I am so lost by it. Is Marco Polo going away from a more realism world to a more supernatural one?
The Christian son that sides with Rome and the Pope mentioned he had a vision of that guy (forgot name) with the ghost army thing.
Yeah I'm confused by this too. What was the name of the guy Nayan was talking about to Pope Gregory? Why did Marco turn away at the end when he saw the army because isn't that army with his father and he let his father get away?
shareThat wasnt his fathers army, his army was never that weird ghost army that was talked about. His was just some random templars to ensure the right guy became khan because the current one was obsessed with expansion and it threatened the west.
Either Marco knew it was that biblical ghost army and took off or thought it was another regular templar army as backup since his fathers army got defeated when those flaming horsed blew up the black powder supply.
Lets recap: Nayan and Kaidu had their armies wiped out. Kublai's army is in the Mongolian capital.
Polo sees an army marching towards the Kurultai which is a political process (and would indicate most people involved would likely show up with some protection but without their armies assembled).
So they did the smart thing - they abandoned the camp and fled to join up with the armies, to raise their armies and defend themselves.
That was my take anyways.
Just seems odd that the mystery army would give chase, or that the fleeing army wouldnt at least fight. Or when they flee, the mystery army doesnt raid the abandoned camp for supplies with food and weapons left all over intact. Also no scouts saw them coming? The massive imposing army sneaked up on them right to the camp boarders? I dont believe it one bit.
Either Marco Polo went super natural or the writing went to s***
We're not told if they fight or not. Maybe the Mongolians leave a rear guard. That cross in the ending shot did have some blood on it.
Also - Polo was fleeing when he came across the army. Maybe he had gone past the sentries/scouts of the camp?
It's also worth mentioning - the Mongolians were just going through a civil war. They were likely looking at each other and not outside threats to the empire.
The Pope mentioned "Prestor John". He was a mythical king that many Christians at the time believed would come from some far away place, and lead his armies against the heathens, especially the Muslim empires and kingdoms that threatened the Christian kingdoms and empires at the time. Essentially a sort of super- piously Christian with a huge army and a cheat code from God that allowed him to drive back the Islamic armies to the Arab peninsula.
Unless the show is going full fantasy, just shy of dragons and ice zombies, there won't be a Prestor John in the show.
I have no idea what the Christian army at the last part of the show was about. Nevermind the fact that Nayan wasn't Catholic and therefore would have had little sympathy for crusades, but the idea that an army of crusaders could be massed against the Mongols, deep into Central and eastern Central Asia is so absurd I almost wish they'd introduce dragons and ice zombies.
The Mongols had the largest empire on the planet at that time. Presenting Crusaders as any sort of "threat" to the Mongol Empire, is like the re-making of "Red Dawn" with North Korea depicted as an honestly serious, military threat. No matter how "dramatic" they might try and make it, it's still North Koreans.
It's been heavily implied that Prestor John and his army was a sort of ghost tactic by crusader templars to strike fear.
shareYeah maybe the legend of Prester John, the decendent of one of the three magi witnessing Jesus's birth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prester_John. Apparently much BS surrounds this figure anyways. I think he would fit right in.
Or maybe just the rest of the templar army on foot. We saw they had no horses so they were maybe slower? Just late to the party?
Yep, Prester John is basically a myth born from misinterpreted European reports of Nestorian Christian communities in Central Asia.
It's interesting that Genghis himself was assumed to be Prester John after he conquered Persia. The Western Christians heard tales of some unstoppable conqueror in Asia and thought that Genghis was a Christian when, in fact, he was a Tengriist.
I'm guessing that this Prester John is the mysterious main adversary for the coming seasons, a bit like the White Walkers on GoT. Since the show reinterpreted the Hashashin as mystical Muslim ninjas(they weren't, in spite of the Assassin's Creed franchise), I'm actually interested to see where they go with Prester John.
Yeah imho it would work really well. It's something "new" or "fresh" in a way. A mythology that feels powerful and hasn't really been overused before. I didn't know anything before I googled "prester john" when he was mentioned.
sharePrester John is definitely the leader of the Christian army Marco saw approaching Xanadu in the season finale.
They mentioned him a few times in earlier episodes, he was a big-time legend in that area, and we know for a fact that the Christians/templars were defeated alongside Kaidu's forces and Nayan's forces at the Two Rivers.
So unless the Pope had his own huge army separate from those guys, which there's no indication he did, then it's Prester John.
I think that fits with the way the mysterious figure is portrayed anyway. We don't see his face, we just see his cross, and him and his army silhouetted against the sky at the top of a ridge.
So yeah...sounds like Prester John is going to be an antagonist or at least a wildcard in the next season.
Yeah. I wonder if we'll ever see more than a silhouette? The show definitely needs a new antagonist in the next season.
shareWe definitely will. They never revealed his face or gave us a close look because they haven't cast the actor yet. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about that in the coming months.
shareYeah probably right. But I mean it would kinda work for the ghost army. The story is just never told from Prester John's side. That history is just forgotten. No one has seen him and lived to tell the tale to the mongols. Maybe you get some reports or capture a scout here and there, but he remains this shadowy figure.
