Chief of War (2025) s01e01 Episode Script

1
[NARRATOR] Our people thrive
in the beauty of our islands.
But we do not stand as one.
We are four kingdoms joined by water
but we are separated
by cunning Chiefs and powerful gods.
They keep us in a cycle of endless war.
[WARRIORS CLAMORING]
[NARRATOR] THE ANCIENT PROPHECY SAYS:
"A Star with a Feathered Cape
will signal the rise of a great King,
who will unite the kingdoms
and end the age of war."
We waited for generations,
until the sign finally came.
But no King has arisen.
Stop!
We found one!
That's a big one, Kaʻiana.
It's an omen.
Prepare the ʻawa root.
Give me the noose
and ready a fish.
[BREATHING DEEPLY]
Throw the ʻawa deep!
This is a good omen, right?
The ʻawa in the water won't sedate
the shark much longer.
- [EXCLAIMING]
- [GASPS]
[LAUGHING]
Rope! Rope!
Pull! Pull!
[SPEAKS HAWAIIAN]
ʻAwa! ʻAwa!
Paddle!
Paddle!
In your death may life be preserved.
Stop!
[NĀHI] Get out!
- Get out, you stray dogs!
- [CHILDREN CLAMORING]
[GRUNTS]
My food! [EXCLAIMING]
Get out! [EXCLAIMING CONTINUES]
[KAʻIANA SIGHS]
The villagers call you outcasts,
strangers to Kauaʻi.
But your feather cape bears
the royal colors of Maui.
You are a Chief.
So why do you live like this?
The villagers are right about us, boy.
But I am no Chief,
and Maui is no longer my home.
[SIBLING SPEAKS HAWAIIAN]
You really won him over.
[KAʻIANA SIGHS]
You'll need to get better with kids.
Why?
Because I want one.
Talk to your sister,
the Kauaʻi sun is getting to her.
I think a baby is a great idea.
[SISTER CHUCKLES]
[KAʻIANA] We can't.
Nāhi hates kids.
Your brothers will be fine,
and you will make a good father.
[CONCH BLOWING]
The canoe is from Maui.
They're here for us?
If they are, there is nowhere to hide.
Kaʻiana, when you sought refuge here
three seasons ago,
you promised Kauaʻi's queen no trouble
with Maui.
Honor that promise.
Kaʻiana.
Son of Maui's great War Chief,
and deserter of the King's army.
So this is what you abandoned
your lands and title for?
Your king has need
for you at his council.
What need?
I don't know what is tolerated among
the Chiefs of Kauaʻi
[SPEAKS HAWAIIAN]
but to ignore a royal
messenger of Maui,
is to sacrifice the tongue of the man
who dared it.
At King Kahekili's request,
you will meet us on
Maui shores tomorrow.
Huh?
When you left Maui's army,
I vowed to feed your heart to the pigs.
You live today only by the mercy
of your king.
I am the one who found you, Kaʻiana.
If you run, I will find you again.
[CONCH BLOWING]
They are waiting.
They can wait.
[SPOUSE] No more delay.
Your offering is ready for the King.
[SPEAKS HAWAIIAN]
Some of the men questioned
whether or not you would come.
Why am I here, Kūpule?
[SCOFFS]
You have made us wait, and now
you question why you have been called?
All will be made known, Kaʻiana.
My father waits at the warrior fields,
I've come to escort you.
I used to watch you train
with your father when I was a kid.
I always knew Maui would never fall
as long as you would lead us.
It is good to have you back.
I'm not back.
[WARRIORS GRUNTING]
[GRUNTING CONTINUES]
An expected welcome to a dog Chief
who abandoned his post.
Blunted spears?
You don't train them in the old way?
Nui would tear through
our men otherwise.
No man can reach him behind his spears,
let alone defeat him in combat.
[GROWLS]
Listen!
Kaʻiana will face Nui in the old way,
the way of battle.
Bring the spears of war!
[CROWD CLAMORING]
[GRUNTING]
[SCREAMS]
- [BONE SNAPS]
- [SCREAMS]
[SPEAKS HAWAIIAN]
[SPEAKS HAWAIIAN]
[CROWD CHANTING]
[CLAPPING, POUNDING IN UNISON]
It is thunder that shakes the skies.
So we kneel before
the voice of the god
who makes the skies tremble.
[KAHEKILI] Enough formalities.
Stand Kaʻiana.
Share Aloha with your uncle.
