Mariko x Blackthorne

(spoilers for Shōgun episode 1x09 'Crimson Sky')

I'm still devastated by how gently and tenderly she smiles at him as he's frantically trying for a way out, a way to change their fate. All that love laid bare in her tender gaze. She loves him with an almost unbearable sweetness.

The absolute tenderness held within Mariko's gaze of love for Blackthorne destroyed my heart. I can't even fathom it.

(these gifs were made by @dgct2 )

Wow, Shōgun giveth (spooning) and Shōgun taketh away (fiery explosion).

I know I said I wasn't going to regular post for Shogun, but spoilers for 1x09 below the cut:

"But our fathers were enemies. Their misery was ours. Wars raged, even in our castle. But I had Mariko. She was my happiness.

John Blackthorne who? THIS is the tragic romance and no one is going to convince me of two things:

1) Mariko was both/either in denial about and/or not wanting to tell John about the true romantic feelings going between her and Ochiba via "translating" to him the two growing up "like sisters". Rather than deep diving into the clearly romantic feelings they have for each other. And ftr this wouldn't be the first, second, third, or up to like double digits time that she's picked and chosen how to present info to him based on her preferences.

2) Mariko is bi and these two either were or are in love, which the tea house already set up in my mind.

You can't convince me that the "playing games" bit isn't Ochiba moving around stating that Mariko is bi and the two are doing a "she's my enemy" "she's my love" tango. Give me the Ochiba x Mariko spinoff AU, two women stuck in societies that try to tell them how to be and who to be with; that rebel against it to be together w/ some gaynst mixed in = gold. Even the mind trick they have to distance themselves from situations fits in-line with LGBT+ that weren't allowed to be their true selves.

I came into this series with the "okay so MC is totally going to get with translator girl cause 'appeal of different worlds'", which tbf IS the idea but UGH now there's the potential of Mariko and Ochiba.

Also gotta say, going to be really annoyed if Mariko actually dies.

I just watched Shōgun 1x09 "Crimson Sky"

I just watched Shōgun 1x09 "Crimson Sky"

Shogun 1x09 - 1x10

"Pffftt... no way they're actually gonna kill her. Next episode, we'll find find out she somehow managed to dodge at the very last minute, or John somehow managed to take the hit for her and then it'll look like he might die but ofc he won't, either, or if not, someone will somehow manage to something"

"Okay, I'll admit this isn't exactly the start I was hoping for in this season finale. But come on, she's probably just wounded and unconscious..."

"Okay. Everyone's acting like she's dead. But have you considered that Toranaga is a sneaky bastard and maybe they're all just pretending as part of The Masterplan?"

"Oh, now they're talking about burying her? So, like, interring her body, technically whole and untouched? Yeah, she's only lying there pretending to be dead and everyone's going along with it to trick Ochiba and Ishido into doing something"

"... they wouldn't. Right? They aren't gonna. Come on. Her arcs with John and Ochiba and even Buntaro, there's still so much that could be done with them. They wouldn't just..."

"..."

"Wait. Is this the end?"

"It's the end, isn't it"

"..."

"I think I'm the one who's gonna lie down and pretend to be dead"

He would have done it.

He would have done it and it's messed up

And it's love.

SPOILER WARNING: Shōgun 1x09 spoilers below cut...

What did it serve? What was the point? They could have all huddled in the back of the room. They could have pushed the smaller objects, the lighter things, in front. I refuse to believe this was the best way her story could have ended. The writers of this show have changed so much they could have changed this one part.

I feel sick to my stomach.

Would her position truly have protected the others? Did her sacrifice truly help anyone?

My response to episode 9:

No no no no no.

Nope.

No.

For all its profound tragedy, there was something magnificent in Mariko's death because it was an act she chose for herself.

Not only did it serve a purpose — by dying, she lays bare the tyrannical nature of Ishido's regency and furthers Toranaga's broader plan — but it was a fulfillment of the duty she believed she owed her father and her disgraced family name.

For years, she has asked for permission to die — from her husband, from Toranaga — and been denied. Even her foreign lover protests against the sacrificial choice she wants to make, begging her to remain alive if only for him.

In the end, she does not ask permission. She reclaims herself — Akechi Mariko — and chooses her fate, one that belongs to her alone.

Like many Shōgun viewers, I wondered about Blackthorne's action in Episode 9, when he draws a line in the sand of the garden, marring its perfectly cultivated harmony. Was he taking some stand against Japan and its culture of socially-permissible suicide? Was he silently protesting against the action Mariko was about to undertake?

gif by @yocalio

If we go back to the first episode, though, we realize that this is not the first time that Blackthorne has encountered someone who wishes to take their own life. His Dutch captain, clearly suffering under the effects of scurvy and the futility of remaining at sea for months with dwindling supplies, tells Blackthorne that he no longer holds out any hope of reaching Japan, much less returning to Europe a rich man. Then he glances down at Blackthorne's pistol.

“At my age,” he says, “you draw your line.”

(Like he does with Mariko, Blackthorne argues with the captain, telling him that suicide would be the act of a coward. Interestingly enough, the captain's words — “Pilot, there's nothing to fear. It's a blessed release. It's like only a soft wind in your face. Can you feel it? That is the breath of the Almighty. He's calling us. Listen. He's calling us home” — seem to do as little to convince Blackthorne as Mariko's rationale does. Still, he leaves the captain with his pistol.)

What if Blackthorne's act is not meant as an act of protest, but as a way to honor the sacrifice that Mariko is about to make, even if he vehemently disagrees with her choice? (He honors it even more when he volunteers to serve as her second, an act of love and duty that he agrees to perform even if it will destroy him to do so.) Ever since he came to understand her desire to die, he has argued with her, rejecting what he sees as her fatalism. Even her continued loyalty to Toranaga is branded as “senseless,” as he sees it as leading to her death. But by Episode 9, he has realized that he will never convince her, and perhaps — despite his anguished plea that she consider living, if only for him — he finally sees the purpose of her action and accepts her choice.

That is why he makes the mark in the garden. It is her, standing against her enemies, fulfilling her purpose.

And in the end, he understands: she must draw her line.

Please raise your hand if you have ever felt personally victimized by Kashigi Yabushige.

I'm watching Shōgun 1x09 "Crimson Sky"

I'm watching Shōgun 1x09 "Crimson Sky"