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Lady Ochiba watching her betrothed massacre all the 'guests' in the castle - including the childhood friend she begged to stay alive -, guaranteeing an uprising in the city and every surviving vassal flocking to Toranaga's banner and giving him not only the army he needed but a justifiable reason to make himself Shogun:

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After a season of watching Toranaga use subterfuge and trickery to out-maneuver his enemies, the slow reveal of Crimson Sky being Mariko herself was a thing to behold.

One woman as opposed to an army.

One request - return my lord's wives and newborn son - presented to a man who knows that refusal or acquiescence would expose and destroy the lie that's keeping him in power.

One death to galvanise the people against the newly revealed tyrant, who would all but throw open the gates of Osaka and welcome their liberator...their Shogun.

Goddamn.

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ANNA SAWAI as TODA MARIKO SHŌGUN — 1x09: "Crimson Sky" (2024)

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SHOGUN EPS 9 SPOILER!

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Crimson sky. The way Mariko was wearing lots of red palette throughout the episode, her clothes, her make up. The way all her bottled up anger finally burst. The way she tried to charge through all those guards by herself. The way her death will turn the tide for Toranaga.

He sent her to Osaka. She was literally his Crimson Sky.

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SHŌGUN (2024) - Chapter Nine: Crimson Sky

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wait wait wait wait stop hang on stop

Does Balckthorne take Mariko's cross/rosary when he's standing there acting as her second after she pulls it off? Does he still have her cross/rosary now?????

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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.

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Mariko: I'm leaving tomorrow

the audience: we could do that?

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not Mariko calling Ishido a peasant

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Mariko: are we hostages?

Ishido:

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the scene between Ochiba and Mariko really emphasizes how Mariko has lost everyone she's loved and cared for🙁

it's not always death. Ochiba is now Mariko's enemy and they seems doomed by the narrative. it's tragic cuz I really think if they put aside the posturing and made a leap of faith, they migh be able to stop fighting

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ngl seeing Blackthorne being such a good shot is attractive

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You know what, for a Sengoku era warlord, Toranaga sure drank a lot of that Respect Women juice.

Sure, he might ask you to kill yourself to further his plans, but he will totally respect your abilities while doing it.

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

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

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