Mama.
They came for me, like you said.
The bad men.
It was my fault.
[theme music swelling]
I'm sorry I'm a monster, Mama.
I'll avenge us, Mama.
I swear it.
If it takes all my life.
If it takes my death.
I swear it, Mama.
I swear it.
[music crescendos, fades]
[Ringo] Master?
Master!
[Mizu] He'll be here soon.
Fowler.
You're sure you can find Akemi before they come?
I have to.
I promised you I would.
Are you ready?
[breathes deeply]
Get to the north sewer. Make sure we can get through.
Wait till I see Akemi and take her far from the castle.
Do not die.
If you get caught by swordsmen?
The Falcon's Dive.
If you get caught by spearmen?
Run.
Master.
What about Fowler's army?
Not my concern.
Only his death matters.
But what if they kill the shogun?
Shogun Itoh allowed white men into Japan for his own gain against his own laws.
He deserves whatever comes.
Ringo.
After I kill Fowler, I'll find you here.
-If I don't come back-- -Of course you will.
If I don't…
I failed, or I'm dead.
Don't be silly, Master.
You can't die.
You don't know how.
[theme music intensifies]
[music ends]
[yawns]
Of all the indignities Father dumps on us,
this fat, white, overcooked dumpling
is the worst.
[stammers] A… necessary evil.
Ah, the dumpling is served.
I thought hard on the right gift for your father this pilgrimage.
What do you get for the man who gets everything?
Crass, I know, but for once, I thought I'd dispense with metaphor
and just bring the thing itself.
Your father thinks of me and thinks of the gold I bring.
Here it is. Here I am.
My father extends his gratitude for our continued alliance.
[Fowler] Alliance?
I made your father the second-richest man in the world.
The shogun… [stammers] …thanks you.
D… D… D… Does he?
[Fowler chuckles]
Each year, I come to pay obeisance at his throne
only to be shunted to this lovely hill.
Used to be his advisers who'd accept my gifts on behalf.
Now I get his strapping sons.
I don't suppose this year,
I might be allowed to meet the man in person
face-to-face after all these years.
It would be difficult.
You understand.
There's a grand party ripening down there as we speak.
The Council of Elders at the height of the Spring Matsuri.
The high lords feasting, drinking.
Heady affairs of state.
Mustn't I rate a seat at that table this time?
As I said,
it would be difficult.
Of course.
Until… next year then.
[ominous music accelerates]
[music fades]
[chirping]
Our finest Nishijin brocade woven with gold for Shogun Itoh.
[Shogun Itoh] Enough gifts for now.
We have currency value to discuss.
[Shindo] One more gift, if you'll permit.
Carved from rhinoceros horn.
A male, a feared pack leader
known to have sired 50 young from 40 females.
A worthy cup for the shogun.
[serene music swelling]
[crowd gasps]
[Shindo] An auspicious sign.
Blessings conferred over the Council of Elders.
[door opens]
[scoffs]
I'd sooner believe you a ghost than still alive.
I take it you saw Fowler's castle and ran.
Where's Akemi?
I watched you watch soldiers drag her off screaming.
She's Lady Akemi now.
Lady Akemi gave me and my girls comfortable positions here.
I see to her affairs, and she would not want you here.
Nor would the castle guards
want to find a man in the women's quarters.
I followed Fowler here.
I believe he's planning to overthrow the shogunate today.
[gasps]
[Mizu] He'll kill everyone in the Itoh Clan,
anyone in their household.
One of my girls heard rumors of an attack.
Akemi took her to inform her father. I haven't seen either since.
Go, now. Take your girls and run.
Be far away when the gunfire starts.
All the lords are in the sun.
Drinking, games, bowing to a shogun who will soon be dead.
You should eat.
It's an important day.
You used to look at me with admiration.
You plan to have my husband killed.
You mean the horrible brute you ran away from?
You still don't see it. I'm giving you everything you want.
Once the shogun and his loyalists are dead, you're free.
