Marco Polo (2014–2016): Season 1, Episode 1 - The Wayfarer - full transcript
A young Venetian, Marco is abandoned by his father for the merchant Silk Road in the hands of the Mongolian emperor, Kublai Khan, who is at war with China. Kublai recognizes Marco's observation skills, and teaches him the Mongolian culture.
She says it is the work...
of the barbarian devil king.
Her village
was loyal to the rebel Song dynasty.
If one does not submit
to the rule of the Khan...
this is what happens.
Gerege!
The Latins.
Yes, I remember.
But where are the Christian priests
you were to bring, hmm?
Lord Kublai...
please accept our remorse.
Our priests could not bear
the rigors of the journey.
But we did bring you holy oil from...
Your men of God retreat,
but this boy advances.
It says very little for your savior.
Hmm?
Loyalty... of a mortal son
to a mortal father, Great Khan.
Holy oil
from the pontiff
who wishes to spread
Christianity throughout my lands.
Is this not the same Pope
who has called me "the spawn of Satan"?
I will say this and you will listen.
Christianity is welcome in my kingdom.
As is Buddhism...
Judaism...
Islam...
and the Eternal Blue Sky
of my grandfather, Genghis Khan,
descended from a wolf.
So, tell your Pope
that he himself must bow before me...
and pledge his fealty to me.
As for you merchants...
you crossed ocean and mountain...
the great Takla Makan Desert.
One not many men survive.
Describe for me my desert, hmm?
It is a...
most barren region, Sire.
No water. No life, Lord Khan.
- Not even a bird.
- Not even a bird.
It is, Great Khan...
a sea of death.
Yet very much alive.
At night you hear it.
The shifting sands, they... sing.
Humble apologies, Sire.
He does not yet know the rules of the...
Continue.
Voices like... spirits...
trying to lure you off course.
This is why men die out there.
The Uighurs called it...
You learned the tongue of the Uighurs?
Three years was not long enough
to learn it all.
Of all the lands
a traveler passes through...
which province contains...
in your eye,
the most beautiful women of all?
I find that all women,
no matter from which land...
they are all beautiful
in their own unique manner.
In Italy, we have a saying...
"The true sweetness of wine...
is one flavor."
You have a clever mind.
For a Latin.
I made one request.
It was not for oil.
It was for priests.
With this, you failed.
Take your leave.
Go, Latins.
You're banished forever.
You are most correct, Lord Khan.
The boy...
has a clever mind and...
excellent perception.
He is my son...
and most dear to me.
But if it pleases Your Greatness,
you may take him as your man and servant.
What do you wish in return?
The opportunity to pay tribute
to my Khan from my journeys...
along the Silk Road.
Father, what are you doing?
Marco, trust this. Be silent.
- I am your son.
- Be silent.
You wish not the honor of service
in the court of the Khan of Khans?
What greater tribute can a man offer
than his own flesh and his own blood?
You Latin merchants
may engage in trade along my Silk Road.
Ahmad, my Minister of Finance,
will discuss taxation and transit.
Take your leave.
- Marco, you have to trust me.
- Father!
- This will not be forever.
- Don't do this.
We will secure the trade routes
and be back for you.
And I still want those priests.
Father!
Don't leave me here.
Of all the things
I expected to come home to
after all these years...
"Marco." She gave you a fine name.
When did she pass?
I was six.
From Jerusalem.
It has guarded my heart for 14 years.
Psalms 72:11.
"All kings shall fall before him."
- Where were you?
- The Silk Road.
It ends here in Venezia.
It stretches 4,000 miles
across the world.
Why did you never
send word to Mother?
It is not simple.
We had an arrangement.
But had I any idea
of the birth of a son...
You have her eyes.
Well, now...
your Uncle Maffeo and I...
we have important business
to discuss with the Bishop
before we set sail again.
I will travel with you.
Father.
Do not leave me alone again.
This is not possible.
You are not prepared
for the rigors of the journey ahead.
Lord, help us!
Lord, help us!
Get over there!
I can help!
You defied me, boy!
You do not belong here!
Stay away from me!
No, no, no.
Very good.
This is not what we imagined.
We must return to our flock.
You are not abandoning our factor.
Your Bishop gave you orders.
Then follow us back to Venice...
and bring the Bishop instead.
