Marco Polo (2014–2016): Season 2, Episode 10 - The Fellowship - full transcript

On this day we gather

all princes of the blood
and chieftains of the hordes,

and all descendants of Lord Genghis Khan.

We pray to the Blue Sky
and seek blessings for the decision

that will be made this day.

Bless the sacred spirit banner
of Lord Genghis

that stands before
the white banners of peace.

- The white banners of peace?
- Watch over us, Tengri...

You've taken a piss on peace.

Bring out the black banners, I say.
The war banners. Finish what you started.

You're disrespecting the proceedings.



You've disgraced these proceedings
with your acts of war.

...Khan of all Khans.

Thus we begin the Kurultai.

It's a shame Nayan couldn't be here.

I'm very sorry about your brother.

It was you who snatched
your father from our camp.

Why sneak off to the hills?

Why not take your father back to the Khan?

I'd be delivering him to death.

The most significant day
in the Khan's life...

and the only son by his side
is the pale flower.

Where could the others be?

Archers are stationed at every parapet.

No one in and no one out.



- As ordered.
- Excellent, Sukh.

Kneel before me.

In light of your dedication to service
in these times of great unrest,

and by the powers bestowed
upon me by the Khan of Khans,

as Vice Regent and Left Chancellor,

I confer upon you the title of Orlok.

You will command the Khan's generals
and their armies.

Hurrah!

Dismiss your men.

Return to your posts.

Vice Regent...

You were given an order, General.

This is highly unusual.

Hold your tongue.

A non-Mongol installing
a non-Mongol as Orlok...

it's so unusual.

It's unprecedented.

Sukh...

sheathe your blade.

General...

what is your name?

Kasar.

Kasar.

General Kasar is clearly unnerved

at these highly unusual times
we find ourselves living in.

I am not unnerved.

I am skeptical.

Sukh is correct to draw his weapon.

Under typical circumstances,
such skepticism would lose you your head.

As you pointed out,

these aren't typical circumstances,
Vice Regent.

So you can appreciate my concern.

Of course.

What can I do to alleviate
your misgivings?

Show us the Khan's orders.

Return to your post, defend your position,
and I will produce the orders promptly.

Will that appease you, Kasar?

- Move back.
- I request to petition the Vice Regent.

Move back.

Open the gates. Now!

Stay back!
Move back!

Move back!

Drink.

What is it?

Water.

Thank you.

There's honor in seeing it through.

And when they count the votes,
and none have been cast for me...

where is the honor in that?

If all the votes were for you, Father,

what then?

Would that bring Orus back?

May I be of service, Sire?

Inclusivity.

That's their assault against me.

Number one in their complaints.

If you wish to be
of service to me, Latin...

make yourself disappear.

He's rubbing my son's defeat in his face.

His defeat?

I thought this was your house.

This is your defeat, your fault.

You're to blame for all of it.

I'm fully to blame, and wear it proudly.

Did the sky of the wolf ever speak to you,

or was it always Ahmad
whispering in your ear?

If it weren't for the Arab,

I never would've forced your father
to challenge Kublai in the first place.

You were never going to fight fair.

From the beginning.

Why start a fight you can't win?

Because Orus is dead...

and father, destroyed.

Because of you.

Your body will settle in time.

It will relax,
and then the milk will flow.

Too late for that.

Every woman is different.

We're beyond lies, Mother.

My body speaks.

It says I am not a mother.

It says for all to hear.

Any swollen sow can feed your children.

You must raise them.

You must nurture their minds
to grow into a Khan and a Queen

of unassailable character.

Go, Mother.

To your Khan.

He needs you now more than I.

It will be entirely for nothing
if he doesn't win.

They need you.

They are yours, Kokachin.
Your flesh and blood.

It could never be for nothing.

I am here.

Do you see me?

I was challenged to this Kurultai,
and I have come.

I have traveled far,
in good honor and faith...

but I was met by rebellion and war.

"An action committed in anger
is an action doomed to failure."

So said our grandfather, Genghis Khan.

We are nomads.

Have we not gall in our livers?
Fire in our blood?

When our people, and our land...

and our way of life are threatened...

we are not afraid to incite war.

