Russia, the seventeenth century. The country is temporarily ruled by Natalya, because Tsar Fedor III has just passed away. Her fourteen-year-old son Ivan is not yet old enough to take on the task. Ivan has a four years younger brother, Peter. Natalya, in reality the stepmother of the boys, is after power and soon it is rumored that she wants to kill her eldest son so that she will be at the top. A military revolt ensues, as a result of which Peter and Ivan will rule the country together under the leadership of their older sister Sophia, who in turn is assisted by her lover Prince Basily Golitsyn. Meanwhile, the youthful Peter grows up in complete freedom into a wild young man. As he gets older, he succumbs to pressure from his mother who wants him to marry Eudexia. Although their marriage is not much, a male heir is born, Alexis. Not long after, Sophia and Golitsyn commit a blunder. 45,000 Russians are killed by an error of judgment. Peter and his supporters then manage to remove Sophia and Golitsyn from power.