Uncle, Uncle,
these are men of God.
- Godspeed.
- Thank you. Thank you.
Enough!
You have no knowledge of our world!
Do not act as if you do!
Take your donkey.
Follow the priests back to the ship.
Go home.
Marco!
Marco!
We have lost three days.
We haven't lost a thing, Maffeo.
The Khan and our trade routes
slip away
while you make amends
for your fatherly sins.
He is our blood.
Mark my words.
He will gut the foundation of
everything we have labored to build.
- Get out.
- What?
Get out.
Run!
- Take cover!
- Everyone, run!
Run! Go!
Go! Run!
Take cover!
Move! Move! Move!
Were you frightened earlier?
I was not.
I was terrified
the first time I left home.
Venezia was all I had ever known.
Do you know how I persevered?
Knowing just where home was...
and that I could always return to it.
Do you see those stars there?
The Three Sisters.
The Three Sisters.
If you are ever afraid...
if ever you doubt
your place in the world...
follow The Three Sisters
and they will lead you home.
My only fear...
is that I might awaken in my bed...
destined to live a common life once again.
The blood of an adventurer
courses through your veins.
I can see this.
You will enjoy
the greatest adventure of all.
You will meet...
the richest...
most powerful king
on the face of this earth.
The Great Kublai Khan.
The Song rebels of Xiangyang...
can no longer cast aside our dominion
with impunity.
As my trusted advisors,
I seek your counsel.
Jingim.
You will one day sit here where I do now.
Speak to your uncles
and cousins who have traveled far.
Destroying the
Song dynasty rebels is wise.
But is it not wiser to let them
remain in their Walled City...
paying us tribute?
What does my vice regent, Yusuf,
say on this matter?
Prince Jingim is correct.
North China already adores Lord Kublai.
Let South China remain
within their Walled City.
Treat the rebels as a...
cow that we draw milk from...
rather than slaughtering the cow,
and receiving no milk.
Or silk...
in this case.
The Walled City of Xiangyang...
guards the Yangtze River.
And the Yangtze
is the gateway to all China.
You are the Great Khan of Khans.
You desire a unified China.
It should be yours no matter the cost.
The Minister of Finance speaks well.
But this is a matter of
security and defense,
not coin and commerce.
Little brother...
Ariq the Strong.
How are things in Karakorum?
Things in the Old Capital
are just as our grandfather, Genghis,
would have them.
But there are some
in Karakorum who fear
that our Khan is becoming too Chinese...
too cultured in his ways.
Lord Khan...
may your western cousins
from the House of ?g?dei speak?
Does the Great Khan desire
to be Emperor of Mongolia...
or Emperor of China?
Cousin Kaidu...
you forget the mandate
Grandfather was handed from heaven.
To erase dividing lines
from country to country.
A mandate to spread our customs...
our cultures...
our very way of life...
to every corner beneath the Blue Sky.
Only one thing stood in his way,
as it now stands in mine.
Xiangyang... the Walled City.
I have already sent troops
into South China.
They are amassing at this very moment.
My spies tell me that in order to
starve the rebels out...
we must cut them off
from the farming village of Wuchang.
I am sending horse soldiers
to that position.
Jingim...
blood of my blood,
will lead the assault on Wuchang.
Jingim...
educated in Chinese ways.
Who better to lead
an attack on the Chinese?
Older brother...
if this is a call to war...
you will have my horse and bow.
I will lead our Golden Horde
down from the north...
and into battle with my nephew.
We will crush Wuchang,
then take the Walled City.
And by the blood of Genghis...
I will cut their leader's head off
and tie it to the mane of my horse!
Emperor of China?
Emperor of Mongolia?
I will be Emperor of the World!
Empress Dowager.
Rise.
How may the Chancellor ease your pain?
Tell me the barbarians
are no longer marching toward us.
I will not lie.
The Khan's troops advance.
But upon the soul of our Emperor...
I promise, they will never succeed.
Long live Song empire.
My mantis is great.
Do you see?
He feigns inferiority
to encourage his opponent's advance.
I paid a visit to the Emperor's bedside.
How is he?
Quite unwell.
His legacy will live on
within these walls.
It will be a sad day...
but much more efficient once he's gone.
No more mixed messages
from an old king to his people.
I will give all orders
and all orders will be followed.
