Marco Polo (2014–2016): Season 1, Episode 2 - The Wolf and the Deer - full transcript

[theme music playing]

[thunder rumbling]

[knocking on door]

[man] Master Marco.
You requested more salt cakes?

Yes.
Thank you.

[gatekeeper shouts in foreign
language]

[palace gates opening]

[men groaning]

General Aruka advised retreat.

I gave the order that we turn
and fight... like Mongols.

[Kublai]
Mongols do not lose.



I have thought of nothing else

these past days and nights.

A ride preceded by victory
is much shorter.

True words such as these
can only be drawn

from a well of personal
experience.

Leave me with my son.

Our son...

Is wounded.

Let me see.

A scar that will always
remind me of Wuchang...

And the men and horses that died
there. That is the only wound.

It too will fade.

[Kublai]
Empress, please.

Go to the healer...



Immediately.

You will ride to Karakorum...
pay a visit to Ariq.

I want to know why my brother
pledged horse and bow,

but did not arrive
to support my army.

A horse messenger
can cover 300

Your horse messenger...

...did a fine job at Wuchang.
Did he not?

Did you even send
a falcon to my brother?

Of course I did.

[Kublai]
Return to me the truth.

Go see the healer,
as your mother instructed.

[Marco]
How are the merchants taxed?

They pay a fee for their stalls,

and the higher fee is for more
traffic, more customers.

More money, eh?

Are there ever holdouts?

Inside the Imperial Wall?
[chuckles]

Very rare.

Too good a thing they have here.

These vendors know,
they cheat on tribute,

they end up peddling
outside the wall.

[Marco] In Venice, those who
do not meet their obligations

are imprisoned.

Is it the same here?

No, no, no.
Thieves are branded thieves.

Marked, they struggle.

Their sons beg,
their wives and daughters whore.

They live off
Lady Chabi's charity.

But they live.

Sometimes.

Severity of punishment...
not for me to comment on.

This is for
the Vice Regent Yusuf,

and the wisdom
of his Secretariat.

[Marco]
What is this fabric?

Uh, linen.

These Jurchen make it
in Manchuria.

They don't have copper coins
to pay this month.

So, I let them pay
with what they have.

[speaking Mandarin]

[children laughing]

Hey. Hey.

Can we get rid of these...
pissants?

These are my children.

[laughs]

They follow me around
like I'm a king.

[Marco]
King of a fine brood, sir.

With my own Venetian slave, huh?
Pissants!

[Sanga laughing]

I love that!

[Sanga sighs]
Let me put this away.

[Marco] Thank you for dinner.
It was delicious.

[Sanga]
Spices?

You wanna talk about spices?

These spiceries pay

three and a third percent.

From the wine they make
of the rice...

...they generate great revenue.

Thus, they must pay duty.

Untold money to the Khan!

What is that, Sanga?

Huh?

[speaking Persian]

This, Marco...

They're verses of love.

See, I travel to collect.

So, when I travel...

I leave words of love on paper
for my Goland.

So she remembers
she has a husband!

[Sanga chuckles]

And the Silk Road? Do we ever
travel there to collect taxes?

"We"? No.

I travel to collect.
Once a fortnight or so.

You...

Are not permitted
to travel outside of Cambulac.

Hmm?

The wonders of Khan's City
is plenty.

Hmm? So, please...

Don't speak of this again...
because I like you.

My slave.

Salute!

[Sanga chuckles]

[Mei Lin] Noble Tiger traveled
a great distance...

And began to find
his eyes growing heavy.

Noble Tiger was very sleepy,
you see...

For he was very old.

Did he have no more teeth?

[laughs]
He still had teeth...

Just no longer sharp.

And so, Noble Tiger lay himself
under a great banyan tree...

And fell into a deep slumber.

He had the most beautiful dream
of a long shady path.

And as he walked down it...

He grew young again
and began a life anew.

So, he slept forever?

Yes.

But all of his friends in the
forest were so happy for him.

Then they remembered all the
treasures he left behind.

You, Ling Ling,
are the sweetest...

Greatest treasure
your father ever gifted me.

One I will selfishly hoard
forever.

Hello, Sunflower.

Uncle!

Uncle's most precious.
Born in the Year of the Monkey.

Oh.
[giggles]

That's why you're so clever.
Precious and clever.

Go. Show the children
your new gift.

The Emperor
is breathing his last

and he has requested
the presence

of his imperial consort.

It is a tragedy that the fates
will not allow him

the time to bear witness
to the fall of Kublai Khan.

