Japanese automaker Nissan (NSANY) finds itself at a crossroads. Nissan was poised to participate in a megamerger with rival Honda (HMC), and it was a huge development when the talks were revealed late last year.

There's strife of the horizon as Nissan vehemently opposes Honda's suggestion of making the struggling carmaker its subsidiary.

Nissan was deep in the trenches, with its existence at stake, but Honda's timely entry gave it a positive direction. Here's how everything went down.