Yes, my Chancellor.
And that goes for
the Emperor's favorite royal concubine.
Where is your sister?
Doing that for which she is famous.
Improving diplomatic ties
with the Governor of Suzhou.
Do you know this game?
How much did you
pay my brother for this opportunity?
More porcelain than he's ever seen.
Do not fear, Governor.
This is part of the game you paid for.
The Danger Game.
You...
are but a lowly... worm.
Come.
You have questions.
Just one.
Am I a privileged guest
or a prisoner in this hell?
A fiery one.
No wonder the Khan caged you
for his own personal amusement.
You're blind.
Not as blind as you, boy.
No roots.
You have spirit, Latin.
Of the Yin and the Yang,
you have an abundance of Yang.
But without Yin,
Yang dies on the battlefield.
We are all prisoners here.
Prisoners and privileged guests.
One and the same.
If you are unable to protect yourself
in the kingdom...
it is I... who will be killed.
Do you understand?
Good. We begin with roots.
You have been conscripted
into the court of Kublai Khan.
For what? I do not know.
I am Hundred Eyes.
I am kept here to train the Khan's sons...
his nobles...
his pets.
You shall be tutored
in the Mongolian ways of the horse.
You shall be tutored
in the great arts of the East...
by those scholars and artisans
loyal to Lord Kublai.
Languages and letters.
Hawking and archery.
And in the end... you may discover
the answer to your question.
A man found in possession
of a stolen horse...
must return it to its owner,
add nine horses of the same kind.
If he is unable to pay this fine...
his children must be
taken instead of the horses.
If he has no children...
then he must be
slaughtered like a sheep.
That man has no children.
I hear from my Minister of Falconry,
you have taken well to the hawks.
Archery is improving, yes?
Yes, Great Khan.
I, myself, was always a bit clumsy
with the making of Chinese characters.
When you and your father
crossed Central Asia...
you passed through Badakhshan.
Describe for me,
in the way that you do...
how you made the passage,
what you saw.
We saw sand.
Rode beasts.
Do you defy me?
Describe for me
the land of Badakhshan.
The footing was hard on our beasts.
The sun very hot.
Take him to the horse grounds.
Stuff his mouth with the shit of pigs.
You enter a gate made of rock...
east of Bukhara...
and begin to ascend
into the Pamir Mountains.
There are great numbers
of all kind of wild beasts.
And the men of Badakhshan...
speak of a breed of horse which is said
to be the direct offspring of Alexander's.
Odd bit of trivia.
I've always been taken
by the audacity of Alexander.
A great conqueror.
There are 20 cities
that bear his name, huh?
I now possess them all.
Do you blame me
for your current station in life?
No, Sire.
I simply wonder why you kept me.
I need no reason, Latin.
As my servant...
you will accompany a tax collector
as he makes his rounds.
This will give you a view of my
Imperial City and my subjects.
You will report back to me,
describe what you have seen...
as you saw it.
I'm giving you freedom.
But the walls of my kingdom
stretch beyond the horizon.
Do you understand?
Yes, Sire.
I give you leave.
I assumed you would be
riding to Wuchang by now.
The astrologers told you this morning
was the most auspicious hour to march.
The Confucian advisors said
it is better we ride at night.
Ugh.
They also believe
a war can be won without fighting.
Why must they always speak in riddles?
- "The supreme art of war," Father.
- Mmm.
Still...
tomorrow I ride to
Wuchang as a Mongol...
and I carry my father's flag.
You are your mother's son, Jingim.
Educated... patient... noble.
There will be a time
for all these things in the new dynasty.
I must prepare to ride.
My three wives each desire a visit
before I go to battle.
You're also your father's son.
Give to me the nectar...
so I keep it when you go...
and give you a son.
And what if it's a daughter?
Yang the Healer says to do it like this,
in the Golden Lotus,
and I shall finally bear you an heir.
Yang the Healer
will be promoted to the ministry.
Tell me...
does your Chinese wife
do it like this? Huh?
Nice. They're so beautiful.
You can let it go.
Are you ready?
Here we go.
The Venetian.
A pleasure to formally
make your acquaintance.
She is my charge, so avert your gaze.
She is far past the reach
of a foreign merchant's son.
I followed the wrong path.
Indeed you did...
and the clock tower
just struck first bell.
