| Main Article |
| The Mutiny | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| English title | The Mutiny |
| Japanese title | Defy! |
| Nihongo | 背く！ |
| Romaji | Somuku! |
| Airdate | November 13, 2004 |
| Navigation | |
| Episode number | 19 |
| Previous episode | The Emperor |
| Next episode | The Execution |
Defy! (背く！Somuku!), alternatively called The Mutiny in the English version, is the nineteenth episode of the anime Samurai 7. It first aired on November 13, 2004.
Credits[]
- Director: Jirō Fujimoto
- Storyboard: Kazuo Terada
- Screenplay: Shūichi Kamiyama and Atsuhiro Tomioka
- Animation director: Masao Ebihara
Plot[]
Looking into his mirror, the gloomy Rikichi thinks about his wife Sanae and looks at her old comb. Peeking at him through the window from outside, Okara asks him what he is doing, and the surprised man replies that he cannot attend the festival. He walks outside and sees a calm Shichirōji noticing him struggling to walk. The samurai cuts open his wrapping as he walks by, revealing two hidden katana. Rikichi admits that he is regretful over not traveling to the capital with the other samurai. Seeing Gorobei's sword among the two katana, Heihachi points this out to Rikichi, who is not aware of that. Giving him the sword, Heihachi comments that it must be fate, but Shichirōji reminds him that Kambei ordered them to stay. After Heihachi says that Rikichi has tasted adventure, the latter pleads with Shichirōji to let him leave, to which the samurai smirks and responds that it is reckless to leave in such an injured state.
At the capital, in his prison cell, Kambei is informed by the Prime Minister on the emperor's behalf that the execution will take place in five days in Kōgakyo. He sternly asks the Minister if he is worthy of the emperor's mercy to be executed quickly, but the Minister clarifies that the schedule change was requested by Ukyō of Kōgakyo. During a sandstorm, Ukyō looks out his cart window to see lots of nobuseri, discomforting him. Tessai confirms that they are near the capital, and soon they arrive and enter the throne room, where Ukyō greets the aristocrats and exchanges a head nod with the Prime Minister. Lifting his curtain, the emperor and Sanae see Ukyō, with the former analyzing him. Ayamaro sternly advises Ukyō to bow, but the latter is restrained by the royal guards so that the emperor can inject a syringe into him to test his genetics. To everyone's surprise, the emperor states that Ukyō is his forty-ninth clone. Tessai asks the speechless Ayamaro if he was aware of that fact, and the emperor commends him for raising the man. Bowing, Ayamaro elaborates that he was unaware of his high status, believing that he was merely a peasant child and found him on the street. Speaking respectfully, he asks the emperor why Ukyō was in that part of town.
The Prime Minister answers that the emperor impregnated various women with his clones in order to create and test the strongest heir, and eventually Sanae was chosen as the mother because she was deemed the strongest. Eventually, the boy was disguised and sent out into the world so that the next successor could learn to govern the ways of the capital. Hearing the aristocrats' disbelief, Ukyō tells them that his peasant background does not matter since Ayamaro raised him as a merchant, but the emperor declares that he will decide Ukyō's class depending on whether or not he passes the Rite of Inquiry. In the desert, Kikuchiyo's group continues trekking when Komachi complains about being exhausted. Katsushirō asks her if she can wait since they are low on water, and Komachi asks her to be strong. Claiming that she could learn a lesson from him, Kikuchiyo nonetheless offers to carry the child on his shoulder, pleasing her. When she tries to climb him, steam comes out his exhaust and Komachi notes his heated body, making Kikuchiyo joke that he is always hot. Looking in the distance, Kirara notices two people coming their way.
Back in the capital's throne room, Tessai wonders what exactly the Rite of Inquiry is. Ayamaro informs him that it is a three-day trial to determine the candidate's worth, adding that the emperor maintains the wisdom of several generations of rulers. Ukyō also must answer all the questions correctly or else he will face death according to the Minister, with Ayamaro relaying to Tessai that none of the candidates have passed. As a reminder of the failures, they see the graves of the previous candidates right at the foot of the throne room. Sitting in the private chamber, Ukyō smirks and calmly and rhetorically asks if he really has to answer questions for three days. The emperor gives him a question about what to do for a successor, and meanwhile, Mizuki gives Kambei some food and asks him if he happens to know who Ukyō from Kōgakyo is. As the emperor asks Ukyō the fifty-sixth and fifty-seventh questions, Sanae is worried since the test has continued for two days, but the Prime Minister reminds her that they are not allowed to peer behind the screen. Seeing that Sanae is lightheaded, Chiaki and Koharu guide her back to her room. Elsewhere, as Komachi eats some rice and drinks water, Katsushirō thanks the two men for giving them food, to which they respond that fellow warriors are obligated to help each other. Recognizing them, Kirara remarks that she had asked them before to help Kanna Village fight the nobuseri. Remembering her and Kanna Village's victory, the men clarify that they were ordered by Ukyō to help out a village, surprising the group. Hearing their comment, Kikuchiyo does not believe Ukyō's change of heart. Proclaiming that they are happy to have jobs, the two samurai profess their enjoyment working as guards for villages.
