‘Marco Polo’ Recap: Season 1, Episode 1, “The Wayfarer”

Marco Polo is Netflix’s new sprawling historical adventure series. Click here for all of Decider’s coverage and here for a handy guide to who’s who in Marco Polo’s world.

Marco Polo (Lorenzo Richelmy) is a handsomely disheveled Italian youth – Yes, he’s an “Italian youth.” That’s a technical term. – who finds himself far from home on the Silk Road in 1273. He’s traveling with his father and uncle, who are scheming, world-weary merchants. They find themselves in a village that has been burned by the forces of the great Mongol emperor Kublai Khan (Benedict Wong). Their crime? Supporting the old Chinese Song regime.

Immediately, the trio are taken in by the Khan’s forces. Young Marco marvels the Khan’s great city. And it’s impressive. When they are brought before the Khan, the great, hulking leader takes Marco’s dad to task for not bringing the Christian priests he promised. While they’re explaining themselves, Marco starts waxing poetically about the desert and he starts to show off his foreign language skills. He even impresses Empress Chabi (Joan Chen) by talking about how beautiful every woman in the world is.

So, to smooth things over, Marco’s dad is all, “Great Khan, take my son!” With the subtext of, “I don’t want him!” And then Marco is all, “But Daddy, don’t leave me!” But Daddy Polo leaves and Marco is thrown into a prison cell.

We then jump back in time, when a younger, cleaner-shaven Marco finally meets his adventurer dad in Venice. Marco’s dad is more interested in his dead mother than in Marco himself. Still, Marco idolizes him because, you know, he hasn’t actually known the asshole. When Daddy Polo announces he’s going back on the Silk Road, Marco begs to go along. And when Daddy Polo says, “Nope,” Marco sneaks onto the boat.

Then, they travel. They travel for three years. Marco almost dies, there’s a sandstorm, they get caught in the snow like in The Fellowship of the Ring… At some point, Marco and Daddy Polo have one good heart to heart. Daddy Polo tells Marco that if he’s ever scared, he can get home by following the stars. These three long years pass in about five minutes, though, because this is television and we want to get to the good parts! What, pray tell, are the good parts?

For starters, an intense court discussion where Kublai Khan’s son, Prince Jingim (Remy Hii), his brother, Ariq Boke (Amarsaikhan Baljinnyam), his cousin, Kaidu (Rick Yune), and advisors argue about whether or not they should try to finally take on the Song dynasty. It’s like Game of Thrones, only Kublai Khan lets everyone talk without pointing a crossbow at some of them. So, Kublai Khan > King Joffrey.

The golden prince Jingim will lead his father’s army into battle and conquer a small farming city close to the great walled city, Xiangyang. Kublai Khan’s warrior brother will meet Jingim with his Mongol hoardes. It will be an easy victory…or will it?

We then meet Kublai Khan’s main adversaries: the Chinese. Well, we meet the dying Chinese emperor, his ineffectual wife, and their manipulative chancellor, Jia Sidao (Chin Han). Jia Sidao is what would happen if Littlefinger was a super villain obsessed with praying mantises. You think I’m joking?

Jia Sidao is doubly dangerous because his sister, Mei Lin (Olivia Chen), is the royal concubine. She’s beautiful and sexy, but dangerous. Watch out for her.

Anyway, we return to Marco Polo in his cell of sad solitude. He is cleaned up and brought before a super cool blind kung fu master ironically named Hundred Eyes (Tom Wu). He explains that since Marco has been “conscripted into the court of Kublai Khan,” Hundred Eyes has to teach him how to be a Mongol. This includes lessons in martial arts, swordplay, horseback riding, calligraphy, archery, and other cool stuff that I would pay lots of money to learn.

After a cool training montage, Marco must return before the Khan, who wants to hear his young Italian guest describe the lands of his kingdom. Then, after Marco whines about how he doesn’t get why the greatest monarch of his age wants to give him lessons in being awesome, Kublai Khan tells Marco he has to accompany a tax collector around town.

Marco sneaks out and explores the town. He is enchanted by a pretty girl who is hanging out with cute children and paper lanterns. The pretty girl is also hanging out with a hulking bodyguard who tells Marco to step off. She is the “Blue Princess,” aka Kokachin (Zhu Zhu).

Meanwhile, in the walled Chinese city… Mei Lin asks her brother to negotiate for peace with the Mongols after the emperor’s death. He tells her to trust him, but it sounds more like a threat than a nice brotherly gesture.

Back in the dojo, Hundred Eyes and Marco spar. It’s like The Matrix meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Hundred Eyes is imploring Marco to let his dad go like they’re in Frozen. Let’s see if he actually does…

Marco is invited to Kublai Khan’s “pleasure dome.” Remember Coleridge? Well, it’s a massive harem filled with all sorts of beautiful women and temptations. Kublai Khan decides that this will be a test of Marco’s loyalty and character. He must walk back through the Halls of Five Desires without touching one of the Khan’s concubines. Can the horny Italian teen do it?

In other news, it turns out that the small city that Jingim was supposed to easily conquer is full of rival Chinese forces. And it also seems that his uncle has not arrived with reinforcements.  Jingim, eager to prove himself to his demanding father, must decide how he will proceed. His general advises retreat, but that would bring shame to his father, and himself, and so Jingim charges. [Watch “The Wayfarer“]

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[Photos & Gifs: Netflix]