The Last Czars (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - The Boy - full transcript

She was here... in this room

with its ghosts and its nightmares.

Could anybody have survived it?

A family died here.

Anastasia, do you remember them?

No!

Do you remember them?

Do you remember them?

Do you remember them?

How did you get away?

According to the notes in her file,



she remembers being shot at,

wounded, beaten...

and ending there.

Do you think she could have escaped
that cellar with those injuries?

Maybe they left her for dead.

After all...

it was the Czar
that they wanted to get rid of,

and the boy.

Alexei...

the boy who would be Czar,

but whose birth...

would lead to tragedy.

To be the Czar was to have absolute power.

He could choose
whatever his heart desired...



except what he needed most.

A son, an heir.

For this, he had to do

what the poorest among us must do.

Pray...

for the grace of God.

God is miraculous through his saints,

God is miraculous through his saints.

God is miraculous through his saints.

God is miraculous through his saints,

God is miraculous through his saints.

Please, Seraphim, give me a son.

Give me an heir.

Oh, God.

Oh, Heavenly Father.

Oh, most merciful and compassionate God.

Shine your mercy upon us,
and bless us now with glory.

Don't move.

Don't pull out.

The longer you stay inside me,
the better our chances of a boy.

It will happen.

Have faith.

The Romanovs have ruled Russia

for almost 300 years, since 1613,

and Alix has had four children,

all daughters.

But of course,
only a son can succeed to the throne.

As a result of this,

they're starting to turn to all sorts
of different methods

to attempt to conceive a son.

Nicholas thinks that it's important
that for generations to come,

the Romanovs will rule Russia

and that he is in many ways
the trustee of that rule.

I'm sorry.

No more state occasions.
You're staying in bed.

Look, we won't...

risk anything going wrong.

What do we do if it's another girl?

Then we throw her in the river.

I don't think I can do this again, Nicky.

- I'm getting too old for it.
- No.

- Mm!
- No.

- Brush your teeth.
- Get out.

A good Russian Czar
is supposed to produce a male heir.

That's his number one job.

His number two job is to conquer lands.

He fails with one of those,
he is not considered a good Czar.

Nicholas felt enormous pressure

to continue the dynasty

and expand the empire.

He saw his opportunity in the Far East.

This brought him into conflict
with a rising power, Japan.

He was sure that he would win the contest,

and that Japan would never dare
go to war against him,

which is a colossal misjudgment.

- When did they attack?
- Midnight.

They torpedoed...

the Czarevich...

Retzivan...

Pallada.

They are fucking monkeys.

Without a declaration of war.

They did try every diplomatic avenue.

There is only one way to respond.

The Japanese
are a huge industrial and military force.

I know what your father would do.

Tell Japan we are at war.

This is a situation that
Nicholas misjudges catastrophically.

Like any conflict, if it goes badly,
it could jeopardize his rule,

and indeed, the Czarist regime.

Part of the problem
for Nicholas is that he has

a picture of the empire in his head,

which, in many ways
is a kind of fairy tale,

based on the history books
that he read about the 17th century.

So, by keeping his head in the sand
in this way,

he consistently makes the same
bad decisions over and over again.

Nicholas is a dogmatic decision-maker.

That's why he consistently ignores

advice from good policy-makers.

Thank God you've done it! Ha!

The Czarevich!

To Alexei.

The birth of Alexei
is incredibly important.

He's the long-awaited son
that they had hoped so much for,

and that they think is going to secure
the Romanov dynasty.

It's a cause of huge celebration
and relief for Nicholas and Alexandra.

You know what it could be, don't you?

Yes.

We'll get the doctor.

The curse.

Within days of Alexei's birth,

the joy that Nicky
and Alix feel turned to ashes

when it becomes clear,
from a bleeding navel,

that the child is suffering
from hemophilia.

The sufferers bleed
from any wound or bruise,

internally or externally.

Alexandra herself knows
exactly what hemophilia means,

and this is something that runs

in many of the royal families of Europe.

Alexandra's own uncle and brother
have died of hemophilia.

There's nothing wrong with my son.

This is a nightmare scenario

for Nicky and Alix, or any parent,
in fact.

Hemophiliacs died young.

Alexei was quite likely to die

before his father, before Nicky.

Medical science couldn't really help them.

What they needed was a miracle.

At the moment
that Rasputin arrives in Petersburg,

it's an incredibly timely moment

for the kind of rise he is going to have.

