The Great follows Catherine, a young Prussian princess who marries Peter III, Emperor of Russia.
Her dreams of marrying a handsome Emperor and co-ruling Russia are shattered when she
discovers that Peter is a childish and cruel oaf. Catherine does her best to persuade Peter
into making benevolent choices for Russia, like supporting education and the arts, but Peter also
has the Archbishop Archie in his ear discouraging matters that could hurt the church’s power.
Catherine soon realizes her position in Russia is little more than a prisoner being used to
birth Peter an heir, prompting her to contemplate suicide. But Catherine’s servant Marial stops her
and informs Catherine that in Russia, if there was no heir, the throne would be given to the empress.
And so, Catherine and Marial conspire to assassinate Peter. Marial used to
be a lady of the court, but was demoted to being a servant as punishment for her father
defiling the corpse of Peter’s mother. Punished for a crime she had no part in,
Marial has been holding a grudge against Peter, and she’s not the only one. And so, Catherine
spends much of season one acquiring enemies of Peter as her allies in her attempted coup.
Catherine befriends and recruits Orlo, a fellow intellectual on Peter’s court who
ultimately turns on the emperor after being forced to cut off the beard of Alexi Rostov.
Catherine also befriends Peter’s strange and mercurial Aunt Elizabeth. Although she is
against Catherine’s plan to assassinate Peter, Elizabeth does murder Peter’s half-brother
Ivan to secure Catherine’s position as second in line for the throne. So,
you could say Elizabeth’s true loyalties are a little unclear.
There’s also Velementov, a general in Peter’s army who has grown frustrated with Peter’s
complete lack of political and military strategy. He also harbors an unrequited crush on Catherine,
ultimately pushing him to align with her and her coup.
Knowing their romantic relationship had become completely non-existent,
Peter gifts Catherine a man named Leo in the hopes of keeping her happy. Leo was sterile,
therefore Catherine was free to have a sexual and romantic affair with him.
Catherine and Leo end up falling in love, and Leo joins in on her coup conspiracy.
But not everyone that hates Peter is quick to join Catherine’s plans. Peter’s best friend
Grigor grows increasingly bitter that Peter is constantly sleeping with his wife, Georgina.
Late in the season, Grigor even poisons Peter himself, but Peter survives the attempt,
unaware his best friend was behind it. Grigor and Peter have a heart to heart,
where Grigor explains his feelings about his best friend sleeping with his wife,
and Peter promises to end the affair. At least for now, this keeps Grigor on Peter’s side.
While planning her assassination attempt on Peter, Catherine is also fighting to make progress for
a better Russia. She manages to negotiate a peace deal that ends the war between Russia and Sweden,
a huge political win that proves she has the necessary skills to be a great leader.
But as Catherine’s planned coup is finally coming to fruition, things get seriously complicated when
she discovers that Peter has grown to actually love her AND that she was pregnant with his baby.
Peter attempts to have Leo killed, but when that attempt is botched, he has Leo imprisoned until
Catherine will commit to him fully. Catherine then impulsively springs into action, attempting to
murder Peter on the spot. Peter is able to disarm Catherine and locks her in her room. Velementov,
not realizing that Catherine has fumbled the assassination attempt, proceeds with the coup,
storming the palace with his recruited army. Scared that Peter will have Catherine killed
for the attempted coup, Marial reveals to him that Catherine is pregnant.
And so, Peter decides to not kill Catherine, and is excited that he finally has an heir on the way.
Catherine then asks Peter to give up the throne for her, as she was the better ruler and he could
spend the rest of his days partying without any responsibilities or worry, knowing that his heir
could one day carry on his legacy. Peter seems to consider this arrangement, but ultimately
declines and tells Catherine to have Velementov call off his men or Peter would have Leo killed.
And so, Catherine has Velementov call off the coup
and Leo is released. But though she loved Leo, Catherine knew she loved Russia more. So,
she kissed Leo goodbye and returned to Velementov to resume the fight.