#yoshii nagakato

[lafiametta]

As much as I'd like Shōgun to return to the dynamic pacing that characterized the first part of the show (have we really spent the last four episodes in Ajiro?), slowing the action down has allowed for some fascinating explorations of character and theme.

One that featured heavily in this week's episode (as well as in the previous one) is the idea of myth-making and story.

Toranaga, of course, is the center of one such myth. The “boy warlord,” he won his first battle at age twelve and then served as second to his defeated enemy, taking off his head with one blow. This is the story that Saeki Nobutatsu tells at dinner, a tale that delights his young, impressionable nephew. Nagakato, who wants to prove himself to his father, takes such story as truth and wants to emulate him by riding off to battle, where he will likely be killed, but as a glorious end that will be told and retold. (“Will we die with blood on our swords?” he asks, which is the only honorable way to die.)

Lady Ochiba is surrounded by her own legends. Whereas Toranaga's exploits are the stuff of dinner party entertainment, she literally watches her own life be made into drama. The play performed at the Noh theater depicts her courtship by the Taikō, a courteous affair where her character does not speak, an frozen mask covering any expression she might make. (“Dear Lady Ochiba,” the fictionalized Taikō tells her, “if we have a son, prestige will spread in every direction...”)

(Mariko is also haunted by a story, that of her father's actions against Kuroda. But unlike Toranaga and Ochiba, she has no desire to disillusion herself. In her mind, her father died a hero, the man he killed a tyrant, and for fourteen years she has suffered by not being able to fulfill her duty to him by joining him in death.)

But what Shōgun is also trying to tell us is that life is nothing like the myth. A glorious death, the honor of one's family, the prestige of bearing the Taikō's only son, these require far more of us that we can ever imagine, pain and horror laced through every act.

The true story is one we never want to tell. It is being drugged and assaulted on a nightly basis by your consort and his wife, all in the hopes that you will give them a child. It is hacking at the bloody neck of your defeated enemy, until the ninth blow finally severs his head. It is attempting to kill your uncle in the darkened garden of a tea house, only to slip on a wet stone and dash your brains against the rocks, not a single drop of blood on your sword.

#shōgun #shogun #shogun 2024 #shogun fx #fx shogun #shogun spoilers #1x06 #1x07 #yoshii toranaga #yoshii nagakato #lady ochiba #toda mariko #meta

[lafiametta]

Toranaga's son is a little cutie pie. He just looks soo sweet. Can't believe he blew those people to smithereens 😳🤯

Toranaga: Don't trust anyone. Nagakato: *gets totally manipulated by Yabushige and Omi into killing Jozen* Toranaga: *facepalm*

#shōgun #shogun 2024 #shogun #shogun fx #fx shogun #yoshii toranaga #yoshii nagakato #ask and answer #anon asks #i agree he is very cute #but also very dumb #he's all 'crimson sky whoo! then you can be shogun!' #and his dad's all 'will you please stop talking'

[lafiametta]

Toranaga and Ishido are definitely the hottest to me. They're handsome men. I'd still take any of them I could get my hands on though. Even leprosy dude, to make him feel better. I'm a giver 🤣

I feel like we should really put this question to the masses, Anon. I suspect I know what the top pick(s) will be, but I'm also curious to see the full range of responses... ;)

#shōgun #shogun #shogun 2024 #shogun fx #fx shogun #ask and answer #anon asks #shōgun poll