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Another new Shōgun, another crop of burning questions that need to be answered! Shōgun Episode 9 “Crimson Sky” premiered on FX and Hulu yesterday, following Mariko (Anna Sawai) as she embarked on the greatest gambit of her life. Could she really use a combination of cunning courtly manners and brazen strategy to bring Ishido’s (Takehiro Hira) grip on Osaka down? It’s what her liege lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) hoped she could do. Throughout Shōgun Episode 9 “Crimson Sky” we watch as Mariko creeps ever closer to her own destruction. There are harrowing fight sequences, a terrifyingly tense attempt at seppuku, and numerous conversations where Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) begs his love not to sacrifice herself. But does Mariko die in Shōgun?
**Spoilers for Shōgun Episode 9 “Crimson Sky,” now streaming on Hulu**
Shōgun Episode 9 “Crimson Sky” ends with the flip-flopping Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano) teaming up with Ishido to let ninjas into the Toranaga camp’s Osaka quarters. The plan seems to be to capture Mariko at all costs. If she dies, she dies a veritable martyr for Toranaga’s cause, illuminating for the other samurai held captive in Osaka just how shameful and unjust Ishido has been. If she can be captured, she can be contained and controlled.
However, when Mariko, Blackthorne, Yabushige, and Toranaga’s consorts find themselves barricaded in a food storage shed, the ninja assassins threaten them with an explosive that will blow open the door and potentially kill them all. Mariko stands in front of the door and protests this violence in her given name, Akechi Mariko.
An explosion goes off and the screen fades to black. Then the credits roll on Shōgun Episode 9 “Crimson Sky.”
But what happened to Mariko? Did Mariko die in Shōgun? Does Mariko die in Shōgun the book? Here’s what you need to know…SPOILER WARNING!!
Does Mariko Die in Shōgun?
Yes, Mariko dies at the end of Shōgun Episode 9 “Crimson Sky.”
Okay, while it’s very trendy for many prestige dramas to end with a cliffhanger, leaving the fate of a fan favorite character up to chance, Shōgun is not that kind of show. Shōgun uses ambiguity as a thematic device — highlighting the different hearts of its feudal Japanese characters, and the ethos of the eight-fold fence — rather than a narrative one. By using her body to shield Blackthorne, Ishido, and the rest of Toranaga’s allies from the ninjas’ blast, Mariko was sacrificing herself.
Anna Sawai explained to Decider during a recent in-depth interview about Shōgun Episode 9 “Crimson Sky” that Mariko came to a moment of acceptance in the seconds before her death.
“If this is the way that it’s going to turn out, then she’s not going to be captured by the ninjas. There’s no way. Because that means that she’s not able to continue Toranaga’s plan,” Sawai said. “So if it means being bombed and passing and still being able to send that message, then she’s happy to do it.”
So, yes, Mariko is dead…and in death, she is triumphant.
Does Mariko Die in Shōgun the Book?
Okay, maybe you’ve come to grips with the fact that Mariko dies at the end of Shōgun Episode 9 “Crimson Sky,” but is that a choice showrunner Justin Marks made? Or does Mariko die in the original 1975 novel by James Clavell?
As your friendly neighborhood Shōgun, the book, reader, I can confirm that Mariko dies in Clavell’s novel. She dies in much the same way, blocking an explosion with her body, while verbally protesting the violence.
The only big difference? In the book, Mariko uses her married Toda name and not her birth surname of Akechi.
Sawai explained to Decider that she and the episode’s writers, series co-creator Rachel Kondo and Caillin Puente, discussed the change and convinced Marks that Mariko should die an Akechi.
“She’s not a Toda,” Sawai said. “She is an Akechi and she is also avenging her family at the same time.”
“It was very intentional and it felt very powerful and I hope that people remember her as an Akechi rather than a Toda.”
