SHATNER: Thousands of people gather to celebrate
the coronation of Czar Nicholas Romanov II
and his wife, the Empress Alexandra.
For more than 300 years,
the Romanov dynasty ruled the vast Russian Empire.
But Nicholas's reign would be a troubled one
during very troubling times.
Nicholas II, the last Romanov on the throne, was probably
the last person who ever should have been on the throne.
He was weak, indecisive, uh, passive.
And at the time, Russia was modernizing.
And so Nicholas was facing all sorts of challenges
from a society that wanted a greater voice
in politics and the economy.
But in fact Nicholas was dictatorial,
authoritarian, in many ways very brutal.
And he insisted on plunging the country
into what would become the First World War...
...and was never able to sort of guide
the political institutions into the modern era.
And-and he failed in just an epic, epic fashion.
SHATNER: Less than ten years into his reign,
Czar Nicholas was confronted
with worker strikes and military mutinies.
Russians across the country were upset
that while the aristocracy lived a life of luxury,
average people struggled to make ends meet.
With civil unrest building momentum throughout the empire,
the Romanov family lived a secluded life
in the capital city of St. Petersburg.
In 1904, Alexandra gave birth to their fifth child,
a boy whom they named Alexei.
But the joy of having an heir apparent
to the Romanov dynasty was quickly overshadowed.
Alexandra gives birth to a son.
Glory, glory, glory.
Except the son has a hereditary medical condition.
Hemophilia.
He lacks a component in his blood
that allows it to clot.
So, to understand Alexandra, you have to
understand this is one of the reasons
she will become drawn to mysticism.
SHATNER: In order to ensure Alexei's well-being,
Nicholas and Alexandra sought the help
of a mysterious Siberian mystic
named Grigori Rasputin.
SPENCE: Grigori Rasputin was born around 1869.
And he was a Strannik,
a kind of traveling preacher.
Not a priest, not a monk,
but what he really was, was a shaman.
Because what he's claiming is that,
"The spirits have spoken to me
and they have given me powers."
So, what are the powers he claimed to have?
Well, the two most important-- prophecy and healing.
SMITH: In the early 20th century,
Russians as a whole
were obsessed by the notion
of mystics and peasant holy men.
And that's the way Rasputin was finally able
to gain access to the palace
and to meet Nicholas and Alexandra for the first time,
because they were, they were also fascinated
by people like this.
SHATNER: Beginning in 1906,
Rasputin acted as an important faith healer for young Alexei
and a trusted prophet for Czar Nicholas.
From the very beginning that Rasputin
makes contact with the Romanovs and is embraced
by them as a friend-- it's the actual word they use--
people become jealous, they become envious.
You have courtiers and mighty aristocrats
who don't get to go to court, they would say,
"Here this 'dirty peasant' gets to go in.
Why don't I get to go in?"
Which was the sign of an aristocratic family.
By late 1916,
there's already been several attempts
on the life of Rasputin,
and he begins to come to this realization
that he's a marked man.
He is not going to live much longer.
SPENCE: Rasputin tells the empress,
"If I'm killed by the nobles,
"that will mean the end of you and your dynasty,
and none in your family will live more than two years."
Now, that's a pretty scary prophecy
because, you know, he had mystical powers
from the forces beyond.
SHATNER: Shortly after making his dark prediction,
Rasputin was invited
to the Yusupov Palace in St. Petersburg,
where several Russian noblemen
poisoned, shot,
and ultimately drowned the Siberian mystic
in the freezing waters of the Moika River.
PAUL STONEHILL: It took a lot of effort to kill Rasputin,
but it was a treacherous murder, and they did kill him.
It was at a very bad time
because there was nobody else to give advice to Nicholas II.
But it was not as bad as what came after.
SHATNER: After 300 years of Romanov rule,
Czar Nicholas II is overthrown
by the Communist Bolsheviks.
In the aftermath of the revolution,
Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and their five children
are exiled to the remote town of Yekaterinburg.
At that time, the decision is made to execute the family.
They are awakened at night
and forced to go down to the cellar.
The person in charge,
he says, "By the decree of the people,
"to prevent your liberation,
you are to be executed,"
and shoots the czar.
-(gunshots) -The czar is killed immediately
and so was his wife,
and of course the royal family.
Rasputin prophecy of doom was absolutely correct.
He was killed by aristocrats,
and after that, less than two years, Czar was gone
and his family was gone.