Toranaga Orders the Oil Seller Executed

Toranaga Orders the Oil Seller Executed is a brief, consequential killing recalled by Blackthorne after a morning falcon hunt. An oil seller’s refusal to move and exchange of insults ends with Toranaga’s bodyguard cutting him down using Blackthorne’s sword, binding the foreigner to an act he neither intended nor can dismiss as wholly someone else’s doing.

The Hunt and the Confrontation

The morning begins as a successful hunt. Blackthorne has chosen a tiny, long-winged falcon and flown her at a lark; the chase carries south beyond a belt of trees as the wind freshens. Riding at the head of the charge, he follows a well-beaten forest path, scattering peddlers and farmers along the way.

A weather-beaten oil seller and his threadbare horse block the path. Blackthorne shouts for the man to move, then curses him when he refuses. The seller answers rudely. Toranaga arrives during the quarrel, points to his bodyguard, and tells Blackthorne, “Anjin-san, give him your sword a moment,” adding words Blackthorne does not understand.

The Killing

Blackthorne obeys without knowing what is about to happen. The samurai lunges at the peddler with a blow so forceful and precise that the man takes another step before falling, cut in two at the waist. Toranaga pounds his pommel in momentary delight, and the other samurai cheer.

The bodyguard carefully cleans the blade, using his silken sash to protect the steel, then sheathes it and returns it to Blackthorne. Through Mariko, Blackthorne later learns that the bodyguard was proud to have tested such a blade, and that Toranaga suggests naming it “Oil Seller” so the sharpness and the blow will be remembered with honor. The sword Blackthorne wears is the same one Toranaga had presented to him.

The Sword’s Aftermath

Blackthorne hides his anguish when the sword is returned. He wishes Toranaga had never given it to him, but does not place all the blame on the samurai: he recognizes that he shouted first, that the seller answered rudely, and that a samurai could not be treated rudely. His reasoning offers no way out of the killing, even as he mourns the joy it has taken from the hunt.

The episode’s lasting consequence is therefore not only the sword’s new name, but Blackthorne’s uneasy recognition of his own involvement. Toranaga’s suggestion makes the weapon’s violence into something to be remembered with honor; Blackthorne instead carries it as a source of anguish. He must conceal that response because Toranaga has been moody and difficult throughout the day.