Sundiata Keita of Mali Part 2: The Emperor Strikes Back | 62
Even The Royals
Wondery
4.4 • 844 Ratings
🗓️ 3 February 2025
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This two-part series is all about Sundiata Keita of Mali – the founder of one of West Africa’s largest empires. In part one, Sundiata battled scheming family members, fled his home in Niani, and found a new life in the Kingdom of Mema. But now that Niani is in danger, it’s time for Sundiata to return home and fulfill the prophecy of his birth. But first he’ll have to unite dozens of warring kingdoms – and then take on a seemingly invincible enemy.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Wonderie Plus subscribers can listen to Even the Royals early and ad-free right now. |
| 0:04.1 | Join Wondery Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. |
| 0:07.7 | A quick note about our show. |
| 0:09.6 | We do a lot of research for our stories, but we also aren't your high school history class, |
| 0:14.0 | so some details and scenes are dramatized. |
| 0:16.7 | And today's episode may contain language that an evil sorcerer would love. |
| 0:27.1 | It's around 1235 AD, and Tundakta Keita is riding his horse along a dirt road. |
| 0:33.2 | He's in his mid-30s and rocking a set of billowing robes as he and his troops make their way to a kingdom called Tabon in Western Africa. |
| 0:41.3 | Sunjata is trying to take back his home kingdom of Niani from the Sorcerer King Sumangaroo, and he's hoping he'll find the support he needs to defeat the Sorcerer King in Tabon. |
| 0:51.3 | Now as a reminder, Sumangaroo hits just about every villain trope. He's tall, |
| 0:56.3 | evil, and wears a low-key style horned helmet. He's been holding Vala Fasekheke, Sunjata's beloved |
| 1:03.7 | Grio, hostage for over a decade. And after conquering Niani, Sumangaroo burned the village to the |
| 1:10.6 | ground to punish the people who live there. |
| 1:13.0 | Oh my God. |
| 1:14.1 | I know. |
| 1:14.9 | Sumangaroo has spent years taking over neighboring kingdoms and has a huge army at his disposal. |
| 1:20.5 | So even though Sunjata is traveling with hundreds of soldiers, he needs more men, and he's hoping to find some tonight. |
| 1:28.2 | Tobon's new king, Fran Kamara, is a childhood friend of Sunjata's. |
| 1:32.5 | They were hunting buddies when they were younger. |
| 1:34.4 | And now Sunjata is helping make him hunt together again. |
| 1:38.3 | But this time the prey isn't dear. |
| 1:40.6 | It's an evil sorcerer. |
... |
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