"If my body dies, let my body die.

But do not let Mongolia die."

I wondered whether we should speak again.

And the Blue Sky
has not grown thick with ice.

- So said Genghis Khan.
- As last you predicted.

"Victory does not come
to he who lives by the rules.

It comes to he who makes the rules...

he who imposes the rules on his enemies."

So said the one born
with a blood clot in his fist,

one with fire in his eyes,
light on his face!

He, born of the blue wolf and red deer.

Ancestors of the nomads.

Kaidu speaks of a way of life.

He speaks of nomads
as if I've surrendered my blood.

Did I not ride here on a horse?

"Conquering the world
on horseback is easy.

It's dismounting
and governing that is hard."

So said Genghis Khan
in the Year of the Ram.

Your son does not seem to know
when he has lost.

- ...is less an art...
- A family trait.

- ...than conquering a man.
- And your husband is fat.

Also a family trait.

Conquering a man is no match
to conquering oneself.

Did not Genghis say,
"Find me a man who abstains from drink,

and that is the man
who will lead my armies"?

So said Genghis.

But did not Genghis also say,

"Be of one mind and one faith"?

I have seen with my own eyes

that every faith has a temple
in the city of the Khan.

Down there, in China,
the word is "capitulation."

No, Kaidu, the word is "jealousy."

From our own relations.

From inside our golden family.

We were destined.
We were chosen.

You were pushed aside, forgotten.

And you are common.
Your blood is not royal.

A thousand stolen elections
cannot change that.

...by the fangs of a black snake,
let us not be bitten.

And yet, my son will be Khan,
and his son after him.

Let us always trust one another.

My bloodline is certain,
and yours will end this night.

I say this, not just as Mongols,

but as people under the Mongol Empire!

Open the gates to outsiders,
secrets will spill!

Brother.

I should've left you there
to bleed out in that cave.

Probably...

but you didn't.

Where are they?

Which of the Khan's toys have come for me?

Marco?

Byamba?

Hundred Eyes?

Any? All?

Send search parties into the slums.

Find his co-conspirators
and bring them to me.

You want me to leave you alone...

with him?

He's not going to kill me.

He's going to try and compel me
to surrender.

Spread out! Find them!

They're looking for us.

Let's go!

Your turn, monk.

Search the village!

Look at their faces!

Stand aside.

I said stand aside.

Do not chide them for following my orders.

You should not be here.

Not if you care for her
as she does for you.

It's true... what she told me?

Don't lie.

Why?

Because this is some
youthful moment of portent for you?

This is my life.

You did a terrible thing.

And now let me welcome you
into the fellowship of almost all of us.

I betrayed my father for the Khan.

And Kublai is ignorant... at best...

when it comes to acknowledging
the sacrifices of those in his service.

But I am not.

Go home.

Home?

You forget, my Empress, I cannot leave.

- My Khan would not let me.
- You cannot help who you are.

He will hold you close until he realizes
that who you are can only hurt him.

You do not want to be here
when that day comes.

In the morning,
when the Khan is looking for you,

I will ensure our scouts
report you rode east.

I will protect your secret...
so long as you protect mine.

Will you tell her I said goodbye?

While your father is alive...

make as many friends as you can...

see as many lands as you can.

Do you remember these words?
Do you remember?

The games are done.

The drink and dinner consumed.

There are no prayers left to pray.

I have been given the honor
of asking one question of each of you

on behalf of these noble chieftains.

Lord Kaidu...

you claim to want no allegiances
with outside forces,

yet you mustered an army
with the Christians

and conspired with the Vice Regent
to overthrow your Khan.

And now this same Vice Regent
occupies and locks down

the capital city of our great empire.

I did.

Has anyone heard a question?

These are facts. Undisputed.

This is the question.

Amongst this treachery, did you hide
behind the banner of Kublai Khan

and slaughter my people beneath it?

Everything I've done...

was to secure the Khanate,

in order to protect ourselves
from his wayward vision.

Answer the question.

One that you know in your hearts
to be blurred.

Answer.

The Vice Regent has not
taken over our capital... our home.

