A Dream Of A Dream – As the finale of Shogun begins, an old Blackthorne is sick in bed while two children look at his sword. John admits the sword was given to him by a savage. In the past, Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano) wakes up Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis). Once Blackthorne gets up, he finds that Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai) is dead. Yabu asks for forgiveness. Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) is shown sitting alone next to a fire. Lord Kiyama complains about Osaka not being as safe as they were told. Lord Ohno believes Mariko should’ve been allowed to leave. Saeki Nobutatsu isn’t sure why it matters now. Toranaga sends a letter of protest. He has fled to Edo in secret and prepares for war. Ishido Kazunari (Takehiro Hira) claims this means nothing. He says it is up to Toranaga whether he surrenders now or in battle.

Ishido believes their unity is what matters. Kiyama worries the attack was ordered by a member of the council. Ishido claims Toranaga is trying to sow division. He wants to march and end the threat. Lord Ohno thinks Mariko deserves a Christian burial. Ishido says she was Akechi from the same line that killed Ochiba’s father. Ochiba (Fumi Nikaido) says Mariko will be generously honored. Ishido agrees but says they’ll go to war after that. He is asked what will happen to John Blackthorne. Ishido doesn’t care what happens to him after they vote for war. The area experiences an earthquake. Ishido still isn’t worried. He calls them the protectors of the realm. Later, Ishido speaks to Yabu who thought Mariko would only be captured. Ishido says she resisted and she died. He is adamant there was nothing they could do.

Ishido tells Yabu that his seat on the council is secured. Yabu talks about the time Taiko was about to go to war with Toranaga until an earthquake hit. Taiko was forced to forge peace as a result. He blamed the catfish. Ishido tells Yabu there are no catfish in that pond. He orders Yabu to go to Izu, gather the army, and wait for Ishido’s command. Blackthorne is awoken and told Mariko was buried the other day. He grabs the rosary while being told Lord Kiyama’s men will escort him to the harbor. Outside, Father Martin Alvito (Tommy Bastow) tells Blackthorne that Yabu is preparing the gallery in Osaka Bay. Martin is tasked with taking Blackthorne to him. As they travel, they talk about Toranaga not surrendering and Ishido mobilizing the Council of Regents. Ochiba has pledged her son’s support so Toranaga will be dead in weeks. Blackthorne doesn’t think so.

He says he got just what he wanted with no dirty hands and no war. Only a woman was lost. Martin thinks it would’ve pleased Mariko to see them being civil. He hopes they can set aside their difference at some point. Blackthorne wonders if he’s going to be ambushed. Martin confesses he was meant to die in the woods last time. An arrangement was made to ensure Blackthorne will leave alive. Before Blackthorne leaves, Martin reveals Lady Maria asked the church to spare his life before she died. Ochiba speaks to Nakamura about Mariko who was just buried. Yabu tells Blackthorne they should’ve never gone to Osaka. He suggests taking Blackthorne’s ship to his home country. They find the boat destroyed before Yabu returns to Omi who takes his swords. Omi says the men belong to Lord Toranaga.

Blackthorne is told enemies slipped past their guards and destroyed his slip. He’s told they believe it was Christians. Yabu is brought to Toranaga who says he was seen letting intruders into his quarters that night. One of Mariko’s ladies in waiting was with them and she sent a letter to Omi. Once Yabu admits to aiding the attack, Toranaga takes his lands and tells him to kill himself by sunset tomorrow. Yabu asks for a good death such as being torn apart by a canon. Toranaga doesn’t trust him. Yabu says Izu is the fief of the Kashigi clan. He declares Omi to be his heir and requests it to be given to him. Toranaga says Izu is no longer his to give. Yabu wants Blackthorne to second his death, but Toranaga says no to that. Yabu asks Toranaga to do it and he agrees. Blackthorne speaks to Usami Fuji (Moeka Hoshi). Toranaga thanks the women for protecting his new son.

Lady Ochiba sent him a letter secretly. Toranaga mentions the poem that belonged to Mariko. Later, Fuji gets the remains of her husband, Lord Tadayoshi, and her only son, Tsurumaru. Fuji is leaving tomorrow since Lord Toranaga has given her permission to become a nun. Blackthorne wishes for her to stay, but Fuji says that’s impossible. She is no longer his consort. They talk about the village. Blackthorne asks Fuji to prepare a message for Toranaga because he wishes to see him tomorrow. The next day, Omi takes his sword and gun before taking him to Lord Toranaga. Once they meet, Toranaga says they’re disgusted by the destruction of his ship and they’ll find who did it. The translator apologizes for the deception and says he was born Tonomoto Akinao in the Azuchi Prefecture. He’s a samurai.