Perhaps the Goddess of Mercy is
sparing him a far worse vision.

Men will one day sing
songs about me, sister.

Jia Sidao, the prime minister
who vanquished the demon

and saved the Song.

I will bring my daughter
to say goodbye to her father...

...and to the Empire.

[neighing]

I did not mean to startle you.

-Are you following me?
-No.

I saw you and approached.

What are you doing out here?

I might ask you the same.

There is no citizen
of Cambulac

foolish enough to look at,
let alone talk to me.

Do you know who I am?

I know only your protector.

And if Za Bing were to
catch you anywhere near me...

He would run you through.

I trust you will not report me.

[bell tolls]

So... who are you?

I am the Blue Princess
of the Bayaut tribe.

You ride as Mongol...
not princess.

All Mongol women are born
to the horse and the bow.

May I assist you?

No.

I am simply being polite.

Something a noble woman such as
yourself should be tutored in.

I need not be polite
to someone like you.

[scoffs]
Someone like me?

Someone beneath me.

I will forgive your ignorance
in the ways of your new home.

This is not my home.

Many before you
have thought the same.

You speak from experience.

Why do you imagine that?

I see behind your words.

If you are the Princess of the
Bayaut... where is your Queen?

Your King?

You're a prisoner...

Like me.

I am kept for royalty.

My future is in
some distant palace.

You are a slave of the Khan.

I am nothing like you.

[bell tolls]

Try to keep up, if you can.

[bell tolling]

It won't be you who gets
cattle-branded, Princess.

[thudding]

[growling]

[Kublai] You've been
particularly busy of late.

How goes your horse riding?

You hold your tongue
from me again? Hmm?

How shall I tell of the
Mongolian pony, Sire?

He is a fine and hardy breed.

Unlike some steeds in Europe...

He needs not rest
nor... coddling.

Good.

Because you ride to Karakorum
today with my son Jingim.

Bring me back a report,
with fresh eyes.

Let me see, Latin...

The way things truly are
in the kingdom of my brother.

By your will, Sire.

[men urging horses]

My nephew.

Uncle.

[Ariq] I'm honored that my
older brother has sent you.

We will kill a sheep...

And drink airag.

Come.

[Jingim] You're in the heartland
of Lord Genghis now.

Beware, Polo.
Your words can get you killed.

Wait out here.

[Ariq] This one they call
the "Cricket Minister."

How many soldiers did he
have lying in wait at Wuchang?

Not enough to defeat
a Mongol army...

Had our reinforcements arrived.

You did not attack without me?

I was almost killed!

My general, Aruka,
has passed to the Blue Sky!

The rains cut off passage
of the Blue Horde.

You should have sent word.

I did.

My best rider... Duwa.

They captured him
outside of Wuchang.

Tied his head to his horse...

Let it run home.

Right to his gen..

And his children.

[men grunting]

[sheep bleating]

May I see?

[horse neighing]

They are... magnificent beasts.

When you were a child,
I called you Altai.

After the mountains me
and your father hunted as boys.

Kublai insisted
on a Chinese name. Jingim.

Remind me of its meaning.

Golden.

Golden.

You are his golden one, nephew.

One day, they may call you...
"Jingim Khan."

But beware...

My big brother
is too trusting of outsiders.

Persians...
and Chinese...

And all kinds of religions.

You and me...

Our blood is the wolf
and the deer.

Open the gates to outsiders...
secrets will they spill.

Who is the Christian
who rides with you?

My uncle's troops were cut off
by the spring rains...

East of Volga.

He sent a horse messenger...

But the rebels intercepted.

Where is the Latin?

[Marco]
Sire?

What was your impression
of the Old Capital?

I found the Great Khan's brother
to be a gracious host,

as Prince Jingim reported.

Four wives, yes?

Five.

He also keeps a large harem...

Quite young.

But not as vast as mine.

And nowhere near as charming.

Certainly no girls
from Kungurat.

[court laughing]

I have seen my uncle's army,
Father.

They are ready.

Ariq is prepared to join
our attack on Xiangyang.

This will not be
another Wuchang.

[court murmuring]

I fear Ariq's horses
will never reach Xiangyang.

Speak.

Ariq's horses are
in the many thousands, true.

Quite fit.

But how many days' ride is it

from the Old Capital
to the Walled City?

Three weeks.
By desert.

As the son of a merchant...

They do not have
the grain supplies

to move that many horses
to Xiangyang.

The desert alone would
cut their numbers in half.

My son, Jingim, just stated that

they are ready to ride
into battle.

