The first round of arbitration in War episode 3 was a dumpster fire on all ends. Carla and Morgan ended up arguing while Gabe had to listen to his parents prove they didn’t care enough about him so they could get the most out of the settlement. However, the fighting ends badly for everyone: Morgan moves his assets, Carla’s personal life is a mess, and both law firms refuse to back down.
Therefore, in the final round of arbitration, Cathcarts and Sons and Taylor & Byrne go all out to settle the matter once and for all because if they don’t agree now, they’ll go to court. Nicholas decides to lead the next round of arbitration, but his opponent is the ruthless St. John. Unfortunately, what Nicholas didn’t anticipate is that St. John would play personal and dirty.
Before going in, Nicholas and his team work out a number for Carla, which should be at least half a billion sterling, considering Morgan’s net worth and assets. However, when the firms sit opposite each other, they produce a number that leaves Nicholas literally speechless. Not only does Cathcarts downplay Taylor & Byrne’s number, but St. John also gets under Nicholas’s skin.
He reminds Nicholas of his time at a firm both he and St. John used to work at. St. John was a seasoned lawyer back then, while Nicholas was fresh out of law school. St. John reveals Nicholas’s nickname to the whole party, Singer, reminding him of the ‘good old days.’ However, the reminder unsettles Nicholas because the moment the nickname and the settlement number are mentioned, he is unable to talk back.
Nicholas literally stutters and can’t argue back, which only amuses and fuels St. John’s desire to mock him more. However, before things get worse, the arbitrator steps in and reminds everyone to proceed carefully because if the arbitration fails, everyone will have to go to court. For the Taylor & Byrne team, the £45 million that the Cathcarts offered was nothing less than a slap in the face.
Cathcarts exploits Nicholas’s weakness
Serena and Nicholas take Carla out for lunch to come up with a new strategy. Unfortunately, Carla is furious with her lawyers and calls them out for their incompetence in the arbitration process. Serena reassures Carla that it’s all standard gameplay and they’ll keep offering them bogus numbers just to play with their heads.
Back at Taylor & Byrne, the team discusses how Nicholas failed at arbitration, but their job is to pick apart the number and reveal Morgan’s true valuation. Just then, Johnny points out that businessman Michael Ancker has been interacting with Morgan’s profile on his social media account recently. This could suggest they might be trying to sell Zephyr before the divorce to prevent Carla from getting half.
The team suggests Johnny inform Serena about what he discovered so they can strategize accordingly. Johnny runs into Carla when he goes to find them, and they have a low-key flirtatious conversation, after which Carla warns Johnny to be careful because people can take photos of their reactions and blow things out of proportion.
Serena and Nicholas continue to argue because the former can’t believe her husband would just sit there and let St. John mock them. She urges Nicholas to fight back and show some aggression if they want to keep their biggest client. Just then, Johnny arrives to inform Nicholas that Bernard is looking for him.
At Cathcarts, St. John is acting like the winning horse, and why not? He crushed Nicholas at the arbitration. However, Beatrice doesn’t share her colleague’s high spirits because she thinks something is fishy. She can’t accept the fact that a simple lowball offer from them will send their opponents sprawling. David reassures her that Johnny has confirmed there’s internal conflict.
Unfortunately, Beatrice isn’t convinced, and she wants to settle the case as soon as possible. She doesn’t want to be blindsided, and if Taylor & Byrne want to settle, they won’t take the fight further. St. John gloats that if he’s up against Nicholas again, they’ll definitely have it in the bag because Nicholas can’t compete with St. John because of the ‘Singer’ situation.
That’s when St. John reveals that back when Nicholas was a newbie, he and another colleague threw Nicholas in front of a big client. The poor man thought it was going to be a one-on-one meeting, but the client turned up with an entire board. Nicholas couldn’t speak properly and ended up getting traumatized because of his stammering.
In the end, his colleague had to get him a vocal coach whose strategy was to sing through the difficult parts of the conversation, hence the nickname Singer. St. John is adamant about keeping reminding Nicholas of his past so that he can crumble in front of them. Although Beatrice labels St. John’s strategy as bullying, he’s not the one to shy away from a little fun.
Taylor & Byrne is close to sinking
Back at Nicholas’s firm, he learns from his finance officer, Bernard, that the firm is sinking. They are so consumed by the divorce case that the firm hasn’t taken any other cases. That means the firm’s future hangs on Carla and Morgan’s divorce, and if they don’t win, Taylor & Byrne will be over.
Bernard warns Nicholas that they have resources for only another month, and after that, they’ll have to file for bankruptcy. Before leaving, Nicholas gives Saeed some work, but the latter is exhausted and feels his abilities are being undermined. Luckily, Molly offers him a chance to prove himself by going to drinks at a bar where Michael Ancker’s executive assistant will also be.
