(2) Talavou's second wife was [Taemanea Falenaoti, this woman was known as Mataouli as mentioned by Dr. Kramer] the daughter of the high chief [Sala Lenuanua] of Lealatele Savai’i.
Tapuulafiti married [Taele] the daughter of [Leta'a Uipo] of Apia, they had a son who acquired the titles [Papali'i Taimalelagi Tuiletufuga].
Talavou's appetite for war and talent for victory were developed early in his life under the tutelage of his father Vai‘inupō and his uncle Taimalelagi.
Taimalelagi remained anti-Christian until his death but Talavou later attached himself to the Wesleyan [Methodist] sect “through his Tongan kin” (Meleiseā 1987b:239).
Talavou was a keen student and statesman who was highly respected by resident Europeans on account of his dignified and friendly demeanor, not to mention his impressive command of both the English and Samoan languages.
Since Talavou was unsuccessful in rallying all of Samoa behind his mālō, the espousal of the Methodist denomination may have been designed to provide a unified religious front in opposition to the Sā Mōlī's L.M.S.
European accounts from the 1770s reveal that Samoa and Tonga were actively engaged in interisland travel, warfare, chiefly intermarriage, and political affairs.
King Siaosi [George] Tupou Tāufa‘āhau of Tonga had staunchly supported the Methodist cause taken up by Manono, which was the home island of his Samoan wife Sālata.
Tāufa‘āhau and the Tu‘i Kanokupolu establishment were deeply involved in Manono politics and it is likely that his support was held in high regard by the Malietoa faction as well.
Sioeli [Joel] Tupou and Peniamina [Benjamin] Latūselu were both Methodist preachers of noble Tongan ancestry who were noted for their involvement in Manono religious and political spheres of the time.
The Gato‘aitele and Tamasoāli‘i were conferred upon To‘oā Sualauvī who was to serve as temporary guardian of the titles until the “official” Malietoa was chosen and installed.
Even though Talavou was a seasoned leader and feared warrior, Malie authorities opposed his leadership because of the loss of prestige his mālō had suffered at the hands of the British who had bombarded Sāgone and Palauli in 1859.
The leaders of Savai‘i and ‘Āiga i le Tai opposed the nomination of Laupepa because of his youth and lack of experience in leadership and war.
Although Talavou came the closest, neither candidate succeeded in gaining all of Samoa's support and so both were nominated and ratified as Malietoa by their respective constituencies.
Talavou's constituency vastly outnumbered the Laupepa partisans but neither succeeded in gaining complete control over all of Samoa's districts.
Malietoa Laupepa was declared King of Samoa in 1869, and relocated his government seat from Malie to Matautu on the east shore of Apia Harbor.
Talavou's supporters soon discovered the plot and adamantly refused Laupepa's claim to the kingship, rejecting him as the leader or organizer of any such confederation (faitasiga).
A Native Government document shows that garrisons of Talavou’s “people” from Tuamasaga and Savai‘i were occupying tracts of land in Atua and A‘ana respectively (Tuvale 18).
In 1871, Talavou and Laupepa observed a brief period of peace and mourning in memory of their fallen kinsman Tuimaleali‘ifano To‘oā Sualauvī.
The War of the Faitasiga was actually a series of conflicts that did not truly end until Talavou’s death in 1880, even though official peace talks were held in April 1873.
During the negotiations both parties decided that Laupepa would be installed in joint-kingship with a “co-king” nominated by the Sā Tupua and that Talavou would return to Savai‘i, ending his four-year occupation of Tuamasaga.
As the leader of the itū mālō it seems strange that Talavou would agree to give up his holdings on ‘Upolu and relinquish his claim to the throne and there is indication that the Tuamasaga-Manono-Savai‘i party installed him as King of Samoa in 1874.
Steinberger also gained the trust and support of King Laupepa, the Ta‘imua and the Faipule and secured the office of Premier for himself on May 22, 1875 (Gilson 318).
figures into signing Steinberger's deportation order, an action that sorely disappointed the members of the Faipule and the Ta‘imua.
The Ta‘imua and Faipule reassumed their operation but were unable to simultaneously govern the nation and deal with foreign consular demands; within months of Puletua's defeat, much of Samoa began looking once again to the two Malietoas for leadership.
Malietoa Talavou suffered great humiliation when he was taken hostage in July 1879 under command of village leaders from the Gagaifomauga and Gaga‘emauga districts of northern Savai‘i.
Malietoa Laupepa had met with delegates of the foreign consuls and signed a convention through which “the Samoan Government gave up all jurisdiction over the town, harbour and neighborhood of Apia” (Sorenson & Theroux 2005).
More chaos ensued in early 1880 when the chiefs of Palauli, Sāleaula, and Tutuila sided with the Tumua faction of the A‘ana and Atua districts.
The Samoan chronicler Te‘o Tuvale recorded that the Talavou's enraged supporters from Sātuapa‘itea Fa‘asāleleaga “arose and drove away the people of Palauli and burned their village” (66).
Malietoa Talavou, “the central figure” (Gray 68) of the newborn Samoan monarchy, died November 8, 1880, as King of Samoa, Tupu o Sālafai, Tonumaipe‘a, and alleged Tuia‘ana.