A hunter-seer visits King Naré Maghan and prophesies that an ugly woman will bear his destined successor to the Mali throne.

Two hunters return from the kingdom of Do, bringing the hunchbacked woman Sogolon Kedjou to become the king's wife.

Naré Maghan overcomes Sogolon's supernatural wraith, and she conceives a child in her sleep.

Sundiata is born during a great storm, which ceases at the exact moment of his arrival.

Naré Maghan dies, and Sassouma Bérété manipulates the council of elders into crowning her son Dankaran Touman king.

Sassouma humiliates Sogolon by mocking her with baobab leaves; Sogolon beats Sundiata in grief, driving him to resolve to walk.

Sundiata stands for the first time using an iron rod, then uproots a baobab tree and delivers it to his mother.

Dankaran Touman sends Balla Fasséké on an embassy to Sosso, stripping Sundiata of his rightful griot.

Sundiata and his family depart Mali into exile, with Sundiata vowing to return and reclaim his griot.

Sundiata is appointed viceroy of Mema after demonstrating extraordinary skill on his first military campaigns.

Soumaoro Kanté chases Dankaran Touman out of Mali and declares himself the new king of Mali.

Merchants selling baobab leaves arrive in Mema and reveal themselves as Mali's search party sent to find Sundiata.

Sogolon dies in Mema, and the king of Mema gives Sundiata half his army to launch the campaign back to Mali.

Sundiata grazes Soumaoro with a cock's spur-tipped arrow at the battle of Krina, stripping the sorcerer king of all his magical power.

Sundiata crosses the Niger River, arrives at ruined Niani, rebuilds the city, and establishes a just and prosperous reign.

A hunter-seer delivers a prophecy to King Naré Maghan, setting in motion the birth of Sundiata, a child destined to become the greatest ruler in Mandinka history. After Naré Maghan's death, the jealous queen Sassouma Bérété seizes power for her own son, forcing Sundiata and his family into exile. During his wandering years Sundiata proves his military genius and rises to become viceroy of the kingdom of Mema, while back in Mali the cruel sorcerer king Soumaoro Kanté conquers the land. A search party from Mali eventually finds Sundiata and begs him to return, which he does after the death of his mother Sogolon, leading a great army. At the battle of Krina, Sundiata uses a magically tipped arrow to strip Soumaoro of his powers and drives him into permanent exile. Sundiata then rebuilds the ruined city of Niani and establishes a reign of justice and prosperity that founds the Mali Empire.

The rise of Sundiata from prophecy to king of Mali.

The griot Djeli Mamoudou Kouyaté introduces himself and announces he will preserve and tell the story of Sundiata.

Kouyaté traces Mali's royal lineage from Bilal Bouname, servant of the Prophet, through many generations to Naré Maghan.

The buffalo monster of Do reveals herself to two Mandinka hunters and explains the terms on which she can be defeated.

Naré Maghan fails to consummate his marriage to Sogolon for an entire week because the power of her wraith repels him.

Naré Maghan gives Sundiata his own griot's son, Balla Fasséké, as the royal gift reserved for a future king.

Balla Fasséké composes and sings the improvised Hymn of the Bow to honor Sundiata's first act of rising to his feet.

Sassouma's nine witches attempt to harm Sundiata but are disarmed by his generosity and vow to protect him instead.

King Mansa Konkon of Djedeba challenges Sundiata to a game of wori for his life; Sundiata exposes the assassination plot and wins.

Sundiata strikes a military alliance with Prince Fran Kamara at Tabon, promising him a generalship upon the return to Mali.

Balla Fasséké wanders into Soumaoro's secret chamber, plays the magical balafon, and is taken as Soumaoro's own griot.

Soumaoro's nephew Fakoli Koroma deserts the Sosso army after Soumaoro abducts Fakoli's wife as his own.

Sundiata viciously routs Soumaoro's advance force led by Sosso Balla, preventing it from blocking his alliance with Tabon Wana.

Balla Fasséké and Nana Triban arrive at Sibi during Sundiata's ritual sacrifice, reuniting with him before the great battle.

