It's a fever dream that helps him reject paths that would send him back to England. Notice that he's holding Mariko's cross in those scenes. He's comparing Mariko's idea that her death can have meaning, against his own beliefs to try and live no matter what, as long as possible. He then imagines himself dying of old age, many years later, fulfilling his own cultural ideals about death, and he finds it abhorrent. Then he tries to kill himself in protest, fully adopting the behaviors in his new home.

Other future shows should get inspired by Shogun. The quality of the production, acting, writing, storytelling etc should be something that TV needs to aim for, rather than just serving junk food (like most shows are sadly doing this day) to viewers and call it a day.

The ending with Buntaro showing up and everybody getting together to pull the boat out of the water was absolutely beautiful. And the score just had to use the track that already wrecked me during Hiromatsu’s seppuku lol. And yeah, a massive battle sequence would’ve felt out of place. Toranaga’s whole idea is winning wars before a blade is even drawn.

If you love Shogun, do watch Sekigahara, which is a movie about the events that led to the final battle between Tokugawa Ieyasu (Toranaga) and Ishida Mitsunari (Ishido). Ishida is presented in a more sympathetic light. Ishida's right-hand man, Shima Sakon, was portrayed by Takehiro Hira, who played Ishido in Shogun. James Clavell's novel paints Ishido in a different, more villainous light, and Toranaga the opposite. In reality, Ishido/Ishida was trying to save his former Master's (Toyotomi Hideyoshi/the Taikō) realm and ensure his Heir takes the throne when he comes of age. Having said that, it's possible that if Ieyasu didn't take power, Japan might have again descended into chaos and civil war without a strong leader.

I adore this show! I was late to the party and only started watching a week and a half ago or so and unknowingly finished up within a day or two of the show ending. And I instantly missed it in a way no other show has done for me. The loss of Mariko in particular was devastating as I loved everything about her character. So needless to say, I've started rewatching it lol. Up to episode 4 now and I'm picking up so much more this time. Amazing show.

Rarely? Never. Never in my life did I have tears in my eyes for a whole damn episode. This goddamn thing moved my soul. And I thought I had gotten to old and cynical for that. Honorable mention to Yabushige reminding me that no one cares about the deaths of peasants, right after I poured my soul out to noble Mariko. Touché. Thank you all for being around so I could gush about this masterpiece.

I feel like a huge battle in episode 10 would have distracted from and lessened the impact of Mariko's actions in/the ending of episode 9. I was also unsure how to feel at first when I realized we wouldn't be seeing the entire battle, but by the end of it i was so satisfied with the closure each character got even without the battle having taken place yet. I will paraphrase something I saw another user comment after the last episode aired: the only character arcs that needed closure from this battle were Toranaga and Ishido. Everyone elses character arcs were beautifully closed regardless of the outcome of the battle. The way that they handled the episode gave us a sense of closure for Toranaga and Ishido, even without it having actually happened yet. This way, the show let us feel what the characters were feeling after the rollercoaster that was episode 9, instead of distracting us from the plot with a huge chaotic battle. Overall I feel like it was handled beautifully, even if it subverted a lot of people's (myself included) expectations for a big battle scene at the end of the show. The power of the way a things absence can make us feel was a running theme of the show, and I believe this was part of why they decided to handle the last episode this way.

It is my understanding that in Japanese, in some contexts, the word for "wind" can also mean renewal. I guess that means the Spring or in this instance the transition from the war-torn Sengoku period to the relatively peaceful and unified Edo period. Mariko's sacrifice played a large role in ushering in the Edo period.

When a flower falls, one might say it's the end of its life. However, when it falls the wind may catch it and give it life again and carry it much further than where one might normally consider its point of death. In the case of Shogun, Mariko's will was the flower, while her best friend Ochiba served to be her wind. Ochiba aided Torunaga in the end. In the case of my usage now, the show may be over but it's messaging/impact will be carried by all of its viewers. (yes, it's meant to be incomplete on purpose)

When a series ends, it ends. This one is a little different for some reason.

Question for you, in the scenes with Blackthornes grandchildren they are speaking in British accents and talking about his swords being taken from savages. This implies blackthorne made it back to England years later and had a family correct? I mean I’m 99% sure it does but toranaga said he didn’t think it was blackthornes fate to ever leave Japan, and that he thought he would have to burn his ship again. Do we just assume toranaga let him leave Japan at some point or it happened after toranaga’s death?

You spelled Blackthorne wrong.

I'm not going to say its a masterpiece but calling it an average game adaption is complete bullshit, the amount of hot garbage adaptions in forms of movies and shows from games is ridiculous with the biggest victim being the Resident Evil franchise, with the most recent being The Witcher and now it seems the 40k universe is also fucked.

Toronanga is gay 😊