'Shōgun' Really Did That in Episode 9
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The following story contains major spoilers for Episode 9, "Crimson Sky," of FX's Shōgun. Read on at your own risk.
YOU KNOW YOU'RE really getting to the end of a great series when two key things start to happen: the stakes get higher and higher with each passing minute, and main characters begin to exit the story. As Shōgun approaches its finale, the penultimate ninth episode—titled "Crimson Sky"—does both of those things; it makes for some masterful storytelling, and also makes our hearts ache.
"Crimson Sky" doesn't even feature de facto lead character Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), instead showing the outcome of the voyage that the previous episode ended on—Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano), and Lady Mariko (Anna Sawai) heading back to Osaka, planning to surrender to Lord Ishido (Takehiro Hira) on Toranaga's behalf.
But nothing is ever so easy. During their time with Ishido, Mariko tells him her plan—she plans to bring Toranaga's family members home to him, per his request—to which she's told she cannot leave. Everyone knows the implication: if Mariko tries to leave, there will be violence. But Ishido, officially speaking, is not holding any prisoners. But as Mariko tries to leave, her loyal men fight Ishido's loyal men, all dying off one by one. And so rather than continue any further, Mariko announces that she will commit seppuku at sunset.
Ever since we learned of Mariko's fraught family history and how she ended up married to Buntaro (Shinnosuke Abe), we also learned that she's been so ashamed and wanted to die—but has not been granted allowance to do so. Now, she has a chance to die with honor, but it's a terrifying moment and endeavor.
Mariko faces her fate boldly, fearlessly, and without regret—with Blackthorne stepping in as her "second." But at the last moment, Ishido appears to hand her papers for passage, allowing her clearance to leave Osaka without dying. But then all the other prisoners ask for their own clearance as well, and it's clear that Ishido is regretful.
By the end of the episode, things fully come to a head. Yabushige was never one to be trusted (as likable as he is, he's also treacherous), and he allows Ishido's shinobi army to enter the Osaka castle, where they plan to kill Mariko. Blackthorne, Yabushige (perhaps playing both sides once again, but also possibly not quite sure of what exactly he's just enabled), and Mariko are stuck in a relatively safe room—but the doors have been plugged with explosives.
Despite escaping death by her own hand only a few hours earlier (and emotionally reuniting with Blackthorne that same night), Mariko blocks the door and refuses to move, despite Yabushige and Blackthorne's protests. She declares that she's giving her life up in protest of Ishido's violent actions—and the episode ends as the explosives obliterate the door, with Mariko standing directly against it, arms extended.
It's one of the most stunning episode cliffhangers in a season of television full of them—and perhaps the cap to a brilliant performance by Anna Sawai.
Did Mariko really die at the end of Shōgun Episode 9, "Crimson Sky"?
At the end of "Crimson Sky," Lady Mariko does, indeed, die.
Actress Anna Sawai explained Mariko's evolving motivation in an interview with Entertainment Weekly; initially, she wanted death simply as a way out, but now she understands the impact that she was capable of having.
“It's more about having a purposeful death," she said. "Your purpose can be achieved by living and doing something like Toranaga-sama, and it can also mean a purposeful death. And I think that she understands that she will be getting everything that she wants for herself and for Toranaga-sama through her death."
She also explained that Mariko was ready for whatever would come next by the end of Episode 8, when she discussed a plan with Toranaga and simply told him "I'm ready." That was a great bit of foreshadowing for the bittersweet, tragic moments that would come in Episode 9. "That's when she decided she was going to go full out," Sawai said in the same interview.
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