Summary
Chief of War is steadily paced and relatively uneventful in Episode 4, but this is not a criticism — its depth of character and culture, and the value it shows for silence and thoughtfulness, help to define its most essential qualities.
There isn’t a great deal that happens in Episode 5 of Chief of War, but there’s a tremendous amount implied, which is sometimes more important. Ka’iana returns home in “The Race of the Gods” and expects to find things exactly as he left them, which is pretty naive. In truth, his homecoming is complicated by personal and political problems, some of which seem insurmountable without a fair amount of bloodshed. Luckily, Ka’iana also comes with the tools the Kingdom of Hawai’i needs to repel King Kahekili’s inevitable invasion, but those weapons come with strings attached, and the cost of doing business with the Paleskins might be steeper for the natives than going to war with themselves.
I’m thankful that we didn’t belabor the point after Ka’iana’s rescue of Tony in the previous episode. With enough of the wider world having been glimpsed to give Ka’iana necessary context, it was inevitable that he made it back to the islands as quickly as possible so we could intertwine the disparate plot threads and lay the groundwork for coming conflicts. I’m thankful, too, that Chief of War possesses a quality that so few shows do these days — understanding the value of silence.
I said at the top that “The Race of the Gods” is as much about implication as it is about overt action. A lot of that implication lives in the quiet between exchanges, the moments of personal reflection, or the questions pondered but left unanswered. You see it early on in two exchanges, one with Ka’iana and Tony, when the former says nothing at all in response to the latter’s gratitude for saving his life and promise to return the favour, and another with Ka’iana and Vai, in which Ka’iana says only one thing, which turns out to be wrong. There’s a lot of contemplative masculinity in this show. It’s about giant hulking dudes (and badass warrior women, to be fair) who are overtly thoughtful and spiritual and are careful to think about things in great depth before making decisions. Even the figure cool enough to have inspired the name of a Dragon Ball Z finishing move is really a farmer at heart.
Speaking of which, Ka’iana’s efforts to entreat Kamehameha form a significant arc in Chief of War Episode 5. Ka’iana’s sudden return on a boat full of invaders doesn’t sit especially well with Moku, and since he’s a chief of some influence, Kamehameha’s inner circle — who run things in his absence — aren’t keen on the idea of welcoming Ka’iana into the fold. It’s once again Ka’ahumanu whose voice continues to penetrate the macho blustering, allowing her to counsel both Ka’iana and Kamehameha into a reasonable conversation. Both have a point — Hawai’i won’t survive Kahekili’s incursion unless its chiefs are aligned, but warring against Keoua won’t cultivate a kingdom of peace, which is Kamehameha’s ultimate goal.
The matter is to be decided in a sheer downhill sled race from the top of a volcano, which features one of the show’s only instances of shoddy CGI. But the outcome is essentially predetermined anyway. Ka’iana wins, and with the victory comes a place on Kamehameha’s council, which is perhaps just as well since Keoua sends a message at the end of the episode by burning several buildings in Kamehameha’s village. The act of provocation isn’t even endorsed by his own inner circle — in fact, it was explicitly not supported — but it’s clear Keoua is beyond the point of listening to reason. Perhaps all the guns aboard the Paleskin ship will help to convince him of the error of his ways.
But Ka’iana might have bigger problems to face in his personal life. As we saw in the previous episode, Kupuohi has struck up a relationship with Namake that ends as soon as it began; as soon as Ka’iana returns, Kupuohi jumps back into his arms and his bed, and Namake is left to deal with that rejection on his own. It’s hard not to feel sorry for him, since it’s a less-than-ideal situation, which I think he handles fairly well, in all honesty. But he can’t shelve his feelings totally, and it’s obvious that Ka’iana is becoming aware that something is amiss. When the truth comes out, it could well threaten the entire family dynamic that Ka’iana values so fiercely, and now that Ka’iana and his family are among Kamehameha’s inner circle, the personal drama could have a tangible impact on the wars with Keoua, Kahekili, and colonization that are still to come.
It’s all very good and beautiful-looking and wonderfully acted, which is perhaps just as well since it’s also slow-moving and relatively uneventful. “The Race of the Gods” is the kind of episode that some will complain is filler, but that nonetheless defines the essential nature of Chief of War, laying out its core values and relishing the depth of its characters and culture. You need an hour like that to remind viewers of what is ultimately being fought for. The fight itself is still to come.
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