Shogun
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Japan is, at least for now, his home.
This episode is Fujis time to shine, and actor Moeka Hoshi knocks it out of the park.
Oh yeah, also, Buntaro is back.
Whenwe last saw him, Buntaro was assisting Toranagas escape by fighting off a horde of soldiers single-handedly.
He now arrives in the fields outside Ajiro on horseback with Toranaga and Toranagas enormous army.
Some are flown straight from the fist, killing anything that moves.
Others are lazy and tempted by the lure.
But all men can be broken.
Learn to fly them at the right game, and they will do your hunting for you.
Why fight yourself if you might have another man do it for you?
Why shoot down a pheasant with an arrow when a falcon is eager to do your bidding?
he declares in broken Japanese, more excited about his bird than correct wording.
If he truly hopes to learn the language, he might not be so fast and loose with hyperbole.
When he asks Fuji what its like being consort to a barbarian, she curtly responds, Sorry …
I am consort to hatamoto, I wouldnt know.
But thats not the only mic-drop line she delivers in this confrontation with her sullen uncle.
Thankfully, the Anjin prefers the company of other women.
But when Yabushige swears hell discipline his nephew, Toranaga has a counter: Discipline?
He found a way to force our enemies to attack.
Does he truly believe Omi made the right move?
Is he just needling Yabushige, whom he knows is playing both sides?
But Blackthorne isnt done toying with Buntaro.
You, he demands in Japanese and mimics drawing back a bow.
To heighten things,thisstatement gets almost an exact word-for-word translation from Mariko.
Only Mariko was spared, as she was recently married to Buntaro.
Mariko wants nothing more than to fight for her familys honor, and shes forever denied it.
Later that night, Buntaro beats Mariko so loudly that it wakes up the entire household.
Thats twice in one episode that too much sake has taken the blame for violent decisions.
However, everyone plays along that theyre honorable swords because thats what Fuji merits.
I will give my husband nothing.
Not even my hatred.
Because that is what he merits, she tells Blackthorne, once again employing her eightfold fence.
Snow has fallen in Ajro as Blackthorne returns home, and the entire town seems to be in mourning.
Its the gardener, who buried the pheasant, and because of Blackthornes statement, was put to death.
Hes similarly dismissive of Blackthornes despair over Uejirou the gardener (Junichi Tajiri).
But before the conversation can go any further, a flock of birds erupts from the forest.
A massive earthquake hits and Toranaga is swallowed up by the earth.
Maybe Mariko was right about his fixation on freedom and independencebeing a prison.
Theres one more revelation to be found in the earthquakes wake.
Im also told the Council was outmaneuvered, she tells him coldly, over the dark and brooding score.
The Council will answer to me, she says, as the screen fades to black.
It seems we have a new villain in town.
Maybe Ishido wont have to face the Christians on his own.
Feudal Gestures
On the official podcast, showrunner Justin Marks confirms that Mariko and Blackthorne slept together.
When Toranaga is excavated from the landslide, hes missing his swords, an important status symbol for him.
Blackthorne offers him Fujis swords, and he immediately laughs.