At Morgan’s place, Gillian calls him to talk about moving the assets, but for some reason, he’s having second thoughts about the whole affair. After some time, Morgan watches Carla arrive at the house from a distance. He texts her to ask if she’s okay, then offers to take her out to dinner if she’s nearby. However, Carla lies, saying she’s not close by, and it somehow breaks Morgan’s heart.
The scene intercuts to Molly and Saeed, who are drinking and dancing their night away at a fancy bar. While getting drinks, Saeed spots St. John having an argument with a guy; however, when Saeed stops by to say hi, St. John is as cold as the Arctic and leaves. Luckily for Saeed, Molly sets him up with Ancker’s EA, and the two sleep together.
The next day, Nicholas urges Serena to settle because they are sinking financially, but she refuses. She doesn’t care about the offer; all she wants is for them to fight and win. She didn’t envision herself throwing in the towel, and she will not allow Nicholas to do that too.
At the arbitration, Nicholas proposes £315 million, taking into account all of Morgan’s companies, assets, and earnings. However, just as expected, St. John’s dry humor and mockery of the settlement price throw Nicholas off. Cathcarts argue they can’t give Carla the money that their client doesn’t have.
St. John states Zephyr’s billion-pound valuation is an arbitrary number representing future earnings and not the money that Morgan currently has. Now, the ball is in Nicholas’s court, and as expected, he doesn’t deliver. She starts stuttering, but fortunately, Serena takes over, countering Cathcarts' argument with a magazine that celebrates Morgan as a member of the billionaire club.
Looking at the massive difference in the proposed numbers, the arbitrator suggests that both parties get an accurate picture of Morgan’s net worth, especially Morgan himself, if they want to move forward amicably. In the elevator, Carla is furious with Morgan for undercutting the compensation she deserves for helping him build Zephyr, a company they came up with together when they met in Normandy.
There’s no such thing as a peaceful divorce
After the arbitration, Morgan feels terrible and decides to write Carla a letter offering her the £300 million she wants. However, when Morgan shares his intentions of giving Carla the money with St. John, he’s appalled by his actions and tears up the letter. When he sees Morgan caving, St. John plays the trump card and reveals Carla’s honey trap to Morgan.
Morgan is shocked that Carla would stoop so low as to pay someone to sleep with him. This changes everything; more than that, this enrages Morgan, and he backpedals to give the steering wheel right back to the lawyers.
At the office, an irritated Nicholas calls out Saeed for coming in late, but the latter has something to offer that proves his worth as a good lawyer. Saeed tells Nicholas that Ancker’s EA revealed Morgan’s company is trying to deplete his net worth by transferring shares to a colleague. Then, when the divorce is settled, they’ll transfer the shares back to sell to Ancker.
Nicholas immediately sets up a meeting with Budgie to ask for her expert opinion. She tells Nicholas if they want to freeze asset movement, they’ll need a Mareva injunction. However, Budgie warns Nicholas that the financial implication of such a move can be disastrous for his firm. If Cathcarts find out, they’ll try to drag this since they have deep pockets.
At this point, Nicholas is determined to fight back and show everyone he still has a spine. After giving Budgie the green light on the application, Nicholas visits St. John. He informs him of Morgan’s attempt to offload his shares in order to avoid Carla’s payout. However, with the Mareva injunction, they won’t be able to pull this move off.
Unfortunately, this would mean they’ll go to litigation — a very lengthy and public affair, something that will affect Zephyr tremendously, but it’ll also humiliate Taylor & Byrne if they lose. But Nicholas knows if they go to court, Morgan will look like the guilty party. Therefore, the best course of action is to settle for £300 million.
St. John counters, Nicholas moves down, but the former thinks the best they can do is £110 million. If they shake on it now, Nicholas won’t need his wife bailing him out. Nicholas goes back home and tells Serena everything. He also informs her that he intends to fight for their firm; that’s why he rejected St. John’s offer.
The next day at the office, Molly informs Johnny that they’ll be going to court, so it is going to be busy. Thinking he needs to dig for some information to sell to David, Johnny goes to Bernard’s office to offer him coffee and to push him for some information. However, Bernard doesn’t have anything; instead, he asks Johnny to get the litigation form from the printer and have Carla sign it.
As Johnny goes to get the papers, he sees Taylor & Byrne’s profit-and-loss statement in the printer. Seeing an opportunity to cash in, Johnny immediately makes a copy of the statement and sends the pictures to David. When he gets to Carla’s house for the signature, she’s agitated over Morgan’s behavior and the ugliness of the divorce.
As they sit and talk, Johnny tries to console her, but his actions drive Carla to kiss him instinctively. Shockingly, Johnny kisses her back, and their passion takes over them, but just for a moment. They break free abruptly, realizing their mistake, but by then it was too late. Carla signs the papers, and Johnny sits there thinking about what he’s going to do with this mess.
You can watch War on HBO Max. The final two episodes of the first season air on Nov. 12 and Nov. 19!
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