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.

In this episode, Ruben travels through Vietnam. Fishermen he speaks with are afraid to say out loud that they are being chased away from their traditional fishing grounds near the Paracel Islands by the Chinese. It seems the Vietnamese are doing everything they can to avoid an open confrontation with China. Even at an international conference intended to discuss the South China Sea openly, caution seems to be the norm. Along with a group of American war veterans, we see the deep scars of the Vietnam War.