As the film begins, Motunui is flourishing: canoes glide over crystal-blue waters, children learn the art of wayfinding, and harvests are abundant. Yet, Moana senses a subtle unease in the ocean’s currents. The usually warm and welcoming ocean now sends mixed signals strange swirls of cooler water near the reefs, odd patterns in fish migration, and rare sightings of creatures from distant seas. More ominously, distant travelers arrive on Motunui’s shores with troubling tales of islands engulfed in perpetual mist and entire atolls drifting off course. Whispers speak of a “Broken Tide,” a phenomenon that upends the harmony of the ocean currents and confuses the stars, making navigation perilous.

Moana consults her grandmother’s old stories, etched into tapa cloths and remembered in lullabies. These ancient tales speak of Te Rangi Po, a mysterious region of the ocean where the horizon blurs between realms where spirits of the deep and lost navigators wander. According to legend, if the balance between nature’s guardians is disturbed, Te Rangi Po can bleed into the world of mortals, twisting currents and befuddling navigators. Moana suspects that something or someone is opening a pathway to this strange realm, undermining the careful equilibrium restored after her first quest.

At this pivotal moment, Maui reappears, crash-landing on Motunui’s beach after a failed attempt to wrestle a massive sky serpent that vanished into a sudden fog bank. Frustrated and humbled, Maui admits that his shape-shifting hook behaves erratically near this strange mist. The stars, he claims, have shifted their patterns at night, making even a master wayfinder uneasy. Moana knows that they must investigate the phenomenon together, combining her leadership and empathy with Maui’s strength and cunning.

Their canoe departs at dusk, guided by Moana’s courage and Maui’s bravado. They journey through a network of islands affected by the Broken Tide. On one island, they find coconut groves turned barren and birds refusing to sing, while on another, villagers speak of ghostly lights dancing above the lagoon at midnight. Moana and her team share songs and stories, each discovery hinting at a greater pattern. They learn that a being known as Tukara, a trickster spirit from ancient legends, has awakened. Tukara thrives on confusion and displacement, delighting in mixing worlds that should remain separate. Long ago, demigods and guardians sealed Tukara’s essence into a coral pillar deep under the sea, but now cracks form in that prison.

Over a series of adventurous encounters, Moana’s crew faces trials that test their resolve. They must navigate waters where the sky reflects beneath their hulls as if sailing upside down. Maui attempts to confront the sky serpent again, this time with Moana’s strategic guidance rather than brute force, learning that cooperation trumps solitary heroics. Kale befriends a pod of bioluminescent dolphins who lead the way through labyrinthine reefs. Hana shows her mettle by steering the canoe through swirling tides under starlight, guided by constellations that only she can interpret now. Nanea’s songs soothe distressed spirits along the way, gaining fragments of knowledge from them.

Through these ordeals, the tension between Moana and Maui also resurfaces. Maui grows frustrated with forces he cannot simply overpower, and Moana must remind him—and herself—that listening, understanding, and building trust are as crucial as courage. Moana herself wrestles with doubts: Is she leading her people wisely? Can she fulfill her role as the ocean’s chosen voyager without losing sight of who she is?

Eventually, their path leads them to Te Rangi Po itself, a hazy convergence of air and water where Tukara’s influence is strongest. There, shapes of ancient canoes drift aimlessly, crewed by phantoms who have forgotten their purpose. The coral pillar that once imprisoned Tukara is fractured. To restore it, Moana must confront the trickster spirit. Unlike Te Kā, who was a wrathful force of nature in the first film, Tukara is subtle and cunning, appearing as shimmering illusions and whispering doubts. The final confrontation is not a battle of strength, but a negotiation of truths and responsibilities. Moana and Maui must join voices in a chant that binds spirit and matter, guided by Nanea’s old shell flute and the wisdom of the ancestors.