[HUMS]
Spears brush past you like the wind.
Just like your father.
Your father preserved my kingdom
more than once as Chief of War,
and I miss him every day.
Nāmake!
Nāhi!
I've missed you.
[HUMS]
Kaʻiana may fight like your father,
but your old man gave you his ugly
[SNIFFS]
and I miss that the most.
You honor him by joining me again.
We are here at your request,
but we will return
to the quiet of Kauaʻi.
Beautiful.
You needn't be concerned, Kaʻiana.
You had your reasons
for leaving my army.
I hold no animosity for that.
Come.
Why have you sent for us?
There is a great threat
facing our kingdom.
Our Seers have foreseen
the enslavement of our people
under the rule of Oʻahu.
Our spies report their army
is twice the size of ours.
Why would Oʻahu sail against you?
King Hahana is just a boy.
He has always pledged his loyalty
to King Kahekili,
and Maui has left his
kingdom unprovoked.
Oʻahu's High Priest is a dangerous man,
and has poisoned the young King's mind.
He now moves to take our kingdom.
War brings honor to kings
and death to the innocent.
We are done killing.
Wait, Kaʻiana.
This is about the Ancient Prophecy.
The Prophecy is upon us.
Our Royal Seer spoke your name
in a vision.
The omens are clear, Kaʻiana,
we can only defeat Oʻahu
with you by my side.
Kahekili has called us to war.
[SPOUSE] Did you accept?
We tested him by leaving his army
once before.
He will not allow it again.
Then we will begin preparations
to sail back to Kauaʻi.
[NĀHI] We are going to run away again?
Maui is our home, Kaʻiana.
This is our chance to return.
I will not lead this family
into another needless war.
What if this is as Kūpule says
and the Prophecy is upon us?
Is this not what we
have been waiting for?
A chance for peace?
King Kahekili has never pursued peace.
[NĀHI] If Kahekili can
unite the kingdoms,
maybe he is the Prophesied King.
It cannot be Kahekili.
[BLOWING]
[KAHEKILI] Kaʻiana.
You came alone?
What need have I for protection here?
Your father was my best friend.
Despite our differences,
I have always seen you as family.
I have something to show you.
I know why you left my army, Kaʻiana.
I put glory and pride over the people,
and many died in service of my greed,
including your father.
But this war with
Oʻahu will be different.
[KAʻIANA] It is the same war
we have always fought.
One kingdom's rule over another.
[SPEAKS HAWAIIAN]
No, this is Prophecy.
The Prophesied One is said
to "rise under the Burning Star,
clothed in a sacred
Feather Cape of the Gods."
I was only a boy,
but we all saw the sign.
Yet no king has come.
I thought the same, Kaʻiana.
But my god has shown me a vision.
What is this?
I would have spared you this,
but there is something
you deserve to see.
As is the ancient custom,
Oʻahu's High Priest sought
the bones of an enemy Chief,
to sacrifice on his altar of war.
Your father.
We stopped them,
but not before they
desecrated his bones.
I give them to you so you may honor him.
The omens are clear, Kaʻiana.
The Prophecy does not foretell
the rise of a king,
it predicts the birth of a moment.
And the moment is now.
You are my Feathered Cape
and I am the Burning Star.
Together we can end
this needless fighting,
and the chaos it brings.
Stand with Maui,
and fight by my side.
[NĀMAKE CHANTING]
[SOBBING]
[SHOUTING]
[CRYING]
[SHOUTS]
[CRYING]
[INDISTINCT WHISPERING]
[WHISPERING CONTINUES]
Taula.
A man of indecision
is a danger to himself,
and to those who follow him.
Did the King send you?
I speak only for the gods.
I did not come here
for your fortunes or prophecies.
The gods have shown me
a vision of your path all the same.
You will see the Prophecy fulfilled,
Kaʻiana,
and stand with the Prophesied One.
The path is dark and unclear,
but you will not walk it alone.
You speak in riddles.
I see only what the gods reveal.
Nothing more, nothing less.
The path is yours to find.
Take your father's hand, Kaʻiana,
and follow where it leads.
[INDISTINCT WHISPERING]
[WHISPERING STOPS]
Your brothers are looking for you.
Something happened.
You wear your thoughts.
You always have.
There are no secrets,
your eyes tell all.
I saw Taula.
The Prophetess?
She told me
to take my father's hand,
but I don't know what that could mean.
Prince Kūpule sent warriors
to deliver your father's things.
