Ruben embarks on a horrific boat journey to Pagasa, a small but strategic island in the Spratly Archipelago. Although only a few hundred Filipinos live there, Pagasa plays a prominent role in the power struggles along the world's busiest shipping lane. While the Chinese Coast Guard is constantly nearby, the Philippine government tries to convince the boatload of journalists that Pagasa is, in fact, Filipino. Back in Manila, Ruben investigates Pagasa's role in Philippine maritime history and meets young students Anthony and Christian at a nautical school. While Anthony has dreamed of a life as a captain from a young age, the choice for Christian seems to have been primarily out of necessity.

In the southern Philippines, Ruben meets the Sultan of Sulu, heir to a once-powerful kingdom that stretched to Malaysia and the Spratly Islands. His power has vanished, but his historic claims to maritime areas rich in oil and gas keep tensions alive in the region. In the predominantly Muslim Sulu archipelago, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) fought for decades for an independent state. The arrival of ISIS fighters brought the resistance to a standstill years ago, but the call for autonomy seems never to have entirely disappeared. On Tawi-Tawi, an island where many different religions and peoples converge, Ruben discovers how Sulu history profoundly influences daily life.

The armed attack by the followers of the Sultan of Sulu on the Malaysian state of Sabah in 2013 led to a violent confrontation with the Malaysian army. Many of those involved were subsequently labeled terrorists in Malaysia. Ruben speaks with perpetrators, ex-detainees, refugees, and families who are still dealing with the consequences. On Tawi-Tawi, Ruben sees how this border conflict has completely disrupted the lives of the Bajau, a traditional sea-faring people. The pacifist Bajau were expelled from Malaysia and are at the bottom of the social ladder on the Philippine island of Tawi-Tawi.