The third installment of Apple TV+’s intriguing historical drama, Chief of War, starring Jason Momoa, continues to explore the separate story paths of Ka'iana and Ka'ahumanu.
Ka'iana, rescued by the English, is now aboard the ship heading for Alaska. One of his shipmates, Tony, teaches him English and about guns and weaponry. Ka'iana is fascinated by the guns but doesn’t understand their power until he goes hunting in Alaska and shoots an elk.
From Alaska, the English ship travels to Zamboanga in the Spanish East Indies (present-day Philippines). Ka'iana has a plan to buy several guns to take back to Hawai’i to fight Kahekili, but quickly finds out that he doesn’t have nearly enough money.
While in Zamboanga, Ka'iana meets a Vai, a Hawaiian stranded in a foreign land. She has a plan to have the captain of Ka'iana’s ship provide guns in exchange for a partnership with the captain for the sandalwood, rare in the world, but plentiful on the Hawaiian Islands.
Because she has lived among Europeans for so long, she understands the innate greediness of white people. She knows it is inevitable that the Europeans will eventually exploit her native home and strip it of all valuable resources. She wants the partnership to help control and alter what she thinks will happen, for the best of her native land.
Meanwhile, Marley, one of Ka'iana’s shipmates, steals the maps to the Hawaiian Islands, which he will trade to another captain for money and a stake in the future profits.
On the island of Hawai’i, Ka'ahumanu’s future is rushing toward her. Her time to marry a chief has come, and her arranged marriage to Kamehameha takes place. Ka’ahumana has reservations about the union because she’s been told by a seer that she will not bear children, thus making her useless to a royal chief.
Why episode 3 is the best yet for Chief of War
The characters and their places in the story are becoming clearer. Getting a feel for the people in the story is essential, but by the end of the second episode and into the third, empathy for the characters starts to rise, and you will begin to understand them better.
In this newest episode, more English is spoken as Ka'iana learns from Tony, and Ka'ahumanu learns from John Young, a sailor who was left on the island by his shipmates at the end of episode 2. For those who find subtitles hard to follow, this is probably a relief and might make the show easier to digest.
Ka'iana’s travels offer a change of scenery, and the intrigue surrounding his adventures made this episode fly by. Both of the main storylines built up empathy for the characters, and the audience should start connecting even more with them.
Grade: A
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