Episode list

1571. Moscow was devastated after the brutal raid of the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray. Hundreds of thousands of people were taken prisoner. Sovereign Ivan the Terrible thinks that his kingdom has come to an end. Wanting to leave a memory to his descendants, he begins to write a chronicle - from the very first year of his reign.

Tsar Ivan at the zenith of his glory. He gathered around him faithful people and wise advisers - Sylvester, Alexei Adashev, Metropolitan Macarius and Prince Andrei Kurbsky. He triumphantly took impregnable Kazan and annexed it to the Russian kingdom. He created a new army and established a new law. But most importantly, his wife Anastasia finally gave birth to his heir Demetrius.

The king orders Adashev and Sylvester to conduct a search for the death of Demetrius. The maid who dropped the heir into the water managed to escape. Ivan orders to urgently find her. Anastasia is inconsolable, her grief knows no bounds. The queen wants revenge for the death of her son, but does not believe that Adashev and Sylvester will conduct an honest search.

The Livonian war is going on with varying success. Hopes for an easy victory did not come true. Chelyadnin enters into an agreement with the neighbors of Livonia - the Lithuanians. He hopes that Lithuania's intervention in the war will help to overthrow Ivan. Chelyadnin's plans are hindered by Andrey Kurbsky.

Metropolitan Macarius dies. From his last conversation with the king, it becomes known about the changes that have taken place in Ivan's life. He now has a new environment and new closest advisers: Alexei Basmanov and Afanasy Vyazemsky. Unexpectedly, the tsar leaves the Kremlin.

Basmanov and Vyazemsky learn about Ivan's intention to go to the monastery. For them, the tonsure of the king will mean death - the zemstvo boyars will instantly destroy the oprichnina. They need to prevent this. Chelyadnin has changed a lot and now thinks not about personal gain, but only about saving the country, which, as he is sure, Tsar Ivan is destroying.

Vyazemsky pushes the tsar to think about the trial of Staritsky - he has always been the center of boyar turmoil. Ivan categorically rejects the offer. Staritsky is his brother and never wished harm to the tsar. However, Ivan sees signs everywhere that incline him to reprisal against Prince Vladimir.

The Crimean Khan Davlet-Girey comes to Russia. Ivan is ready to fight, but he learns that the Tatars outnumber the Russians many times over. The tsar understands the inevitability of defeat and retreats, opening the way for the khan to Moscow. The capital fights bravely, but is unable to resist the cruel onslaught.