Right after you,
the only surviving member of the Itoh Clan,
declare support for your father as the new shogun.
I won't.
You breathed your first breath because of me.
And you breathe now because I allow it.
A son is needed. For once in my life, I call on a daughter.
That fat, white pig
thinks I'll be his compliant little puppet.
Once I get rid of him, all of Japan will be mine to--
-[grunts] -[sword swishing]
[grunts]
[Daichi] Seki!
What is this?
Akemi is coming with me…
if she wishes.
You… You came back for me.
[gasps]
I did what I thought was best for you when it was never for me to decide.
Can you forgive me, child?
All these years at my side,
to throw your life away today
for a daughter.
You breathe now
because I allow it.
-[tense music playing] -[Daichi yelling]
[Daichi] Get them! Get them!
[soldier] Who released Lady Akemi?
Stand aside, fool. You know I speak for Lord Daichi.
[soldier] Not this time. Turn around. Back to your cell.
[grunts]
Who is your friend?
He is not my friend.
Do you still want your freedom?
Then follow me. Ringo's waiting for you at the sewer.
[Akemi] Ringo?
Your escape plan is Ringo?
[music continues]
[Ringo grunts]
It worked! Sorry.
[grunts, groans]
[Taigen] The Falcon's Dive.
Not bad.
You've been training.
[gasps] Taigen! You're here!
The shogun is in danger.
I am still a loyal samurai. I came to warn him of Fowler's insurgents.
You know the shogun?
[Taigen] I can't get anywhere near him.
I told the head of the castle guard, "I saw the white man's army
encamped outside Edo."
He just said, "There are no white men in Japan."
Where's the shogun now?
[sighs] In the castle garden surrounded by guards.
If I tried to reach him alone, I'd be dead in seven steps.
Maybe together, we can get near enough to warn him before we die.
-Come with me, and we can-- -Master said--
Mizu doesn't care about anyone but himself and his revenge.
Ringo, didn't you say you wanted to be great?
The gods are giving you that chance.
Now, what do you do when you get exactly what you prayed for?
[tense music crescendos]
[Taigen] There, by the water.
Eight guards, archers.
How do we get around them all?
A puzzle.
Hmm.
What would Master do?
Mizu?
Mizu is the least careful, least tactical,
most infuriating man I've ever met.
Yes.
But what would he do?
He's so stupid, he'd go straight through the front door.
[grunting]
[panting]
-[guard 1] Get him! -[guard 2] Stop them both!
[Taigen] Don't attack. Listen, we come with a… warning!
Listen to me!
[Kazuyoshi] It went fine.
He's an odious creature. Even for a white man.
[sighs, grunts]
Taigen!
[Taigen grunts]
[Kazuyoshi] Why do you do business with him?
[Shogun Itoh] Please.
A pleasant day wants pleasant subjects.
Takayoshi, where is your beautiful new wife?
Have you tired her out so soon? [chuckles]
[Taigen] Kill me if you want, but let me warn the shogun first.
His life is in danger!
[grunting]
[gasps] The shogun?
Who dares point a weapon in the shogun's direction?
I am not an assassin.
I'm a loyal samurai from Kyoto serving Lord Daichi Tokunobu,
come with a warning to save the shogun's life.
Abijah Fowler is coming
with an army armed with guns.
Please, only look,
then kill me.
[tense music swelling]
[marching footsteps approaching]
[horse neighing]
[guard] Close all the gates! An army is coming! An army is coming!
[Mizu] Hurry. We don't have long.
[Seki] Wait.
[Akemi] Why are we stopping?
[Seki] Freedom.
I reclaimed a portion of your dowry.
With this, you can go anywhere. Live any life you want.
With Taigen, without,
your direction will never again be anyone's choice but yours.
The farm you grew up on in Kokura, on the hill,
away from everything.
[theme music playing]
Do you think it's still there?
[warning instruments sounding]
He's here.
[captain] Take them to the keep. Hurry.
Every archer.
