‘Shōgun’ Showrunner Reveals How ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ Inspired Episode 7’s Brutal Betrayal

Shōgun Episode 7 “A Stick of Time” opens with what seems to be a boon for Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada): his preening (and silver armored) half-brother Saeki Nobutatsu (Eita Okuno) meets him in a mist-covered forest spa town to join forces against their common enemy: Ishido (Takehiro Hira). However, things immediately go south for our heroes about 22 minutes into this week’s installment of the FX hit…

**Spoilers for Shōgun Episode 7 “A Stick of Time,” now streaming on Hulu**

While everything seems hunky dory with Toranaga’s brother, Saeki reveals halfway through the episode that he actually has zero intention of helping his brother. In fact, he despises Toranaga. After insulting him in front of his vassals, Saeki reveals that he’s not only allied with Ishido but he’s the new regent replacing the assassinated Sugiyama (Toshi Toda). Toranaga’s dreams for Crimson Sky are dead on arrival, with Blackthorne ranting to everyone’s face by episode’s end that they’re basically dead.

It’s a devastating blow for our heroes, especially because they were led to believe for so long that they had gained a true ally in Saeki. Ironically, none of this bitter horror exists in novelist James Clavell’s version of events, as he introduces Toranaga’s brother from the jump as someone at odds with the daimyo. There’s no suggestion that Toranaga’s brother will ally with him in the first place in the book, eliminating the betrayal we feel in the show.

Of course, fans of prestige television might watch Shōgun Episode 7 “A Stick of Time” and remember another show that lulled our heroes into thinking they were in the company of friends only to reveal treachery at the worst, most gut-wrenching moment. Sure, Saeki’s men don’t murder all of Toranaga’s folks as in Game of Thrones‘s Red Wedding, but the stomach-churning feeling of betrayal is there.

“All I’ll say is that, I mean, obviously, the Game of Thrones comparisons are always flattering, but if we had set out for any kind of reach in that direction, we would utterly get our hands slapped. It was almost unapproachable,” Shōgun co-creator Rachel Kondo told Decider at Winter 2024 TCA. “And so it just became about finding the thing that would be maybe as gripping, that’s what we were going for.

Nevertheless, both Kondo and fellow Shōgun co-creator Justin Marks admitted they wanted the episode to be far more full of “dread” than Clavell’s version of events.

“That episode was about the mist and that was always so important,” Justin Marks said. “It’s an episode about waiting and dread and that mist that comes in. And I see it as High Noon more than, say, the Red Wedding.”

Marks also said that while he and the episode’s writer, Matt Lambert, weren’t trying to emulate Game of Thrones, they were looking to another major pop culture milestone for inspiration.

“Actually the other one that we talked about a lot, was The Empire Strikes Back,” Marks said, referring to original Star Wars sequel film. “Just showing up in Cloud City with Lando being there,”

“As a kid, it always had a huge impact on me because I felt in my bones — as a child — that something was wrong as soon as they showed up. But you don’t know what’s wrong until it happens. And I feel the same way with that [Shōgun] episode.”