Summary
Everyone loves a mastermind except the people caught in their web.
The wilyYabushige(Tadanobu Asano) still keeps Ishido’s promises in his back pocket.
It certainly seems like Toranaga’s plans whatever they are are falling apart.
When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, Lord Yoshii Toranaga discovers secrets that could tip the scales of power and devastate his enemies.
Perhaps that’s part of his strategy.
They made it so, their actions shaded by greed and jealousy.
Now,the battle has never demanded a higher cost.
Whether that’s true remains to be seen.
However, it’s a new state for Toranaga.
His chips aren’t falling; he’s the one chipped away at.
Image via FX
His apparent indecisionpropels Nagakado toward fruitless violence.
Fascinatingly, Mariko bears the brunt of Toranaga’s exhausted anger.
Perhaps that’s why her backsliding prompts his fury.
Shogun Episode 7 Reveals Toranagas Backstory
Shogun’s backstories have a pattern.
The series withheldMariko’s past until Episode 5and Lady Ochiba’s (Fumi Nikaido) until Episode 6.
“A Stick of Time” continues the astutely clever pattern.
Each aforementioned character practices restraint by necessity.
The scene is a secret, a confession, and detached from the interference of other characters.
Even at 12 years old, the young Toranaga mastered an impassive expression.
He learned to survive by outmaneuvering opponents.
He commanded battles and his elders' respect.
Even though we doubt his current protestations against beingshogun(what’s more impressive than an unwilling leader?
), he avoids the Minowara name because that’s an inherited target on his back.
Nagakado’s lack of wisdom exasperates his father because Toranaga knows a battlefield’s soul-deep cost.
[…] He’s just, he’s thinking.
And the director of this episode,Takeshi Fukunaga, had a great idea for this moment.
When Saeki asks, “Stories, legends, or the truth?”
about his brother’s fabled deeds,Shogundoesn’t reveal the full truth.
The morsels are enough.
The standing fact is that it took a pre-teen Toranaga nine strikes tosever Mizoguchi’s head.
He becomes a child again and makes a wish.
It’s an empathetic move as calculated as the man.
Gin recognizes Toranaga as a kindred spirit who bends fate to suit their will.
Why surrender when he cancreate a better world?
Moreover, how will Toranaga usehisstick of time?
Will he supplicate before the universe or seize control?
He can’t fight an earthquake, but he can take advantage of it.
No universe of Toranaga’s includes Nagakado’s death.
If Saeki lives in his brother’s shadow, then Nagakado was raised in his father’s.
He strives to match Toranaga’s legacy and establish his identity through violently bold strokes.
No matter howEpisode 8 unfolds,Nagakado’s loss reframes the war for Toranaga.
As a father, it’s his worst nightmare.
As a man shapinghis country’s future, his primary hope for continuing that future is gone.
Itd have to continue."
Our nebulous image of Toranaga has cleared.
What’s left except for him to tear the Realm apart?
New episodes ofShogunpremiereeach Tuesday on FX and Huluin the U.S.
Watch on Hulu
