Shōgun recap: Jealousies flare in “A Stick Of Time”

“A Stick Of Time,” the title of Shōgun’s seventh episode and a phrase employed within it, is not a saying I had encountered before in my limited, white-girl existence. It references incense clocks, which originated in Song Dynasty China and spread from there to Japan and Korea. They measure the passing of minutes/hours/etc. in the time it takes to burn sticks of incense; they also provide a nice visual (and certainly a more poetic one than today’s brightly colored, pinwheel-looking visual timer apps can offer). Naming this episode after this time-keeping device is an apt choice, as we find our heroes (and villains) in a bit of a waiting period for most of it. That said, it isn’t boring; it’s loaded and tense. The vibe is atmospheric and hazy, like scented smoke. We also find ourselves grappling with the fact that this is the seventh of ten episodes, which means the time we have with these characters and breathtaking landscapes will soon run out.

We open on the end of a big battle: slain samurai, a tattered flag, and fire arrows stuck in the ground. “The war is over. Toranaga has won,” shrieks a guy. But guess what? This happened 46 years ago. And Toranaga was a little kid, a twelve-year-old “boy warlord,” who had to kill a bunch of dudes then aid his bested opponent Mizoguchi in seppuku as his “second” (the guy who cuts off the head at the end). This is Toranaga’s mythology, probably a major reason he brings people to their feet everywhere he goes. People know this story and have handed it down for decades. You can sure bet his son Nagakado knows it; it seems to be his favorite, especially the part about his dad slicing off his rival’s head in “a single stroke.”

Another guy who knows this story so well, plus many others about Toranaga-sama (including an embarrassing pants-pooping story), is his half-brother Saeki, the man with the military might Toranaga and crew are counting on to boost their numbers and give them an edge against Ishido in their whole Crimson Sky plan (the one where they storm Osaka Castle and take over by force). It becomes clear, though, that Saeki has a bit of a different take on his big bro—and some different plans. After soaking it up in hot springs and draining Toranaga financially by spending lots of time and money on Kiku, the famous courtesan, he drops the news that he has already accepted another offer—from the regents in Osaka, and of course, he’s now one of them. His guys guard every checkpoint, where they will stay until Toranaga agrees to submit to the council and Nagakado commits seppuku for killing Nebara Jozen. There seems to be no good option for these guys.

And other folks are frustrated, too. Omi is not handling it well that Kiku had that night with Anjin and is now giving all of her time to this half-brother joker; Buntaro is still real mad that Blackthorne spends so much time with his lady; Yabushige is jealous of Blackthorne’s new land and bummed that Ishido doesn’t like him anymore (he sent a guy to broker peace and got his head in a box, in return); and Blackthorne is miffed to be hanging out at his hatamoto house instead of shooting off his ship cannons to help Toranaga (and maybe, sorta, kinda escaping back to England). Yabushige and Buntaro actually get the chance to kick Blackthorne’s ass later, and they relish it. Buntaro goes as far as holding a blade to his neck before finally backing off.

Gin, the woman who runs the Willow World tea house, has some schemes up her sleeve and offers to reduce Kiku’s fees for her services to Saeki for “a stick of [Toranaga’s] time.” He’s only willing to hear her out because he’s pretty sure he’s going to die. She wants to build up a guild for courtesans and establish a district of tea houses like hers outside of Edo, a protected entity. Toranaga actually considers it and leaves her two chō of land in Edo in a brand-new will he draws up. He agrees to abandon Crimson Sky and surrender to the great disappointment of all involved, but hey, when he dies, maybe Gin and the women of Willow World can at least enjoy some security. This could be a nice little legacy for him: standing up for women in a way.

Later, a whole bunch of these guys ambush the tea house when Saeki is there for a good time. Kiku steps away for a minute (clearly in on it) and Toranaga’s men hop out of the shadows to go after him. Ultimately, Nagakado stands above his uncle, sword raised, clearly calculating how to get his head off in a single swing, yearning to be as good as his dad has been rumored to be. What he doesn’t know is it took nine swings. It was awful and traumatic for his old man, who actually hates that story, who was mad that his friend and general Hiromatsu didn’t correct the record in the moment when Saeki was recounting it over dinner on the night of his betrayal. Nagakado falters, stares at his uncle, adjusts his sword and posture. Then he slips on a wet, flat rock in the garden pond beneath him, falls back and hits his head hard. As Nagakado lies there dying, blood gushing from his head in a sort of crimson cloud above him, his uncle rises to his feet and says, “Where is the beauty in this?” Damn. What a legacy.

Stray observations

• The conversation between Hiromatsu and his “favorite granddaughter” Fuji is a little sad. She’s so excited to see him at first, and he does compliment the cleanliness of her home as well as encourage her to live rather than become ash like her husband and baby. However, she still has to perform for this guy. She can’t even say she doubts there will be victory for Toranaga without having to dutifully shower him with praise and encouragement afterwards, things like wait, of course there will be victory! and we love having Buntaro here! He’s not a dick to me at all and never makes things weird for everyone!
• Saeki gets a very colorful line related to the episode’s theme of time passing. He says, “Beauty’s a fleeting pleasure, like trying to grasp a river or fuck a sunset.”
• When Saeki tells the story about Toranaga pooping his pants as a sad child being sent away, he punctuates the tale with, “I always felt for that horse.” It’s sad…but damn it, it’s kind of funny, too!
• Gin has emerged as a super interesting character, not just because of her schemes and rags-to-riches backstory, but for saying to live in Willow World is about “pouring out your life in service of great men—your youth, energy, wit, and charm…all of it is given away. Then your flower wilts with age and you are discarded.” Perfectly conveyed.
• For a moment, before Nagakado met his tragic end, it seemed to me like he and Fuji might have hooked up, and that could have been sweet. It’s kind of nice when he finds her training to fight and says that he should have been the one to stand up to Ishido instead of her husband so that she would still have her family. It’s a little empty, but still nice.
• Buntaro really wants to kill Blackthorne, but can’t accuse Mariko of being mutually deserving of punishment for entertaining his advances, so he won’t. When Toranaga confronts Mariko about her priorities, Blackthorne’s versus her dead father’s, her response is, “Free me of this cursed life.” Things are especially bleak for her, and none of this is fair or her fault.
• It’s hilarious to me how bored Kiku looks while Saeki is thrusting away behind her. She has a little cloth rope around his neck and plays around with how tightly he’ll let her pull on it in a way that suggests that she would really, really love to shut him up by whatever means necessary.

Shōgun is available to stream now on Hulu.