My apologies to you.
The Governor said the songs they sing
about you south of Quinsai are true.
You pleased him greatly.
The Emperor's dying.
You must honor his wishes.
Anything he wants.
Make a truce with the barbarians.
That was not what the Emperor desired
when he was well and strong.
Truce is the dying cry
of the weak and the sick.
Kublai is too strong.
I worry for my daughter
if the barbarians take our city.
Let your Chancellor
manage military affairs.
You manage the imperial bed chamber.
Let the Chancellor not forget who it was
who won him favor in this court.
When the strike of the praying mantis
breaks the body of the cricket,
it is because of its timing.
Timing, Mei Lin.
Trust me, like my soldiers do.
And worry no more.
When the Emperor is gone,
you will still be esteemed in this court.
Get up.
Get up.
I did not ask to train you, Latin.
There is no honor in this for me.
Nor did you ask
to be left here by a man
who would trade his own son
like 2 pounds of spice...
for the opportunity
to open trade routes to the West.
Go ahead, take it.
Let him go, Latin.
Let him go.
Get up.
If you wish to survive here,
get up at once.
The foreigner has been summoned.
It is quiet.
As it is before a typhoon.
By the Eternal Blue Sky,
let us sing from our throats
and let them hear the devil
that they are about to meet.
The sons of my father's concubines
always speak the loudest.
We must attack as Genghis would.
Ariq... he is not there.
What do you mean
"he is not there"?
No Ariq.
No Golden Horde.
Just grass and sky.
Ah, yes.
Welcome.
Proceed down the hall.
And Master Marco...
I will be watching you.
Enter.
Sire.
Your new quarters are more
spacious than the last, no?
Yes, very much. Thank you.
I have a test for you.
You will walk back down
the Hall of Five Desires.
These girls are from Kungurat...
highly skilled in the arts of love.
A man who proves his loyalty to me
can take whatever he wishes.
You may not.
Not yet.
Look... but do not touch.
The walls have eyes, Marco Polo.
Do you hear them taunt us?
They mock our blood.
Even without Ariq's army,
we should still attack like Mongols...
or retreat as cowards.
That is no farming village.
How many men did you say we have?
Five hundred?
And down there?
More. Many more.
As your General...
I advise... retreat.
We do not return home
until we conquer that village.
Give the command.
of the barbarian devil king.
Her village
was loyal to the rebel Song dynasty.
If one does not submit
to the rule of the Khan...
this is what happens.
Gerege!
The Latins.
Yes, I remember.
But where are the Christian priests
you were to bring, hmm?
Lord Kublai...
please accept our remorse.
Our priests could not bear
the rigors of the journey.
But we did bring you holy oil from...
Your men of God retreat,
but this boy advances.
It says very little for your savior.
Hmm?
Loyalty... of a mortal son
to a mortal father, Great Khan.
Holy oil
from the pontiff
who wishes to spread
Christianity throughout my lands.
Is this not the same Pope
who has called me "the spawn of Satan"?
I will say this and you will listen.
Christianity is welcome in my kingdom.
As is Buddhism...
Judaism...
Islam...
and the Eternal Blue Sky
of my grandfather, Genghis Khan,
descended from a wolf.
So, tell your Pope
that he himself must bow before me...
and pledge his fealty to me.
As for you merchants...
you crossed ocean and mountain...
the great Takla Makan Desert.
One not many men survive.
Describe for me my desert, hmm?
It is a...
most barren region, Sire.
No water. No life, Lord Khan.
- Not even a bird.
- Not even a bird.
It is, Great Khan...
a sea of death.
Yet very much alive.
At night you hear it.
The shifting sands, they... sing.
Humble apologies, Sire.
He does not yet know the rules of the...
Continue.
Voices like... spirits...
trying to lure you off course.
This is why men die out there.
The Uighurs called it...
You learned the tongue of the Uighurs?
Three years was not long enough
to learn it all.
Of all the lands
a traveler passes through...
which province contains...
in your eye,
the most beautiful women of all?
I find that all women,
no matter from which land...
they are all beautiful
in their own unique manner.
In Italy, we have a saying...
"The true sweetness of wine...
is one flavor."
You have a clever mind.
For a Latin.
I made one request.
It was not for oil.
It was for priests.
With this, you failed.
