Budd claims he got rid of his Hattori Hanzo sword, but the film shows that he kept it. The deal he negotiates with Elle concerns another katana: the one he took from Beatrix.
The sword Budd says he pawned
When Bill visits his brother, the conversation turns to the Hattori Hanzo sword that belonged to Budd. Budd claims he pawned it and mentions a very low amount compared with the value Bill gives it. The exchange contrasts two ways of talking about the object: for Bill, it is an exceptional work; in Budd's version, it has been reduced to money obtained in an ordinary transaction.
That claim should not be taken as the final word on the story. Later, Beatrix finds the sword in the trailer. Its presence shows that Budd had not gotten rid of it in the way he said he had. The film uses a physical object to correct the version one character had given in words.
The difference between saying and keeping opens up a reading of the brothers' relationship. Budd may want to show distance from the past and yet keep a piece tied to that same past. The lie may serve to wound Bill's pride or reject the identity Bill still assigns him. Those are possible interpretations of the gesture, not an admission Budd later makes.
The price mentioned does not establish a real appraisal. It belongs to a fictional conversation and to a misleading story. It is not useful for calculating what a historic sword, a film prop, or a replica would be worth. Those markets require information different from what the characters provide.
Beatrix's katana and the deal with Elle
The sword Budd offers Elle Driver after neutralizing Beatrix is the heroine's. It is a second Hanzo weapon, different from the one Budd had already kept. This distinction makes it possible to follow the scene without imagining that the same object was sold, recovered, and sold again offscreen.
Budd tries to turn a victory over Beatrix into an economic opportunity. Elle wants the sword and agrees to a deal. The negotiation belongs to a confrontation between people who know the maker's prestige. It does not prove the existence of a stable katana smuggling operation or a black market with rules developed by the film.
The money works as bait in another attack. Elle arrives with her own plan and uses the exchange to get close to Budd. The object that seemed to be the center of the deal ends up tied to a struggle for control of the situation. Hanzo's prestige gives the deal credibility, but it does not make the people involved trustworthy.
During the later fight between the women, the existence of the sword Budd kept regains practical importance. The weapon is no longer just proof of his lie and becomes part of the action. The story thus connects an earlier conversation with an object the viewer can recognize by its origin.
This arrangement requires keeping two separate paths in mind: the katana Hanzo made for Beatrix and that Budd took from her, and Budd's personal katana that had never disappeared from the trailer. The fact that they share the same maker does not make them the same piece. Clear tracking depends on remembering who had each one before the fight.
The dedication and what Budd had not left behind
The personal sword contains a dedication from Bill to his brother. That inscription adds an emotional dimension to an object that the pawn conversation had treated as merchandise. Its origin matters because of the relationship between the two men, as well as because of the reputation of Hattori Hanzo.
The discovery does not mean the brothers were secretly reconciled. Keeping a gift can express attachment, ambivalence, or difficulty letting go of a past stage. The film does not settle on a single explanation through any later scene with Budd. What it establishes is a contradiction: his claim of indifference does not match what he was keeping.
That contradiction fits Budd as a character. His present life is far removed from the prestige of his former trade, but some ties and abilities remain. The sword acts as a material trace of that continuity. There is no need to imagine additional adventures to understand that his break with the past is less complete than he says.
For Bill, the supposed sale had the value of a rejection. For Beatrix, finding the piece provides information and a chance to act. The same object changes function depending on who sees it and when it appears. That narrative mobility explains why Budd's katana deserves to be distinguished from the heroine's sword, even in a film where both are surrounded by the same craft prestige.
The answer is fixed by what is shown: Budd kept his sword, lied about pawning it, and negotiated with Elle over the katana taken from Beatrix. The dedication confirms a personal bond with Bill; it does not authenticate a real-world piece or provide a complete history of all the swords Hanzo made.
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