For the people in these wars, it must have been quite similar. They have scattered details about an enemy, exaggerated stories and tales. You never saw the whole picture. Simply the fact of not knowing must have been somewhat creepy.
It might actually be cool if the series showed that side of experiencing history.
That would be awesome if it's well-executed and done believably.
There's other stuff like that in history, which I find fascinating.
For example, the city of Petra, Jordan (the one literally carved into rock) is hidden -- you have to travel a mile down this half-covered gorge called The Siq until you emerge right in front of the treasury:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Khazneh#/media/File:Petra_,_Al-Khazneh_2.jpg
http://tristartours.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/petra-jordan-21-1024x688.jpg
And to think, the people who lived there were nomadic, and did not advertise the location of the city -- they traded in a nearby city without letting anyone know where they came from. And Petra was completely unknown except for locals until it was "discovered" in 1812 by a European explorer.
It proves that entire cities and cultures could be hidden in antiquity.
Also, on the creepy/intimidating front, Alexander the Great had his blacksmiths make huge helmets, literally impossibly massive helmets that looked like they belonged on creatures that were 12 feet tall and thousands of pounds. And his army would leave some of those helmets behind, among the carnage, after they sacked cities and towns.
Then when the destroyed cities were found by others, people straight up shat themselves when they saw those helmets. And then they told others, who passed the stories along, until everyone "knew" for a fact that Alexander had giants fighting for him.
U.S. soldiers in Vietnam did something similar, leaving ridiculously huge condoms behind after taking villages. The enraged Vietcong would find the abandoned villages, with massive condoms strewn about, and think Americans were raping their women with their super dongs lol.
Yeah I kinda would love this. But then you probably would need another antagonist in the next season for that to work.
It proves that entire cities and cultures could be hidden in antiquity.
and think Americans were raping their women with their super dongs lol.
Wow Petra looks amazing. Hopefully ISIS doesn't blow it up.
shareThe legend/myth of Pestor John is interesting but it would be weird if they brought him in as a real guy is a pseudo-history show like Marco Polo.
shareMost myths have a kernel of truth.
It wouldn't surprise me if there was a westerner living along the Silk Road who inspired the Prester John myth. If History Channel can do a show based on a legendary characters like Ragnar Lodbrok and Lagertha, I see no problem with this show including Prester John.
Im sure they will show this army but not as supernatural,they will show a top strategist Prester John ,playing with the minds of his enemies and creates a supernatural legend for himself .Just like all supernatural elements of religions,frauds and tricksters.
shareIt's definitely the Prester John legend they're referring to. Certainly the idea of Prester John smiting down pagans -- a displaced Crusades fantasy -- fits with the legend, but the idea of a "ghost army" is not, as far as I know, in canon. The fact that they appear just as Nayan is dying on the cross mirrors the earlier moment of his conversion, when Prester John "saved" him. Perhaps we haven't seen the last of Nayan?
The show seems to be leaning towards a supernatural interpretation of Prester John, but it doesn't necessarily have to. In the Travels of Marco Polo, Marco describes Genghis Khan warring with and defeating Prester John -- though, of course, that's a actual, historical person who may or may not have been the basis of the legend. It'd be interesting to get some version of that realistic story, rather than a purely supernatural phenomenon.
I'm so excited that the series is finally starting to show the religious conflicts. Up until now, the writers have really downplayed the historical Kublai's conflicted attitudes toward Christianity. They've addressed his hostility towards it in expected ways, but not really his fascination with it. From what I remember of Rustichello's Travels, one of the main reasons Kublai warms to Marco is because he wants to learn about the Christian faith and Marco is a willing storyteller. The first couple episodes of Season 1 hint at it, with Niccolo and Maffeo bringing the chrism as a gift to Kublai (at his earlier request) and with Marco telling Kublai the tale of Cain and Abel, but other than that we haven't seen much of Kublai's reactions to Christianity.
Season 2's sub-plot with Kaidu addresses Mongol reactions to external religions in a very general way, with Kaidu as the insular traditionalist versus Kublai as the more tolerant expansionist (fascinating, given America's current and super-divisive politics). But I hope upcoming seasons give us more specifics.
Judging by the aftermath in both camps my guess is it is not really an army but infected refugees of the plague.
While they may be getting pushed west by an armed force behind them my gut is telling me this is an epic non-military threat to the empire.
www.DronesOverLouisville.com
The show could also stretch it a bit and depict Prestor John as an actual person with a hugely formidable army to match. Their reasoning for doing so would be to make him a rival and enemy who causes so much grief for Kublai that after he is defeated, Kublai orders that all records of his existence are to be purged by fire and to spread contradictory rumors after the fact, cementing the idea that Prestor John was never a real person.
Of course, you can also just have "Prestor John" be a guerilla and shadow tactics genius who delights in confounding and terrorizing his enemies. In fact, I don't see why the show couldn't do a cross of those two ideas, actually.
Guys, please. there's nothing supernatural. The pope have this guy personate "Prester John" and gives him cruzaders to convert mongols. the end.
share