The birthright we leave our children
is not out there as Kublai claims.

It is here on this soil.

Beneath the Blue Sky,
where we stand together this day!

Answer... the question.

I did.

Lord Kublai...

you will remain the Khan of Khans.

When elected, what will you do with him?

I will take Kaidu...

and all of his kin...

and every sympathizer
who remains in the House of Ögödei...

and I will bury them here...

in his beloved dirt.

So this is how the blind monk
passed through walls?

Every legend must come to an end.

Put your weapons down.

We don't want to hurt you or your men.

Put them down or I take them from you.

You are serving a traitor.

I am serving the Vice Regent, monk,
at my Khan's orders.

And my father sent us to stop him.

Neither of you holds any authority.

Put your weapons down, and I'll bring you
to the Prince and the Vice Regent.

We traveled with the Prince.

He gave himself up
so that we could gain entry unseen.

He's a prisoner.

You think it's coincidence we're here?

He's my brother.
Does that mean nothing?

Kaidu or the Khan.

I don't know who you serve, bastard.

And the monk?
Do you question his loyalty to our Khan?

You know it, in your heart.

My heart knows nothing
but duty to the empire.

Take their weapons.

I have in my hand a letter
that could save this family.

A missive from Ahmad.

No doubt intended for you.

Well...

you certainly have my attention now.

If father reads this to the chieftains,
it may be just enough.

Enough to what?

To destroy the Khan.

The Arab saved us again.

He does...

or he doesn't.

You wish to burn our salvation?

I wish the lying and deceit to end.

Which will not happen.

If Kublai's reign of terror
is allowed to continue,

there'll be more lies and more deceit,

until we drown in a melting pot

of backbiting outsiders
and malfeasance of all kinds.

No good can come
from so much pain and anguish.

I made him do it, you know?

What?

Your father.

I made him cut you out of her,
cut you from your mother.

And your father never wanted you to know
he killed her to save you.

Will you be a good thing for him?

Or was all that pain
and anguish for nothing?

The future of the House of Ögödei,
of our family...

is yours.

Burn it...

or don't.

It's entirely up to you.

Do you expect the army to defend you
when faced with their Khan's return?

If he returns,
he will no longer be the Khan.

Did your scouts not report
our victory at the twin rivers?

They did.

And how do you reconcile that reality
with your fantasy?

How do you reconcile
I was able to maneuver undetected

all these years?

Do you truly believe I don't have
a plan in place should Kublai win?

Look where I sit
and where you stand.

Ahmad...

there is time for you to stop this.

Come with me,
tell father you were manipulated...

I was manipulated by no one.

Ever.

But that can be the truth.

It is the word of traitors
over the word of his son.

I don't want that to be the truth.

Don't you understand?

I want the record to state,
unequivocally...

that a boy ripped from his parents...

from his miserly birthright, rose up...

and quietly laid waste to
the most powerful man in all of history.

Which would make me
the most powerful man in all of history.

And do not fool yourself.

This... This is not a parley.

There are no terms for my surrender.

And you, my brother...

will not be leaving here alive.

You summon me, hmm?

Before I lay them down to sleep at night,

I tell my children
stories of our ancestors.

Stories of war...

of treason...

of honor.

These stories were lessons to be imparted,
warnings heeded.

A map of how to live and how to lead.

The story of Börte was a favorite.

The first wife and first mother of Khans.

How she married Temüjin,

the man who would one day
reign as Genghis Khan.

How she was abducted by the three Merkits
in the middle of the night.

How she watched as her husband
appeared to abandon her

as he fled into the woods.

How that husband hunted her down,
fought for her freedom

and slaughtered to win her back
eight months later.

Eight months.

And she returned to Temüjin's house,
pregnant with their first child.

Is the point of these stories
to put me to sleep?

The whispers began.

Whispers that not even
the mighty Genghis could silence.

Whispers that the child
could not possibly be their own.

Whispers that would destroy
that boy's chances

of rising to the throne in his own right.

For all the blood spilling...

all the backstabbing...

all the deal-making...

Whispers can subvert it all.

My daughter received this dispatch
from your Vice Regent

concerning Princess Kokachin
and your heirs to the House of Tolui.

