Episode 5 of Shogun has just been released, and after the last episode, in which Jozen and the soldiers were ambushed by Nagakado, it always felt like this episode would be the quiet before the storm, with Ishido and Torunaga going to war. And, despite the fact that this was most obviously the calm, there was a lack of solidity in the peacefulness that was present.
With an earthquake knocking out much of Toranaga, we get to glimpse the true nature of Torabuntaro and learn Mariko’s secret. The most scary aspect of the show, however, was Lady Ochiba’s return and her undeniable Cersei Lannister vibes. So, with that, let’s go into the episode and go over everything there was to take away from it.
Shogun Episode 5 Breakdown
This is Shogun, Episode 5, Ending Explained. Just so you know, this will include spoilers. Spoilers. This week’s episode began with us viewing the aftermath of what happened in the previous episode, and many individuals were entrusted with caring for the deceased. This is where we met two of the episode’s most essential characters.
First, the gardener, who received a lot of attention at the end of the show. This was someone with whom John Blackthorne appeared to have developed a bond during his stay there. Also, Tonomoto Akinao. The spy that Yabushigi had spent the entire show searching for.
Someone who has long served as Torinaga’s favorite samurai. During this opening segment, there was a loud bang, and it was Toranaga returning to Izu with his troops, accompanied by Toda Buntaro, Mariko’s husband, who we thought had been murdered a few episodes ago when he faced Ishido’s soldiers alone.
However, I don’t think any of us truly believed he had died. When Tod of Buntaro emerged, Mariko’s visage returned to its previous state of terror. When you consider how she had been in the previous few episodes with John Blackthorne, she was almost like a different person.
She smiled and enjoyed being with him. However, since they were intimate in the previous episode, she knew that if he found out, they would both be slain. As previously said, in the framework of the show, a man’s wife is his property, and he can do whatever he wants with her, therefore his abusive behavior was shown when he attacked Mariko after their evening with Blackthorn, revealing his true colors for the first time.
The symbol on the flags Torinaga was flying was that of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the real guy who inspired Yoshi Torinaga, therefore I thought it was intriguing that they used the same banners. Toronaga’s treason and escape were causing concern among the regents in Osaka.
They were embarrassed. Not only that, but they felt it was insulting to Lady Ochiba, who made a very impactful appearance at the end. They were clearly divided over who should replace Toronaga. Ishido wanted Maeda, but Sugiyama didn’t want her, and given the way Sugiyama was acting at the end of the session, it appears that anything could happen to him, implying that the council will need another successor and causing even more upheaval.
There was a lot of focus on his cough, which makes me question how long he’ll be around. This episode greatly highlighted Toranaga’s intelligence and how close his ear was to the ground, largely because of his spy. He thought his son was foolish for launching an attack on Jozen since it caused an all-out war, so he took the canon regiment away from him as punishment.
He thought his son was broken to the fist, which inspired the episode’s title, and he also felt that he had fallen into Omi’s trap. So he treated his kid that way, but then in the next breath he was telling Yabushige how impressed he was with Omi and how it was a smart move because it drove Ishido to retaliate in Izu rather than attacking Osaka, which would have been far more hazardous.
It appeared that he did this primarily to get under Yabushigi’s skin. Torinaga is playing everyone around him in his own unique way. There is no lack of loyalty, but he is aware of the lack of commitment to him and uses it to his advantage. Torinaga is the conductor of the orchestra, which is currently playing out of time and nearly performing various symphonies.
Or, to put it another way, they’re all on separate pages of the sheet music, which doesn’t sound well. John Blackthorne’s time in Japan is transformative for both him and those around him. He’s learning the language faster, which impresses his family and demonstrates his appreciation for the people and culture.
As a result, he is receiving increased respect from others. We witnessed this most clearly when Todd Abuntaro was hesitant to stay in John Blackthorne’s home and asked Fujisama what it was like to be the Anjin’s consort. She said she wouldn’t know because she is the Hatamoto’s consort. I’m not sure if this will happen or not, but I like the thought of Fujisama and Blackthorne getting together above him and Mariko if it has to happen.
We’re seeing a more natural development of their relationship, and what began as resistance between them is now changing into care and appreciation. The hand holding at the end was a clear representation of that transition. The entire scene between Todda and John was essentially a competition of who could be the manliest man, with testosterone flooding the room.
Toda’s dislike for John was evident, and while Blackthorn couldn’t comprehend everything, he could tell what was going on based on the tone of what was being said. This all came to a head when Toda Buntaro fired his arrow twice over Mariko’s face, putting her in danger and prompting John to argue that she deserved civility, which Toda disagreed with.
This is due to her previously unknown background and family name. Ekechi Jinsai, Mariko’s father, assassinated Lord Kuroda sama because he believed he lacked loyalty and was terrible for the realm. Her father was sentenced to seppuku, but only after murdering all of Mariko’s siblings and effectively ending the family line.