He converted to the religion of the Portuguese and took the name Muraji to spy on their enemies. Muraji tells Blackthorne what Toranaga said about finding the men who destroyed his ship. Blackthorne speaks to Toranaga in Japanese. He apologizes for his disrespect when Toranaga surrendered and admits he had given up. Blackthorne says his enemies did not burn his ship. He believes it was Mariko who hated his war against the Catholics. She traded his safety for his ship. Blackthorne insists he doesn’t need his war anymore. Toranaga refuses his request until the disloyal have been found. Blackthorne says he was the disloyal one because he came there to use Toranaga. He tries to convince Toranaga that he’s the enemy. Then, he says he’ll kill himself to protest the callous punishment of the village by Toranaga.

Toranaga stops him and tells him to rebuild the ship and make him a fleet. Yabu asks Omi to find a good husband for his wife. Yabu considers him the son he never had. He gives Omi his death poem. Yabu asks them to leave his body in the field and let it fill the belly of a hungry dog. He also hands over his final will. Yabu tells Toranaga he has him to thank for Blackthorne and Omi. He talks about being able to live to see Toranaga’s plan come together. Toranaga  admits they had to destroy the ship to save Blackthorne’s life. Mariko negotiated for the church and Toranaga agreed. It was a ruse to test Blackthorne. Toranaga might tell him the truth one day. He doubts Blackthorne will ever leave Japan. Yabu asks if it’ll be Crimson Sky. He doesn’t see how it’ll work. Toranaga thought Yabu of all people would see that Crimson Sky is already finished.

He sent a woman to do what an army never could. Toranaga asks if Yabu sees what’s coming next. In one month, they will meet their enemies at Sekigahara. Toranaga would be finished with the heir’s army on Ishido’s side. Thanks to Mariko’s actions, Lady Ochiba has grown tired of her alliance with Ishido. She agreed to keep the heir’s army away from the battlefield in the secret letter. Ishido will have no banner so the regents will turn on him. Toranaga says his center of power will start in Edo. It will be an era of great peace. Toranaga keeps Blackthorne alive because he makes him laugh and his enemies need a distraction. Yabu says it’s all hypocrisy. He believes Toranaga always wanted to be Shogun. He goes on to say Toranaga is no better than they are. Toranaga doesn’t want to tell a dead man the future. Yabu kills himself.

Blackthorne takes Fuji on a rowboat. He convinces her to spread the ashes there. Blackthorne almost throws Mariko’s cross into the water as well. Fuji stops him and asks him to let his hands be the last to hold her. He drops it. Later, Buntaro finds Blackthorne working down by the water. Buntaro (Shinnosuke Abe) begins helping him try to pull the boat to shore. Blackthorne thanks them for getting the ship closer. Toranaga and Blackthorne look at one another.

 

Shogun Review

The finale of Shogun was pretty much a nothing burger, but that was to be expected by anyone who watched the old series. The original didn’t have a super satisfying conclusion either, but this one managed to make it a bit worse by changing so much and dragging everything out. It really made no sense to show Blackthorne as an old man when that went nowhere in the end.

At the very least, the writers could’ve maintained some suspense for viewers unfamiliar with the source material. Large chunks of the story were removed despite this spanning 10 tedious episodes and that hindered the show’s conclusion. For instance, Blackthorne can just suddenly speak Japanese without a day of actual practice. The new series failed to fully capitalize on Blackthorne and Mariko’s relationship which was the best part of the original. Mariko teaching him Japanese was pivotal to that.

There was also no ceremony for Mariko although there was in the original. The series also failed to even cover Mariko’s final gift to Blackthorne to help rebuild. Instead, the new series went heavy on the boring politics and added so many unnecessary characters. Again, it’s highly unlikely that any viewer will remember every single name unless they’ve watched the episodes 15 times and read the book. They’d need a web graph with pictures to memorize everyone but it truly wouldn’t be worth it.

Everything that was great about the original show was stripped from Shogun and turned into this lifeless affair. Not to mention that the performances were significantly weaker in the newest adaptation. There were many changes that could’ve made this much better. Moeka Hoshi should’ve played Toda Mariko because she fit the character better and was more remarkable.

Tadanobu Asano was the standout from the series and should’ve played the lead role. Someone else entirely should’ve been cast as John Blackthorne, but it didn’t matter anyway because the character was made redundant halfway through the series. In the end, everything about the new version of Shogun is much, much worse than the original so it’s unbelievable that it has higher ratings. The good news is that it’s over and there likely won’t be a season 2 of Shogun. With the way the Internet is now, the original is easily accessible so there is no reason to settle for less.

Watch it and completely skip this drawn-out, tedious series that lacks passion. The finale scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Shogun are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss this show and others at the Reel Mockery Forum.