Major Shōgun Ep. 9 spoilers:
Yabushige truly gives meaning to the term 'rat bastard'. Toranaga factored his inevitable betrayal into his plans, and Yabushige STILL somehow managed to spring a surprise betrayal. If it wasn't so horrible, it would be impressive how two-faced the man manages to be.
So, about Mariko .... (I'm actually glad I randomly got spoiled the day before seeing this episode and was prepared otherwise I would not have survived what happened to her.)
My take ... Mariko's death was 'pointless' in the same way Nagakado's death was pointless. Nagakado died a senseless death that failed to accomplish anything, but then Toranaga gave his son's death meaning and honour by thanking Nagakado for dying to earn him some time. Mariko blocking the door with her own body served nothing in the sense that it wouldn't prevent Ishido's men from getting in nor did it change the fate of anyone else in that room. But by choosing to sacrifice herself like that and die at the hands of Ishido's agents, Mariko derailed Ishido's plan to take her captive and ensured she'd become a martyr to Toranaga's cause. Mariko not only fulfilled Toranaga's plan, she exceeded it.
Mariko's mission was to get the hostages freed or die trying and in so doing force Ishido to dishonour himself by openly revealing his hand instead of keeping up the facade that he's not keeping anyone against their will. Mariko did both: got the hostages freed and died a martyr to the cause. (Yes, Ishido may choose to turn around and keep the hostages anyway instead of releasing them as agreed, but in doing so he'll only dishonour himself further and lose more support.)
When Toranaga gets to Osaka, he'll have the moral highground and the support of the other samurai families who didn't want Mariko to die like that and who now see Ishido for what he really is. (Also, when the time comes, I think the Christian Regents will now be prepared to turn against Ishido.)
And Mariko got what she'd wanted all along: dying with honour in response to what happened to her family. Her death was meaningful. She served her duty like her father told her to. And she got to spend her last night being at peace and experiencing something like happiness with John.
Buntaro dishonoured her for so many years by keeping her alive for selfish reasons and when he finally offered her the release of death, it was also for selfish reasons. Buntaro was only willing to allow her to finally die because HE wanted to die then and wouldn't be affected by her death since he'd be gone too. Buntaro ordered Mariko to stay alive. John asked Mariko to stay alive many times, and when she ultimately wouldn't change her mind, he not only accepted and respected her decision, he honoured it by offering to second her. Mariko died knowing John finally understood. He finally got it.
Mariko died, and now she is finally free.
EDIT to add:
She died calling herself Akechi Mariko instead of Toda Mariko. She disavowed her husband and her unwanted marriage with her last words. She was truly freeing herself!!!
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Titanic From Other First-Class Passengers' Perspective
AKA
Oh Hey The 17-Year-Old With The Abusive Mother And Dirtbag Fiance Has Decided Our Lives Are Pointless Because We Talk About The Stresses Of Wedding Planning And Politics And Other Completely Normal, Non-Class-Locked Things, Instead of Like Swigging Beer In A Makeshift Dance Hall I Guess
I Tried To Check On Her But She Just Gave Me A Dirty Look And Said I'd Probably Never Even HEARD Of Freud Before Flouncing Off
Actually I Am Writing A Monograph On Freud With My Massive Generational-Wealth Free Time But Her Eyes Glaze Over Whenever I Mention That
Hope She Fucks That Nice Boy From Steerage Though
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In an effort to keep evolving my skillset and stay current with other weird archers, I've started branching out in my training.
If you want to see how it's going so far, and support my ridiculous schemes, please consider signing up here!
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do you have any new Rhylerin things? i miss him sm 🥺
oh jeeze, nothing super new or recent drawing wise
but he has been sorta relevant in game for Kaz (as in Kaz finally found out what he'd been attempting to use Kaz for) so this pic I drew last year is very fitting lol
thank you for missing him, he doesn't deserve that HAHA
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