Chief of War – Season 1 Episode 4 Recap & Review

The Review Geek

7 days ago

City of Flowers Part II
Episode 4 of Chief of War begins with the death of King Kalani'opu'u, bringing forth a new leader. His son, Keoua, steps up as the new King. However, there are serious issues here because despite Keoua being the leading authority figure, the real military weight has passed to Kamehameha, who is named the God of War.
This decision was made prior to the King's passing, with him clearly recognizing the man's strategic mindset last episode. Keoua is pissed, pointing out that Kamehameha is stealing his birth-right. While Kamahameha wants to try and work things out, Keoua shuns his 'brother' and in-fighting inevitably ensues. Keoua believing the guy is a lowborn and not worthy of the accolade.
Keoua punches himself repeatedly until he knocks a tooth loose, using this as a declaration of war on his cousin.
Over in the Kingdom of O'ahu, Kahekili receives word of the King's passing and decides to call the war generals. He wants to conquer Hawai'i and strike while the iron is hot. One of the Maui chiefs though isn't sure whether this is a good idea. After slaughtering the boy King and losing Ka'iana, he doubts the validity of this claim next to the prophecy.
Kahekili lusts for blood and believes he needs to wipe out all the royal lineage until there is only one. He's interpreted the Prophecy as leaving his bloodline (and his alone) as the dominating force. He won't be swayed from this path.
Now married, Ka'ahumanu has missed a fair few of her English lessons with John. She's not happy about being a submissive wife, but John explains that there's freedom to be found within marriage. It takes her a while to realize how much wisdom is in this statement, but it comes when she challenges her husband.
With Kamehameha preparing for war, Ka'ahumanu encourages him to use his own judgment if the Gods remain silent. When the Gods don't answer his calls, Kamehameha makes a big decision and chooses to play defence, preparing for a fight if Keoua comes to him but not striking first.
Meanwhile, Ka'iana awakens to find Tony hasn't returned to his bed. Vai shrugs off his concerns about Tony, but Ka'iana can tell something is awry. He's shocked to discover people caged, including a crying baby and defenceless women. It spurs a rage deep inside of him, and it's all too much for the native. He lets his frustrations out on a soldier in the middle of the street, causing the military to come down hard on him.
Ka'iana runs away and hides, but it does his voyage back home no favours. It also puts Vai in a difficult position too, as she pleads with the Captain to wait for Ka'iana that night.
Vai eventually finds Ka'iana, hiding inside, and she urges him to go before it's too late. Ka'iana is desperate to find Tony but Vai believes that ship has sailed (no pun intended). The Captain has also lied to him and intends to sail that night.
Ka'iana has the guns and can go home to fight his war, but he's also honour-bound and determined to find his friend. Upon learning that he maybe inside a warehouse with other slaves, Ka'iana heads off to get him back.
After knocking out several guards, Ka'iana frees all the slaves and burns the place down. It's absolute chaos though as the slaves fight back, overthrowing their captors while Ka'iana eventually finds Tony, who's looking the worse for wear.
With the guns loaded aboard the ship and Zamboanga consumed by chaos, Ka'iana manages to make it to the dock and onboard the ship. Vai is here too and as they cast off, the orange glow of the warehouse fire lights the night sky.
The Episode Review
The midway point of the season showcases a significant switch in the way this conflict is about to play out. Kahekili's blood lusting is actually causing the various chiefs to question his methods, and after losing Ka'iana due to this conflict, there are a lot of question marks over this leadership.
Meanwhile, Ka'iana struggles to keep his aggression in check and gets himself into a spot of trouble. Although there aren't any guards or warning bells ringing despite the warehouse burning down so I guess the path back to the dock wasn't quite so bad as it could have been!
Ka'ahumanu's storyline is arguably the weakest of the entire series though, but now that she's starting to embrace the idea of marriage and working with Kamehameha rather than against him, she's starting to realize that there is strength and power in unifying her voice with another.
The cinematography is great though and the visual effects are sublime. This chapter is a little slow in places though and doesn't move the plot along all that much. Hopefully the episodes ahead pick up the pace a bit.
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Expect A Full Season Write-Up When This Season Concludes!