Should I read it to you?

Better I let the Empress
explain it to you.

You have until the sound of the horn
for the start of the vote.

If the people of Mongolia have not
received your abdication of the throne,

I will walk into the pavilion...
and whisper it for all to hear.

What fucking madness
has infected your head?

You can protect your throne...

or you can protect your family.

It's your choice.

Kokachin.

You've come to say goodbye.

Why did you tell me?

- It should have been you.
- No.

Babies with eyes color of the sea.

No.

The Prince...

Jingim has real affection
in his heart for you.

Tell me you love me, Marco.

Tell me you love Nergüi.

Kokachin...

Go now.

I won.

I did it.

How you wanted me to.

Begged, bartered...

I played by the rules.

And now I must go out there,
give it all away.

Give it to him.
All because of you!

We deny it.

Four wives. Nothing to show for it
until just the right time!

Tell me, whose son is it
that would ascend to my throne?

Who?

No one.

It... was no one.

I have destroyed our family.

You did what was necessary.

- No.
- Yes. Yes.

You did the hard thing.

For our family.

And our kingdom.

- I deserve your anger.
- No.

- I deserve your blows.
- No, Chabi.

No.

You did it for me.

I was wrong, my wife...

to think I could be without you.

And now...

it's over.

Who else knows?

- Who else...
- Knows?

- Kokachin...
- Uh-huh.

Marco.

Who?

I sent him away to Venice,
where he belongs.

With the secret that could destroy us all?

It doesn't matter.

Who will he tell?
Who will care in the West?

No one else, hmm?

Well...

now Khutulun...

Kaidu.

Hmm.

Wine from the silver tree.

I hate that thing.

It does stand out, doesn't it?

Möngke always had... flair.

That's one way
of describing your brother.

Where's Khutulun?

This is between you and me.

Oh, well.

I've always known,
or hoped to know,

if I'm being forthright...

that a price existed I could not pay

to satisfy my attainment and influence.

That price, it seems, is my son.

He will not be bought and sold here today.

So...

how do I inform the public?

You walk out there...

and tell them that I am to be
the next Khan of Khans.

And you make them believe it.

Hmm.

Leave. Do not return.

To a peaceful transition.

I didn't wanna win this way.

Really?

I was prepared to destroy you
right from the start.

But I was led off that course
by those around me.

Advice, I realize now...

was warped and craven...

and working for the other side.

Your side.

You won, Kaidu...

the old-fashioned way.

By any means necessary.

Kokachin!

I'm coming to you.

Kokachin...

I am sorry.

It's all right...

Mother.

Prisoners for you, Vice Regent.

Well done, General.

You will be richly rewarded

for your dedication to the Khan
and his cause.

Sukh, take our prisoners to a cell.

I can do it differently
from now on.

I can do it differently, can't I?

Tomorrow, the Khanate is yours.

You can do it any way you please.

Drink with me.

You were prepared to destroy me...

right from the start.

Poison from the Goyo plant.

We have to go.

We have to go right now.

You may want to hold on to that.

I thought I'd never see you again.

Thought or hoped?

Thought.

I hoped you'd return.

I need you.

You need me?

Do you know
how concubines are trained?

Tell me.

Mirrors.

Mirrors?

They put you in a room of mirrors.

For days...

weeks.

After a while, time stops making sense.

Why mirrors?

To practice emotions.

Cheerful.

Coy.

Heartbroken.

Lonesome.

But there was one... emotion...

we were taught never to display.

Anger.

Because no man...
wants a woman who threatens him.

For survival...

we learn to suppress it...

to bide our time.

I never would have loved you.

But I would have supported you.

Fought for you.

Maybe even died in your service.

It was a momentary lapse in judgment.

Selling my daughter
was always part of your plan.

Had I known it would end this way...

I would've eviscerated her
in front of you, instead.

Then I am glad it ends this way.

I could have continued
to run with my daughter.

You never would have found me.

Where is she?

Headed south...
with a protector.

Never return.

I'll escort the concubine to her daughter
and ensure she stays there.

Once I've confirmed my father's victory,

we meet here.

At home.