The Great season 2 episode 10 recap: Does Catherine kill Peter?

In The Great season 2 finale, Catherine finds out a shocking truth about Peter. Plus, Marial prepares for her wedding day, Elizabeth makes a big choice, and Archie agrees to rally around Catherine.

Read on to find out what happened in The Great season 2 episode 10, “Wedding.”

The Great season 2 episode 10 recap: Whose side is Elizabeth on?

Peter and Catherine begin this episode in total bliss — a fact that makes Elizabeth ecstatic and Georgina and Marial irritated. Though Grigory tries to stop Marial from telling Catherine the truth about Peter having sex with and killing Joanna, after Catherine goes on and on about how he’s changed and they’re in love, she can’t help the secret from coming out. Catherine visits the grave to confirm for herself and is devastated.

She quickly begins to spiral, punching herself to avoid her feelings and hallucinating Peter, knowing she can’t kill him. She acts short and slaps Elizabeth, too, for covering it up. Elizabeth discreetly gives a note to a soldier to warn Peter that Catherine knows and he should flee.

Elizabeth eventually calms Catherine down, saying that Joanna’s death was an accident and they only kept it from her so she wouldn’t find out the kind of person her mother really was. Catherine’s delusion about the world and the people in it is a blessing and a curse, and she needs to reconcile her beautiful ideas about philosophy to the messy people in it. Catherine tearfully tells Elizabeth she has to choose either her or Peter, as she has to kill Peter despite not wanting to. Elizabeth says she already has by what she did today.

The Great season 2 episode 10 recap: Will Peter betray Catherine?

Marial not only tells Catherine the secret, but she also inadvertently tells Grigory that Catherine knows when she can’t look at them while they’re having sex. Grigory then accidentally tells Georgina, who lets Peter know. They are all furious at Marial for messing everything up and attempt to come up with a plan together. Georgina thinks the answer is obvious: to kill Catherine.

Peter is hesitant to the idea but hallucinates that Catherine will come after him. He decides to run away with Georgina and Paul, and Grigory stays behind asks Marial to run somewhere else with him. He’s abandoned Peter once and for all. Now she just needs to abandon Catherine, and they can live happily ever after.

Their plans are foiled, however, when Peter realizes he can’t take Paul from Catherine but he can’t abandon him either — he’s trapped. Hugo tries to get to him, saying that Catherine will run him and Paul into the ground with these ideas. After all, it’s exactly what happened to him in Sweden. He coaxes him into working with him to win back their countries so they and their children can take their rightful place in the history books.

The Great season 2 episode 10 recap: Is the Sultan a match for Catherine?

In the midst of the drama with Peter, Catherine is also dealing with the increased tensions with the Ottoman Sultan. She storms into Velementov’s tent and tells him to end the war immediately even though he believes he’s on a path to victory. She wants him to escort her to her meeting with the Sultan instead, but he stubbornly refuses, saying she needs to learn that her plan will not work on her own.

Orlo says the same, but she won’t listen to him, either. She’s not mad he stole the money — rather, she’s angry he didn’t believe in her. She brings a random soldier to meet with the Sultan instead. She attempts to appeal to his sense of compassion, telling her how sorry she is that he had to kill his brother to get this position. He admits he’s sad about this, and she says there must be a better way than violence to solve their issues. Perhaps they can create an experimental zone they share instead of fighting over it.

When Catherine is pointing to an area on the map, the Sultan stabs her hand, but Catherine grabs the knife from herself and plunges it into him instead. Elizabeth comes and saves her, and Catherine sucks up her pride to ask her, Velementov, and Orlo for help.

The Great season 2 episode 10 recap: Does Catherine kill Peter?

Catherine asks Archie for advice on what to do about Peter, but Archie says God hasn’t visited him in quite some time and he can’t help. However, he will be standing behind Catherine supporting her, as she believes in something.

At Marial’s wedding, Peter makes sure to hold Paul so Catherine won’t kill him. The two of them both give speeches, which evolves into them fighting about what Peter did with and to Joanna. Peter eventually breaks down, saying he’s sorry and that the worst part of life is coming up against your own limitations and hurting the person you love.

This seems to touch Catherine, and she admits that maybe a great love — like a great country — is a flawed one. The two kiss before Catherine takes Paul to bed, and Catherine says she will meet him in his apartments later.

However, once Catherine is out of the room, Velementov and his army bust in and arrest nearly the entire court beside Georgina. Catherine sneaks up behind who she thinks is Peter and stabs him — except she actually stabbed Peter’s lookalike, and he ends up being fine. Catherine bursts into relieved tears when she realizes she didn’t stab Peter after all, and the two embrace. However, there’s then an awkward moment when they both realize she just attempted to murder him. Where do they go from here?

What did you think of the season 2 finale? Comment below!