After a rift in the earth exposes the world to every nasty creature living in the underworld, Richard must decide whether to take the throne of D'Hara or begin a new quest as the Seeker. The Mord'Sith Cara turns to Richard after she is betrayed by her sisters.
While searching for a missing abbot who may hold the key to finding the Stone of Tears, Richard and the others liberate a D'Haran prison -- only to have the spirits of the dead return with a vengeance.
Cara is captured and put on trial for her past crimes, and is forced to recall her childhood at the hands of the Mord'Sith. Zedd goes in search of Flynn after he disappears.
Kahlan and Richard attempt to find the only other living Confessor -- a young woman held imprisoned by her father all her life, who does not know what she is.
Zeddicus is targeted with a spell that takes away his memory, enabling the witch Shota to convince him to name a new Seeker and igniting his lust for personal glory.
Richard trains a village of pacifists to take up arms and defend themselves, unaware of an ancient curse that unleashes a bloodthirsty rage within him.q
Richard finds the Mord'Sith Denna working as head mistress of a brothel, and falls into her plot to control the throne of Darken Rahl. Kahlan is reunited with someone from her past, now a pawn in Denna's plan.
Zedd is captured by the Mord'Sith Denna, but Richard must leave the chase to Kahlan and Cara after a group of women arrive with a life-changing revelation for him.
Richard is taken to the Palace of the Prophets to be trained as a wizard, and learns that the Sisters of Light have another agenda. Tasked with naming a new Seeker in Richard's absence, Zedd turns to the witch Shota to find a candidate.
Trapped in the magical Valley of Perdition, Richard hallucinates a future where Kahlan is married to the new Seeker and the war against the Keeper nearly lost. While his friends hurry to his aide, Sister Nicci and the "Sisters of the Dark" attempt to seal Richard's fate.
When Kahlan is summoned home to Idendril to depose a tyrant, she is separated into two people -- one cold and powerful, and the other compassionate and powerless.
When Kahlan is kidnapped and threatened with execution by a powerful regional ruler, Cara reluctantly poses as a princess and compete for the man's affections in order to get Richard and Zedd into the palace.
Threatened by her other sisters, Sister Nicci casts a spell connecting her life to Kahlan's and demands that Richard lead her to the Stone of Tears. Kahlan goes in search of the father in the hope of breaking Nicci's spell.
A woman appears claiming to be the Creator, and calling Richard's actions into question -- claiming he is, in fact, an agent of the Keeper of the Underworld.
Zedd and his brother attempt to exact revenge on the man who murdered their father -- though he is Richard's own biological father. An eager scholar promises to help Richard find a scroll with instructions on using the Stone of Tears.
A hapless look-alike takes advantage of Darkhen Rahl's death to try and steal his hidden treasure, only to be drawn into the real Rahl's plans to reincarnate himself.
Rahl drives a magical species to the brink of extinction to keep the secrets of the Scroll for himself, forcing Richard to accept him into their company. Kahlan and Cara take the last of the whisps on a quest to preserve the species.
A Mord'Sith takes Cara to rescue her child, but instead delivers her into Rahl's hands. Meanwhile, Richard and Kahlan find the Stone of Tears in a hidden valley from which they cannot escape.
A radical spell meant to free Cara from Darken Rahl's control alters the fabric of reality around Zedd, who finds himself in a world where Richard and Kahlan are happily married and ruling over a peaceful kingdom.
As the Keeper himself enters the world of the living to stop Richard from sealing the tear in the Veil, Rahl commands his forces to help the Seeker save Creation. Meanwhile, Nicci seeks Richard for her own ends.