Your father's hand
Maybe King Kahekili's Seers are correct,
perhaps you are needed
to bring about the Prophecy
our people have been waiting for.
We killed Chiefs, warriors,
and common men,
for this king who lost his way.
If we do this,
I will be in service of Kahekili
once again.
You will be in service of The Prophecy,
and your people.
As you have always been.
You have your father's "hand",
the choice is yours.
[NUTS RATTLE]
[NUTS RATTLING]
So you've come.
None of my servants make
the candlenut relish the way I like it.
I have to gather the nuts myself.
We can conquer Oʻahu
with little bloodshed,
and spare the young King.
Invade Oʻahu?
Take your warriors to Waikīkī,
but do not attack.
Oʻahu's army will gather
to protect their shores.
[KAHEKILI] And you?
I will attack the eastern stronghold,
and seize the High Priest
at the Temple of Refuge.
When the temple falls,
the young King will surrender.
If this is Prophecy,
let it begin with the fall of Oʻahu.
Where did you get maile?
I hiked to the valley last night.
I asked the gods to keep you safe.
I made this so you could
wear that prayer on your shoulders.
You will be safe here, sister.
We will return when Oʻahu is ours.
[EXCLAIMS]
[CHANTING]
[GRUNTING, CLAMORING]
[GRUNTING, CLAMORING CONTINUES]
Advance!
Forward.
Forward.
[GRUNTING]
Send the rain of spears!
Let the slings fly!
[GRUNTING, GROANING]
[SHOUTS]
[SHOUTING, CLAMORING]
[GRUNTS]
[YELPS]
[GRUNTING]
[CLAMORING, SHOUTING CONTINUES]
- [GRUNTING]
- [SCREAMING]
[SHOUTS, GROANS]
[GRUNTING, CLAMORING]
[GRUNTS]
- [SHOUTS]
- [GRUNTS]
[SHOUTING, CLAMORING]
[NECK CRACKS]
[DISTORTED AUDIO]
[CLAMORING CONTINUES]
- [GRUNTS, SHOUTS]
- [GRUNTS]
We have the beach!
Tend to the wounded.
Stay alert.
It's not safe for the King
to come to shore yet.
We must get to the temple
and find the High Priest.
[SHOUTS, GRUNTS]
[GROANS]
[GROANS]
[STRAINS]
[SHOUTS]
- [GRUNTS]
- [GROANS]
[GRUNTS]
[GROANS]
[GRUNTS, SCREAMS]
[BREATHES HEAVILY]
A digging stick.
These people aren't warriors.
They're farmers.
[WARRIOR CHANTING]
Sound the Call of War!
- [CONCH BLOWING]
- [ALL SHOUTING]
The King is coming.
He is not supposed to be here.
[PANTING]
- [YELPS]
- [GRUNTING]
Kill them all.
This is the Temple of Refuge, my King.
A sanctuary and sacred burial ground.
Then their bodies won't
have to be taken far.
Go!
[ALL CLAMORING]
[PANTING]
[CLAMORING, GRUNTING]
Sound the Call of Victory.
[CONCH BLOWING]
[WARRIORS CLAMORING]
[CLAMORING CONTINUES]
Have you found the High Priest?
We have the young King.
[HAHANA GRUNTING, PANTING]
[SPEAKS HAWAIIAN]
[GASPS]
Why have you attacked my kingdom?
You were like a father to me.
[HAHANA SPEAKS HAWAIIAN]
I wanted to be a great king like you,
a child of thunder.
Only I
can hear the voice in the thunder.
[INHALES DEEPLY]
[GURGLING]
[EXCLAIMS, GRUNTS]
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
[KAHEKILI] Thank you, Kaʻiana.
It is as my Seers have said,
you have given me Oʻahu.
It is mine.
Where is Oʻahu's High Priest?
This was never about him,
it was about you.
All the omens and gods
chose you for this.
Not like this.
This was the desecration of a kingdom,
their bones
like the bones of my father.
This is Prophecy,
and together,
the Star with the Feather Cape,
will soar above all kingdoms,
and unite them as one.
[KŪPULE] Kaʻiana.
My father lied to both of us.
I learned the truth of our invasion
after we took the temple.
Oʻahu's blood is on your father's hands.
And ours!
Put eyes on him.
But take no action without my counsel.
- Don't look at them, Kaʻiana
- [CRYING]
look at me.
We came as a family,
and we will face what's ahead together.