She wanted to commit seppuku, but Toda Buntaro forbid her from ever doing so. When we look at the true story of Tamako, the person Mariko is inspired by. Her father, Akechi Mitsuhide, betrayed and killed his lord, Odo Nobunaga. Mitsuhide was a trusted commander of Nobunaga, who was a daimyo at the time, one of the prominent personalities of the Sengoku period, and is widely recognized as Japan’s first great unifier.
Mitsuhide was commanded to march and fight against the Mori clan alongside Hideyoshi, who later became the taiko. Instead, he disregarded his orders and attacked Nobunaga with a 13,000-man force. While it is unknown if he directly killed the daimyo, he is thought to have led the attack and finally accepted responsibility for his actions, which is why he was identified as the assassin.
So it appears that the characters in the novel and show were historically accurate, and you can now understand why Mariko has the 8-fold fence. Because she doesn’t want to be there. When John Blackthorne witnessed Mariko being hurt by her husband, he confronted him in the garden as he left, and Toda apologized for interrupting John’s family and blamed the abuse on the sake they were drinking.
It wasn’t until John was back behind the fence that he noticed the two arrows that had hit the post in the same area and glided past Mariko’s face. This demonstrated Toda’s skill as both a fighter and a marksman. Given that he did it after drinking a lot of sake, I got the idea John was relieved that he didn’t get into a fight with him in some way.
With the rotting bird that had been left out in front of the property for quite some time, we observed that the gardener took rid of it and was eventually murdered as punishment. This is because John stated that it was forbidden to delete it, which got lost in translation. This ignited John’s fury, and he couldn’t comprehend the people’s disrespect for life, how people would be killed for the most petty of reasons, and how he personally held the weight of the gardener’s death and felt responsible.
Even though Torinaga might have planned for this by ordering his spy to locate a replacement spy to take the blame. As we witnessed at the end, the spy blamed the gardener for being Yabushige’s spy. The incidents that occurred with the gardener prompted John to want a return to England, which was scoffed at when he arrived in Torinaga.
John was a prisoner in Japan. The illusion of his freedom to roam persists, but it appears that he will never be able to escape. The actual William Adams was never permitted to leave Japan because Ieyasu Tokugawa forbade it, and the same will most likely be true for John unless things change dramatically.
In the last minutes of the episode, an earthquake happened, burying Toranaga beneath the surface; however, John dived down and freed him, and when Toranaga couldn’t find his swords, John gave them to him. We learned in this episode that these swords were useless, but when John handed them to Torunaga, demonstrating his respect for him, they became valuable in an entirely other way.
Because earthquakes occur in that location, buildings in Japan had to be built as rapidly as possible before being demolished. And, with the earthquake at the end devastating Izu, I believe it is a metaphor for Japan’s impending rebuilding. Lady Ochiba wants blood and to abandon politics, and Torunaga has been preparing for war, so there is no way out of the looming conflict.
One of the final details I’ll mention is John picking up the stone in the garden. Earlier, the gardener stated that without a stone, a garden is simply a space to grow. So the stone represented beauty in the garden. So, by placing the stone back up while death and destruction were present, John was doing his part to try to reconstruct things to their original state.
Regardless of what he had previously stated, it demonstrated his commitment to Japan and Toranaga.
Shogun Episode 5 Review
I think this was a good episode of the program. As I already stated, I expected this one to be much gentler; it’s unusual to get two episodes in a row with all-out action, but I believe we’ll get that near the end of the season when the war is in full gear.
However, this was a much-needed political drama in which we watched relationships shift and Torunaga demonstrate his awareness of everything. I knew what Mariko’s narrative would be before seeing the episode, but hearing it directly from her made it so much more impactful.
Seeing how hurt she was and how much she didn’t want to be alive created strong contradictory emotions. I liked the polar opposite attitude that Blackthorn seemed to have at the end of the episode. He said that no one there cared about life, but as he walked through Izu and observed the people trying to survive, he realized that this was not the truth.
There was an obvious value to life there. The entire final stretch when the earthquake occurred was simply spectacular. I’m not sure about you, but when I was watching it, I got a little emotional. It was quite powerful. The score was playing in the background as John walked across town.
It just recorded a tragic event and served as a backdrop to the eerie, dismal destruction that existed. Lady Ochiba, while having only a few minutes, shown that she will be a force to be reckoned with. She craves blood, and it appears that she is willing to go to any length to defend her son’s life.
Her own life and standing in Japan. She is currently the most powerful woman in Japan, and she will not want to lose that position. I’m really loving this episode; I can’t believe we’re already halfway through it. However, I believe that from this point forward, we will have to hold on tight because things will only worsen.
Even more awesome from here. So there you have it. Shogun Episode 5’s ending is explained. I’ve been writing about the show every week, as well as researching the historical figures who inspired the characters. So, if you want to see more, head on to subscribe for newsletters in your inbox.
