Summary
Kyuzo is awoken by the sound of horses on the path into the village, and runs back to the northern entrance, where he finds Gorobei and many villagers preparing for the attack. Gorobei yells into the village that they will let one in, and Kambei yells back that they are ready, with Katsushirō and a squadron of villagers behind him. Gorobei reminds his villagers to form a wall with their spears after one bandit has gotten through, and they all wait tensely. The bandits come riding in, screaming, and after one has passed through the entrance the villagers and samurai all jump up and charge the oncoming bandits with their spears, killing the second one. Inside the village, some villagers cut the lone bandit off by blocking his horse with a long piece of wood, and easily overpower and kill him. Katsushirō seems upset by something, but Kambei tells everyone they did a great job and leads them back to the center of the village to prepare for the next bandit. The next horse comes riding in with no rider, and they let it pass. Outside the village, Kyuzo, Gorobei, Rikichi, and several other villagers continue to chase away the rest of the bandits, until a gunshot rings out and Kyuzo calls for them all to fall back. A second wave of attacks begins, and Gorobei calls into the village that another set is coming. The villagers do the same thing again, this time letting two through into the village before cutting off the rest of the bandits. Inside the village, the two bandits ride close together, looking for points of weakness to attack, but are repeatedly cut off by villagers with spears. They ride in circles in the large, open center of the village, and Kambei is finally able to cut one down off his horse. The other rides back out toward the northern entrance, where he is temporarily blocked by the wall of villagers there, but is eventually able to get through and retreat with the rest of the bandits. Another bandit, however, gets cut off from the rest in the scuffle because his horse is bucking wildly, and ends up back inside the village where he is easily killed.
Kambei, Katsushirō, Gorobei, and Kyuzo walk out from the northern entrance and stare down the path into the woods as Kambei tells them that the bandits will not fall for the same trick again. The villagers’ morale has been boosted by the success of these first short battles, and as they wrap their wounds they joke that bandits are wimps. Kambei marks the recent kills on the battle plan, putting the total number of bandits killed at thirteen. As Kikuchiyo and Katsushirō keep watch at the eastern edge of the village, Katsushirō admiringly tells Kikuchiyo about Kyuzo’s brave quest to capture the musket. Katsushirō calls Kyuzo a true samurai, and praises his skill, kindness, and humility. Kikuchiyo pretends he is disinterested, but as soon as Katsushirō leaves, he tells Yohei to watch his post and runs into the woods to try to steal a musket himself and achieve the same glory as Kyuzo. He comes across the bandits’ horses tied up in a grove, and climbs a tree to wait for them and watch. Two of the bandits come sprinting into the grove desperately, try to mount horses and ride away, but are both shot. The rest of the bandits arrive from where the gunshots originated, and the leader of the bandits gestures at one of the bodies and threatens to kill any other deserters. They leave the grove, and Kikuchiyo climbs out of the tree and puts on one of the dead bandits’ clothes. He runs through the woods, searching for the guns by smelling for gunpowder. He finds a lone sniper on a ridge above the village, trying unsuccessfully to get a clear shot at people in the village. He sits down next to him, pretending to be another bandit, and chats with him briefly about the battle. Kikuchiyo pulls out his sword and inspects it, holding it up for the bandit to see, and the bandit eventually realizes that Kikuchiyo is one of the samurai. He screams and tries to run away, but Kikuchiyo catches up to him and kills him. Kikuchiyo flees through the woods back to the village as several bandits chase him on foot, but they retreat when he turns and fires the musket at them.