Answering the emperor's one hundred-eighth question, Ukyō responds that it is better to have a former enemy than an ally as an advisor since peace is made as well as a new ally. He then walks behind the emperor's pod and examines the wires and controls, and he tells the emperor that two things must be done to achieve great things as a ruler. Specifying, Ukyō claims the first thing is the era given the merchants' path for the future after the Great War's end. At the same time, Sanae assures her servants that she is fine, but she feels bad for the emperor because he has never felt the sun or wind in his life. Mizuki notes that she is trembling, which Sanae admits is because she is skeptical of Ukyō's intentions and what will happen to her child if he is chosen as the next ruler. On the trial's third day, the aristocrats begin to grow tired of it, and Ukyō keeps solving questions without hesitation. Once the merchant answers that intuition is a ruler's best quality, the emperor announces the test's end and claims Ukyō as his successor. Visiting Sanae, the emperor asks her how she is doing and assures her that the child will take after him as well. Eavesdropping on them, Ukyō hears the emperor repeating that the former is the same as him. The young merchant then visits Kambei as he sleeps, asking how Kirara is doing. When Kambei asks him what he wants, Ukyō expresses his doubts about him being the murderer of the Imperial Envoy, then leaning in and whispering to Kambei that the real murderer is in the room. Kambei realizes that Ukyō is the killer, with the latter admitting that he did it as a favor to someone.
Later that night, Ukyō eats with the emperor, who recommends shadowing him in the capital to get accustomed to palace life. Having a question for the emperor, he recalls a story about a two-headed dragon whose heads wanted to go to different places every time, resulting in the dragon starving to death. Dropping the dragon figure, Ukyō walks behind the emperor and rhetorically asks if the nation needs two rulers. When the emperor agrees, the merchant disconnects the wires that sustain the emperor's life forces. As the merchant talks about ancient people agreeing that kingdoms must change things with time and age to adapt to the people, the emperor begins to struggle for energy and soon dies. Mockingly repeating the emperor's claim of being one and the same, Ukyō uses his speaker to impersonate him, telling Sanae and the aristocrats that the emperor has officially abdicated the throne to him. Sanae begs the emperor to lift the screen, to which Ukyō asks if it is okay for "him" to give the throne to the merchant. As the screen is lifted, the aristocrats are surprised to see the dead emperor, and Ukyō coldly declares himself to be the new emperor. He walks past Sanae and smirks, prompting the nervous Prime Minister to encourage everyone to bow down.
Characters[]
In order of appearance.
- Rikichi
- Okara
- Shichirōji
- Heihachi Hayashida
- Prime Minister
- Kambei Shimada
- Ukyō
- Tessai
- Ayamaro
- Goggles man
- Amanushi
- Sanae
- Kirara Mikumari
- Kikuchiyo
- Komachi Mikumari
- Katsushirō Okamoto
- Mizuki
- Koharu
- Chiaki
Music[]
- Episode 18 recap — Merchants (Akindo) — Samurai 7 O.S.T.
- Opening theme — Unlimited (TV Size) — Samurai 7 O.S.T.
- Shichirōji discovers Rikichi trying to leave with a sword — Firefly Rice (Hotaru Meshi) — Samurai 7 O.S.T.
- Ukyō arrives at the capital — Merchants (Akindo) — Samurai 7 O.S.T.
- The emperor examines Ukyō's DNA — Unreleased #15
- Ayamaro tells Tessai about the test, Ukyō begins answering the questions — Shikimoribito — Samurai 7 O.S.T.
- Break — Subtitle — Samurai 7 O.S.T.
- Ukyō answers more questions on the third day, Sanae is concerned — Unreleased #16
- Ukyō answers a question about enemies/friends and examines the emperor's machinery — Shikimoribito — Samurai 7 O.S.T.
- Ukyō answers the last set of questions — Unreleased #14
- Ukyō privately speaks to Kambei — Shikimoribito — Samurai 7 O.S.T.
- Ukyō kills the emperor — Battlefield (Ikusaba) — Samurai 7 O.S.T.
- Ukyō declares to the envoys that he is now the emperor — People of the Land (Daichi no Tami) — Samurai 7 O.S.T.
- Ending theme — Fuhen (TV Size) — Samurai 7 O.S.T.
- Preview — Water Priestess (Mikumari no Miko) — Samurai 7 O.S.T.
- Komachi recaps the episode — Kikuchiyo and Komachi — Samurai 7 O.S.T.