As HMS Resolution sails away from Tahiti in May 1774, the cannon fire masks more than just ritual—it conceals heartache, temptation, and unresolved tensions. Onboard, a sailor dreams of paradise and dives for it. Onshore in Huaheine, Cook’s crew finds not only coconuts and courtesies but theft, ambush, and a mocking dance that wounds more deeply than any weapon.
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Tahiti, 1774. As spring renews the land, red feathers stir deeper tides—of power, desire, and disillusionment.
April 1774. While Cook’s men collect plants and feathers in Tahiti’s fertile valleys, beneath the surface, old dynasties fracture and new rulers rise. In this episode, the island speaks not just in flowers and birdsong—but in silence, scandal, and ceremonial fire.
After eight months adrift in the Pacific, HMS Resolution returns to the shores of Tahiti in April 1774. What Captain Cook and his crew find is a world both familiar and transformed: abundant fruit, rebuilt homes, old friends—and a red-feather economy in full bloom. But beneath the island’s charm, a silent armada is gathering.
After weeks among barren reefs and tense island encounters, the crew of the Resolution longs for healing. For Georg Forster, struck down by a gall illness, the sight of Tahiti on the horizon is more than a return—it's salvation.