I am actually currently watching the second episode as I type this. And this fall I read Marco Polo's The Travels as part of a graduate level class on world trade. I can only comment on what I have noticed about how closely the episodes so far have stuck to Polo's report of his travels. The show is first and foremost a work of historical fiction.

That being said, there were a few things I was interested by. The opening sequence, in which Kublai Khan is upset by the failure of the "Latins" (which is what Kublai apparently called Polo and his kinsmen) to bring priests from Europe, was at least partially based on Polo's report. If memory serves, Kublai was rather understanding of the fact that the journey from Europe was difficult, long, and dangerous. He wanted priests to come and explain the theology of Christianity to him, so that he might compare the many religions he was exposed to and see which was best. Polo reports that the Khan was a great and wise ruler, not that he was hostile or looked down on the Latins. However, Kublai in fact did request that the Latins bring him samples of holy oil from Jerusalem, which was represented in the show.

Similarly, Polo is asked in court in the show what region has the most beautiful women, which is interesting because Polo reports that many regions which he visited had beautiful women. I personally got the impression that Polo developed a preference for more Asian-looking women during his travels, but that is basically my speculation and attempt to humanize a distant historical figure.

In class, we discussed that Polo seemed to lack any particular Eurocentric or racial biases in his reports, which a modern mind might expect from a medieval man. He apparently distinguished between people primarily on religious grounds, but never wrote of adherents of other religions in a derogatory manner. Polo was never considered a slave to the Khan, as he is somewhat portrayed in the show. It seems that Polo was in fact considered something of an ambassador and well respected at court, even if only as something of a curiosity.

Additionally, Polo was no soldier and does not mention any sort of military training, like the kung fu training that the character in the show undergoes. That being said, he would probably have seen the warriors of the khan at practice, and maybe in battle from afar. He would have certainly been an experienced horseman and did show interest in falconry and hawking in his writings, which was touched on somewhat in the show.

It is also important to note that Polo wrote his book while in captivity back in Europe after years of travel in the east with the help of a writer known for his romanticism and embellishment. The Travels included a number of fantastical reports of miraculous events, which were almost certainly fictions or embellishments on misunderstood events. It is difficult to be sure what was truth and what was embellishment in Polo's account.

I hope this information is helpful. The Travels is an interesting read, if a bit repetitive at times. Maybe someone else can comment in depth on the accuracy of things like the clothing, architecture, battle tactics, etc. that are portrayed on the show.

One thing that clearly stood out to me was Ariq Böke's presence. With Marco's arrival set in 1273 in the show (roughly correct, though debated), Ariq Böke should've been dead for seven years by then, so obviously Marco would never have met him. What it gets right about Ariq is the fact that there was a war between him and Kublai Khan after they each had themselves proclaimed Great Khan, but that's about it. The war lasted approximately 4 years though (rather than what seems like a week), and it certainly didn't end with a 1-on-1 duel. Ariq surrendered to Kublai in 1264, and lived for two more years after that.

Khutulun, the kickass female wrestler who got very spontaneous with him in episode 2, was to my surprise an actual historical figure, a niece of Kublai Khan and legendary in that any man who wanted to marry her had to wager horses and win against her in wrestling. No-one ever did and she eventually chose a fellow warrior as her husband. Marco Polo also actually encountered her at least in battles they both were at and is quoted as:

Sometimes she would quit her father’s side, and make a dash at the host of the enemy, and seize some man thereout, as deftly as a hawk pounces on a bird, and carry him to her father; and this she did many a time.

I hope she returns (it'll take me a few more days to watch the whole season), really liked her :). This interview article gives me hope.

Its not very accurate. Timeline is shifted by several years, martial prowess and organisation of the chinese is greatly overblown, especially the whole kungfu stuff.

But aside from that, its fairly normal to other historical period dramas. And its not like The Travels of Marco Polo was accurate in any way, especially when compared to detailed and meticulous chinese records, or even mongolian Secret History.

What pissed me the most was how horrible they make mongols look in context of sieges. For fucks sake, they already used gunpowder and massive siege engines by then and conquered many ridiculously large fortresses. The fact that they made Marco into some sort of DaVincian engineer while the best of the best in Kublais court didnt know anything(they mentioned engineers from Damascus, place that already known technology of trebuchets for centuries). What was even more laughable was how horrified they seemed of gunpowder flutes, even though they knew gunpowder wel and even though their kinsman in the west already battled force with guns(Mamluks used gunpowder rifles close to hussite flutes to scare horses).

