In The Great Season 2, Catherine successfully overthrows her husband Peter III and takes over Russia. She works to change Russia for the better, as well as prove herself as its rightful ruler.
Along the way, Catherine falls in love with Peter. However, their romance was cut short after Catherine finds out that Peter accidentally killed her mother after sleeping with her.
In The Great Season 3, Catherine and Peter try to make their marriage work. Catherine also continues to work towards a new Russia while Peter struggles with having to prove himself after his father, Peter the Great, gets in his head.
So, what happened at the end of The Great Season 3? This article provides a recap of the season and explains the ending of The Great Season 3.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Great Season 3. Read at your own risk!
The Great Season 3 Recap: Peter’s Death Explained
While deaths aren’t new in The Great, Peter’s death was a shocking one because he’s a lead character in the series and his death occurred in the middle of the season.
In the latest season, Peter accepts that he is no longer the ruler of Russia and becomes busy being a good father and husband. However, he struggles with an identity crisis after his father, Peter the Great, appears to him in visions and reminds him of the failure he’s become.
So, Peter asks Catherine if he could be head of the army. He assures her that he will lead the country into victories and be known as a great military leader.
However, Catherine refuses after Peter messed things up for Sweden. She claims that tens of thousands died and more would’ve had she not solved it.
Additionally, Hugo, the King of Sweden, convinces Peter to gather Russia’s troops and let them ride into battle to take back Sweden. He even tells Peter that his legacy is “the man who lost Russia to the woman who lost Russia.”
So, to prove himself as a capable leader, Peter steals Russia’s troops and sends them into battle to take back Sweden. But before the battle could actually occur, he is stopped by Catherine (thanks to Grigor who informed her about Peter’s whereabouts).
Peter crosses a frozen lake to talk to Catherine and convince her to allow him to send Russian troops to take back Sweden. He explains that doing so would allow him to have a legacy, other than being known as someone who messed up his reign.
Peter says that while Catherine will grow larger, he will grow smaller, and that is what their son Paul will see. But Catherine refuses and tells him that they are his legacy as they have “rewritten” each other.
That is enough, according to Catherine. But Peter says it’s only “close to enough” and that while Catherine thinks he’s destroying them, he is actually saving them.
Peter then leaves on horseback, but while crossing the frozen lake, he sinks into the freezing water. Grigor tries to save Peter but fails.
Catherine becomes mad and convinces herself that Peter is not dead. Elizabeth and Petrov go back to the frozen lake to retrieve Peter’s body, but Elizabeth chooses to leave him there after seeing that Peter looks peaceful.
Pugachev’s Uprising Explained
Pugachev, Peter’s look-alike (it’s actually Nicholas Hoult with bad teeth), pretends to be Peter and leads an uprising that seeks to overthrow Catherine. He becomes a threat as his supporters grow in numbers each day. He is even supported by Archie and Arkady.
Catherine captures Pugachev and confronts him about raising a land of hate. But Pugachev says that he didn’t have to do much because the people already don’t like Catherine. He also harbors hate for Catherine after the latter stabbed him five times in The Great Season 2.
Catherine chooses not to kill Pugachev because killing him would make people think that she killed her own husband, Peter. Pugachev’s absence could also cause challenges to Catherine’s legitimacy as nobles would try to replace Pugachev.
All this is possible because Pugachev looks like Peter. Catherine tries to get into an agreement with Pugachev, but Maxim shoots him before the plan could actually take place.
Georgina Marries Paul
At the end of The Great Season 3, Georgina (or George) marries Paul, Catherine and Peter’s infant son. This plan was laid out by Hugo, who tries to bring Georgina to his side.
Grigor tries to stop the ceremony, but Archie already said “Amen,” which means that the marriage was complete. This marriage allows Georgina to have a claim to the throne as the wife of Catherine’s heir.
Thus, if Catherine dies, Georgina becomes Empress until Paul comes of age. Georgina, as Hugo puts it, is an “opportunist.” This betrayal isn’t a surprise as Georgina never really sincerely cared for Catherine.
She even starts the rumor that Peter already died even though Catherine was still grieving. Her marrying Catherine’s son will definitely give her the power she always wanted.
How Does Catherine Fix Everything?
Things get out of hand after Peter’s death. Catherine loses the trust of her court after she hid Peter’s death from them. While Catherine goes through depression, Pugachev becomes stronger each day.
Towards the end of The Great Season 3, Catherine picks herself up and rises again to save Russia. Catherine fixes everything by doing the following: first, she appoints Maxim to become the future head of the army and sends him away to a military academy in Vladivostok to hone his skills; second, she orders Petrov to attack Pugachev’s headquarters using cannonballs, and Pugachev’s head goes flying into the building; and third, she forces Archie to sign two proclamations.
One proclamation states that the comet that would pass Russia is a heavenly sign that Catherine the Great is Russia’s destiny, and the other states that the church’s serfs shall be free.
She then asks her guards to beat Archie up, rip his beard from his face, and bury him alive for betraying her after Marial reveals that Archie has been working with Pugachev.
As to the ongoing rumors, Catherine instructs Maxim to spread the word that he killed Pugachev. She then asks Velementov to go south to tell the tale of how Peter really died.
Additionally, Catherine instructs Marial to prepare different statements: Peter is dead by hemorrhoids; Peter died of smallpox; Peter was killed while fighting the uprising; and Catherine is Peter the Great’s daughter.
The different rumors will remain gossip, thus, Catherine stays in control. Different rumors will also allow her to “get whichever she needs whenever she needs it.” And with the comet taken as a sign that Catherine is Russia’s destiny, no one would question her legitimacy.
The Great Season 3 Ending Explained: Will Catherine Prevail?
While Catherine ends up triumphant after Pugachev’s uprising, she appears to struggle with grief after. In the final scene of The Great Season 3, we see Catherine with chopped hair in a black dress, dancing around privately. She then breaks down and cries.
The ending of The Great Season 3 shows that Catherine will still continue to lead Russia even without Peter. Her dance and her new hair show how much she's changed.
And while it may not be easy for Catherine for she no longer has her husband supporting her by her side, it's clear that she would step up and become the leader she's meant to be.
Additionally, there is more story to tell in another season of The Great. It remains uncertain whether Catherine will ever find out that she unknowingly killed Orlo.
Catherine still doesn’t know that the traitor Archie is alive after Marial digs him up from the ground. There’s also the issue of succession considering that Georgina was lawfully wedded to Paul.
And we have yet to see more about Hugo and Agnes’ plot against Catherine. Thus, Russia will need its Empress more than ever.
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The Great is available to stream on Hulu.