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If tomorrow is tomorrow, then that means today is right now, and yesterday is gone forever. Which might as well be the mantra for all of our Shōgun principals. In 1600 Japan, living in the moment doesn’t guarantee stability. Like at all. But it at least affords a chance at fulfillment. Summoned to face Lord Toranaga in the wake of the assassin’s attack (episode two, “Servants of Two Masters”), the samurai warrior Yabushige – no stranger to making out a will – figures this time his bell is rung for real. “Aren’t you my reliable friend?” his lord asks. “Or has Ishido poured poison in your ear?” Toranaga, of course, already knows that Yabu is playing for two sides. But he’ll keep him close, because he still has use for him. The Anjin and Toranaga’s wife, Lady Kiri No Kata (a terrific, funny Yoriko Dōguchi), will travel to the fishing village of Ajiro in Yabushige’s fief, where the samurai will pull protection duty. Yabu’s past schemes are the past – today, he’s needed by Lord Toranaga. The assassin’s failure means he still has leverage over the other regents and the Christian priests, all of whom want Blackthorne dead. But it also means he and his allies must escape Osaka.
“The pilot? He’s still alive? I’ll be fucked.” Skilled, savvy, and gloriously foul-mouthed, the Spanish pilot Rodrigues is one of the most memorable characters in James Clavell’s original Shōgun novel, and Néstor Carbonell has brought all of that fantastically to the screen. As the Portuguese Black Ship captain Ferreira (Louis Ferreira) spits his own invective at the priests, who are telling him Toranaga forbid the ship’s exit from port, Rodrigues learns that Blackthorne is not only ambulatory, but in the continued graces of the regent. With the flesh wound he incurred during the assassination attempt being dressed by a Japanese doctor, Blackthorne reveals more of his Western ignorance to Mariko. First she was surprised by his lack of interest in bathing. Now, she can’t understand why this Englishman refers to the doc as a “warlock” who will “bleed him” to “release the foulness.” For his part, all Blackthorne wants her to understand is Catholic treachery. “You refuse to see it, what those priests are capable of. Even now.”
The procession to Ajiro includes Yabushige, Toranaga’s son Nagakado, and Mariko’s husband Buntaro (Shinnosuke Abe), a fierce warrior who is nevertheless brusque and controlling toward her. (This is where the uniformly excellent costume design in Shōgun really shines – the beautiful gusoku armor of the samurai is as elaborate as it is battle functional.) The Lady Kiri settles into her lacquered kago, ready to be carried by porters. All is normal. But then Ishido appears and holds up their departure over superficial questions of protocol. What he’s really doing is looking for Toranaga, who is famous for his trickery. And with a quiet glance from Mariko, Blackthorne conceals a grin. Toranaga’s subterfuge includes switching Kiku out of the kago so he himself can travel in disguise, right through the gates of Osaka Castle.
But they’ll have to get to the galley first. On the road to the harbor, the procession is attacked by archers on the ridge, who fire flaming arrows. As samurai are felled, Mariko steps into the line of fire to extricate Toranaga from the litter, and the ruse is revealed. It’s the Christian regent Kiyama coordinating this attack – they’ve come for the Anjin again – and everyone fights off the archers and Ishido’s confused escorts as they make their way to the boat. Buntaro is a bad husband to Mariko. But as General Hiromatsu’s son, he’s also an uncommonly brave samurai, and he forms a one-man rear guard while the group finds their rowboats and heads for the galley.
As Toranaga publicly bows to the honor of his samurai, Mariko watches in reserved silence as her husband and father to their son prepares to sacrifice himself for the greater good.
And they’re still not safe! Kiyama has placed armed Christian mercenaries in fishing boats, ready to block the Toranaga party’s exit. But as the Black Ship also looms in the harbor, Blackthorne realizes it’s their chance at survival. Toranaga boards, where he negotiates with Ferreira and the priests Alvito and Dell’Acqua. He’ll grant the Black Ship passage and allow the Jesuits to build a church in his home city of Edo, if they ferry him out of the harbor. As the giant black-hulled galleon smashes the tiny boats of Kiyama’s men, Blackthorne will not be left behind. He jumps to the pilot’s seat of the smaller Japanese ship, roars for the oarsmen to pick up their pace, and suddenly it’s a thrilling race to the narrow, rocky mouth of the harbor, with the two European pilots shouting mirthful insults at each other from across the bows of their ships. “Your lips are on the devil’s arse!” Rodrigues calls. Oh yeah? “They’re on your mother’s first!”
Toranaga and those closest to him have survived another day, and the escape from Osaka has brought them closer together, though not without loss. While Hiromatsu, back in Osaka, delivers the next part of his daimyo’s plan to Ishido and the other regents – Toranaga is retiring from the council, and by decree, they can’t directly impeach him without a fifth vote – the ocean spreads out like a glittering blanket on an immaculate sunny morning. “No yesterdays, no tomorrow,” Blackthorne says of what has always called him to the horizon, and to the sea. “Just today,” Mariko adds. The rutter and journals from the Erasmus that were confiscated by the Jesuits are now in Toranaga’s hands. The priests gave them willingly, as they believe the material proves that Blackthorne is not an innocent merchant but a Protestant heretic set on plunder. And OK, from their perspective at least, he is. But Toranaga knows how crucial the Anjin remains to his plans, especially now that war is even more likely.
The information from Blackthorne’s ship will require translation, and that will take time. As someone who is now a valuable asset, and who has proven his bravery, the Anjin can no longer be referred to simply as “barbarian.” Instead, Lord Toranaga elevates him to Hatamoto status, the honored title of a high-ranking samurai, and declares that while in Ajiro, Yabushige and Nagakado will learn from the Anjin everything there is to know about European battle tactics. War is coming, and they will raise a new kind of fighting regiment. But as for now, it’s time to do some swimming. “Tomorrow is tomorrow,” Toranaga says as they’re all gathered on the deck of the galley. “Today, I will learn how to dive.”
Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.
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