Betrayed at Midnight: The Night the Demon King Fell | The Samurai — Episode 2 of 4

On 21 June 1582, Oda Nobunaga rested at a small temple in Kyoto with fewer than a hundred attendants. That night, his most trusted general — Akechi Mitsuhide, the cultured poet he had given castles to — turned thirteen thousand men around and marched them back on his own lord. This is Episode 2 of 4 in The Samurai: the betrayal at Honno-ji, the temple fire, Nobutada's death at Nijo the same morning, and the mystery Japan has asked for four hundred years — why did he do it? Every theory has a hole in it. And the most famous line of the night, "The enemy is at Honno-ji!", was probably never said at all — it first appears in an account written decades later. Eleven days later — not the thirteen you'll see everywhere — Hideyoshi avenged him at Yamazaki, after the fastest march in Japanese history. Next: Episode 3 — Hideyoshi. The peasant's son who finished what Nobunaga started, and became the most powerful man Japan had ever seen. Why do you think Mitsuhide did it — revenge, fear, or ambition? Tell us in the comments — and follow @istorialore so you don't miss Episode 3. #TheSamurai #OdaNobunaga #AkechiMitsuhide #Honnoji #JapaneseHistory #Samurai #Sengoku #Hideyoshi #Yamazaki #History #Istorialore