Episode 12: The Truth

Review by Jonathan Oliver

February 24, 2009

Kambei arrives at the scene of the fight. He backhands Katsushiro after seeing the body and orders Kikuchiyo to bury the body. Heihachi grabs Manzo and hauls him toward the village. Kambei goes into a house and begins to clean and sharpen Katsushiro's sword. The other samurai watch as Heihachi drags Manzo to the center of the village while he and his daughter make a large racket. The village elder inquires what the problem is, to which Heihachi announces that Manzo tried to sell out the villagers and samurai. Katsushiro makes his way into the home where Kambei is working and proceeds to watch him finish his job. Kambei tells him that he will have to learn to carry the weight of those that he kills if he wants to continue on the samurai path. He sees Kirara and tells him that because farmers lack the will to fight bandits, samurai are hired and must carry the burden. Back in the village, Rikichi questions Manzo's motives, but he defends himself by saying that since they were going to tear down the bridge, anyone with a sword would treat them as slaves, bandit or samurai. Shichiroji explains that the only way to defend the village is to tear it down, but Manzo states that abandoning the rice fields is the same as death. Some villagers agree with Manzo, and tell Rikichi that maybe he was wrong in bringing the samurai there. Heihachi moves to execute Manzo, but Shichiroji stops him, saying that they should wait for Kambei. Heihachi protests because he fears that Kambei would forgive him, but Shichiroji physically blocks him. As Kambei leaves the house, Kirara moves to comfort Katsushiro, and asks him to let her share the weight of his kill. Kambei arrives at the village center just as Kiku makes a loud entrance. Gorobei moves to scold him, but Kambei stops him, confident that Kikuchiyo can resolve the situation. Kiku starts to threaten Heihachi, saying that the villagers won't fault Manzo and neither will the samurai. 

Kikuchiyo puts his foot down and starts to sermon about how crooked farmers are, that they'll do anything to make their lives easier. He says that they pose as weak but are really sneaky and cruel. He relents that samurai made them that way because they would burn their homes, take their women, and kill any who resisted. He says he can't blame Manzo for what he did, because he was just playing the odds. He asks that since everyone is corrupt, why should anyone fight for each other? He offers to fight for the villagers in tears, but Kambei steps in and asks if he was born a farmer. This surprises everyone, but Kambei said he suspected it all along and brings Kikuchiyo into the group of samurai, officially making him one of the seven. He turns to Manzo and asks if his land is really his or the bandits'. He tells him to fight for his land and family, just as the “soldiers” of Kanna are doing, but says that he will kill him himself if he betrays them again. He orders everyone back to work, and that matter is resolved. Two bandits in a ship discuss the missing patrol, and one suggests that they make an example out of the village and destroy it anyway. The villagers continue their work, fortifying the village and building Heihachi's weapon. Shichiroji and Heihachi discuss Kambei's forgiving nature while working, while Katsushiro practices his sword skills while on patrol. Gorobei supervises the rock wall around the border of the village, and Kikuchiyo cuts down large trees in the forest with his sword. Kyuzo continues to instruct the villagers on how to shoot with a bow, and Shichiroji supervises a barricade.  At Rikichi's house, the samurai discuss the progress on the preparations. Everything is nearly finished, and Heihachi is ninety percent complete with his work because he hasn't had any sleep. Kirara, Komachi, their grandma, and Okara arrive with food for the samurai, and Komachi shows them their battle flag that they created for the coming fight. That night, a bandit ships moves through the shadows toward the village. 

The early half of this episode deals with Manzo's betrayal and Katsushiro's first kill. Here we see Kirara give her first sign that she has feelings for Katsushiro, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out with the upcoming battle. It is quite obvious that he has feelings for her, so we'll see. Kikuchiyo comes out and confesses to being a farmer before having his body mechanized, and Kambei finally accepts him as one of the seven. Heihachi almost takes Manzo's head, and it's quite odd that he would have such a grudge against traitors since he never actually saw combat during the war. The battle is drawing closer, and the coming episodes will hopefully be interesting to watch.

Overall Rating 5 out of 5 stars

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