Kikuchiyo runs into the village excitedly, and shows off the gun to Kambei, Gorobei, Kyuzo, and the villagers that wait at the northern entrance. Kambei immediately calls him a fool for leaving his post, and Kikuchiyo gets defensive, saying that his post is fine and pointing out again that he recovered one of their muskets. Kambei tells him that there is nothing heroic about selfishly grabbing for glory, and that war is not fought alone. Kikuchiyo throws the musket down on the ground, sulkily. Suddenly, there is a commotion on the other side of the village, and Kambei tells Gorobei and Kyuzo to continue guarding the northern entrance while he runs to see what is happening. Kyuzo, Gorobei, and a set of villagers block the northern entrance and prepare for an attack, and horses can be heard further down the path, galloping toward them. The horses approach and again only one rider is let through before Kyuzo, Gorobei, and the villagers block the entrance more fully and charge the remaining riders. Inside the village, however, it seems that several bandits have entered from somewhere on foot, and a group of villagers, led by Kambei and Katsushirō, chase them through the village. The rider enters but is thrown from his horse, and dozens of the village women, who have been hiding in a house in the center of the village, attack him with their hoes. The northern post chases back the riders but after retreating briefly, the bandits there mount another attack. A bandit shooting arrows from his horse scatters the villagers there, and he and one other bandit make it through, but again the villagers and samurai at that entrance cut off the rest before they make it into the village. Inside the village, the mounted archer kills one of the village women as she runs to hide after finishing off the bandit they were attacking earlier. Kikuchiyo and several villagers chase away the surviving bandits that had entered on foot, who flee back over the eastern entrance, which had been Kikuchiyo’s post when he abandoned it to try to steal a musket. Kambei and Katsushirō run back into the center of the village to help fight the two mounted bandits who have made it through, and Kikuchiyo stays with his squadron at the eastern post. It turns out that two of the villagers he left there when he abandoned his post were killed by the bandits who entered there, and as he checks these two bodies, hoping for signs of life, he curses and panics. He asks a villager desperately where Yohei is.
Inside the village, the archer and the other rider continue to wreak havoc, killing a few more villagers. Kikuchiyo comes running into the center of the village to join the fight against them, and just after he arrives, Yohei is shot in the back by the archer. Kikuchiyo runs to him, pulls the arrow out, and holds him, yelling at Yohei not to give up. Yohei weakly but proudly replies, “I defended my post,” and when another arrow lands nearby, Kikuchiyo is overcome with anger and runs alone into the center of the village yelling, “come on, shoot me!” When the riders approach him, he overpowers the archer, killing him, and then charges the other rider, who tries to flee but is cut off by one of the fences that the villagers built. He falls off his horse, and a group of villagers attack and kill him with their spears. Two gunshots ring out, and Kambei calls to Shichiroji to take over before running back to the northern entrance. Kikuchiyo and Katsushirō follow him.
At the northern entrance, there is relative calm, and the samurai and villagers that were there cannot be seen. Kambei sees something stirring in the woods down the path, and realizes that Gorobei is hurt. The anthem of the samurai plays mournfully as the villagers and Kyuzo carry Gorobei’s body back toward the entrance on a stretcher made of bamboo spears, and Kambei runs to them, desperately calling Gorobei’s name. They place him down on the ground near the entrance, and everyone sinks to their knees and lowers their heads. Further back, Kikuchiyo still stands alone, panting, for a moment before dropping to his knees as well.
The next shot opens on the gravesite on the ridge above the hill, where there are now two samurai graves with their swords shoved into the dirt mounds (Heihachi and Gorobei), and four villager graves with bamboo spears shoved into the mounds. Kikuchiyo sits next to one mound, assumed to be Yohei’s, staring at it sadly. Below, several villagers sit around a fire looking glum. Kambei looks at the battle plan with Kyuzo and Katsushirō, and crosses off seven more bandits, noting that now only thirteen bandits remain. He says that the last seven bandits came at a steep price. He and Kyuzo then turn to look at Katsushirō, who is falling asleep from exhaustion. The crowd of villagers nearby are also mostly asleep. Kyuzo goes up to Mosuke, who sleeps at the edge of the crowd of villagers, and asks him if he is tired. He tells Mosuke that he has lost a lot of weight, and Mosuke says he will go throw some water on his face. When Kyuzo returns to Kambei’s side, Kambei tells him that the next time the bandits attack, they will make their last stand and fight to the finish. He says it is better for them to fight it out before they are all too exhausted. He also says that the bandits will probably come tomorrow morning with everything they have got, as they will be too tired tonight but will need to attack soon before they run out of food and energy. They wake Katsushirō up after their conversation ends.
At the western fence, Shichiroji and his men sit watch, dozing. They start when they hear a noise, but it turns out only to be Katsushirō coming to give an order. He tells Shichiroji that Kambei has said to leave two men on watch and let the rest sleep, and also that the villagers may visit their families one at a time. Shichiroji nods, and asks if, in that case, tomorrow is the big showdown. Katsushirō nods, tells him to carry out the order, and leaves. Shichiroji then tells all of his men that he will keep watch so all of them can sleep, and tells Manzo to go home first. He tells him to take a good look at his daughter, and then jokingly corrects himself, saying “I mean, son.” Katsushirō returns to Kambei and tells him that he brought the order to Shichiroji. Kambei asks him if he saw Kikuchiyo, and Katsushirō tells him that he is still beside Yohei’s grave. Kambei says, “I see” and rubs the top of his head as Katsushirō goes off to sleep.
