re: Shogun - Official Series Discussion Thread **Spoilers**

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People still hang pheasants up to age a couple days. Has to be the right temperature but it seems cold in the show. (snowing at some points)

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Why did Blackthorne have it hanging up? Seems like he didn't care about it much less tell someone that if they touch it it means death.

I get the end result of what happened with it but I was just wondering why it was there in the first place and I guess I missed the part when Blackthorne told them not to touch it.

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he was going to dry age it for a stew.

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So what did he use to make the stew that Mariko told the staff to throw in the sea? He said it was supposed to be a rabbit stew and I thought they used the pheasant but that was before the gardener took it down

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I liked it. Got to think last 4 episodes will be dense and full of action.

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I suspect adding another figurehead (in addition to the Taiko's heir) could unnecessarily complicate things for western audiences.

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I think the Taiko (retired regent) was like a Shogun in that he wielded the actual power in Japan. The Taiko came from humble beginnings and cannot be an emperor but his wife is royalty and so his son is actually an emperor who is too young to take the throne. That is my guess anyway.

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full of action.

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Uh, artillery much?

The last episode played out in a very Japanese way, with the part involving the whorehouse. It took time to develop, but as soon as it was "announced" I knew exactly what he was doing.

There is an emperor in Japan during the events of the series and the historical events its based on, but it is not the boy. In that era, the emperor is purely a deity like figurehead and is isolated from any real power by the daimyos.

In the series, Toranaga refers to the emperor at least once when he says something along the lines of "we all honor his imminence in Kyoto." Also, Taiko isnt a hereditary position, but the Taiko was able to unify the daimyos enough to agree to preserve the peace by allowing his son (the boy) to take power, and he tried to ensure that setup by creating the council of regents.

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i believe that he's a child and the Daimyos are ruling on his behalf till he is of age?

There was a scene where Taiko asks Toranaga to protect his son from the other Daimyos before he dies.

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You are correct. However, I am fairly certain there is an "Emperor" in Kyoto that presumably will have no involvement in the series. So I believe the Daimyo are ruling on behalf of the Taiko's heir, who himself would theoretically rule Japan on 'behalf of the Emperor' once he comes of age.

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There is an emperor in Japan during the events of the series and the historical events its based on, but it is not the boy. In that era, the emperor is purely a deity like figurehead and is isolated from any real power by the daimyos.

In the series, Toranaga refers to the emperor at least once when he says something along the lines of "we all honor his imminence in Kyoto." Also, Taiko isnt a hereditary position, but the Taiko was able to unify the daimyos enough to agree to preserve the peace by allowing his son (the boy) to take power, and he tried to ensure that setup by creating the council of regents.

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This sounds right to me.