The Legend Begins

Mahishmati's elite warriors in the throne room.

**The Legend Begins** is the first episode of the first season of **The Lost Legends.**  The royal heirs and elite warriors of Mahishmati are placed under the instructional care of Pradhan Guru and are seen fending off a village from Barbarians.

## Synopsis

A young Prince Baahubali and his brother Bhallaladeva are studying the royal arts of politics and warfare when a village nearby is attacked by bandits.

## Plot

The royal family of Mahishmati performs a ritual in a deserted lake in a forest. Since Bijjaladeva isn't technically a king he is excluded from participating, bringing him much frustration as he is sent away by Kattappa. Elsewhere, young Bhallaladeva and Baahubali are racing to the lake and Baahubali wins, as Bhalla is pulled aside by his father who tells him to observe the ritual. He makes it clear that if Bhalla is going to become king one day, he'll have to perform it himself. Bijjaladeva also reacts to Baahubali's victory in the race with disappointment.

While Sivagami is praying in the ritual, a crocodile slowly prepares to ambush her. Noticing, Baahubali swiftly jumps into the lake and distracts the crocodile which now pursues him. Sivagami brandishes a blade and chases the crocodile, wounding it's tail. She gets Baahubali back to the lake shore and Kattappa subdues the beast before Sivagami is hurt. Bhalla is scolded by Bijjaladeva for not even trying to save his mother from the crocodile and proving his worth, which makes Bhalla turn away in resentment. Baahubali is also scolded by Sivagami for nearly throwing his life away, and Sivagami tells him that his life is to protect the people and not to sacrifice even for his own family. The parents walk away after treating Baahubali. Kattappa asks Baahubali why he nearly got himself killed. Baahubali replies in sadness that Sivagami will still have a son if he dies, but if Sivagami dies nobody will take care of him.

Many years later, an intruder is seen bypassing Mahishmati's walls. The alarm is sound and Kattappa and his men make their way to the gates. The masked intruder gets past several guards and overwhelms the ones he confronts. He scolds the guards for being incapable of defending their turf while also taunting them, not noticing Kattappa holding him at sword point. Kattappa cuts off the scarf mask from behind, revealing Baahubali as the intruder. Although he tries to brush it off, Kattappa scolds him for testing his troops and Baahubali apologizes, simply stating that he needs them to be alert as king Yaduvanshi of Rudragni is to visit in a few days. Kattappa tells him he has arrangements under control and to see Sivagami, who has summoned them to the court.

Baahubali departs and meets with Bhalladeva and they talk about the earlier incident and why Sivagami called for them. When they enter they join the elite warriors of Mahishmati, including Bhalladeva's close friend Avinash. Sivagami answers to Bhalla that the reason they've been summoned is because she believes they have behaved young and immature for too long, distracted by girls and partying instead of focusing on being great warriors. Sivagami places them under instructional care of a new martial arts and combat teacher, Pradhan Guru. Some of the heirs take him for a joke but Pradhan knocks them out by flinging his ring at them as proof of his skill and agility. Pradhan is ordered to start training immediately.

Pradhan puts the heirs through many exercises and obstacles, including a log across a pit of fire and having to carry rocks and scale a wall. Only Baahubali and Bhalladeva are capable of of passing the tests while the other heirs struggled or failed. Upon scaling the wall, Baahubali sees a local village on fire. Pradhan realizes that Barbarians who have threatened Mahishmati for a while are attacking and raiding the village. He orders Baahubali to stay put while he summons the royal guard. After Pradhan leaves, Bhalla states that the royal guard will take hours to arrive to the village and Baahubali urges the heirs that they must save the villagers themselves before it's too late, otherwise they're not the warriors and brave men Sivagami wants them to be. They grab weapons from Pradhan's vault and race to the village. The brothers make a competition for a victor who saves the most lives.

The warriors arrive at the village and fend off the Barbarians, but they are quickly overwhelmed and find that their weapons break easily. The warriors retreat quickly and Baahubali stops them. Bhalla tells him that they used training weapons and that he will summon the guards. Despite Baahubali's protest to stand their ground, Bhalla states that there's nothing they can do to save the villagers already dying, and that those who are left can be salvaged when they bring the guards. Avinash joins him stating that they may die along with the villagers if they stay, and a group of the heirs follow Bhalla away from the village. Baahubali convinces the remaining heirs that it is their duty to protect the citizens of Mahishmati and that nobody else will help them in their time of need. They set their weapons aflame and go back to the village, fending off the Barbarians.

Baahubali attacks the head Barbarian and wounds him. The leader asks Baahubali why he struck him down, and if he knows "who" sent then there in the first place. Before Baahubali can get an answer the royal guard arrive, and the lead is shot by Kattappa.

Sivagami angrily scolds Baahubali for disobeying Pradhan and reminds him of how he should not toss his life aside so easily, and questions why he did what he did. Baahubali states that he must fight for all the people of Mahishmati and that he wouldn't be a true or honorable warrior otherwise. The people praise and cheer for him, including Bhalla much to Avinash's confusion. Sivagami refuses to listen to reason and condemns him for being disobedient and undisciplined. She decides that Baahubali should be punished by Pradhan and more disciplined by the time Yaduvanshi arrives.

Afterwards, Bhalladeva and Avinash are talking in the forest by the lake seen at the beginning of the episode. He asks Bhalla why he cheered for Baahubali, to which he replies that he respects his brother. Avinash however is unconvinced and sees Baahubali as a rival for the throne, and that Bhalla's action will make Sivagami favor Baahubali. Bhalla tries to ignore this but Avinash persists in Bhalla's desire for ruling the kingdom. Bhalla proceeds to tell him about his father Bijjaladeva and how he was never able to become king since he was disapproved by the rest of the kingdom. He asks Avinash if he knows why, who believes it's because of his deformed hand. Bhalla grasps the back of Avinash's head and pushes him closer to the lake surface while he washes his face, and Avinash struggles to resist. Bhalla claims that his father was feared by the people, which upset them and that he was unfairly denied the role to rule. Bhalla exclaims that he will do anything to get to the throne and now that Avinash has seen his angered outburst, nobody else should. Avinash swears to keep Bhalla's hatred towards his brother a secret but he is drowned. Bhalla states that nobody else will know, leaving Avinash's corpse to the crocodiles. Bhalla makes his way back to the kingdom not noticing a pair of eyes behind the bushes, that someone has witnessed the murder.