‘Shōgun’ Ending Explained: Does Blackthorne Die? How Does Toranaga Become Shōgun?

Shōgun Episode 10 “A Dream of A Dream” doubles as the FX’s series finale. After weeks of watching John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) attempt to wheedle and deal his way to immense riches in Japan, Shōgun ends with the emotionally defeated English navigator confessing his subterfuge to Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) in the hopes that his own seppuku can spare the good people he’s come to know, love, and respect in Anjiro. Toranaga doesn’t accept the Anjin’s death, though. Instead, he keeps him alive, and around, because the Englishman makes him laugh. And so Shōgun ends with the would-be colonizer becoming the conquered party.

**Spoilers for all of Shōgun, now streaming on Hulu**

Of course, that’s not all that happens in the series finale of Shōgun. In the wake of Mariko’s (Anna Sawai) sacrifice, Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano) begins to spiral with grief. That, plus the fact that he was seen letting Ishido’s (Takehiro Hira) ninja assassins into the Osaka castle, dooms him. By episode’s end, he is committing seppuku before Toranaga, who spends the minutes leading up to Yabushige’s death revealing the true genius of his plans.

Yes, it seems that Toranaga is about to become Shōgun. The episode ends with this outcome all but assured thanks to Mariko’s actions and a secret letter from Lady Ochiba (Fumi Nikaido).

But how exactly did Toranaga pull it off? Does Blackthorne die in Japan or, as those flash forwards suggest, as an old man in England? And will there be a Shōgun Season 2? Here’s everything you need to know about the ending of FX’s Shōgun….

Shōgun Ending Explained: Does Toranaga Become Shōgun?

Yes, Toranaga becomes Shōgun.

Okay, so technically the show ends right before he officially becomes Shōgun, but as in James Clavell’s 1975 novel, Toranaga offers the reader a “glimpse of his secret heart,” which outlines exactly how the upcoming “battle” against the regents will go. However, Shōgun showrunner Justin Marks captured this moment from the books via the conversation that Toranaga has with Yabushige shortly before the latter’s seppuku.

“Telling a dead man the future is a great way to get out a lot of exposition,” Marks explained to Decider during a recent Zoom conversation. “It’s kind of like confessing to a priest.”

“In the book, Toranaga reveals a glimpse of his secret heart for the reader and only the reader. Obviously, we didn’t want to play that game of voiceover or whatever else or just, gosh…Could you imagine just if he turns to camera and just says, ‘Hey, glad you’re here,” Marks said, with a laugh.

Instead, they let Toranaga reveal what was about to go down during the “battle” to a stunned Yabushige.

Basically, Mariko’s actions in Shōgun Episode 9 “Crimson Sky” created a situation where the nobles had to admit that Ishido was holding them hostage in Osaka. That, plus the devastation of Mariko’s death, created a perfect political storm for the other power players to switch allegiances from Ishido to Toranaga.

Ishido’s plan to unite the regents’ armies and defeat Toranaga in the field of battle only works if he has the heir’s banner to legitimize the war. Because he’s engaged to the heir’s mother, Ochiba, he assumes the banners will arrive in time. But Toranaga reveals to Yabushige that Ochiba has sent him a secret letter promising to switch sides. That is, the heir’s banners will not show up for Ishido. Almost immediately, the other regents will turn on him.

When Decider spoke over Zoom to the writers of Shōgun Episode 9 “Crimson Sky,” Caillin Puente and Rachel Kondo, they emphasized how much Mariko meant to Ochiba…and the arithmetic of her choice to side with Toranaga.

“I think it was the loss of Mariko [that turned her]. I think it was that that was what changed her mind, which I think Toranaga very smartly knew,” Puente said. “Mariko was his ace.”

Mariko was Toranaga’s ace, but she was Blackthorne’s love. So now that Mariko’s gone, what does that mean for the ambitious Englishman??

Does Blackthorne Die an Old Man in England? What Do the Flash Forwards Mean?

Shōgun Episode 10 “A Dream of a Dream” appears to open with flash forward to an elderly Blackthorne back in England. He is sleeping in a bed, clutching Mariko’s rosary, while his grandsons gape over his various souvenirs of Japan. One boy even asks the other if their grandfather’s swords were truly the gift of a “savage,” showing that Blackthorne’s family doesn’t comprehend the slightest bit about their patriarch’s experiences overseas.

However, Blackthorne stays in Japan at the end of the show, employed by Toranaga to build another ship (after Toranaga stealthily framed the Catholics for burning the Erasmus). Plus, Blackthorne poignantly gives Mariko’s rosary to the sea in a ceremony he shares with the grieving Fuji (Moeka Hoshi).

So what does it all mean? Decider asked Marks about this ambiguous ending during a conversation at Winter 2024 TCA in February.

“I don’t think he ever left [Japan],” Marks said. “I mean, I don’t want to be too literal because I think there’s a lot that is left to interpretation, but I will say it was clearly a false flash forward.”

So, no, Blackthorne does not grow old and die in England. 

“We wanted to do something where what we thought was the dream of an old man looking back on his life with regrets was really the dream of a young man looking forward to a possible version of his life,” Marks said.

Marks went on to explain that Blackthorne’s attempt at seppuku — which coincidentally happens much earlier in Clavell’s novel — was him spiritually killing that version of himself, the version that wanted to return to England with plunder, to die a miserable old man in a bed alone.

“The best evidence of that [false flash forward], and this is a subtle thing, but I hope it’s noticed, is that he had in that bed, her cross. Yeah, right there, the rosary in his hand,” Marks said.
And so by throwing it into the water at the very end, he finally says goodbye to that self.”

Will There Be a Shōgun Season 2?

So if that’s not the end for Blackthorne, what’s next? We know that Fuji is no longer his consort and that she will become a nun. Toranaga is about to become Shōgun and will usher in the Edo Period. And Clavell’s novel leaves readers with some tantalizing teases for what’s next in both men’s personal lives: Book Toranaga is set to marry Ochiba and has arranged for the courtesan Kiku (Yuka Kouri) to wed Blackthorne!

Of course, that’s just how James Clavell’s book ends and there were initially no plans to continue the limited series Shōgun past season 1. But now that the show is a runaway success, is there pressure for Marks to make more?

“We will answer very carefully, you know, just for a variety of reasons,” Marks told Decider on a recent Zoom call. “Are there other stories to tell of the characters who survived this show? Yes. Are there other stories to tell of leading up to things?”

“The question is, are [these stories] any better than the book? Than what was told? And we don’t know. And I like saying, ‘I don’t know,’ because it opens lots of doors to getting better.”

Marks didn’t necessarily rule out more Shōgun, but he made it clear it would have to be better than what they’ve already done. Which is a tall order.

“If there were ever something to do, it would just have to be better than what was done. And I don’t know if we know something that’s better,” Marks said. “So, yeah, kind of just have to leave it at that.”