You can’t deny that Keōua is a more intimidating antagonist than King Kahekili in Chief of War

Apple TV+'s historical fiction, Chief of War, is gearing up for the finale week, and one thing is clear: war seems inevitable on the Hawaiian islands. On one side, we have Kamehameha and Ka'iana, and on the other, Keōua and King Kahekili.

Initially, in the first few episodes, King Kahekili's brutalities and his false prophecy to keep his throne resulted in bloodshed and chaos. His brutalities were the reasons why Ka'iana and his family left the kingdom of Maui'i and took refuge in Kaua'i. But when Ka'iana refused to listen to him and disagreed with his stance, he attacked his family, and they were separated for months.

For a moment, it felt like King Kahekili was the ultimate antagonist of the show until Keōua came into the picture.

Keōua, the cousin of Kamehameha, was always jealous of him. He did not like it when his father, Kalaniopu'u, appointed Kamehameha as the War God. When his father passed away, Keōua made it a point to end Kamehameha. Slowly but steadily, he turned out to be the most intimidating antagonist of the series.

Continue reading to know more.

Chief of War: Keōua is a more intimidating antagonist than King Kahekili

In Chief of War, King Kahekili's brutalities are no secret. His relentless pursuit of power, killing innocent chiefs, attacking smaller kingdoms, and twisting the prophecy have been a part of his greedy personality. But Keōua is no less and in fact more intimidating. After his father's death, he was clear about his plan: attack the Kohala district (ruled by Kamehameha).

His brutalities began with burning Kohala's food storage huts. The move was a direct insult and an attack on Kamehameha's power. Previously, when Kalaniopu'u was alive, he was impressed by Kamehameha's preparedness for the war (the food storage huts). So Keōua took his revenge by attacking the food storage huts. His cruelties did not end here. When Kupouhi and Ka'iana went to discuss establishing peace between the districts (as per Kamehameha's orders ), Keōua turned them down.

Keōua went to King Kahekili to ask for help. To bring his cousin down, he was ready to seek help from a different kingdom. King Kahekili sent Opunui and his men to aid Keōua in his battle against Kamehameha. In return, Keōua promised to maintain peace between the kingdoms. We all know that King Kahekili isn't that easily satisfied and can turn against Keōua at any point in time.

Things turned brutal in Chief of War Episode 8, The Sacred Niu Grove. Keōua, Opunui, and his men entered the sacred niu grove region and started cutting down trees. Nahi and Heke, who were resting nearby, get startled by the noise.

Soon, they find themselves surrounded by Keōua's men. Meanwhile, the overseer priest has also taken a hostage. Those men bring Nahi and Heke to Keōua. Nahi instructs Heke to run away while he tries to fight them. However, he gets overpowered and, after a brutal fight sequence, Keōua takes a huge rock and crushes Nahi's head, killing him, all in front of Heke, who cries her heart out.

Keōua then approaches Heke and tells her to send the word of war to Kamehameha. He instructs Opunui to accompany her back. But Opunui isn't a saint, and Heke washing her body in the stream proved that she had been physically abused by Opunui. Keōua could have avoided this, but he chose not to.

In the end, the cruelties reached their peak when Keōua pushed the overseer priest into a volcanic pit. The overseer priest previously gave a stern warning to Keōua and his men to stop cutting down the trees of the sacred grove, or else the gods would curse them to death.

Keōua's atrocities may not have been on a wide scale as King Kahekili yet, but his ruthless killing establishes him as an intimidating antagonist of the Chief of War.

Chief of War is available to stream on Apple TV+.

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Also read: Chief of War Episode 9 (finale): Release date news, time, streaming details and more

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