(Spoilers for Season 2 of the Netflix original series “Marco Polo” ahead. And a disclaimer: As a dramatization of historical events, “Marco Polo” will of course not follow historical records to the letter. This “fact check” is for fun, not criticism.)
In the midsection of the second season of “Marco Polo,” during the episode “Let God’s Work Begin,” viewers are thrown quite a wild card when Gabriel Byrne makes an appearance as Pope Gregory X in Acre, Israel.
It’s a momentous occasion that will change the direction of the story completely — because the Pope is meeting with none other than Niccolo Polo and Nayan, one of Kublai Khan’s family members.