Take your leave.
Go, Latins.
You're banished forever.
You are most correct, Lord Khan.
The boy...
has a clever mind and...
excellent perception.
He is my son...
and most dear to me.
But if it pleases Your Greatness,
you may take him as your man and servant.
What do you wish in return?
The opportunity to pay tribute
to my Khan from my journeys...
along the Silk Road.
Father, what are you doing?
Marco, trust this. Be silent.
- I am your son.
- Be silent.
You wish not the honor of service
in the court of the Khan of Khans?
What greater tribute can a man offer
than his own flesh and his own blood?
You Latin merchants
may engage in trade along my Silk Road.
Ahmad, my Minister of Finance,
will discuss taxation and transit.
Take your leave.
- Marco, you have to trust me.
- Father!
- This will not be forever.
- Don't do this.
We will secure the trade routes
and be back for you.
And I still want those priests.
Father!
Don't leave me here.
Of all the things
I expected to come home to
after all these years...
"Marco." She gave you a fine name.
When did she pass?
I was six.
From Jerusalem.
It has guarded my heart for 14 years.
Psalms 72:11.
"All kings shall fall before him."
- Where were you?
- The Silk Road.
It ends here in Venezia.
It stretches 4,000 miles
across the world.
Why did you never
send word to Mother?
It is not simple.
We had an arrangement.
But had I any idea
of the birth of a son...
You have her eyes.
Well, now...
your Uncle Maffeo and I...
we have important business
to discuss with the Bishop
before we set sail again.
I will travel with you.
Father.
Do not leave me alone again.
This is not possible.
You are not prepared
for the rigors of the journey ahead.
Lord, help us!
Lord, help us!
Get over there!
I can help!
You defied me, boy!
You do not belong here!
Stay away from me!
No, no, no.
Very good.
This is not what we imagined.
We must return to our flock.
You are not abandoning our factor.
Your Bishop gave you orders.
Then follow us back to Venice...
and bring the Bishop instead.
Uncle, Uncle,
these are men of God.
- Godspeed.
- Thank you. Thank you.
Enough!
You have no knowledge of our world!
Do not act as if you do!
Take your donkey.
Follow the priests back to the ship.
Go home.
Marco!
Marco!
We have lost three days.
We haven't lost a thing, Maffeo.
The Khan and our trade routes
slip away
while you make amends
for your fatherly sins.
He is our blood.
Mark my words.
He will gut the foundation of
everything we have labored to build.
- Get out.
- What?
Get out.
Run!
- Take cover!
- Everyone, run!
Run! Go!
Go! Run!
Take cover!
Move! Move! Move!
Were you frightened earlier?
I was not.
I was terrified
the first time I left home.
Venezia was all I had ever known.
Do you know how I persevered?
Knowing just where home was...
and that I could always return to it.
Do you see those stars there?
The Three Sisters.
The Three Sisters.
If you are ever afraid...
if ever you doubt
your place in the world...
follow The Three Sisters
and they will lead you home.
My only fear...
is that I might awaken in my bed...
destined to live a common life once again.
The blood of an adventurer
courses through your veins.
I can see this.
You will enjoy
the greatest adventure of all.
You will meet...
the richest...
most powerful king
on the face of this earth.
The Great Kublai Khan.
The Song rebels of Xiangyang...
can no longer cast aside our dominion
with impunity.
As my trusted advisors,
I seek your counsel.
Jingim.
You will one day sit here where I do now.
Speak to your uncles
and cousins who have traveled far.
Destroying the
Song dynasty rebels is wise.
But is it not wiser to let them
remain in their Walled City...
paying us tribute?
What does my vice regent, Yusuf,
say on this matter?
Prince Jingim is correct.
North China already adores Lord Kublai.
Let South China remain
within their Walled City.
Treat the rebels as a...
cow that we draw milk from...
rather than slaughtering the cow,
and receiving no milk.
Or silk...
in this case.
The Walled City of Xiangyang...
guards the Yangtze River.
And the Yangtze
is the gateway to all China.
You are the Great Khan of Khans.
You desire a unified China.
It should be yours no matter the cost.
The Minister of Finance speaks well.
But this is a matter of
security and defense,
not coin and commerce.
Little brother...
Ariq the Strong.
How are things in Karakorum?
