Toranaga gets everything he wanted out of this conflict with the Council of Regents: the hostages in Osaka are free, Lady Ochiba has agreed to not call the Taiko’s banners to Ishido’s cause, and he’s ready to build his new world in Edo. All it cost was the life of one woman … but what a bonfire she made in the process.
So how much of this victory was by Lord Toranaga’s grand design and how much of it came down to blind luck? Was sending Mariko to defeat Osaka rather an army what “Crimson Sky” meant this whole time? To answer that last question first: yes, what we just witnessed was Crimson Sky. Toranaga tells Yabushige as much before Yabushige is compelled to commit seppuku: “Crimson Sky is finished.”
In hindsight, Toranaga and Hiromatsu’s original conception of Crimson Sky felt uncommonly inelegant for the scheming lord. That’s because, as described, it essentially just amounted to a Leroy Jenkins-style rush against the heavily fortified castles of Osaka. If that ever was part of Toranaga’s plans, it certainly wasn’t anymore after an earthquake devastated his army. With the regents united, he could never make a move on Osaka, so he “sent a woman to do what an army never could.”
With her simple act of defiance, Mariko laid bare the dysfunction and distrust at the center of the Council of Regents. She also convinced Lady Ochiba to keep the heir’s army out of the battle to come, all but ensuring victory for Toranaga’s forces. According to historian Frederik Cryns on the aforementioned Shōgun podcast, much of this occurred in the real Japanese history that the show borrows from.
“The unity of the court was not great,” Cryns explained. “It really started to crumble as soon as hostilities started. Yodo-no-Kata [the real life version of Ochiba] eventually didn’t side with Mitsunari [the real life version of Ishido]. The letter of Ochiba does exist in real life. Yodo-no-Kata also sent a letter to Ieyasu [the real life version of Toranaga] that Mitsunari was plotting. The heir was not on the side of Mitsunari.”
Like the viewer surely is, Yabushige is properly stunned by all of the brilliant scheming Toranaga has put into place to become the next shōgun in Japanese history. But Toranaga assures Yabu that he doesn’t create the wind, he only studies it. And thanks to what happens next, we all know which way the wind is blowing.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