As Katsushirō passes the fire in the middle of the village, Shino runs past him. She stops on the other side of the fire and stares at him, and Katsushirō begins walking toward her. They stare at each other for a long time, as he slowly takes a few steps toward her at a time, and she takes a few steps backward, away from him. She goes into a shed or barn, and he follows her in. She quickly shuts the door behind him when he enters, and asks him if they are going to die the next day. He says there is no way to know, but she replies that they might, and they embrace as Shino cries. They collapse onto a pile of hay, and begin kissing. In a large building in the center of the village where most of the women sleep, Manzo looks for his daughter without success. He calls out, asking if anyone has seen Shino. Back at the northern entrance, Kyuzo and Kambei are woken up by the sound of the nearby villagers singing and celebrating. They look over, and see them eating and drinking sake, and singing drinking songs. One man comes over to Kambei and offers him sake from a large cask. Kambei asks him where he found it, and the man covers his head, bows, and walks away. Another man comes with a tray of rich food, hands it to Kambei, bows, and walks away. Kambei comments to Kyuzo that Kikuchiyo had been right: they have stockpiles of food and sake hidden away, and they are bringing it all out tonight because they may die tomorrow. They smile at each other and Kambei chuckles. He offers Kyuzo some sake, but Kyuzo turns it down, reaching only for the food instead. Kambei pours himself a cup of sake.
In the center of the village, Manzo continues wandering around, calling Shino’s name. He stumbles upon a young couple sneaking around, trying to find some privacy, but it is not Shino and Katsushirō. Nearby, Kambei walks toward the gravesite with the cask of sake. He approaches Kikuchiyo, who still sits over Yohei’s grave, and offers the cup to him, telling him to drink up and get some sleep for the big battle. When Kikuchiyo does not respond, Kambei says that he is not behaving like himself, and that he will need to rest for the battle. Kikuchiyo grabs the cask itself, instead of the cup, and chugs the sake, spilling much on himself. Manzo continues looking for Shino, and sees Katsushirō leaving the barn he was in with Shino from across a bonfire. Katsushirō gets a few paces outside of the barn and notices Manzo, then turns and looks at the ground in shame, without moving. Shino comes out behind him, clutching her hands to her chest, and looks at him longingly before also seeing her father across the fire. She looks panicked and Manzo yells her name, then begins chasing her. She tries to hide behind Katsushirō but he does not move, and only stares at the ground. She runs off the screen and Manzo chases her, then Katsushirō finally turns and watches them run.
Manzo catches up to Shino in front of Kambei, who is walking back to his post, and beats her as she tries to flee, calling her a tramp and a wench. Kambei looks on, horrified, for a moment before grabbing Manzo and trying to make him stop. He yells that a farmer girl should not be with a samurai, which surprises Kambei, who lets him go, and he runs back over to Shino and continues beating her. Kambei looks for a moment and Katsushirō, who stands nearby, and then runs to Manzo again and throws him on the ground to make him stop beating Shino. He stands between them, staring at both, and Manzo again calls Shino a slut. Kambei goes to Manzo, asking if Shino is his daughter, and asks him to tell him what happened, and who the samurai is that he mentioned. Manzo does not speak, and Shichiroji comes over and urges him to say something, but he continues sitting silently. Kambei and Shichiroji look around, and then notice Katsushirō looking ashamed, standing off to the side of the crowd. They realize it must have been him, and look shocked and unsure of what to do. Kambei goes to Shino, and asks if her name is Shino, thinking of the time he heard Katsushirō mutter Shino in his sleep. When she replies affirmatively, Kambei rubs the top of his head. Shichiroji, who has a good relationship with Manzo, tells him not to be angry, and says that people become reckless at night when the dawn threatens their lives. He tells him to try to remember what it was to be young, and not blame them, but Manzo replies that he cannot forgive them. He angrily says that he cannot stand by when his only daughter has been made “damaged goods.” Rikichi breaks out of the crowd and angrily asks Manzo what is wrong with two people in love, noting that it is not nearly as bad as if the bandits had taken her. Manzo drops his head and stares at the ground angrily. It begins raining and the crowd disperses, including Manzo, leaving Shino sobbing on the ground and Katsushirō standing alone nearby.
