Wow, what a turning point this was for the series. Prior to this, I would have designated it soley as 7.0 material but man..Really hit its stride in this episode. I was actually not going to blog about this show until this one. It gets dark and it gets dark QUICK.
Nobunaga’s old man bites the dust from his wounds from Caesar last episode. Caesar, who is clearly supposed to have the makings of the true “big bad” coming from the round table (who are the puppet masters). As noted in the previous episodes there is a shitload of tension in the Nobunaga house and the infighting has finally exacerbated to the point of no return. Nobunaga fails to attend his father’s funeral in a timely fashion and shows up late and spreads his father’s ashes on his grave in contempt. The one guy with the headband (who as far as I know, has NO name) and the huge nose attempts to attack him; Mitsuhide reminds him this is high treason. The scene is extremely powerful; Nobunaga turns around with the fierceness of which I would never expect from this show. You’ve just got to see it.
Mitsuhide is well aware that there is a faction that wants Nobunaga dead and will stoop to any duplicitious means to do so. He knows that he must act fast as the only one save Nobukatsu with a good head on his shoulders. How ironic I should use that phrase to describe their apt mental state, huh? Well, anyway, you’ll see what I mean about that…
Nobukatsu is to rule the clan in his brother’s absence, although Katsu isn’t too keen on that as he knows his brother would make a far better ruler. Begrudingly, he speaks to Mitsuhide and hopes to only act as the ruler until his brother comes to his senses.
Nobunaga goes under a waterfall and lets loose a huge roar. Jeanne, close by, observes up front the pain that Nobunaga has endured. Previously having decided that she would run away because she felt she’d never understand Nobunaga, she’s thought twice about it. Little does she know that trouble is brewing close by….
Mitsuhide comes to the realization in a chilling scene that if he is to follow the devil king, his friend into hell, that he must become a demon himself. He takes matters into his own hands by slaying Nobukatsu from afar, while Nobukatsu’s last words are instructing Mitsuhide to “take care of him.” Katsu was a noble, gentle guy. Rest in peace.
Meanwhile, the assassination attempt from the Nobunaga clan attempts to take Nobu’s life as he is bellowing under the waterfall. His soon to be wife take the knife for him, uh, quite literally. He rushes her back with Jeanne only to learn that his brother is quite dead (unlike his fiance, who has a chance at living, apparently).
Yikes. The body count gets higher. Mitsuhide’s actions this episode were positively chilling. It’s only a matter of time before he falls to a point that history acts out and he betrays Nobunaga. I’m damn curious to see how that one is going to work out. Nobunaga the fool, now you’ve got my attention.
