In The Great Season 2, Catherine finally falls in love with her husband Peter. But when Catherine finally gives in, things get messy when she finds out that Peter killed her mom. So, will Catherine forgive Peter? Will Catherine and Peter get back together in The Great Season 3?
The answer is yes, Catherine and Peter get back together in The Great Season 3. But their marriage doesn't last long because Peter dies.
The Great Season 2 Recap: Catherine and Peter Fall in Love
Peter and Catherine start out as enemies. In the first season of The Great, the two already have a complicated relationship. Catherine gets excited to marry Peter, believing he was a Prince Charming and they would have a fairytale love story.
But things don’t turn out her way because she realizes that Peter was a tyrant and killed as he pleased. Wanting to change things for Russia, Catherine successfully takes Russia from Peter in a coup.
Peter, however, already falls in love with Catherine towards the end of Season 1 despite the coup. In Season 2, he spends his time trying to make Catherine fall in love with him. While Catherine was working to prove herself a rightful ruler of Russia, Peter was busy making her fall in love with him.
But Catherine loathed Peter, especially after he killed her lover, Leo. But in the middle of Season 2, Catherine starts relying on Peter for sexual satisfaction but makes it clear to him that she wants nothing more.
Throughout Season 2, Catherine starts growing fond of Peter and starts to look for him for comfort. Later on, Peter shares that unrequited love is a burden.
Catherine responds that she can be ruthless and judgmental, but Peter says that Catherine just thinks she is “perceptive and precise in attributing everyone’s deficiencies and shortcomings.”
Catherine then responds “Sometimes I think you’re the only person who really knows me. You look at me and I can tell you sense all of me.” And before the season finale, she confesses that she loves Peter too.
However, their romance doesn't last long after Catherine finds out that Peter slept with her mother and accidentally killed her. Catherine tries to kill Peter, but she's relieved as she ends up stabbing Pugachev, Peter's look-alike.
What Happened to Catherine and Peter in The Great Season 3?
In The Great Season 3, Catherine and Peter try to make their marriage work. They agree to leave all things in the past, like Peter sleeping and killing Catherine’s mother, and Catherine trying to kill Peter.
Catherine, however, sleeps with the U.S. ambassador so that she can get even with Peter. While this upsets Peter, they again decide to put all things in the past.
Throughout the series, Catherine works toward a new Russia while Peter takes care of their baby Paul. Peter was content being a loving husband and father, however, he starts seeing the ghost of Peter the Great, and the latter reminds him of the failure he’s become.
Peter asks Catherine if he could become head of the army, but Catherine refuses. So, to prove himself, Peter takes the Russian troops and sends them into battle to take back Sweden.
However, before the battle could actually occur, Catherine arrives. Peter explains that he needs to have a legacy, other than being remembered as someone who messed up his reign.
Peter also says that Paul will see Catherine grow larger, while Peter grows smaller. Catherine still refuses and tells Peter that they are his legacy as they have “rewritten” each other.
But while Catherine thinks that is enough, Peter says it’s only “close to enough.” Before he leaves, Peter says that he’s the only one who sees all versions of Catherine and that he loves all of them.
Peter adds that while Catherine thinks he’s destroying them, he is actually saving them. He also reminds Catherine that he loves her.
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. Eventually, she chooses to rise up for Russia and solve its current problems, like Pugachev’s uprising.
In the final scene of The Great Season 3, we see Catherine with short hair, dancing around in a black dress. She then breaks down and cries on the floor.
The Great Season 3 Ending Explained: Will Catherine Prevail?
While Catherine ends up triumphant after Pugachev’s uprising, it’s clear that while she may still lead Russia without Peter, she would not have it easy at first. Her dance and her new hair show how much she's changed.
But her breaking down and crying also show that she’s still broken inside. Commenting on the ending of The Great Season 3, showrunner Tony McNamara said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly:
“For me, it's not an ending, it's a rebirth in a way for her as a character. She hasn't ruled by herself yet and been without his... everything, even the grief of him colored everything she did. So I guess for me, it's like now she's free of him and she's deeply damaged, what happens now?”
Additionally, asked by Collider whether she thought about what it would be like to do another season as Catherine, without Peter, actress Elle Fanning said:
“That’s so sad. I’ve definitely thought about it… The way that the season ends and her dance and how she cuts her hair, she’s reborn and she’s changed so much. Each season, she always changes, but this time, she’s really prepared to step into herself, on her own. The whole series, she has always had Peter, and now, she has to actually let him go, to be able to be the leader that she needs to be. So, it would be exciting to get to do that.”
Thus, we can expect to see a stronger version of Catherine the Great in another season of The Great, even though Peter is no longer with her.
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The Great is available to stream on Hulu.