The next morning, the villagers wait out of the rain under shelters near the northern entrance as Kambei, Kyuzo, and Katsushirō survey the scene. Kambei says that the villagers seem tense and they need to loosen them up. He walks to the middle of the crowd and makes a joke about how Katsushirō has now become a real man, and all of the villagers laugh. Shichiroji tries to rally his squadron, saying they will never win with such long faces. He is soon distracted by Kikuchiyo stabbing several blades into the earth in the center of the village, as he explains that he cannot kill five bandits with just one blade. Shichiroji smiles and they walk to their post together. Kambei announces to his squadron that there are only thirteen left, and they will let them all in before closing off the exit. He says this is the final and most important battle, and the villagers all prepare as the horses approach through the woods. We see the bandits ride up to the village as both sets of fighters prepare, and once the bandits have entered, Kikuchiyo charges the first one but is thrown to the ground. Chaos ensues as the riders pass through the village and the villagers and samurai try to attack them. Shichiroji cuts one off of his horse and Kikuchiyo stands back up and cuts down three bandits in a row, before throwing his sword away and pulling out one of the swords he placed in the center before the fight started. Kambei and his unit run to meet the squadron in the center of the village, and Kambei issues orders for Shichiroji and Katsushirō to go west together, and for Kyuzo and Kikuchiyo to go east. As the riders retreat and recharge one squadron, Kambei climbs to higher ground with a bow, and kills two of the bandits with arrows. The bandits then charge him, but he beats them away with his sword. One bandit dismounts and tries to flee through a fence.
At the western edge, the villagers isolate one rider, pull him off his horse and kill him. Another bandit tries to climb over the fence to escape, but Katsushirō stabs him. Katsushirō then collapses, having killed his first man. Shichiroji emerges from a house where he and several villagers had pursued and killed a fleeing bandit, and tells Katsushirō to go east with his villagers. Two bandits, one with a musket, enter the building where most of the village women hide. They yell at the women to make no noise or they will kill them. Outside, the samurai and villagers kill two more bandits and begin moving eastward, but a shot rings out and Kyuzo collapses onto the ground. He stands and takes two steps, but then collapses again. Katsushirō screams and runs to his side, followed by several villagers. The villagers carry him to safety, and Kambei yells at Katsushirō to take cover. Katsushirō begins charging in anger the house from where the shot came, but Kikuchiyo throws him to the ground and charges it himself. When he reaches a front window, a shot rings out and Kikuchiyo is hit. He stands, clutching his stomach, and slowly enters the house as the bandit with the rifle, who is the leader of the bandits, slowly backs away. Kikuchiyo pursues him out a back exit, and stabs him as they cross a bridge over a stream. As he kills the bandit leader, Kikuchiyo collapses as well, dying from his gunshot wound. The three remaining samurai run to Kikuchiyo and call his name, but he does not move.
Back in the center of the village, Katsushirō runs around waving his sword and desperately screaming, “where are the bandits?” Kambei yells at him sternly that they are all dead, and Katsushirō collapses to the ground, crying. The villagers around them collapse to their knees in exhaustion, and Kambei and Shichiroji rest on their sword and spear, respectively. Kambei turns to Shichiroji and says that they have survived together again. A long shot shows Heihachi’s flag still flying in the wind and the rain on the roof of a house in the center of the village.
In the next scene, it is sunny and the villagers replant the flooded fields outside the village with rice as several villagers sing and play drums and flutes. They are celebrating and appear happy. At the edge of the village, Kambei, Shichiroji, and Katsushirō watch with solemn expressions. Kambei turns to walk back into the village, and Shichiroji and Katsushirō follow him. They come to a stop below the ridge that holds all of the graves of those lost in the battle. Four samurai graves, with a sword in each mound, are at the top of the ridge, and below them are several smaller mounds for the villagers. Several women pass, carrying rice to be planted to the field; Shino is among them. She stops for a moment, and she and Katsushirō stare at each other. She continues walking and he follows her to the edge of the field, stopping there to watch her as she goes into the flooded field to work. Once she is there, she looks back at him for a moment but quickly turns around again and continues working. Kambei and Shichiroji watch from behind him in silence, and look back and forth between him and the villagers in the field. Shino begins singing along with the music and the other villagers as she plants rice. After watching the villagers for some time, Kambei says to Shichiroji that, in the end, they lost the battle. He tells him that the victory belongs to the peasants, not to them, and turns to look at the graves again. As the camera pans up to show the graves in the full frame, the anthem of the samurai plays mournfully and dramatically.
