Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Shogun episode 8, “The Abyss of Life”
The recent Shogun episode ended with a jaw-dropping revelation about Lord Toranaga and his loyal general and close friend, Toda Hiromatsu.
As the episode progressed toward its explosive ending, Toranaga gave his adversaries more and more signs of his defeated spirit. The would-be Shogun first refused to appear for his own son’s funeral, which caused a bit of outrage among the Edo generals. He then made it clear to Hiromatsu, Mariko, and Father Alvito that he had no intentions of fighting Ishido, nor swaying Lady Ochiba to his cause.
As more people among Toranaga’s trusted advisors and servants came to terms with their lord’s evident submission, dissent began to grow in Edo. John Blackthorne even took the opportunity to go behind Toranaga’s back and make a deal with Kashigi Yabushige, which he refused out of fear.
In the episode’s final moments, Hiromatsu confronted Toranaga in front of all the other generals and Hatamotos, and when Toranaga would not be swayed, he decided to perform seppuku and kill himself. But why did Hiromatsu have to kill himself and what does that mean for Toranaga’s cause?
Why did Hiromatsu kill himself in Shogun?
As Toranaga revealed to Mariko at the end, this was all a ploy to make Ishido believe that Toranaga has been wholly defeated. Revealing his intentions to Father Alvito would work to persuade Osaka, but Toranaga knew that it wouldn’t be enough to make his secret plan work. That’s why he had to stage an open confrontation with his generals, in the hope of leading a few of them to perform seppuku.
As Shogun‘s creator Justin Marks recently explained during FX’s official podcast, however, Toranaga wasn’t counting on Hiromatsu to pay that ultimate price.
There’s a great moment in the scene between Toranaga and Hiromatsu where Toranaga turns to Hiromatsu in shock because he did not intend for Hiromatsu to do this. And I don’t think Hiromatsu knew that Toranaga wanted these generals to commit seppuku in order to show his enemies that he had surrendered and truly given up and that he has no hope.
Marks also revealed that Hiromatsu was looking to spare the lives of the generals and sacrifice himself instead, even if he wasn’t quite sure about what Toranaga was playing at. As for Toranaga, well, he finally got what he wished for, though the question is: Will it be enough to turn the course of this conflict in the last two episodes?