it is made clear that Torak is the Child of Darkness and Garion is in fact the Child of Light. He is the latest member of a very old House. The history of that House, and the importance of the Kings of Riva is well described in the two prequels to the chronicle. His name is in fact not Garion, but Belgarion and he turns out to be a wizard and Belgarath's 'grandson'. The two prophecies state that Belgarion is supposed to fight Torak in order to determine the Ultimate Goal of the Universe.

If that wasn't enough for the young man, he finds out that he is also supposed to marry Ce'Nedra, the moody princess of the empire of Tolnedra. At first, that is, because after a lot of fights they grow closer to each other and end up quite pleased with the idea of marrying.

As the story goes on, Garion learns more about the world, his place in it and the way things have grown to be like this. He learns about the Gods, seven in number (Aldur, Belar, Issa, Nedra, Mara, Chaldan and Torak) and about the disciples of Aldur and Torak. Aldurs disciples now number five (Belgarath, Polgara, Beldin, Beltira and Belkira) and Torak has three (Zedar, Urvon and Chuchtik).
When the party catches up on the renegade, they find out that the Orb was in fact stolen by a young boy. It is stated that the Orb can only be touched by someone pure, innocent and caring. Zedar did not posess any of those qualities, so he had to find another way. The Orb and the boy are now in the posession of Chuchtik, who took them from Zedar. It becomes clear to Belgarath that by then, Toraks disciples are struggling among themselves to obtain the title of Toraks favourite disciple.

When Belgarath and companions reach the city where Chuchtik is residing, Belgarath and Toraks disciple engage in a battle of magic, in which Chutchik destroys himself.

With the Orb retrieved, everybody travels to Riva, on the Island of Winds. There the Orb is put in it's orignal place, on the sword of Riva. When Garion touches the Orb however, the stone starts cheering, shining and singing, stating that Belgarion is in fact the rightful heir to the throne of Riva, and indeed the one who is supposed to fight the final battle. When the celebration is finished, Silk, Belgarath and Belgarion sneak out to the place where the fight is supposed to take place.

Meanwhile, when Polgara and Ce'Nedra find out about the missing men, they decide it's best to create a distraction for them, so that Garion can get to Torak undisturbed. In the following war, they get captured by the opposing emperor and taken to Torak. When they arrive at the city where Torak sleeps, they are turned over to Zedar. Zedar threatens Polgara and Durnik, who has been in love with her from the beginning, attacks. Zedar kills Durnik right at the moment the three men come in. Belgarath is mad with rage by then and takes care of Zedar. It is at this moment when Torak, who has been asleep for thousands of years, awakes. Following the Dark prophecy, he proposes to Polgara, but she is still too sad (and mad) about Durnik's death. That is in fact the one thing that gives her the strength to resist the will of Torak, something she would never had accomplished without Durnik's death, cause Torak's will is far too strong to counter under normal circumstances. Then Garion steps up. Torak and Garion grow to amazing proportions and start the fight. The fight is completely even, but then Garion realizes that he must not win by strength of the body, but by strength of will. He denies the importance and supremacy of Torak, stating that nobody loves Torak but the mad God himself. Torak can't stand that, leaves himself open for Garions attack and looses the battle.

So far so good...