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In July 2020, Hulu renewed the series for a second season which premiered on November 19, 2021. In January 2022, the series was renewed for a third season. In the eighteenth century, a young and naïve Catherine marries Peter III of Russia. Her ambitions and optimism shatter as she discovers Peter’s frivolous, cruel, and spiteful nature, and realises he only married her for an heir. Catherine finds an unexpected friend in her maid, Marial, a former noblewoman demoted to serfdom.
As Catherine and Marial seek to arrange Peter’s death, Marial suggests seducing Orlo, a member of Peter’s inner circle. Catherine fails to seduce Orlo and tells her plan to him. Catherine and Orlo prepare manifestos for their new era, whilst Peter brings a ‘lover’ for Catherine, Leo Voronsky. Orlo suspects Leo is spying for Peter.
Catherine asks Leo to pretend he has slept with her. The next day, she assures Peter that she and Leo had a great night and asks him to let Leo go. Instead, Peter beats Leo for not convincing her to keep him. Catherine and Leo pursue their love affair. News arrives that the patriarch, Bishop Ivan Illyich, the Russian Orthodox church leader, has passed and Peter must choose a new one by the following day. Catherine, Marial, and Orlo continue to plan for their new era, aiming to appoint Bishop Tarcinkus as the new church leader. Catherine and Elizabeth visit the Russian front amid the war with Sweden.
Appalled by the horrors she witnesses, Catherine becomes determined to gain the throne in a nonviolent manner. She fails to convince Peter to withdraw the military. Peter feels inspired to better himself after his brush with death. Elizabeth encourages Peter to sire an heir, leading him to seek out Catherine. They become more intimate, putting a strain on her relationship with Leo. Catherine uses Peter’s newfound interest in her to encourage him to bring arts and sciences to Russia. Thanks to Catherine, the Russian court is excitedly absorbing culture.
Catherine believes she can change Russia by influencing Peter instead of killing him, and gives him a printing press. Despite Archie’s opposition, Peter likes the press’s ability to print cartoons and allows it to stay. Catherine and Peter travel to meet the King and Queen of Sweden for peace talks. Peter tries to make amends with Catherine by giving her a large diamond, but she remains angry with him over the deaths of the serfs.
En route to Sweden, Catherine tries to get Velementov to join the coup, but he is only interested in seducing her. Orlo, Marial, Velementov, and Leo set out to bring more aristocrats to Catherine’s side, with mixed results. Velementov and Leo are forced to kill Count Gorky after he refuses to join the coup. Elizabeth’s suspicions are aroused, as Gorky had been Peter the Great’s best friend. Shocked at the revelation that she is pregnant by Peter, Catherine wakes on her 21st birthday determined to enact the coup. Peter prepares a special cake and other gifts for her, then plans to kill Leo, believing this will cause her to transfer her affection to him.