Things in the Old Capital
are just as our grandfather, Genghis,
would have them.
But there are some
in Karakorum who fear
that our Khan is becoming too Chinese...
too cultured in his ways.
Lord Khan...
may your western cousins
from the House of ?g?dei speak?
Does the Great Khan desire
to be Emperor of Mongolia...
or Emperor of China?
Cousin Kaidu...
you forget the mandate
Grandfather was handed from heaven.
To erase dividing lines
from country to country.
A mandate to spread our customs...
our cultures...
our very way of life...
to every corner beneath the Blue Sky.
Only one thing stood in his way,
as it now stands in mine.
Xiangyang... the Walled City.
I have already sent troops
into South China.
They are amassing at this very moment.
My spies tell me that in order to
starve the rebels out...
we must cut them off
from the farming village of Wuchang.
I am sending horse soldiers
to that position.
Jingim...
blood of my blood,
will lead the assault on Wuchang.
Jingim...
educated in Chinese ways.
Who better to lead
an attack on the Chinese?
Older brother...
if this is a call to war...
you will have my horse and bow.
I will lead our Golden Horde
down from the north...
and into battle with my nephew.
We will crush Wuchang,
then take the Walled City.
And by the blood of Genghis...
I will cut their leader's head off
and tie it to the mane of my horse!
Emperor of China?
Emperor of Mongolia?
I will be Emperor of the World!
Empress Dowager.
Rise.
How may the Chancellor ease your pain?
Tell me the barbarians
are no longer marching toward us.
I will not lie.
The Khan's troops advance.
But upon the soul of our Emperor...
I promise, they will never succeed.
Long live Song empire.
My mantis is great.
Do you see?
He feigns inferiority
to encourage his opponent's advance.
I paid a visit to the Emperor's bedside.
How is he?
Quite unwell.
His legacy will live on
within these walls.
It will be a sad day...
but much more efficient once he's gone.
No more mixed messages
from an old king to his people.
I will give all orders
and all orders will be followed.
Yes, my Chancellor.
And that goes for
the Emperor's favorite royal concubine.
Where is your sister?
Doing that for which she is famous.
Improving diplomatic ties
with the Governor of Suzhou.
Do you know this game?
How much did you
pay my brother for this opportunity?
More porcelain than he's ever seen.
Do not fear, Governor.
This is part of the game you paid for.
The Danger Game.
You...
are but a lowly... worm.
Come.
You have questions.
Just one.
Am I a privileged guest
or a prisoner in this hell?
A fiery one.
No wonder the Khan caged you
for his own personal amusement.
You're blind.
Not as blind as you, boy.
No roots.
You have spirit, Latin.
Of the Yin and the Yang,
you have an abundance of Yang.
But without Yin,
Yang dies on the battlefield.
We are all prisoners here.
Prisoners and privileged guests.
One and the same.
If you are unable to protect yourself
in the kingdom...
it is I... who will be killed.
Do you understand?
Good. We begin with roots.
You have been conscripted
into the court of Kublai Khan.
For what? I do not know.
I am Hundred Eyes.
I am kept here to train the Khan's sons...
his nobles...
his pets.
You shall be tutored
in the Mongolian ways of the horse.
You shall be tutored
in the great arts of the East...
by those scholars and artisans
loyal to Lord Kublai.
Languages and letters.
Hawking and archery.
And in the end... you may discover
the answer to your question.
A man found in possession
of a stolen horse...
must return it to its owner,
add nine horses of the same kind.
If he is unable to pay this fine...
his children must be
taken instead of the horses.
If he has no children...
then he must be
slaughtered like a sheep.
That man has no children.
I hear from my Minister of Falconry,
you have taken well to the hawks.
Archery is improving, yes?
Yes, Great Khan.
I, myself, was always a bit clumsy
with the making of Chinese characters.
When you and your father
crossed Central Asia...
you passed through Badakhshan.
Describe for me,
in the way that you do...
how you made the passage,
what you saw.
We saw sand.
Rode beasts.
Do you defy me?
Describe for me
the land of Badakhshan.
The footing was hard on our beasts.
The sun very hot.
Take him to the horse grounds.
Stuff his mouth with the shit of pigs.
You enter a gate made of rock...
east of Bukhara...
and begin to ascend
into the Pamir Mountains.