They are ready, yes, Great Khan.

But only if that battle
was closer to home.

[Jingim]
Do you accuse my uncle,

brother to the Khan,
of treason?

I only describe what I see,
as I saw it.

Yusuf...

Dispatch a night rider
to verify the Latin's report.

[door closes]

You will not be gaining favors

by your charming stories
anymore.

Not without a tongue.

The sword you hid is weak.

Your water won't last you
two days.

But the salt cakes were...
delicious.

I called Ariq a liar tonight.

That was foolish.
Were your words true?

Yes.

Run now, they will find you.

Stay...

I can train you to survive
in whatever world

you choose to make your home.

This is not my home.

[Hundred Eyes]
I understand.

Where did the Khan get you from?

I said I would train you...

Not wallow in nostalgia
with you.

[door closes]

[grunting]

[Marco panting]

Why do you think the sword
has a colored sash?

To look pretty?

[Jingim] He's advanced quickly
to the broadsword.

You schooled him well,
Hundred Eyes.

May I interrupt the student's
training for a word?

You're the Prince.

You may kill him,
if that's your desire.

[drawing sword]

Humiliate me
in front of the court again...

I will kill you.

You were right.

Ariq betrayed us.

[falcon squawks]

Ariq sends me
a treacherous gift.

He remembers how much
I love the king of the hunters.

Ariq is a dog, that would eat
its own afterbirth.

[Kublai chuckles]

He has always believed that
he should be Khan of Khans.

Not you.

Before the sun sets today...

I will close down
the Gobi trade routes...

Starve Karakorum.

My younger brother will have
no place to go but Siberia.

So forgiving, Great Kublai.

You slaughter entire cities,

yet you allow Ariq
to run to Siberia.

I know how to punish my brother.

He almost killed your son.

Ariq believes he can pleasure
your women better than you.

[Kublai chuckles]

Does that excite you, Empress?

Ariq should be trampled
by 1,000 horses

and left on a steppe to rot.

That... would excite me.

[crickets chirping]

[Governor]
Ariq Khan?

[Jia Sidao] Kublai's younger
brother in the north.

We are minting his own currency

for when he is elected
Khan of Khans

and opens the Silk Road
for the Song.

Of course, I need the support
of our region's governors.

You have my stamp, Sidao.

And my command over the Council.

[women sobbing]

Men grow old,
pearls turn yellow...

There is no cure.

My condolences, Empress Xie.

Eventually, we all
become white ashes, Sidao.

But my husband has left a son.

Bow to your new Emperor,
Zhao Xian.

[sighing]

With sad news, Empress,
also comes good.

We drove the Mongols
back from Wuchang.

The barbarians know
your Chancellor

will never surrender the last
stronghold of the Song dynasty.

But they will be back.

We can count on that.

I fear you do count
on it, Sidao.

I fear you thirst for it.

[loud clattering]

Have you reported all?

Yes, Good Minister Ahmad. Yes.

You are dismissed, Sanga.

Master Marco.

Come. Stay.

Goodbye, my Venetian slave.

Schiavo. Huh?
[chuckles]

[Ahmad]
So...

What is this gift I hear of?

The foreign messenger who can
paint pictures with his words.

How would you describe
the manner in which...

The Uighurs pay their taxes?

Always there's a form
of ceremony.

On their knees...

A humble offering,
more as to a god than to a king.

And the Jurchens?

[Marco] Clever, and a
resourceful people.

Paying with the work
of their hands

when they do not have the coins.

[Ahmad] Masters of making linen,
I understand.

So if the Jurchens
have been paying in linen,

why hasn't Sanga
deposited any such tribute?

I did not say that Sanga
collected such linens.

Only that the Jurchens are a
clever and resourceful people.

You are not the first
foreigner...

Who has had to learn
to subsist in this kingdom.

I found my way here
as a child...

Raised in the household
of the Great Khan.

So I know his heart,
and I have his trust.

A lie is... like an assault
on his person, but...

An honest word?
That is like a shield.

So I must ask you again.

Did the Jurchens...

At any time...

Pay their taxes
in the form of linen?

Perhaps Sanga simply forgot.

[singing in Mandarin]

[Mei Lin speaking English]
Ling Ling...

Ling Ling, go with Jing Fei.

Come on. Good girl.

I will see you very soon,
my daughter.

My Emperor is dead...

...but I am still
an imperial consort.

I do not bed soldiers.

Chancellor Jia Sidao
has granted us permission.

Two Eels, One Cave.

