REVIEW: ‘Shōgun’ Episode 7 — “A Stick of Time”

Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) is preparing for his battle with the Council of Regents but time is running out. Shōgun Episode 7, “A Stick of Time,” is full of shocking twists and major drama as the final confrontation gets closer.

Shōgun Episode 7 starts with a flashback to Toranaga’s childhood. Specifically showing his first-ever battle. Toranaga’s forces won the battle and his enemy committed seppuku. What was shocking is that the enemy commander asked Toranaga to be his second. Toranaga’s role is to cut off his enemy’s head after he has committed seppuku.

This is a shocking thing to ask a child to do. He has already witnessed the gruesome brutality of war. Now he has to take it a step further by killing. But it is a foreshadowing of the rest of Toranaga’s career. Toranaga is a leader who leads by example. He is not going to let others do his dirty work for him. This flashback highlights how he is willing to do whatever is required to be a strong leader.

Back in the present, Toranaga has called for his Crimson Sky plan to be put into action. The goal is to unite with his half-brother and storm Osaka to defeat the regents. It is a last-ditch effort for Toranaga to save himself and his loyal followers. Toranaga meets his brother Saeki Nobutatsu (Eita Okuno) on the road and welcomes him back to Anjiro. The two share a warm embrace and a few jokes. All is well between these new allies.

That is, until it isn’t. The biggest twist in Shōgun Episode 7 happens when Toranaga and Nobutatsu share a meal together. Nobutatsu talks about how great Toranaga’s plan is and what he should get from it. But he also reveals that Toranaga is not the only one with a plan. Someone else spoke with Nobutatsu first and sent him to Toranaga.

The situation gets tense fast. The dark lighting of the scene helps drive home the foreboding feeling. There is a palpable sense of dread from Toranaga and his allies. It is such a well-done scene because everything about it makes viewers think everything is going well until it suddenly shifts. The way the characters are joking and laughing starts to slowly get a bit awkward and then the hammer is dropped.

Credit to Toranaga though for not panicking. The way he handles the situation is exemplary. He buys him and his allies some time and instantly starts thinking of a way to escape the situation. Along the way to making his decisions, he meets with the owner of the tea house that played a prominent role in the last episode. It turns out she is making her own plans and could be a crucial ally for Toranaga.

Her plot and her role in things have not come to fruition yet, but it is yet another way that Shōgun gives agency to the women of the series and allows them the chance to play important roles. Her addition to the main story has the potential to be really interesting if it is allowed to play out.

Meanwhile, John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) is still a fish out of water. He does not understand how he can be given titles and land but not be allowed to serve as a captain of a ship. He knows his strengths and does not understand why he can’t use them. His frustration seeps through the screen and it makes complete sense. He wants to help Toranaga and his men now too instead of just using them. As he feels more comfortable in Japan, his frustration at the lack of chances to help grows.

That frustration reaches a boiling point once Toranaga makes an important decision. Gathered before his men and Nobutatsu’s men, Toranaga decides to surrender himself to the Council of Regents. The decision itself isn’t shocking, since it still seems like Toranaga has something up his sleeve. He is a master of cunning and strategy, so surely he has a way to get out of this.

But Blackthorne does not see it that way. He has an especially brutal line that he directs at Yabushige and the rest of Toranaga’s men. “Behold, the great warlord. The brilliant master of trickery who tricked his own loyal vassals into a noiseless smothering,” he says. It is one of the best lines and deliveries of the series so far. Jarvis’ performance here is stunning.

No one understands his words except for when he says they are all dead in Japanese. Still, they seem to grasp what he is saying. Or, at least, Toranaga does. It is such an emotionally brutal scene because Toranaga really is losing the faith of everyone around him. He might have even lost his faith in himself. It makes the path forward so much more challenging, especially if he does not have the help of Blackthorne.

There is one last twist at the end of Shōgun Episode 7. Well, sort of two in one. A decision is made, likely without Toranaga’s consent, that leads to the death of someone very close to him. It is a shocking scene where one decision turns into a horrific incident that left me with my jaw dropped. The decision to only have the sound of the rain falling during the end credits too helps set the tone for what is going to happen next after this.

Shōgun Episode 7 is a slower-paced episode full of shocking twists and turns that leave the future of Toranaga and his allies a mystery. With everything that happens, it is impossible to tell how Toranaga can possibly come out of this alive.

Shōgun Episode 7 is available now on FX and Hulu. with new episodes released weekly.