We are one episode away from the end of Shogun and Mariko’s (Anna Sawai) heroism is more than explosively proven. Yes, the sacrifices for Japan’s honor and independence, in Toronaga’s (Hiroyuki Sanada) view, are worth all the suffering. We, Westerners, represented by John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), have another vision and the conclusion of the penultimate episode puts us in check with the hero of the saga.

Shogun is a complex story of love, revenge, and religious, political, and economic conflicts, it is difficult to understand the alliances that are formed and undone, the Church and the Portuguese in the background, and in the face of all this, Mariko has a sad trajectory, even though grandiose.

We arrive in Osaka, where Ishido (Takehiro Hira) makes it increasingly clear, although he insists on pretending that everyone agrees with appearances, that he is the one in charge. His union with Ochiba (Fumi Nikaido) is disguised as loyalty, but at this point, everyone is a little fed up with the theater. Few are still convinced that Toronaga submitted to the Council and even fewer pretend to buy Ishido’s motivation. And lives are lost amid the impasse.

It’s like Toronaga’s metaphors: people are predictable (including him). Therefore, he accurately anticipates that Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano) will once again try to be on the winning side, which appears to be Ishido’s. Blackthorne is indifferent at this point, so he can only rely on Mariko.

Part of the goal of her mission, aligned with Toronaga, is to expose Ishido in his lie that everyone is in Osaka with the freedom to leave. She demands to return to Edo with her Lord’s wife and daughter-in-law, and, of course, blood is shed because the truth is that Ishido has everyone hostage. She says it out loud but forces her hand to create a situation.

Ochiba weakens when she sees her childhood friend and here there is a barely explored depth in this rivalry between them. Mariko’s family died when exposed to Ochiba’s, but the heir’s mother clearly admires and loves Mariko. She covertly tries to convince her “stepsister” to give up Toronaga, but honor is above all.

And here is one of Shogun‘s biggest flaws in Western culture. It is virtually impossible, even in the 21st century, to understand Japanese culture’s unwavering commitment to the matter of life and death, right and wrong. Toronaga’s manipulation, in my opinion, is exactly the same as Ishido’s, just with a more romantic flag. He sacrifices, even suffering, those closest to him theoretically for an ideal, but, in the end, only he is the one who remains alive.

That said, he maintains his move and it is Mariko who checkmates him: any possible alternative exposes Ishido and favors Toronaga. If he “arrests” Mariko, he is the despot he pretends not to be. If she lets her go, the other “guests” can also go and he loses control, in the same way, if he attacks, the mask also drops. Therefore, Mariko demands that he let her go, but Ishido refuses. She tries by force, but he has more men. She then announces that she will do seppuku and – unlike Toronaga, who at this point not even the deaths of his general or son convince his enemies that he is not plotting something – her decision shocks everyone. After all, she has been begging for 14 years to be able to follow her family’s destiny, but she doesn’t have her husband’s permission. As she now has, what stops her?

Everyone, including Ochiba, begs Mariko to give up, but she insists. Blackthorne asks in the name of their love, but even that doesn’t shake her. At the right time, he volunteers to help her, but she is saved with the message that Ishido will let her go. She and Blackthorne spend the night together, finally giving in to their feelings for each other. But there are still 10 minutes left in the episode. Never a good sign.

Predictably, Ishido is up to something and is counting on the insecure Yabushige as a means of counterattacking. Promising to save him from the fate of the Toronaga faithful, the samurai opens the door to Ishido’s men, who occupy the palace in secret. In a trail of deaths, they are after Mariko, surprised by the attack. She and Blackthorne fight, with a Yabushige both surprised and unsure of who to finally help.

The tension grows and the group has to hide in a room with stronger doors, but no way out. Outside they realize that Ishido’s men are going to blow up the door to get in and attack them, so Blackthorne despairs and asks Yabushige for help, but he finally assumes that he won’t help. Mariko, even without being surprised, makes a quick decision, to Blackthorne’s despair: she puts herself behind the door to save the other people. And in the explosion that ends the episode, we see that she finally made her sacrifice. Toronaga loses the last person close to his total trust, we still don’t know what Blackthorne’s reaction will be.

Mariko’s death, trying to help Toronaga and his family, is a “surprise” for those who didn’t know the book or the series, but as I already mentioned, it seemed to burn Toronaga for the general public. The surprise strategy, which no one really bought, was only possible with him preserving himself from direct attack and using his friends to die for him. At this point I just want Blackthorne to run out of Japan. But he won’t.

Mariko is the great heroine of Shogun, but her sacrifice became “dated”. Losing her will greatly mark the conclusion of the series. I will miss her.

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