WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Chapelwaite Season 1, Episode 5, “The Prophet,” available now on EPIX.
Throughout Chapelwaite, Loa has been drifting further and further from her family, particularly her father Charles Boone. This rift, which could have been mended, has had dire consequences. In episode 5 “The Prophet,” Loa’s grief, Stephen Boone’s manipulation of Loa and Loa’s discovery of Rebecca’s writing all lead Loa to turn to Stephen because she believes that he can heal her and bring her to see her mother. Unfortunately, this choice leads to her death.
At the beginning of “The Prophet,” it almost seems as if Charles Boone is making headway into making amends with Loa. At the end of “The Promised,” Loa again was refusing to talk to Charles and let him know what Stephen told her. However, because Charles approaches the conversation more calmly in “The Prophet,” Loa confides in him Stephen’s promises. She tells Charles about Stephen’s proclamations that he can bring Loa to her mother, as well as Stephen’s claims that he can heal Loa. From early in the series, Loa has made it clear that she blames her father for the injuries to her leg from rickets, so this promise from Stephen shows that he is particularly targeting the sore spots in Loa’s relationship with her father, exploiting them for his own purposes. Loa also is deeply devoted to her family, so her desire for familial ties also make Stephen seem trustworthy to her.
Charles labels Stephen “a deceiver” and invokes both his and Maya’s warning against deceivers. The mention of Maya, Loa’s mother, seems to be a more effective way of getting through to her the danger that Stephen poses. While the conversation seems to be going well at first, it begins to break down when Charles claims that Stephen is “preying on [Loa’s] weakness,” and Loa takes offense that her grief is a weakness. She states, “forgetting her is worse,” and she fears that her father has forgotten Maya. Loa believes that her father has feelings for Rebecca and fears that Rebecca will replace her mother. Charles ineffectually tries to soothe Loa’s fears about Rebecca, but he does not deny any feelings. He then resorts to commanding Loa to stay away from Stephen Boone, and this shift effectively ends any progress that he made.
Because of the threats from Stephen Boone and Jakub, Charles decides to investigate Jerusalem’s Lot but also plans to move his family away from Chapelwaite for their safety. While packing up to leave Chapelwaite, Loa wanders into Rebecca Morgan’s room. While there, she discovers Rebecca’s manuscript, which is a dramatized and vaguely fictionalized account of Rebecca’s time with the Boone family. Thus, Loa learns that Rebecca is also “a deceiver,” as Charles put it, making Charles’ own words about Stephen now apply to Rebecca in Loa’s eyes.
At first, Loa does not share what she has found with her siblings, but she cannot help herself from crying as they are all trying to go to sleep. When Honor and Tane try to comfort Loa, Loa wishes that they could return to the island and “be with [their] people.” She eventually reveals the truth of Rebecca’s writings when her siblings press her on why she is crying. While the siblings all feel betrayed by Rebecca, the wounds cut even deeper for Loa. Unlike her siblings, Loa has been suspicious of Rebecca from the start, and their unwillingness to believe Loa before Loa produces the proof also places a wedge between her and her siblings, though they all are on the same page about Rebecca’s betrayal in the end.
Therefore, Loa, on her own, returns to Chapelwaite seeking answers from Stephen Boone. She finds him playing the violin, and he clearly is still grieving the loss of his daughter Marcella. Stephen states, “there is no greater sorrow for a parent then to lose a child,” foreshadowing his plans. Stephen’s willingness to talk about and acknowledge his grief are the key to getting Loa to trust him. Rebecca, Honor and Tane return to Chapelwaite desperately trying to find Loa, but they are too late. By the time they arrive, she has already left with Stephen. At the end of “The Prophet,” Charles, on his way back to Chapelwaite, finds Loa’s body on the road and sees the telltale bite marks of the vampire. Thus, Stephen Boone’s threat is clear: find the book, or they will destroy the rest of his family, too.
Loa’s death was preventable. Because her grief and unhappiness were inconvenient and stood in the way of Charles’ plans, a rift formed between them that unfortunately Charles and Loa were not able to bridge in time. Instead, Loa’s grief, Charles’ demands and Rebecca’s betrayal all drove her to trust in Stephen Boone, a trust that led to her demise.
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