'Shōgun' Is a Masterpiece—Will There Be More Episodes?

Sadly, all great things must come to an end, and the FX miniseries Shōgun is no exception. The epic series, based on the book of the same name by James Clavell, premiered on February 27, 2024, and established itself as the first Game of Thrones-level television event of the year, raking in 9 million streaming views in its first week. It follows the fictional story of Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), a 17th-century Japanese lord who is pulled into a battle of wits as his enemies conspire to take away his power and have him killed. If he dies, all his allies will likely be executed with him, including British sailor John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) and translator Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai).

The April 23 season finale brought the stories of Toranaga, Mariko, and Blackthorne to an end, but fans are hoping for any chance that the series' gorgeous, brutal, intricate depiction of 1600s Japan could return. Below, here's what we know so far about the future of Shōgun. Spoilers for the Shōgun finale ahead.

What happens at the end of 'Shōgun?

Shōgun followed the looming war between Toranaga and his vassal lords and Ishido Kazunari (Takehiro Hira) and Ochiba-no-kata (Fumi Nikaido), mother of the country's Heir, and by the end of the finale, all of the season's big questions were answered.

Following Mariko's sacrifice at Osaka Castle in the penultimate episode, the other members of the Council of Regents turn against Ishido. He also loses Ochiba, who was childhood friends with Mariko and becomes enraged that he had her killed. Because of that, Ochiba sends a secret note to Toranaga promising that her son's military will not join Ishido's at war. Without the backing of the Heir, the rest of the Council are expected to turn against Ishido, and Toranaga will easily win the battle and become the de facto leader of Japan.

Meanwhile, Blackthorne is utterly devastated by Mariko's death. He's allowed to return to Toranaga in Edo, but he learns that Mariko made a deal with the Portuguese Catholics. Instead of killing Blackthorne, they torch his ship — leaving him with close to nothing, as now both Mariko and his ship are gone, as well as his consort Fuji (Moeka Hoshi), who announces that she's going to become a nun. 

Although, when Blackthorne goes to Toranaga to ask for permission to kill himself, the bushō has another plans for him: He tells him to rebuild his ship and resume his role as captain of Toranaga's war fleet. 

However, in the final scene when Toranaga lays out his plan to the soon-to-be-executed Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano), the warlord reveals that he was the one to burn Blackthorne's ship, at Mariko's request. Toranaga also admits that he kept the anjin around just because he amused him. 

As the 1980 adaptation of Shōgun centered Blackthorne's character so much so that the Japanese dialogue wasn't translated, it's a nice note to end on, illustrating how much the Englishman was a relative non-factor.

What happens in real life after the events of 'Shōgun'?

Shōgun technically ends before we see Toranaga and Ishido on the battlefield, though the finale does show the moment before the fight, when Ishido learns that Ochiba has betrayed him. Thankfully, Shōgun is based on real historical events, so we can know what really happened, more or less. 

The Battle of Sekigahara took place on October 21, 1600, and was won by Toranaga's real-life counterpart, Tokugawa Ieyasu. The fighting lasted a total of six hours, with Tokugawa winning after some other powerful lords switched to his side.

Per the USC Pacific Asia Museum, Tokugawa's victory marked the end of over 200 years of civil war, and gave way to the start of the peaceful Edo period. The Tokugawa shogunate ruled over Japan for the next 250 years from the relocated capital of Edo, or modern day Tokyo. Assuming both the Shōgun novel and miniseries follows this path, Toranaga succeeded in bringing forth "a nation without wars" and "an era of great peace."

Could there be a 'Shōgun' season 2?

Unfortunately, creators Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo have made it clear that the Shōgun team never planned for an additional season. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in a March 2024 interview, the duo re-affirmed that the show's plot ends at the same place as the book, and that they're done with the world of Shōgun for now.

"We took the story to the end of the book and put a period at the end of that sentence," Marks told the outlet. "We love how the book ends; it was one of the reasons why we both knew we wanted to do it — and we ended in exactly that place. And I’ve been party to this in the past with shows like this, where you build a whole factory, and it only pumps out 10 cars and closes up shop. It’s a bummer."

He also pointed out that Shōgun had a very long post-production period, so if they had any plans for a season 2, it would likely already be in progress. "We also made this show so long ago, because of the long tail of postproduction on it," he said. "It’s not like a normal TV series, where if we were in a situation like this promoting it, we wouldn’t just be in the writers room already, we’d be on set shooting season two by now."

However, there is still a chance that once the final ratings and (near-guaranteed) Emmy nominations roll in, FX may reconsider. 

There's certainly a number of stories that a sequel season or spin-off could explore, from later years in Toranaga and Blackthorne's lives to an entirely new period of Japanese history to even a prequel.

During an interview with Marie Claire, Anna Sawai admitted that she'd be open to returning to the character of Mariko, if the right circumstances arise.

"I love Mariko so much that if there was more that I could explore, I would do it in a heartbeat," she said. "But I think that her story is now complete, and I don't know if anyone should be trying to like touch that. It's kind of perfect the way it ended."

Still, she expressed being interested in seeing more of her characters arc in some form. She added, "If there is a prequel then, yeah, it would be when she's younger, and I don't know if I can play her younger."