Misguided Miscreants (Part 2)

Misguided Miscreants (Part 2) (暗夜行路 其之弐 An'ya Kōro sono ni) is the fourteenth episode of Samurai Champloo. It was aired on September 2, 2004 in Japan, and aired on November 26, 2005 in North America.

Summary
In the previous episode (Misguided Miscreants (Part 1), Mugen helped an old associate of his, Mukuro, rob a government transport ship, and Mukuro double-crossed him, using dynamite to blow him up and leave him for dead – Mugen is sinking to the bottom of the ocean as Jin, Fuu, and Koza look on in horror.

As Mugen descends deeper and deeper, he finds himself flashing back to his past with Mukuro and Koza (where Mugen does remember Koza's conversation about the stars in the previous episode). The montage of flashbacks even shows another instance of betrayal in which Mukuro attempts to kill Mugen in the middle of robbing sugar from a ship.

As Jin and Koza stand on port watching, Koza asks a favor of Jin, namely to kill Mukuro and free her from associating with him. Fuu goes to the shore and runs into a fisherman who pulled up a dead body, and of course it’s Mugen, not speaking a word but still just barely alive.

Meanwhile, Mukuro and his associate Shiren (the mole he had planted on the government transport ship) are discussing matters in a hidden area that they plan to use until it’s safe to escape, and Mukuro comments on his efforts to hook up Shiren with Koza.

Jin and Koza roam through the nearby village until a group of investigators show up to ask them about the recent robbery, stopping when another individual manages to locate the ship but find the money missing, and while this is happening, Fuu manages to nurse Mugen back to life.

Later, Koza meets with Mukuro and Shiren (clearly more interested in Shiren), and as soon as the door closes behind her, Jin shows up to confront Mukuro, killing him in only two strikes (while Jin being angry that Mukoro killed Mugen, stating that only Jin is worthy enough to kill Mugen). He goes to check on Koza, who snuck out the back of the shed they were inside of and realizing he was manipulated by her.

As Jin roams the shore of the beach, he comes across a limping Mugen and informs him of Koza’s deception and the slaying of Mukuro. As the sun sets, Koza and Shiren make their way to the gold’s hiding spot and unexpectedly encounter the still-limping Mugen in their way. Shiren charges forth to attack, but Mugen does away with him instantaneously. He continues to limp towards Koza and eventually past her, and as she begs in desperation for him to kill her, he just ignores her pleas.

Characters

 * Mugen
 * Jin
 * Fuu
 * Koza
 * Mukuro
 * Shiren (revealed to be the Mole)

Trivia

 * This is the first time where Jin was actually sad and angry that Mugen was killed, even though they argue a lot. This also leads to foreshadowing in the final episode as he states in his conscience that he cannot kill him.
 * It is unknown what happens to Koza after this.
 * The song that plays during Mugen's near-death experience is "Obokuri eeumi" which is performed by Ikue Asazaki.