"Anjin"
- While on his way to Osaka, Blackthorne and the ship he's on find themselves in the middle of a fierce squall. After getting his hands freed, he's able to keep the ship on course (even figuring out the Japanese word for "row" to help command the sailors) while also saving a drowning Rodrigues.
"Servants of Two Masters"
- John Blackthorne's second interview with Toranaga and his entourage is essentially a demonstration of how to turn Infodump into a Guile Hero moment. With him getting confirmation of his intel regarding the Catholics' outsized influence in Japan and Macao from the imprisoned Franciscan priest, he weaponizes this by simply acceding to Toranaga's request about information regarding the reality of the world. He then antes up with his intel and the hitherto-unknown Papal bull
splitting the world between Spain and Portugal. This knowledge shocks Toranaga's court, which hardens his stance on the Jesuits' economic activities.The ending of the conversation is also notable, with Blackthorne showing his defiant attitude—enough that it clearly impresses Toranaga, having found something of a kindred spirit in him.Toranaga: (in Japanese) I think you should abandon this war. You are outnumbered. There is no hope for you.
Mariko: (in Portuguese presented as English) My master says you should not war against the Portuguese in Japan. You are outnumbered. It is hopeless.
Blackthorne: (smirking) Unless I win.
Toranaga: (slightly smirks, after we've seen him the past 2 episodes stand up to multiple enemies) - The female ninja's assassination attempt that closed this episode is also pretty impressive—with her effortlessly dispatching everyone who crosses her path, as well as the almost-casual way Toranaga slashes her throat and ends her rampage. The historical counterpart was a Master Swordsman in his own right, being trained by the Yagyu clan sword instructor personally.
"Tomorrow Is Tomorrow"
- Toranaga and Blackthorne both show off their Guile Hero skills during the first part of their escape - Toranaga by being able to swap places between himself and his wife in the litter and Blackthorne creating enough of a distraction that he's able to make sure Toranaga isn't found.
- The nighttime attack on Toranaga's group is the first time we see Toranaga and Mariko properly fight, with Toranaga easily slashing down his enemies and Mariko proving her skill with a naginata.
- Upon finding out that part of Toranaga's deal to get out of Osaka was leaving him behind, Blackthorne goes "Fuck this" and crews Toranaga's galley to sail out of the harbor, even sailing dangerously close to land due to the Portuguese Black Ship pressing him closer until Rodrigues, wanting to pay Blackthorne back for saving his life, gives him enough room to sail free.
"The Eightfold Fence"
- Something that relies a lot on subtext and the original novel material, but the sequence of Toranaga inspecting Yabushige's army is written to be a Guile Hero moment for Toranaga. Currently outmanned by Yabushige's whole army in Izu, Toranaga and his retinue can be waylaid and betrayed then and there. Feigning full confidence, Toranaga delivers a Rousing Speech to the men of Izu that basically charms the pants off them. The men of Izu's cheers for Toranaga drowns out even that for their sworn lord Yabushige (who is clearly distracted and disappointed in seeing it happen—that he doesn't even notice his opportunity for betrayal has passed).
- Omi demands that Blackthorne give up his pistols, which Blackthorne understandably doesn't wish to do and aims them at Omi. To avoid an incident, Fuji, as Blackthorne's consort and with Mariko's help, persuades Blackthorne to give his pistols into her keeping (and asserts that he does when he appears to refuse again). Omi then requests the pistols from Fuji — who promptly aims one of them at him in turn, and calmly tells him to leave. Which he does with a bow and without further complaint.
- 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.
- Nightmare Fuel and ill-advised it may be, but the entire sequence of Nagakado massacring Nebara Jozen's retinue with Blackthorne's cannons is a fantastic showcase of the production team's portrayal of Gorn—with bodies evaporating and disintegrating the moment cannonballs hit them—as well as the sheer power of cannons against infantry, proving Blackthorne's words about their superiority in warfare entirely correct.
"Broken to the Fist"
- Buntaro, forced by Toranaga to reside in Blackthorne's household and deeply resentful of Mariko's role as interpreter, turns his frustration on Fuji, mockingly asking her what it's like to be married to a barbarian. She fires back that she's not, she's married to a hatamoto, definitively picking Blackthorne over her uncle.
- While undoubtedly a monstrous, callous, and ego-driven act, Buntaro still manages to show his impeccable aim with a bow- in an era where the gun has taken Japan by storm- while piss-drunk.
- When Toranaga is swept away in the earthquake, Blackthorne, Nagakado and two retainers immediately charge down the ruined hillside after him despite the risk to their own lives, and reach him in time to dig him out before he suffocates. The man himself also seems to take his near-death experience in stride.
- 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 has come to an end."
"The Abyss Of Life"
- 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, and having to come to grips with a language that is very different from any of the ones that he speaks, 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 condescending 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.
"Crimson Sky"
- In the penultimate episode, Toranaga reveals his masterstroke and invokes Crimson Sky. But not with an army or ships with cannons. Operation Crimson Sky is Mariko Toda herself, tasked with one request for Lord Ishido: to let her leave with Toranaga's wives and infant son. This puts Ishido into an impossible situation: if he allows Mariko to leave then every noble that is a 'guest' at Osaka will also demand to leave. If he refuses, it exposes the truth that his guests are hostages, and reveal him as a tyrant using the young Heir for his purposes. When Ishido does refuse, Mariko prepares to commit seppuku for failing to fulfill her duty as Toranaga's vassal, her death being the catalyst that would spur the other samurai families to oppose Ishido.
- Even when Ishido tries to find another path (i.e., 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 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, 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 look more afraid of her than she is of them, and she's unarmed...until she's handed a naginata, at which point she does her best to cut down as many as she can, even while heavily 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 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 blast away the wretches trying to kill unarmed women in their sleep.
"A Dream of a Dream"
- 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 Ochiba 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. Magnificent Bastard has never been more apt for a character.