Sundiata burns the city of Sosso to the ground after Fasséké shows him Soumaoro's now-decrepit chamber of fetishes.

All twelve kings of the region swear fealty to Sundiata at Kaba by placing their spears in the ground before him.

Before Sundiata's story even begins, the griot Kouyaté establishes the deep cultural tradition of oral history that preserves it, and the buffalo monster of Do sets the supernatural chain of events leading to Sundiata's conception. Sundiata's childhood is shaped by small but pivotal moments: the gift of a griot, the singing of a hymn, and the failure of nine witches to destroy him. His years of exile are filled with tests of diplomacy, alliances forged with future generals, and the steady growth of his reputation across many kingdoms. Back in Sosso, Balla Fasséké's accidental discovery of Soumaoro's secret chamber and Fakoli Koroma's desertion both weaken Soumaoro's position before a single battle is fought. Sundiata's military campaign is built through a network of allies whose strength is celebrated in ceremonial proclamations and great feats. After the decisive victory, Sosso is reduced to ash and the kings of the region formally pledge their loyalty, laying the political foundation of the empire.

The hidden moments and secondary forces that shaped Sundiata's world.

Using sand divination, Naré Maghan realizes he must symbolically sacrifice Sogolon, not a red bull, to fulfill the seer's true prophecy.

At Sundiata's birth the griot sings an improvised hymn calling him the lion child and announces his name Mari Djata.

Naré Maghan loses faith in the prophecy, but his griot and a blacksmith-seer remind him that destiny grows slowly, like a silk-cotton tree from a seed.

Persuaded by the blacksmith-seer's counsel, Naré Maghan restores the disgraced Sogolon to her rightful place in the palace.

Shortly after Naré Maghan's death, his griot Gnankouman Doua also dies, leaving Sundiata's household without either of its two great protectors.

Sassouma forces Sogolon and her children to live in a decrepit hut behind the palace after seizing control of the kingdom.

Sundiata proves himself a great hunter and earns the prestigious title of Simbon, master hunter, at an unusually young age.

Sogolon recognizes the danger to her children and makes the decision to lead the family out of Mali into exile.

The king of Ghana immediately recognizes Sundiata's innate regal qualities and sends the traveling family onward to the kingdom of Mema.

Soumaoro personally enters the battle at Tabon and Sundiata discovers his spear and arrows are completely powerless against the sorcerer king.

Nana Triban reveals Soumaoro's secret tana: his sorcerer's power is destroyed by any contact with the spur of a white cock.

Balla Fasséké delivers a rousing speech at Sundiata's eve-of-battle feast at Krina, inspiring the assembled kings toward greatness.

Fakoli Koroma captures Soumaoro's son Sosso Balla, but Soumaoro himself escapes into a cave on Koulikoro mountain and is never heard from again.

Sundiata formally redistributes the spears of the twelve vassal kings, establishing the legal alliances and structure of the new Mali Empire.

The griot warns future listeners never to disturb the ancient spirits hiding in Mali's ruins, closing the epic with solemn mystery.

The story of Sundiata turns on a series of revelations and choices, beginning with Naré Maghan's discovery through divination that the prophecy demands a different sacrifice than he assumed. Sundiata's early life is marked by moments of doubt and renewal: his father nearly abandons the prophecy, his mother is driven to despair, and it is ultimately an act of compassion for her that unlocks Sundiata's dormant power. Exile forces Sundiata to prove himself on foreign soil and to learn the geography, politics, and military tactics he will need to build an empire. The revelation of Soumaoro's magical weakness, delivered by the unlikely figure of the enemy's former ally Nana Triban, proves to be the decisive turning point of the entire war. On the eve of the battle of Krina, Fasséké's speech transforms Sundiata from a returning exile into a destined emperor before a single blow is struck. After victory, Sundiata's formal redistribution of the vassal kings' spears translates military conquest into lasting political order, and the griot's final warning preserves the empire's mystery for all future generations.

The key decisions, discoveries, and emotional shifts that determined Sundiata's fate.