'Shōgun' Episode 4 Takeaway: John Blackthorne's 'cannon strategy' derailed by violent surprise
Contains spoilers for 'Shōgun' Episode 4
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: FX's ongoing historical drama, 'Shōgun' delves into the complex political landscape of feudal Japan.
Developed by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, the series is based on James Clavell's 1975 book of the same name.
The show follows the exploits of John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), an Englishman who inadvertently becomes involved in the murky politics of medieval Japan.
In the action-packed third episode of the series, Blackthorne helps Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) flee from Osaka.
In exchange, Toranaga grants Blackthorne the novel appellation Hatamoto and instructs him to train his army in Western warfare techniques.
John Blackthorne finds it difficult to adapt to his new position as Hatamoto in Shōgun
Upon arriving at Ajiro village, the risk-taking English sailor was astounded to learn that he had a new consort, Usami Fuji (Moeka Hoshi), a house, staff, and an official salary.
However, the man, behaving like a whining kid, was distraught to learn that he would not be receiving his ship or men and would instead need to train the regiment for at least six months.
He objects to this new arrangement, but Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai) persuades him to change his mind and warns that refusing to acknowledge it will be seen as disrespectful to Toranaga.
John Blackthorne demonstrates the use of cannons in 'Shōgun' Episode 4
After much deliberation, the man chooses to go with the flow and executes his strategy for training Toranaga's men.
The next day, on the training fields, while discussing war strategies, Mariko realizes that Blackthonre has never participated in any type of battle.
Blackthorne informs Mariko that he made it apparent to Toranaga that he is a ship pilot who solely knows about naval warfare, which offers him the intriguing idea of using naval warfare rather than weapons in the impending battle.
Initially, Kashigi Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano) was skeptical about Blackthorne's novel concept. However, after witnessing how well the canons worked, he came around to the notion.
Subsequently, it is revealed that Blackthorne spent the following few days teaching the man how to use cannons.
The series premiered with its first two episodes on February 27, 2024, on Hulu and FX. The subsequent episodes are scheduled to be released weekly.