Every man.
Do not make me meet my enemy.
They won't reach the first gate.
You are a loyal samurai.
Give this man a sword.
He stays at my side.
And he stays at mine.
Shogun!
Hurry! Hurry! You'll be safe in here.
You're the second son.
You recently married?
Where is your wife?
I don't… know.
[tense music playing]
[marching footsteps in distance]
[Mizu] Fowler. He's here.
Go to the north sewer. Ringo will be there waiting to take you out of the city.
Stop for nothing.
Akemi.
We are not friends.
Taigen is searching for you.
Stubborn enough, he'll find you.
He believes he loves you very much.
He's not a good man.
He could be a great one.
[marching footsteps]
[swords chiming]
[guard] Let them come.
No one's breached these walls in 400 years.
[horse snorting]
[Fowler] Here's as good as anywhere.
Fire, please.
[tense music crescendos]
[gunshots]
[grunting]
[marching footsteps in distance]
[Daichi] An army of guns.
The shogun has no idea what's coming.
[captain] All defenses get in line.
They got over the bridge. Now they're pinned at the gate.
Get ready to slaughter them all.
Archers, aim!
[dramatic music playing]
[music continues]
[music fades]
[Taigen] They tore through the first gate like paper.
-[dramatic music swelling] -[grunting]
[grunting]
[grunts, groans]
[Akemi grunts, pants]
[captain] Ready the oil! Go!
[Shindo] Captain.
Is the final gate secure?
Locked from within.
Even if they get close, they'll never push through.
Good.
[gunshot]
[sinister music playing]
[gunshots]
[marching footsteps approaching]
[music fades]
Do it.
[groans]
Fall of an empire in under an hour.
[Fowler] In the matter of the death of civilizations,
it comes down to technology.
We invented worse first.
Not fair… but here we are.
[gasps]
-[gunshots in distance] -[whimpering]
[gunshot]
[Taigen] Get ready.
[tense music accelerates]
Didn't I kill you?
You can thank us for saving you the tedium of a siege.
Starving children.
I credit you with vision.
You wanted to preserve a beautiful heritage
from a changing world to be, let be,
in strict isolation.
It might have lasted a handful of centuries.
But you got greedy.
You read our letter.
Twenty years ago, my partners and me.
And you said, "Yes."
What's the harm in a little trade?
A small crack in the wall.
All that vision, you couldn't see how little space a bullet needs.
[gasping]
[Fowler] I couldn't discover a new world, so I'm gonna reveal one.
My new shogun will break open your welded borders.
Open Japan wide to the West.
We'll flood your land with our people,
our music, our shame, bread, and milk
until you think an ugly face like mine more beautiful than your own.
You think I fear death?
Put away your gun.
I will die with honor.
Oh no.
They need to see it.
Your humiliation.
That's how they'll know.
[gasps]
You will bow to us, or you will die now.
-[grunts] -[gasping]
Lord Mori.
I didn't know you had it in you.
Anyone else?
Well, let's get on with it.
The sons next, I think.
[suspenseful music accelerates]
[grunts, gasps]
Kill him.
[grunting]
Is there a passage out of the castle?
Get your family to safety. We'll hold them back.
[grunting]
[clanking, cracking]
You were supposed to wait outside.
Sorry.
[grunts]
[Taigen] Mizu!
Go after him. Go!
Ringo, get out of the city.
Ah!
[pants]
Name your price.
You want gold? You want to be a lord?
It can all be yours.
[pants]
He will kill you...
with a sword.
Ah, ah.
[groans, screams]
[suspenseful music playing]
-[Mizu grunts] -Ahh!
[pants]
[door opens]
[music continues]
[Mizu grunts]
[music fades]
[grunts]
[groans]
Ah!
[pants]
[Taigen groans]
[coughs]
[Taigen groans]
Stop. This isn't your fight.
It's your fight.
So it's mine.
For once in your life, listen.
I want you to go.
Find Akemi at the north sewer, find her, and run.
