‘Shōgun’ Is Setting Up an Intriguing New Power Couple

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Shōgun.

With just two episodes left in its single season, Shōgun continues to surprise. The eighth episode, “The Abyss of Life,” shrouds Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) and his allies in uncertainty, but also sees the rise of a surprising, yet fearsome power couple with Lord Ishido Kazunari (Takehiro Hira) and Lady Ochiba no Kata (Fumi Nikaido). The duo has been aligned for a few episodes now, and their common opposition to Toranaga finally brings them together through a strategic alliance — or maybe even more than that, at least on Ishido’s part.

Shogun (2024)

When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, Lord Yoshii Toranaga discovers secrets that could tip the scales of power and devastate his enemies.

Release Date

2024-02-00

Main Genre

Drama

Seasons

1

Ishido May Be Toranaga’s Primary Enemy, but Ochiba Is More Dangerous

From the very first episode of Shōgun, “Anjin,” it’s well established that Lord Toranaga is a threat to the Council of Regents. The series starts with him being confronted by his peers in the Council about his intentions, and Lord Ishido is the one taking the front in questioning him. He is the lord of Osaka and has been keeping Toranaga hostage, since Toranaga is also the tutor of Taikō Nakamura Hidetoshi (Yukijiro Hotaru)’s heir, Yaechiyo (Sen Mars). Both Toranaga and Ishido are equally powerful and feared, but have diametrically opposed personalities. While Toranaga centralizes every decision and its consequences (good or bad) on him, Ishido is the more plotting and scheming type, often maneuvering the Council and even betraying allies, like Kashigi Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano), when it’s convenient.

Lady Ochiba, on the other hand, only makes her debut in Shōgun in Episode 5, “Broken to the Fist.” Before that, she had been in Edo, and returned to Osaka to be with Yaechiyo as part of Toranaga’s dealings with Ishido and the Council of Regents. That’s not the chronological start of her part in the story, however. In a flashback in Episode 5, it’s revealed that Ochiba was a childhood friend of Lady Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai). Ochiba was the daughter of Lord Kuroda Nobuhisa (Eijiro Ozaki), the ruler of Japan before the Taikō, and Mariko lived with them in their castle. Nobuhisa was violent and abusive, however, and was betrayed and killed by Mariko’s father, Lord Akechi Jinsai (Yutaka Takeuchi). A rift between the two friends began to grow, and Ochiba eventually started seeing Mariko as a rival and enemy. Toranaga and Akechi were close, which is why Ochiba also hates him, and now fears Toranaga might be the biggest threat to her and Yaechiyo.

In Episode 5, Ochiba quickly turns the tables on Ishido and says that the Council of Regents now answers to her, as the mother of the Taikō‘s heir. At first, this moment seems more like a new player had arrived in the game, not the start of an alliance, but in Episode 8, Ishido reveals he has always had a crush on her and proposes formalizing their alliance through marriage. Ochiba doesn’t seem immediately content with this idea and avoids giving Ishido an answer right away. At the end of the episode, though, she accepts his offer.

Ishido and Ochiba’s Alliance Is About More Than Just Opposing Toranaga

FX’s version of Shōgun is already unique compared to the previous miniseries adaptation. Instead of focusing solely on John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), the new series elevates Toranaga and Lady Mariko to protagonists, and they become the drive for many other things that happen, including Ishido and Ochiba’s alliance. They may have joined forces because of their shared hatred of Toranaga, but this is only the first layer of their motivations. Thanks to Toranaga, we get to learn more about this antagonistic power couple.

When we meet Ishido, he’s the leader of the Council of Regents, a powerful position in the realm. The Council itself was created by the late Taikō as a way of securing the continuation of his lineage, but it has never felt like that is where the story is really headed. Either Toranaga or Ishido would rise to power. A lot can be observed from the dynamics of the Council, especially the fact that Toranaga seems more powerful than all the other members, and this profoundly bothers Ishido. To even this out, he sought to make Yabushige his double agent, but it didn’t work. Now, siding with Ochiba is likely to bring him closer to his goal, which, simply put, is to gather more power. Even if Yaechiyo remains the heir to the realm, Ishido is the sort of person who needs to be close to power to feel important. Perhaps he can even have an heir of his own on the throne, eventually.

However, Ochiba’s motivations are more practical than that. One of the plots that has been developed throughout the season is how women survive in the male-dominated world of feudal Japan. Shōgun explores this through a host of female characters, ranging from Ochiba herself to Mariko, Usami Fuji (Moeka Hoshi), and Kiku (Yuka Kouri). In a revealing conversation that takes place in Episode 8, Mariko discusses Ochiba with her sister, Rin (Haruka Igarashi), who says their only contact is through official letters. It leads Mariko to discuss her own relationship with Ochiba, mentioning that fear is the other woman’s “greatest enemy.” As a girl, Ochiba lost her father and grew up afraid of something similar happening to her. Then, she became the only consort of the Taikō to bear him an heir, a status that brought with it new fears that were placed on young Yaechiyo’s shoulders. Now, what drives Ochiba isn’t necessarily her hatred for Mariko and Toranaga, but securing a future for herself and her son — and she considers the other two the biggest threats to that future. Ochiba may not love Ishido, but if his proposal offers further security for her and the heir, she’ll agree to it for her son’s sake.

This Alliance Will Bring Problems for Toranaga in ‘Shōgun’

For those who have watched Game of Thrones, Ochiba may remind them of Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) in the way that she is politically skilled and fierce in her position of defending her son. But that is where the similarities end, as women in Shōgun have a much more fragile position in feudal Japan than the one Cersei builds for herself in Westeros. Lady Ochiba doesn’t command military forces, for example, and depends on Lord Ishido in this sense. In fact, we have yet to see if her clan commands any military forces at all, despite bearing the Taikō‘s banner. Regardless, with the military might of Lord Ishido and the rest of the Council of Regents, Ochiba can still provide a fierce resistance to whatever Toranaga’s plans may be.

Episode 9 is titled “Crimson Sky,” the operation that Toranaga considered as a way of invading Osaka. The only plot known for now, however, is that Lady Mariko is going ahead to Osaka, where she will likely clash with Ishido and Ochiba. She may even meet her end there, according to her wish to honor her family, which has been stained since her father killed Ochiba’s father in the past. Ishido and Ochiba’s alliance will really be tested for the first time, and events this week will determine the state their alliance is left in for the finale. Regardless, this showdown has a lot of promise.

Shōgun is streaming on Hulu in the U.S. New episodes are released weekly on Tuesdays.

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