Shōgun's freshman season, the most Emmy-winning television season in current history, was originally intended as a 10-episode miniseries. Co-creators Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks had no plans to expand their Herculean vision beyond the events depicted in author James Clavell's equally sweeping 1975 novel. After the series' phenomenal critical and cultural reception, Shōgun's team re-envisioned the epic historical odyssey into an ongoing saga. However, without more source material at their disposal, Kondo and Marks had a new conundrum on their plate: inventing brand-new stories that lived up to their established high standard.