Honor is meaningless.
[sword clatters]
Nothing comes from being a samurai but death.
We're not done yet.
I know.
[suspenseful music playing]
[grunts]
[grunting]
You just keep happening.
[Mizu groans]
You don't know what I've done to reach you.
This doesn't end until you die.
[gasps]
[dramatic music playing]
[Fowler groans]
He's crazy.
[grunts softly]
[gasps]
[Akemi yelps]
[soldiers screaming]
[Akemi yelps]
We must hurry.
[Akemi] Wait. I can stop this.
The soldiers.
Seki, help me. We can trap them inside.
We can escape now.
And live under their rule?
If they win, my father wins.
[soldiers grunting, shouting]
[grunts]
[soldiers groaning, screaming]
[both panting]
[gunshot]
[gasps]
-Seki. Seki, no! -[Seki coughs]
They'll count us both among the dead.
Go, if you want.
Always only as you want.
[sobs]
[Seki] You're free.
[coughing]
My… favorite dream for Japan
is the one ruled… by you.
[weakly] I raised you to--
[breathes heavily]
I raised you.
Seki.
[sobs]
[Akemi] Seki!
[dramatic music swelling]
[Mizu grunts]
[groans]
[Mizu choking]
[people screaming]
Lock the gate.
The lords are coming. They'll be trapped.
They saw your father die. They saw his shame.
They should've opened their stomachs when they had the chance.
You are shogun now.
This is what it means to rule.
Please, no! No!
No!
[coughing]
[gasps]
Akemi.
Oh. Seki.
Seki, no.
He wanted me to be free.
Away from my life, from royalty.
All of it.
Akemi, he was right.
We found each other again.
[inhales] I don't care about any of this anymore.
I just want to be a man.
With you.
We could be happy!
[theme music playing]
Come.
Seki didn't tell me to run.
He told me to do what I want.
We should stay.
We don't have to.
I don't need to be great.
I just want to be happy.
I want to be great.
[majestic music playing]
[music fades]
Come on, Master.
[groans]
[Mizu groans]
-[bones breaking] -[Mizu screaming]
Your bones break like a woman's.
[chuckles]
Oh, you just keep getting better.
Little Miss.
So, you're the one?
[growls]
[both panting]
[laughs]
Biggest city in the world is burning to the ground
as a blood sacrifice to your revenge.
Oh my dear,
that's your white half showing.
Maybe you are mine.
There were four of you
come to Japan trading guns, opium, flesh.
Where are the other two?
So you can kill all four of your "maybe" fathers?
Tell me.
[Fowler groans]
Kill me, you'll never find them.
They're hidden.
Past even your pretty eyes.
I found Violet.
I found you.
We lived loud.
You'll never find Skeffington alone.
You're tall like him.
Or Routely with his pretty eyes.
Skeffington.
Routely.
They were the worst of us.
Wealth drawn, selling Japan's unwanted daughters like you.
Don't you want to know who they are?
Don't you want to know which one tried to burn you alive as a baby?
Which one killed your mother?
I saw my mother die.
Did you?
That wasn't your mother.
That… was your maid.
Paid to keep you hidden,
which I hear she did till the money ran out.
[Fowler pants]
There's so much you don't know.
Skeffington.
Routely.
You want to find them, you need me.
Alive.
Why?
Because I know another word you don't know.
A magic word.
London.
[Takayoshi] Two thousand guns recovered.
Destroy every one.
My son will not make the same mistakes his father did.
We will not indulge any influence of the West.
So much lost.
Cities can be rebuilt.
Your prayers should be in thanks your brother survived.
And your wife.
[theme music playing]
I thank heaven for her safety.
How grateful we are your father lived.
Are his wounds severe?
My father is strong.
He only needs time for quiet recovery…
under my care.
I waited.
[theme music swelling]
Master didn't come back.
Hmm.
We can wait forever.
Or…
we can work.
[thunder rumbling]
[music ends]
[closing theme music playing]