Analysis
During the climactic attacks from the northern entrance, we see the further success of Kambei's strategy and the high degree of cooperation that the villagers and samurai have finally achieved. We see evidence of Kambei's assertion that unity provides protection while isolation results in destruction, as crowds of villagers move together across the frame and isolated bandits are killed. This moment happens before Kikuchiyo abandons his post, contrasting with it and drawing out why it was a poor decision. We also see some character development in Katsu in these scenes, as he seems disappointed, almost sullen, after the first few attacks at having not done more. This is interesting when compared with his later reaction to finally killing his first bandit, which does not give him the satisfaction he might expect, but rather leaves him feeling dejected and upset. Aside from these few character developments, these scenes are mostly remarkable for their photography; Kurosawa uses multiple cameras to capture the action as it unfolds from different angles, as reshooting the scenes would have been too difficult. He composes the action to be full of contrasting periods of motion between the riders and crowds of villagers, in order to create a dynamic fight scene that is vividly exciting and magnifies the differing advantages of the bandits and villagers (which are their horses and their numbers, respectively).
Kikuchiyo's stealing of a musket is the climax of the conflict between his selfish, arrogant nature, and the need for unity and cooperation during the battle. It is obvious that his decision to grab for glory in this way is a direct result of his need to constantly compare himself to others, and try to prove himself as capable and skilled as the other samurai—he abandons his post to steal the musket immediately after Katsushiro excitedly tells him about Kyuzo's brave quest for a musket. What Kikuchiyo ignores in Katusushiro's account, however, is his admiration for Kyuzo's humility. Kikuchiyo's lack of this humility is one of the biggest reasons why his own musket quest is flawed. However, we are also shown during this sequence that Kikuchiyo is a skilled and clever fighter, as he does successfully steal a musket during this risky operation. Even here, though, his lack of humility gets him into trouble; he could have quickly and silently killed the bandit with the musket, but instead wishes to boast about his cleverness and slowly shows off his sword to bandit. This causes the bandit to scream and flee, slowing down the process and drawing attention to himself, which almost gets him killed and which instigates a larger attack on the village.
Meanwhile, and most importantly perhaps, Kikuchiyo has abandoned his post, leaving only Yohei in charge. Kambei articulates this clearly, telling him that his selfishness has put the whole village in danger. Right on cue, a scream issues from near his abandoned post as bandits enter and kill two villagers. Throughout the ensuing battle, Kikuchiyo seems to begin to understand his culpability for deaths in the village, especially as he frantically looks for Yohei, for whom he had developed some affection. When Yohei and then Gorobei die in this skirmish, Kikuchiyo finally accepts his responsibility and seems to internalize some of the lessons that Kambei has been trying to impart—in the final battle he will embody individual sacrifice instead of selfishness, trading his life for the end of the battle. Before then, he is overcome with anger at the death of his friend, and fights with a newfound passion that we have not yet seen. In this way, Kurosawa uses a death to highlight, as a final characterization of sorts, the depth of the bond formed between two people. Though Kikuchiyo often poked fun at Yohei, we now understand that it came from a place of affection. This similarly occurs with Kikuchiyo and Heihachi, as Kikuchiyo is deeply troubled by Heihachi's death even though Heihachi constantly teased him. His particular sorrow after these deaths—he falls to his knees in shame and sorrow after finding out that Gorobei has died, and later sits by Yohei's grave all night—underscores his feeling of culpability.
