Chapter 22 Part Two
The madman's dance at the gate
He's more valuable alive. Trust me. You can have him dead any time. We need him alive.
Summary
The cortege crawls through checkpoint after checkpoint, while Blackthorne calculates who else knows. At the last gate Ishido steps out of the shadows with a scroll for "Kiritsubo" to carry to his niece, and insists on handing it over himself. The maids block him and the sobs stop: an outstretched hand would betray Toranaga. Ishido jerks the curtains open. Blackthorne bellows and dances like a maniac, thrusts the scroll through the curtains, raving about bad luck; Ishido's sword stops a hair from his throat, then Ishido backhands his face and the Englishman goes for his throat. Four Browns drag him off. Playing the kami-possessed madman, he leads the way to the gate; Ishido draws a bow, Mariko walks out to him ("he won't shoot us"), and Yabu persuades Ishido the barbarian is worth more alive. Out of sight in the woods, Blackthorne collapses.
Analysis
Pure suspense mechanics: a scroll, a curtain and a hand that must not appear. Blackthorne's madman dance is his first improvisation for Toranaga, played without instruction, and Clavell makes it the moment the pilot becomes an asset. Mariko walking into the bow's range is her first act of will in the book.
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