What was wierdest to me is that they choose to portray Chagatai Khanate/Golden Horde(they seem to mix the two) as the closest ally, but completely forgot the rest of the Great Khans. Hulegu, one of the closest ally to Kublai, was mentioned exactly once, even though he participated in the Toluid civil wars.

Well I should probably stop ranting. I really liked the show from cinematic standpoint, but the last episode completely obliterated any sort of love I had for the story and accuracy of the show.

Good question, I wanted to ask the same thing since I just watched the first two episodes. From what I remember the Marco Polo story (actual accounts) is still questionable and possibly not historically accurate.

I'd like to ask a follow up question. How accurate are the settings, clothes, armor, weapons and portrayal of the Royal Mongolian and Chinese courts? The accuracy and consistency of portrayal of the time period?

Someone decided to use an Old Persian cuneiform text (written in ink on paper) in one scene. This is a trivial point if ever there was one, but it has confused me for the last two days so I thought I would share it here.

In episode 2 (at about 6:56), Marco asks about a certain text when he is at the tax collector's house. The tax collector then talks about "letters of love." The text was written in a cuneiform script, which was strange to me since I was unaware that cuneiform writing was in use in Central Asia (or anywhere) at that time. From what I can tell, the text is in Old Persian, which went out of use around 300 BCE. Overall, there are plenty of things that are far more important in trying to be historically accurate, but when I see something like that I think one of two things:

1. The art department and set designers really didn't care about historical accuracy. There are plenty of languages and scripts they could have chosen that would have made perfect sense. Instead, they chose something that didn't fit the context at all. Did they know the text was written in Old Persian? Did they know that Old Persian had basically been out of use for 1500 years? Where did they find this text? Why did they decide to draw attention to it? There was no need for it (I've only seen the first two episodes, but I doubt it plays a role in the rest of the season). Why insert something into the scene like that if you don't know if it would fit in that setting?

2. Someone assumed that no one would notice and decided to insert something of personal significance. Maybe someone in the art department took an Old Persian course in college and decided to put that text into the scene because they thought Old Persian looked cool. Maybe the assumption was that since this text was pretty insignificant, they could just do what they wanted and no one would care. I'm okay with it if that is the case. However, it makes me I start to wonder how often things like that happen.

There is a lot I don't know about Persian society, so I could easily be wrong about this whole thing. Perhaps Old Persian continued to play a role in Persian society and using ink on paper became a common way to write cuneiform. Perhaps the text was not really Old Persian. Maybe there is another script that looks extremely similar or that derived from Old Persian.

I also understand that liberties sometimes need to be taken in order to make things clear to an audience. I guess the new Exodus movie gives the Hittites armor inspired by samurai in order to distinguish them from the Egyptians. That's not the direction I would have gone, but there does seem to be a reason for it. However, this trivial piece of paper makes no sense to me.

I can't speak to the overall accuracy, but I thought I'd point out one small inaccuracy that has been baffling me for the last two days.

Jia si dao is one of the most controversial chancellor in Chinese history. Some say he personaly sent the Song to its grave, and recently many begin to discover that Jia's many policies actually has protracted Song' life.

However neither Macro and Jia or those concubines are Kungfu master that is for sure. BTW cricket is not mantis, they are very different insects

The show is largely based on real events and uses lots of dramatic scenes to fill the gaps. Marco Polo may not have been a soldier by great standards, but the only reason the Travels of Marco Polo exist on paper is because when he arrived to Venice after so many years he dictated his story to Rustichello da Pisa.He was arrested in Genoa when he had armed a war ship and prepared to battle the Genoans. Marco Polo was not quite a slave as he was treated with respect and allowed many amenities, but he was not allowed to leave the Empire until he was nearly 40 years old! he arrived in the empire between 11 and 15 yrs old... I am on the 7th episode and really like it. One thing I am not sure about is Princess Kököchin !!!SPOILER COMING UP!!!.............................................................. ....................................................................She was probably not a secret peasant as the show describes when it depicts her taking the real princess' gown after she commits suicide. Kököchin was regarded highly in the Khanate and was given as a wedding present to the Khan of Khans brother who died then so she married his son, BUT Messer Marco Polo was in charge of taking her to the Kingdom which was in Persia I believe... Which would have been an extremely important task. Unmarried royals were expected to be Virgins and I'm sure she would have been killed if found otherwise after marriage. Also the journey would have been treacherous as is historically documented that out of 200 only 8 survived not including the deck hands. the 3 polos and Kököchin would have been included in the 8 so besides them only 4 People survived the journey to Kököchin's Wedding...Cray

While the content and Kung Fu stuff isn't the truest. Are the costumes and sets true to life in the Mongol Empire? Also where exactly is the Mongol City in China?