[soldiers chuckling]

Do you know this forbidden game?

[soldiers speaking indistinctly]

[gurgling]

[soldiers shouting]

[soldiers grunting]

[guards shouting in Cantonese]

[footsteps approaching]

You should be tied to a post

and have your skin
sliced from your body.

I have bartered
for your political advantage.

I will not barter for the
loyalty of your soldiers.

[Jia Sidao]
It is beneath you...

I know.

You will travel to Cambulac
as defector.

They will take you in,

and just as you won the favor
of the Emperor of China...

You will win the favor
of the Devil himself.

Report to me.

Everything he says, everything
he does, everything he dreams.

[children laughing]

Do not worry, sister.

While you are away...

I will personally care
for my Sunflower.

I am your blood.

We give our blood
for the dynasty.

Your men...
they laugh at you.

They call you
the "Cricket Minister."

[thunder rumbling]

[Marco]
I was summoned.

[Jingim]
Quiet.

You may begin.

[shouting in Mongolian]

The tax collector's deposits
did not match.

What?

[man shouting in Mongolian]

[Jingim] He was given
an honorable death.

Rolled up in a carpet
so that Tengri the Sky God

did not see his blood.

You will be riding into
battle with us, I hear...

To give your accounts.

[Mei Lin] I love you so much.
I have to go.

But I will see you very soon.

-[Ling Ling sobbing]
-I love you.

[Ling Ling crying]

[falcon squawks]

[squawks]

[sighs deeply]

[Kublai]
Send for Ariq.

Put up a gen

Light a fire.

##

[scoffs]

[chuckles]

Do you remember,
older brother...

The summer you chased a deer
for six days?

You were gone so long,

our mother thought
the wolves got you.

She made me grind borts with
the women for six more days.

[Ariq laughs]

Our father woke up drunk
and said,

"Kublai, why are you
grinding borts like a girl,

when you should be
out hunting deer?"

Sorkaktani...

She was a fine mother.

A great mother.
Queen of Mongolia.

It was she who taught us

the code of Grandfather Genghis,
yes?

It was she that taught us
that a true ruler

must not lose the loyalty
of his allies and subjects.

The Chinese... Saracen...

Christian or Hindi.

A wise leader
allows his people their ways.

[Ariq]
Our father...

Son of Genghis, did not agree
with such open gates.

He drank himself to death.
Behind closed doors.

Do you know where I was
those six days?

When you were chasing that deer?

Making my arrows sharp

to go after the wolf
and save my brother.

I was four years old.

When our brother,
Mongke, died...

Mongolia elected me
Khan of Khans.

Not all of Mongolia, brother.

Not the Princes
of the Golden Horde.

-Not the Chagataid of Persia.
-That is rebellion.

We can argue that all night.

I do not want to be
Emperor of China.

I do not want to be
Ruler of the Face of the Earth.

I want to be Khan of Mongolia.

They are one and the same,
brother.

So... it has come to this?

Not by my choosing.

The way I see it,

it is your warriors
setting camp on my land.

It's because of
that point of view...

My warriors set camp on my land.

I bid you a good night's rest.

I'll see you at sunrise.

[sharpening sword]

Where do you think the Venetian
merchant is this evening?

India? Tabriz?

On my Silk Road,
chasing riches.

I was just about your age
when I knew.

Knew what, Sire?

That I had to become the man
I wished my father was.

Tomorrow...

Watch and remember
what you see.

Faithfully.

[drums playing]

[drums stop playing]

[neighing]

Tell me.

All the way to the horizon.

A sea of men and horses.

Ready to break ashore.

The Khan has moved
from his guard to the front.

Yes.

Yah.

[urges horse]

What is he doing now?

[Marco]
He is riding down.

Alone.

This is Mongol against Mongol.

And only one can win.

You best pray
that it is our side.

[Ariq scoffing]

For if we lose...

Cambulac will be
burned to the ground...

And we will be made
into kindling.

[urging horse]

[falcon screeching]

Look where it has ended,
brother.

You want Mongolia...

You come and take it.

[Ariq]
It is...

...as it should be.

[yelling]

[both grunting]

[Kublai breathing heavily]

[yelling in pain]

[yelling]

[falcon screeching]

[insect buzzing)]

Men of Karakorum!

It is over!

This fight...

Between Mongols is done!

We stand together now!

We ride together!

Every corner of the land
beneath this Blue Sky,

is ours for the taking!

Go back to Karakorum.

Prepare for war!

For soon,

we ride toward the south.

[man shouting
in foreign language]

[theme music playing]