That night, the exhaustion of the villagers and Kambei's assertion that the final battle will be the following day dramatically raises the stakes. Additionally, Gorobei's death contributes to this increased feeling of importance and danger, as he was the second in command and his death deeply affected morale in the village. This increased sense of uncertainty helps to set up and explain many of the actions that unfold that night: most notably, Shino's and Katsushiro's encounter. After Katsushiro delivers the instructions that the villagers should visit their families, he is more primed to try to take his relationship with Shino further, because of his own fear that they may all not survive the morning. Shino, meanwhile, also suspects that the following morning could bring tragedy and so when the two encounter each other, they shrug off their social expectations quite a bit more quickly than earlier in the film.
The audience, especially after realizing that the relationship between Katsushiro and Shino was more healthy than it was predatory, is able to derive some satisfaction when that relation is consummated and they sleep together. This also primes us to become even more critical of Manzo's abusiveness toward his daughter, and a sympathetic attitude toward Shino. However, the intervention by Manzo also draws out an unexpected characterization of Katsushiro—earlier a champion of the repressed (he defends the farmers passionately), he refuses to stand up for Shino as she is beaten, likely out of shame or embarrassment. This cowardly action offers one explanation of Shino's later disregard for him, after the battle has ended. It may also be, however, that their passion was simply a result of the circumstances: that she was driven to him out of a desire to rebel against her father's oppression, or that the idea of their impending danger lead them into a relationship that was never going to survive the end of the conflict.
We see several important moments for Shichiroji during this sequence as well. His relationship with Manzo is drawn out further, as he soothes him after being grazed by a bullet, and jokes to him about his "son." This relationship highlights the way the village has come together, because in a sense Manzo and Shinchiroji embody the key characteristics of their respective groups. Manzo in many ways embodies the villagers' fear of the samurai, while Shichiroji embodies the samurai's anger at the villagers after the revelation that they were hunting defeated samurai (he is the most upset in this earlier scene, likely because of personal experience with being hunted). Later, he is responsible for trying to calm Manzo down after he finds out that his daughter slept with Katsushiro, which again represents an attempt to ease tensions between the villagers and the samurai.
Before the very last moments, the final battle scene is most notable for Kurosawa's use of motion and his careful composition of shots. We again see Kurosawa use rain to create a dynamic texture within each frame, as well as to darken the mood and heighten the sense of urgency or importance of the scene. Most of the action on screen is horizontal, and the vertical motion of the rain then creates a visually satisfying grid across several frames. One of the shots in which Kambei shoots a bow from a mound in the center of the village at a rider charging toward him as Kikuchiyo removes another sword from the mound provides an excellent example of several of these strategies: the arrow cuts horizontally across the vertical center of the frame against the rain, and draws a line to the body of the bandit's horse; meanwhile, the actual focus of the shot is trained on Kikuchiyo, even though he is at the very bottom of the frame, which draws our attention to his sword as it too is pulled at an angle against the motion of the rain. This massive final battle provided Kurosawa an outlet for his innovative use of movement (both profilmic and by the camera), his use of crowds, and his style of composition.
The battle finally reaches a climax when Kyuzo's is shot and Kikuchiyo charges the bandit leader who shot him. Kyuzo's death especially upsets Katsushiro, who has come to admire him, and he begins charging the house himself in anger. However, Kikuchiyo, who was earlier characterized in opposition to Kyuzo's humility (and in opposition to Katsushiro's admiration and values), steps up and protects the young Katsushiro, pulling him back and risking his own life instead to avenge Kyuzo's death. This final act is intended to redeem, at least in part, Kikuchuyo's earlier mistakes and dishonorable behavior—he is able to die a hero, having selflessly sacrificed himself for others, and is given a samurai's burial. Though his funeral is not shown, the audience is intended to take significance from the image the following morning of four samurai mounds, with their swords sticking out, on top of the hill: though Kikuchiyo is not technically a part of the samurai class, he has proven himself honorable with his final act.
In the final scene, the farmers sing and plant joyfully while the three surviving samurai remain upset. Kambei's words echo this contrast when he says that the victory belongs to the farmers and not to the samurai—they gained little from it, and lost many important friends. Kambei was especially saddened by the death of Gorobei, and it is likely that he intends with this line to point out that there are many dishonorable samurai and few truly honorable samurai, and that they lost many of the good ones in the battle. Additionally, this last scene shows the culmination of the affair between Katsushiro and Shino, which is that they never speak again and go their separate ways. This may come about due to the shame they both feel after their affair was publicized by Manzo beating Shino, or it may be that Shino is no longer interested after he refused to defend her in front of her father, as mentioned earlier.
