In Blackthorne’s dream at the beginning, one of the kids asks why the sword has a chip in it. I suppose Blackthorne was dreaming of taking a whack at Yabushige himself.

He was iconic. He’s remembered for so much, and he was talented in ways he isn’t even remembered for.

I wonder what their refund policy is?

Yeah, definitely an age thing. He could do stately perfectly well, I just always miss the manic energy in his earlier roles. I feel like Throne of Blood hit the perfect balance. He gets to be a king, but also seriously unhinged, and, at the end, delightfully panicky.

I think it’s a fever dream, because he’s holding Mariko’s cross in those scenes, but we know he leaves that in the water.

Yeah, I wondered if Toranga vetoing Blackthorne and agreeing to be the second was an act of kindness, especially since Toranaga new firsthand how bad it is to have it botched. 

Perhaps in this case for a little too much follow-through.

Ninjas aren’t known for their follow through, apparently.

Yes, he was never the White Savior or hero of the story. Toranaga was always the hero of the story. Blackthorne was just our viewpoint, but his function in driving the story was as a catalyst, not the hero.

Every time I thought he seemed cool, I reminded myself that he had a dude boiled alive when he was first introduced.

I truly loved the moment when Blackthorn threatened seppuku. He was starting to embrace Japanese approaches to death and loyalty and almost had it right but Toranaga still brushed him off as acting foolish. He wasn’t the White Saviour who understood the hosts’ culture better than they did, just a guy who was prepared…

I was a little surprised as to how this finale told that tale-- but the more I thought about it the more it made sense to me. Mostly, though, I had already concluded that Mariko’s death would be a catalyst for one especially important domino in Toranaga’s plan to fall, and so it was.

Yes, there was a whole bit in the novel about Ishido having had his fortune read when he was younger, and having been told he would die a very old man. It’s part of why he was overconfident enough to try to take over. He did die a “very old man”, just not in the way he thought he would.

I definitely got a Yojimbo era Mifune vibe from him...except that unlike Mifune, Yabushige just stepped on one rake after another.

This is the best adaptation of anything I have watched in a long time. Even episodes 7 and 8, which strayed the most from the source material, were excellent.

So the Ninjas blew the door open and then after seeing they killed Mariko they just high tailed it out of there?

Village spy guy was pretty significant in the finale.

After immediately hating and then quickly loving Yabushige, I was crestfallen at his outright villainy in the last ep, and I didn’t think they could bring him back. But his catfish-catching madness and his death poem... man, just one of the best characters in recent memory. They really nailed it, and as with much of…

He just sort of predicts behavior correctly in many cases by really getting to know the people involved. What do you think?

Exactly. He does not bend the wind to his will. He only studies it.

I never read the books, and my memories of the original 1980 version is a bit vague, but I do recall the ship situation was made more clear in the original.