Blood Psalms episode 5 recap: Fire in the Hole

Blood Psalms opens at a time of upheaval in Ancient Africa, around 11 000 years ago. Five tribes -the Akachi, the Uchawi, the Ku’ua, the Chini, and Great Nziwemabwe – whose ancestors all fled the destruction of Atlantis before our story begins – share a prophecy about the end of days. Signs are growing that the end is coming soon, as the five tribes gather for the wedding of King Letsha of the Akachi and Thozama of the Uchawi.

Episode 4 in 10 points

1. Assili, witch-queen of the Uchawi, begged the god Seth for powers before drugging mad King Letsha of the Akachi and tying him to his bed.
2. Akachi Captain Ahadi went on a mission from Queen Assili to inspect the “hole in the wall” caused by Princess Zazi (using supernatural powers) deflecting a meteorite that was on a collision course with the Akachi citadel.
3. The Chini werehyenas transformed during the full moon night, and the dead Chini rose from their graves to attack the living.
4. Having recognised each other from their dreams (but unaware that they’re cousins), Princess Zazi helped Burutti of the Chini to escape from the Akachi citadel while Burutti was in her werehyena form. 
5. Brothers Qotha and Hlengu, sons of Ku’ua leader Chief Xemantso, bickered over who was in charge of Daddy’s army while Xemantso was in the citadel.
6. Princess Zazi’s friend and companion Thozama (King Letsha’s fiancée) accidentally let slip that Zazi is pregnant by General Toka during a private argument with her mother, Queen Assili.
7. Assili ordered Thozama to take advantage of the drugged King Letsha so that Thozama could conceive a baby as a vessel for the god Seth.
8. Senator Jabari of Great Nziwemabwe mocked his Akachi hosts and announced that he’d only accepted the wedding invitation so Great Nziwemabwe could demand the Northern Territories back from the Akachi. 
9. General Toka recognised Senator Jabari’s concubine Sithenjwa as the lover he’d exiled for trying to murder King Letsha on the night of Princess Zazi’s birth. 
10. Toka is still unaware that Sithenjwa was the sister of Letsha’s wife, Queen Ndiya Zazi (the mother of Toka’s current lover, Princess Zazi), whom Letsha had executed. And soon Toka might have to answer for what he did with his and Sithenjwa’s lost daughter, Burutti. 

What happens in Episode 5 of Blood Psalms?

Qotha: Kicked & tricked

Lala of the Ku’ua, wife of Chief Xemantso’s heir Quotha, wakes to the sound of Qotha and his brother Hlengu having a full-on stick battle over who’s daddy’s favourite and she breaks it up when Hlengu fights dirty. Qotha demands entry to the Akachi citadel so that he can see his father, and inside the citadel, Qotha plays the doddering bumpkin until he walks in on Xemantso enjoying a delightful evening of drinking, trying drugs and telling concubines how he and King Letsha became allies. Qotha is baffled and offended when Xemantso calls him by his brother’s name, then insults him. Back in the Ku’ua camp, Hlengu orders the Ku’ua to stay armed and alert, before he sneaks into Qotha and Lala’s quarters to hop into bed with his mistress, Lala.

Drunk and disorderly

Akachi high priest Mfengetho warns King Letsha’s uncle Nkamanzu that General Toka’s interest in Princess Zazi poses the gravest threat to security for the Akachi, as Toka could stage a coup using Zazi as a puppet ruler. Nkamanzu, more concerned with Queen Assili’s poisonous influence, assigns Mfengetho to undermine the Uchawi queen. Drawn by screaming to King Letsha’s chambers, Nkamanzu and Mfengetho see Letsha fighting against his restraints (watched over by the disappointed ghost of his father, the Ancient Monarch). 

It’s a delicate situation, so the sight of Senator Jabari of Great Nziwemabwe wandering the passages with his concubine and calling to Nkamanzu like a rowdy drunkard is a problem, especially as Jabari might see Queen Assili pouring more drugs down Letsha’s throat. With Letsha docile again, Assili orders the guards to bring her daughter Thozama to the King’s chambers. Assili warns royal governess Madlamini (who raised both King Letsha and Princess Zazi) that she has a spy in her household, and Letsha screams in helpless fury after Assili whispers to him that his daughter Princess Zazi is pregnant by General Toka, and reminds him that the next day will be Zazi’s 18th birthday, the age at which, according to the prophecy, she will take Letsha’s throne.

In the passage outside the King’s chambers, Madlamini runs into Sithenjwa and she yanks her aside to scold Sithenjwa for abandoning their cause, going rogue trying to kill King Letsha. Later while she is standing with Senator Jabari, though, Sithenjwa uses a hand gesture to give Madlamini a secret sign. Meanwhile, Senator Jabari demands an audience with King Letsha before the wedding, which is due to happen in the morning. And the quiet arguing in the passage is interrupted by an Akachi handmaiden who runs to fetch Madlamini to check on Chief Xemantsu. In his chambers, rowdy, tearful drunk Xemantsu demands to speak with King Letsha as he threatens the terrified, shrieking concubines with a heavy staff until he passes out, drunk.

Betrayal and heartbreak

Princess Zazi kneels before her guardian statue of Isis and tries to focus on her new powers, accidentally snapping the crown from the heavy stone figure as she lifts it into the air. There’s a knock at the door and General Toka enters to break up with a devastated Zazi and swear her to secrecy, fearing a dark time lies ahead. Later Princess Zazi sets up her bedding to make it look as if she’s asleep, then slips out of her room to chase after General Toka.

In Senator Jabari’s room, the Senator passes out drunk and moments later Sithenjwa slips from the room, having faked her own drunkenness, but the equally sneaky Jabari has also been faking, and he slips out to follow her. 

At home in his quarters, Toka gets an unexpected visitor: Sithenjwa. When she asks what happened to their daughter, Burutti, he tells her that their child is dead because she had no mother to feed her. Their confrontation soon becomes sexually charged, though, and they’re in the middle of having sex when Princess Zazi sees them through a gap in the door. As Sithenjwa races back from her quickie, Senator Jabari emerges from the shadows, smirking over what he has just seen. But what exactly he has seen, from Sithenjwa and Toka’s tryst to Zazi’s discovery, we’ve yet to find out.

In King Letsha’s chambers, Queen Assili leaves a knife on King Letsha’s chest and tells Letsha that he can break the curse by going to Zazi’s room and killing her in her sleep. Alone again, Letsha yells at his father’s ghost that he’s going to sacrifice the Ancient Monarch’s illegitimate child, Princess Zazi. Later, Letsha escapes his bonds, and enters Zazi’s chambers naked, carrying a knife, and Zazi and a scolding Madlamini walk in on the King stabbing his knife into Zazi’s bedding, over and over. At the sight of them, King Letsha bolts up and orders his guards to seize hold of Princess Zazi, calling her a traitor. 

Catch up on Blood Psalms

Confused about who’s who and what they do? Swot up on the Blood Psalms story, major characters and tribes and houses on Showmax Stories.

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