Candide is raised in Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh's castle and taught by Pangloss that all is for the best in the world.

The Baron catches Candide kissing Cunégonde and expels him from the castle.

Candide is forcibly recruited into the Bulgar army and witnesses a bloody battle between the Bulgars and Abars.

James the Anabaptist takes in the homeless Candide and gives him shelter, food, and money in Holland.

Pangloss, found as a beggar, reveals the castle was attacked and Cunégonde and her family were killed.

The Lisbon earthquake destroys much of the city and kills around 30,000 people.

Pangloss is hanged and Candide is publicly flogged at the Lisbon auto-da-fé.

An old woman leads Candide to a secret country house where he is reunited with a living Cunégonde.

Candide kills both Don Issacar and the Grand Inquisitor when they arrive at Cunégonde's hiding place, and the group flees to Cadiz.

Candide and Cacambo stumble into the hidden kingdom of Eldorado and are embraced as equals by its king.

Candide encounters a mutilated enslaved man outside Surinam and fully renounces Pangloss' philosophy of optimism.

Vanderdendur loads Candide's treasure-bearing sheep onto his ship and sails away, swindling Candide of most of his wealth.

In Venice, Cacambo appears as a Sultan's slave and tells Candide that Cunégonde is held in Constantinople.

Candide discovers that Pangloss and the Baron are galley slaves on a Turkish ship and buys both their freedoms.

Candide settles on a small farm in Turkey and declares that they must cultivate their garden.

Starting from Candide's sheltered upbringing in the Baron's castle, this pool traces the headline moments of his epic journey across the world. After his expulsion and military service, Candide suffers shipwreck, earthquake, and religious persecution in Lisbon before being reunited with Cunégonde. Fleeing to South America, he discovers the utopia of Eldorado only to abandon it, then loses his fortune and his companions before crossing back through Europe. His trail leads to Venice and then Constantinople, where he gradually pieces together his scattered companions. The story ends with Candide's hard-won realism as he settles on a small Turkish farm and resolves to cultivate his garden.

Candide's journey from castle to Turkish farm.

Cunégonde witnesses Pangloss seducing the chambermaid Paquette and becomes curious about experimental physics.

Candide is court-martialed for taking a walk and sentenced to run the gauntlet before the King of the Bulgars pardons him.

Pangloss debates James the Anabaptist about whether the world's evils serve the greater good as a storm gathers over their ship.

Cunégonde tells Candide how a Bulgar soldier raped her, a captain saved her, and the captain later sold her to Don Issacar.

Cunégonde reveals she watched helplessly from the crowd as Candide was flogged and Pangloss was hanged.

The old woman advises Cunégonde to accept the Buenos Aires Governor's marriage proposal to secure her safety.

The Inquisition arrives in Buenos Aires hunting Candide; he flees with Cacambo while Cunégonde stays under the Governor's protection.

Candide accidentally kills two apes that were lovers of Oreillon girls, and the tribe captures both travelers.

Cacambo convinces the Oreillon tribe to release Candide and himself by proving they are not Jesuits.

Candide loses most of his Eldorado sheep to hardship and theft on the long road to Surinam.

The abbé of Périgord cheats Candide in Paris and orchestrates his arrest by posing as Cunégonde in a forged letter.

Candide witnesses the execution of an admiral in Portsmouth and refuses to set foot on English soil.

Candide and Martin visit Senator Pococuranté, who is bored and disgusted by all his wealth and artistic possessions.

Six deposed kings dine together at Venice's Carnival; Candide generously offers alms to all of them.

Paquette and Brother Girofleo arrive on the Turkish farm penniless, and all the characters eventually find useful roles in their small community.

This pool follows the secondary but essential events that give texture and depth to Candide's story. From Cunégonde's initial curiosity about experimental physics to Candide's military court-martial and the philosophical debate aboard a ship approaching Lisbon, these moments fill in the gaps between the headline catastrophes. Cunégonde's own account of her ordeal and the old woman's pragmatic advice shape the decisions made in Buenos Aires, while Candide's capture by the Oreillons and the loss of his Eldorado sheep reveal the hostile nature of South America. His humiliations in Paris, his refusal to land in England, and his visit to the endlessly dissatisfied senator in Venice expose the corruptions of European society. The story closes with the arrival of all characters on the Turkish farm, where community and useful work finally bring a measure of peace.

The supporting events that shaped Candide's world.

Pangloss reveals Paquette gave him syphilis, tracing the disease in a chain of infection back to a shipmate of Christopher Columbus.

James the Anabaptist drowns in Lisbon harbor after saving a sailor who then abandons him, while Pangloss stops Candide from helping.

An Inquisition agent overhears Pangloss defending predetermination over free will and has him arrested for heresy.

Cunégonde shocks Candide by revealing she has been shared between Don Issacar and the Grand Inquisitor since arriving in Lisbon.

The old woman reveals her astonishing past: she is the daughter of Pope Urban X and a princess, now reduced to a maid.

The old woman challenges every passenger on the ship to find a single person who has not repeatedly cursed their own existence.

Candide discovers that Cunégonde's brother the Baron survived the castle's destruction and rose to become a Jesuit commander in Paraguay.

The Baron strikes Candide and refuses the marriage, citing the 72 noble quarterings on their coat of arms.

Candide and Cacambo realize Eldorado's children treat gold nuggets and precious jewels as worthless pebbles abandoned in the road.

Candide chooses to leave the paradise of Eldorado, driven by his desire to rescue Cunégonde and gain recognition back home.

A Spanish skipper in Surinam refuses to sail Candide to Buenos Aires, revealing that Cunégonde is now the Governor's mistress.

Candide is surprised to find Paquette in Venice, where she reveals she has been forced into prostitution since leaving the castle.

Brother Girofleo confesses at dinner that he despises monastic life and was forced into the monastery by his family against his will.

Pangloss admits on the Turkish farm that he has suffered horribly his whole life while defending a philosophy he never truly believed.

A Turkish farmer's example of simple, productive work keeping his family from boredom and vice inspires Candide to cultivate his garden.

This pool highlights the revelations and pivotal decisions that repeatedly shift the course of Candide's journey. From Pangloss' shocking syphilis genealogy and the Anabaptist's cruelly ironic death, to the Inquisition's arrest and the truth about Cunégonde's circumstances in Lisbon, early discoveries chip away at the philosophy of optimism from the very start. The old woman's astonishing origins and her challenge about universal suffering reframe what it means to be the unluckiest person alive. Candide's discovery of the Baron's survival, his fateful choice to leave Eldorado, and a series of uncomfortable reunions in Venice steadily dismantle his remaining illusions. The final moments on the farm, where Pangloss confesses he never truly believed his own doctrine and a Turkish farmer's simple life provides the answer, bring the philosophical journey to its close.