Shōgun finale: The series’ ambiguous ending, explained by its creators.

Shōgun, FX’s runaway hit of a historical epic set in feudal Japan, aired its final episode Tuesday. By the end of the saga—a fictionalized tale loosely based on the birth of the Tokugawa shogunate, adapted from James Clavell’s 1975 novel—the Englishman John Blackthorne has not found the deliverance he seeks. Marks: We felt there was a little bit of, I don’t know, almost a cosmic humor, almost at Blackthorne’s expense in the long tradition of many, many decades of Hollywood doing the white savior archetype. In this case, I think you’re looking at, in Blackthorne, a man who’s been restored to purpose, so he feels alive again, as many men like Blackthorne need purpose to feel alive, but he’s been successfully broken to Toranaga’s fist, finally. After Shōgun, and after Toranaga’s message, I think that the writer is the author of a process in television—and the process is what authors a story.