History Awesome / Shogun2024

* When Mariko is at a loss at how to explain that Blackthorne does not have practical experience about infantry tactics, Blackthorne pivots and banks on what he does have: artillery tactics. Thanks to the relative superiority of the ''Erasmus'''s weaponry, he demonstrates how accurate they are in smashing small and large targets, saving face and convincing even Yabushige's retinue that just maybe, the English does have something over the long-established Portuguese in Japan.

* After having been out of focus for much of the story thus far, Ochiba comes sweeping into Osaka, calmly asserts her dominance over Ishido and outright ''tells'' him that from now on, the Council of Regents will answer to her -- "The time for politics is over."

* With a climactic and bloody war on the horizon, Toranaga finds that his gambit with Mariko has paid off; her death has indeed galvanized the other houses against Ishido, and consequently Lady Ichiba has pledged to ''withhold'' the Heir's army from the battle...which will consequently strip Ishido's army of the imperial authority he'd been anticipating (and quite a lot of military force) and cause the other Regents to turn on him, effectively letting Toranaga win the conflict without drawing a single blade. And as he reveals to Yabushige before his ''seppuku'', this will let Toranaga finally accomplish his dream: becoming Shogun and uniting Japan to create a country with no more needless civil wars. MagnificentBastard has never been more apt for a character.

** There's also her performance during the first attempt to leave Osaka, where she and Toranaga's men are confronted by Ishido's army at the gates. After Toranaga's men all fall to the soldiers and archers, Mariko takes it in stride and begins advancing by herself, [[NervesOfSteel studiously ignoring]] the arrows fired within ''inches'' of her feet and the numerous ''naginata'' blades held to her throat, because she knows damn well that they can't ''actually'' harm her directly, which Kiyama points out. Even the soldiers [[OhCrap look more afraid of her than she is of them]], and she's ''unarmed''...until she's handed a ''naginata'', at which point [[DoNotGoGentle she does her best to cut down as many as she can, even while studiously outnumbered]]. Though she eventually gives in to prevent any more of her retinue from being harmed and announces her suicide to compensate for the disgrace inflicted upon her, it's clear that Mariko didn't lose an ounce of her dignity against impossible odds.

* Blackthorne acquits himself well in the battle to prevent Mariko's capture by the Shinobi; he takes out several enemies with his pistol, including grabbing one attacker through the wall and blasting his head off [[AwesomenessByAnalysis by just guessing where it is]], all while swiftly and constantly reloading ''and'' trying to find a route for Mariko and the other women to escape. It's ''very'' satisfying to watch him finally put those pistols to good use and [[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight blast away the wretches trying to kill unarmed women in their sleep]].

* Blackthorne acquits himself well in the battle to prevent Mariko's capture by the Shinobi; he takes out several enemies with his pistol, including grabbing one attacker through the wall and blasting his head off [[AwesomenessByAnalysis by just guessing where it is]], all while swiftly and constantly reloading ''and'' trying to find a route for Mariko and the other women to escape. It's ''very'' satisfying to watch him finally put those pistols to good use and[[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight blast away the wretches trying to kill unarmed women in their sleep]].

* Blackthorne acquits himself well in the battle to prevent Mariko's capture by the Shinobi; he takes out several enemies with his pistol, including grabbing one attacker through the wall and killing him, all while swiftly and constantly reloading ''and'' trying to find a route for Mariko and the other women to escape. It's ''very'' satisfying to watch him [[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight blast away the wretches trying to kill unarmed women in their sleep]].

* Blackthorne acquits himself well in the battle to prevent Mariko's capture by the Shinobi; he takes out several enemies with his pistol, including grabbing one attacker through the wall and killing him, all while swiftly and constantly reloading ''and'' trying to find a route for Mariko and the other women to escape.

** Even when Ishido tries to find another path (ie, ostensibly giving Mariko permits to leave Osaka while sending shinobi to assassinate her and Toranaga's wives due to Yabushige's treachery), it works out for both her and Toranaga. She dies a meaningful death, free of the disgrace of her father's actions and without damning her Christian soul to hell. Her death would spark outrage from other samurai families, who would condemn Ishido's actions and flock to Toranaga's banner, giving him a justifiable reason to seize power and declare himself Shogun. All without firing a single shot.

* Blackthorne acquits himself well in the battle to prevent Mariko's capture by the shinbo; he takes out several enemies with his pistol, including grabbing one attacker through the wall and killing him, all while swiftly reloading and trying to find a route for Mariko and the other women to escape.

** Even when Ishido tries to find another path (ie, ostensibly giving Mariko permits to leave Osaka while sending shinobi to assassinate her and Toranaga's wives due to Yabushige's treachery), it works out for both her and Toranaga. She dies a meaningful death, free of the disgrace of her father's actions and without damning her Christian soul to hell. Her death would spark outrage from other samurai families, who would condemn Ishido's actions and flock to Toranaga's banner, giving him a justifiable reason to seize power and declare himself Shogun. All without firing a single shot.

* There's a small but significant moment for Blackthorne, as it emerges that despite being in an ''incredibly'' stressful situation for the past few months, he's learned enough Japanese that he no longer needs to rely on Mariko. While he's by no means fully fluent, he can get by well enough with the lower classes who don't have the same burdens of etiquette as the nobles; at one point, when Alvito takes a jab at him by telling a woman that he was asking for more firewood, Blackthorne snidely thanks him for the translation but notes that it's unnecessary, and clarifies to the woman that he was asking for ''charcoal.'' This also hints that he's deliberately playing up his role of 'ignorant barbarian' so that Toranaga's vassals are less suspicious of him.

* There's a small but significant moment for Blackthorne, as it emerges that despite being in an ''incredibly'' stressful situation for the past few months, he's learned enough Japanese that he no longer needs to rely on Mariko. While he's by no means fully fluent, he can get by well enough with the lower classes who don't have the same burdens of etiquette as the nobles; at one point, when Alvito takes a jab at him by telling a woman that he was asking for more firewood, Blackthorne snidely thanks him for the translation but notes that it's unnecessary, and clarifies to the woman that he was asking for ''charcoal.''