Another week, another recap of a Marco Polo episode for everyone to read! It’s incredible how we’ve already reached the midpoint of the series, with this being the fifth episode, “Hashshashin”. So let’s break it all down!

As Marco discusses his relatives’ punishment with Kublai Khan, some uninvited guests invade and hit the latter with poison. The explorer is joined by one of the Emperor’s sons, Byamba, and his blind tutor, Sifu, who manage to beat all the enemies up.

As the emperor fights the poison, there’s confusion as to whether the attack came from Song or not. However, the blind tutor reveals it was all courtesy of Hashshashin, some mythical kind of assassins. Even though Jingim thinks they’re dead, Marco reveals he heard of the name on his way there and knows where to look for them.  Despite the Prince’s intention to send soldiers, the explorer suggests that he goes there himself with a few others as a merchant, instead of arriving as enemies.

With Marco Polo looking to keep his father and uncle alive while Jingim is in power, the Blue Princess is informed by her protector on the Khan’s incident. Sifu tells the Latin all about the dark, war-related arts of Hashshashin before he goes out looking for them, while Kokachin advices him to run now that he’s got the chance.

Sidao claims the killed men from Song were murdered by Mongolians in order to declare war with the Mongols.  Meanwhile, Jingim and Ahmad suspect Marco for Hashshashin’s attack against the Khan. Byamba thanks the explorer for rushing to save the Khan’s life and the two of them talk about Jingim and Kublai a bit, sharing family stories.

Mei Lin is quick to send her brother, Sidao, a message with the news of the Khan’s fall, and despite the messenger’s hesitations, she is pretty persuasive. At the dungeons of Kublai’s court, the last living prisoner of the attackers is being tortured to speak about who hired him. While there, Jingim talks to Marco’s father and criticizes leaving his son before birth, revealing that he was asked to keep him alive. However, he thinks both father and son will end up dead.

Marco Polo and the rest arrive and look for the Old Man who trains Hashshashin, but have no luck, as no one is willing to tell them – they’re selling a flower that guides to paradise to attract him. With Jingim realizing how tough being the Khan of Khans is, Empress Chabi hides her pain in front of her son, but soon bursts into tears once he’s gone. Negotiations eventually get the Latin to see the Old Man through.

With Jingim advised to prepare for war, Marco and Byamba are given something to smoke before meeting the deadly Old Man; but right when the explorer sees him, he’s taken into an illusion of a sex orgy – he even makes love to his beloved Blue Princess in it! The guy finally presents himself and talks with Marco Polo, but soon as the latter finds out who sent the assassins, he’s removed from the scene. The bad guy’s hand-writing looks familiar at least, seeming to be the one of his supervisor, the tax collector. The important thing is Sidao was not the one though.

Ahmad wants war and makes sure the captured member of the Hashshashin hasn’t spoken despite efforts; the Khan’s son looks really suspicious though and he could be the one responsible for the attack in the first place! Wasn’t he the one responsible for the tax collector’s actions after all? But anyway.

Sidao finds out someone looked to kill the Khan and boasts that the Emperor will live to be killed by him. With Marco Polo and his gang making it away from the Hashshashin alive, Byamba realizes the Old Man indicated he was paid by someone close to Kublai for the assassination, with a map given to them. On the way back and before delivering the news, he offers the Latin the opportunity to leave, but such thing is obviously not on the list.

Ahmad happily shares the news of his father waking up with Jingim, who spends his respected amount of time on the throne, but eventually got Kublai to it, so as to announce his return. With Marco Polo making his triumphant return, the Khan asks him and Byamba to follow the map and find the traitor. For the grand finale, the explorer gets to pick his relatives’ punishment, with the two getting their hands marked.

Another intense episode that was! Who’s looking to take down the Khan and what’s the motive behind it? Make sure you keep watching Marco Polo to figure everything out.

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