shÅ gun Episode 10, “A Dream of a Dream,” also serves as the FX series finale. After weeks of watching John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) attempt to cajole and negotiate his way to immense riches in Japan, shÅ gun ends with the emotionally defeated English navigator confessing his subterfuge to Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) in the hopes that his own seppuku can save the good people he has come to know, love and respect on Anjiro. However, Toranaga does not accept Anjin’s death. Instead, he keeps it alive and close, because English makes him laugh. And then shÅ gun it ends when the would-be colonizer becomes the conquered party.
**Spoilers for everyone shÅ gunnow streaming on Hulu**
Of course, that’s not all that happens in the series finale. shÅ gun. In the wake of Mariko’s (Anna Sawai) sacrifice, Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano) begins to feel a spiral of grief. That, plus the fact that he was seen letting Ishido’s (Takehiro Hira) ninja assassins into Osaka Castle dooms him. At the end of the episode, he is committing seppuku before Toranaga, who spends the minutes before Yabushige’s death revealing the true genius of his plans.
Yes, it seems that Toranaga is about to become ShÅ gun. The episode ends with this outcome almost assured thanks to Mariko’s actions and a secret letter from Lady Ochiba (Fumi Nikaido).
But how exactly did Toranaga achieve it? Does Blackthorne die in Japan or, as those trailers suggest, as an old man in England? And will there be a shÅ gun Season 2? Here’s everything you need to know about the FX finale. shÅ gun….
shÅ gun Ending explained: Does Toranaga become ShÅ gun?
Yes, Toranaga becomes ShÅ gun.
Well, technically the show ends just before he officially becomes ShÅgun, but as in James Clavell’s 1975 novel, Toranaga offers the reader a “glimpse into his secret heart,” describing exactly how the next “battle” will play out. “against the regents. . However, shÅ gun Showrunner Justin Marks captured this moment from the books through the conversation Toranaga has with Yabushige shortly before the latter’s seppuku.
“Telling a dead man the future is a great way to get a lot of exposure,” Marks explained to Jugo Mobile during a recent Zoom conversation. “It’s like confessing to a priest.”
“In the book, Toranaga reveals a glimpse of his secret heart to the reader and only the reader. Obviously, we didn’t want to play that voiceover game or anything else or just, God… Can you imagine if he turned to the camera and just said, “Hey, I’m glad you’re here?” Marks said, laughing.
Instead, they let Toranaga reveal what was about to happen during the “battle” to a stunned Yabushige.
Basically, Mariko’s actions in shÅ gun Episode 9 “Crimson Sky” created a situation where the nobles had to admit that Ishido was holding them hostage in Osaka. That, plus the devastation of Mariko’s death, created a perfect political storm for the other powerful players to switch their allegiances from Ishido to Toranaga.
Ishido’s plan to unite the regents’ armies and defeat Toranaga on the battlefield only works if he has the heir’s banner to legitimize the war. Since he is engaged to the heir’s mother, Ochiba, he assumes the posters will arrive on time. But Toranaga reveals to Yabushige that Ochiba has sent him a secret letter promising to change sides. That is, the heir’s banners will not appear before Ishido. Almost immediately, the other regents will turn against him.
When Jugo Mobile spoke via Zoom with the writers of shÅ gun In episode 9 “Crimson Sky,” Caillin Puente and Rachel Kondo emphasized how much Mariko meant to Ochiba… and the arithmetic of her choice to side with Toranaga.
“I think it was the loss of Mariko.” [that turned her]. I think that’s what changed her mind, which I think Toranaga knew very intelligently,” Puente said. “Mariko was her ace.”
Mariko was Toranaga’s ace, but she was Blackthorne’s love. Now that Mariko is gone, what does that mean for the ambitious Englishman?
Does Blackthorne die old in England? What do flash forwards mean?
shÅ gun Episode 10, “The Dream of a Dream,” appears to begin with a flash forward to an elderly Blackthorne in England. He is sleeping on a bed, clutching Mariko’s rosary, while his grandchildren gawk at his various souvenirs from Japan. One boy even asks the other if his grandfather’s swords were really a gift from a “savage,” showing that Blackthorne’s family doesn’t have the slightest understanding of his patriarch’s experiences abroad.
However, Blackthorne remains in Japan at the end of the show, hired by Toranaga to build another ship (after Toranaga quietly framed the Catholics for burning the ship). Erasmus). Additionally, Blackthorne poignantly gives Mariko’s rosary to the sea in a ceremony he shares with the grieving Fuji (Moeka Hoshi).
So what does all this mean? Jugo Mobile asked Marks about this ambiguous ending during a conversation at the Winter 2024 TCA in February.
“I don’t think it ever left [Japan]”Marcos said. “I mean, I don’t want to be too literal because I think there’s a lot left to interpret, but I will say that it was clearly a FAKE “It’s moving quickly.”
So no, Blackthorne doesn’t age and dies in England.
“We wanted to do something where what we thought was the dream of an old man looking back on his life with regret was actually the dream of a young man looking forward to a possible version of his life,” Marks said.
Marks went on to explain that Blackthorne’s attempt at seppuku (which coincidentally occurs much earlier in Clavell’s novel) was to spiritually kill that version of himself, the version that wanted to return to England with the loot, to die a miserable old man. in a bed alone.
“The best proof of this [false flash forward]And this is something subtle, but I hope it is noticeable, it is that he had his cross on that bed. Yes, right there, with the rosary in his hand,” Marks said.
And so, by throwing it into the water at the end, he finally says goodbye to that self.”
There will be a shÅ gun Season 2?
So if that’s not the end for Blackthorne, what’s next? We know that Fuji is no longer his consort and that she will become a nun. Toranaga is about to become ShÅ gun and will usher in the Edo Period. And Clavell’s novel leaves readers with some tantalizing glimpses into what’s next in the personal lives of both men: Book Toranaga is set to marry Ochiba and has arranged for the courtesan Kiku (Yuka Kouri) to marry Blackthorne. .
Of course, that’s how James Clavell’s book ends and there were initially no plans to continue the limited series. shÅ gun past season 1. But now that the show is a huge hit, is there pressure for Marks to do more?
“We’ll respond very carefully, you know, just for a variety of reasons,” Marks told Jugo Mobile on a recent Zoom call. “Are there other stories to tell about the characters who survived this show? Yes. Are there other stories to tell about how to get things done?
“The question is, are they [these stories] something better than the book? What was said? And we don’t know. And I like to say, ‘I don’t know,’ because it opens a lot of doors to improve.”
Marks didn’t necessarily rule out more shÅ gun, but he made it clear that it would have to be better than what they have already done. Which is a difficult task.
“If there was ever something to be done, it would have to be better than what was done. And I don’t know if we know anything that’s better,” Marks said. “So, yeah, I have to leave it at that.”
