We begin with a flashback to the Osaka of one year prior.

The Taiko is breathing his last breath, thus setting the stage for the rule of his young heir and the regency conflicts to follow.

He summons Toranaga to our side and offers him the role of sole regent in exchange for a promise of his son's safety.

Plan B is the five-man Council of Regents we see now, a cutthroat group tasked with ruling until the heir Yeachiyo turns 16.

We cut to a trilingual exchange of hostilities and appeasements as thrilling as any shipwreck scene that came before it.

Blackthorne is imprisoned, and a fellow inmate informs him of the gravity of his situation.

Toranaga, we learn, is a threat to the country due to his Minowara ancestry, which could give him a claim to the title of Shogun.

But the Catholic regents refuse to take action on Toranaga until something is done about the Blackthorne situation.

A conversation between Ishido and Yabushige winds up saving Blackthorne's life when the Toranaga rivals decide rescue the barbarian from execution after realizing that he might be of use to them.

When Blackthorne is given the opportunity to plead his case to Toranaga.

He reveals the existence of secret Portuguese bases in China and explains that Portugal and Spain intend to claim the whole Asia and the Americas for themselves.

He claims that England would like to be an ally to Japan, and the scope of the global conflict begins on dawn on Toranaga.

The scene solidifies the uneasy bond between Toranaga and Blackthorne, but not as much as the thwarted assassination attempt that ends this thrilling episode.