There are great numbers
of all kind of wild beasts.
And the men of Badakhshan...
speak of a breed of horse which is said
to be the direct offspring of Alexander's.
Odd bit of trivia.
I've always been taken
by the audacity of Alexander.
A great conqueror.
There are 20 cities
that bear his name, huh?
I now possess them all.
Do you blame me
for your current station in life?
No, Sire.
I simply wonder why you kept me.
I need no reason, Latin.
As my servant...
you will accompany a tax collector
as he makes his rounds.
This will give you a view of my
Imperial City and my subjects.
You will report back to me,
describe what you have seen...
as you saw it.
I'm giving you freedom.
But the walls of my kingdom
stretch beyond the horizon.
Do you understand?
Yes, Sire.
I give you leave.
I assumed you would be
riding to Wuchang by now.
The astrologers told you this morning
was the most auspicious hour to march.
The Confucian advisors said
it is better we ride at night.
Ugh.
They also believe
a war can be won without fighting.
Why must they always speak in riddles?
- "The supreme art of war," Father.
- Mmm.
Still...
tomorrow I ride to
Wuchang as a Mongol...
and I carry my father's flag.
You are your mother's son, Jingim.
Educated... patient... noble.
There will be a time
for all these things in the new dynasty.
I must prepare to ride.
My three wives each desire a visit
before I go to battle.
You're also your father's son.
Give to me the nectar...
so I keep it when you go...
and give you a son.
And what if it's a daughter?
Yang the Healer says to do it like this,
in the Golden Lotus,
and I shall finally bear you an heir.
Yang the Healer
will be promoted to the ministry.
Tell me...
does your Chinese wife
do it like this? Huh?
Nice. They're so beautiful.
You can let it go.
Are you ready?
Here we go.
The Venetian.
A pleasure to formally
make your acquaintance.
She is my charge, so avert your gaze.
She is far past the reach
of a foreign merchant's son.
I followed the wrong path.
Indeed you did...
and the clock tower
just struck first bell.
My apologies to you.
The Governor said the songs they sing
about you south of Quinsai are true.
You pleased him greatly.
The Emperor's dying.
You must honor his wishes.
Anything he wants.
Make a truce with the barbarians.
That was not what the Emperor desired
when he was well and strong.
Truce is the dying cry
of the weak and the sick.
Kublai is too strong.
I worry for my daughter
if the barbarians take our city.
Let your Chancellor
manage military affairs.
You manage the imperial bed chamber.
Let the Chancellor not forget who it was
who won him favor in this court.
When the strike of the praying mantis
breaks the body of the cricket,
it is because of its timing.
Timing, Mei Lin.
Trust me, like my soldiers do.
And worry no more.
When the Emperor is gone,
you will still be esteemed in this court.
Get up.
Get up.
I did not ask to train you, Latin.
There is no honor in this for me.
Nor did you ask
to be left here by a man
who would trade his own son
like 2 pounds of spice...
for the opportunity
to open trade routes to the West.
Go ahead, take it.
Let him go, Latin.
Let him go.
Get up.
If you wish to survive here,
get up at once.
The foreigner has been summoned.
It is quiet.
As it is before a typhoon.
By the Eternal Blue Sky,
let us sing from our throats
and let them hear the devil
that they are about to meet.
The sons of my father's concubines
always speak the loudest.
We must attack as Genghis would.
Ariq... he is not there.
What do you mean
"he is not there"?
No Ariq.
No Golden Horde.
Just grass and sky.
Ah, yes.
Welcome.
Proceed down the hall.
And Master Marco...
I will be watching you.
Enter.
Sire.
Your new quarters are more
spacious than the last, no?
Yes, very much. Thank you.
I have a test for you.
You will walk back down
the Hall of Five Desires.
These girls are from Kungurat...
highly skilled in the arts of love.
A man who proves his loyalty to me
can take whatever he wishes.
You may not.
Not yet.
Look... but do not touch.
The walls have eyes, Marco Polo.
Do you hear them taunt us?
They mock our blood.
Even without Ariq's army,
we should still attack like Mongols...
or retreat as cowards.
That is no farming village.
How many men did you say we have?
Five hundred?
And down there?
More. Many more.
As your General...
I advise... retreat.
We do not return home
until we conquer that village.
Give the command.