He's not necessarily someone
who turns up with an arch-plan

right from the very beginning,
to go to the top,

but he's very good at realizing
when something is open to him

that will enable him to increase
his power and his wealth.

Bishop Germogen.

So...

you are Grigori Rasputin.

Yes, your Holiness.

My references...

from Bishop Feofan.

Wait here.

I may have some work for you.

Thank you.

He will give you a child.

He hears you.

He hears you.

On the road to healing, there's pain.

You're fine, you're fine...

How long?

This disease is...

very unpredictable.

He can have years of good health.

And then, one day...

it can turn.

Turn?

A nasty knock, a cut...

a bruise.

It could kill him.

Nicky, darling, please...

There's rumors that Czarevich is sick.

We understand that you don't want
to say anything,

but we know someone.

Just say the word.

When Rasputin first arrives in Petersburg,

he's introduced very early on
to the so-called Black Princesses.

They're very closely connected
to all of high society.

They're also interested in mysticism.

From Pokrovskoye, Siberia.

He's arrived in Moscow
with excellent references.

The Bishop says
he has genuine miraculous powers.

You've got to understand
that Rasputin's home village

is over a thousand miles
east of St. Petersburg.

It's the frontier. Herds of reindeer.

It's wild.

It couldn't be more different

than the social rules of St. Petersburg.

He's from another world.

Why do you need all this?

All this junk?

Don't be scared.

It's all right.

Don't look at them. They don't matter.

Look at me.

Mm.

You're like the night...

cold and dark.

So much grief.

Now the ice has set in.

Your love has nowhere to go, it's...

It's frozen.

Is it for him?

Your husband?

No.

No, this is much...

much deeper.

Isn't it?

So fragile...

and tiny...

your little girl.

It's okay.

It's not your fault.

Look at me.

You saw her suffer,

didn't you?

And all the love was in vain.

She's gone.

She's gone.

It's not your fault.

You were just a child, too.

Weren't you?

Only a child.

That's it, that's it.

Let it out.

Good.

People were starving
for that kind of person

to come in and tell them
what to do with their lives.

It feels like he really understands
those he talks to.

It feels like he's a very warm
and caring person,

and actually,
a lot of his advice is really humane.

He's someone who people talked about,

his ability to know exactly what to say
to people who are in distress,

and in some ways,
he's kind of a soothing balm for them,

a soothing presence.

What will the people say?

They want a strong Czarevich,
not an invalid.

They'll lose faith in him.
They'll blame us.

No one can find out.

They've already noticed.

We must deny it.

What happens when he gets sick?

We'll give him his own bodyguard.

We'll get him the best medical care
there is.

We'll tell only those we must.

Those we trust implicitly.

It's arguably a big mistake

that they decide to keep this secret.

What they do by keeping him
away from the public eye,

is that they seem to be retreating
from the Russian people.

For a monarch,

to have their heir as a hemophiliac

is just a disaster.

And Nicky and Alix reacted

by becoming even more paranoid,

and the pressure of keeping the secret
of Alexei's illness

affects the political decisions that Nicky
and Alix made for the rest of their reign.

They've bombarded Port Arthur
for over two weeks

and shattered the Pacific fleet.

The Siberian Army Corps
have been forced to retreat.

Now's the time
to use a fucking sledgehammer.

The people are desperate
for a better life.

They don't need a war.

That's exactly what they need.

Don't let people walk all over you, Nicky.

The Baltic fleet. Give me numbers.

Forty-two ships.

Twelve thousand sailors.

Nicky... this is madness!

Send them all.

Don't come to me
when it all turns to shit.

The Baltic fleet is the mainstay

of Russia's power in Europe.

If Russia loses this fleet,

its standing amongst the great nations
of the world collapses.

It's a really, really dangerous moment,

and defeat in war is potentially
catastrophic for the dynasty.

As Nicholas makes this desperate gamble
to win the war with Japan,

things are going from bad to worse,
outside the walls of the palace.

I mean, in St. Petersburg,
there are protests, there are shortages.

The war is not going well,
and the home front is even worse.

People say, "Well, the autocracy

and the Czar's ministers
are making terrible decisions.

Perhaps, what we need is an actual
representative democracy,

and then we would have a government
that was making better decisions

for the Russian Empire."

Cannot be leaving this place
a second sooner.

Had it up to here with this fucking city.

And the fucking Czar
constantly needing his hand held.

Oh, what the hell?

These bloody extremists should be shot.

All of them!

Get a fucking move on!

"March to The Winter Palace,
ninth of January.

We wish our father, the Czar,
to deliver us from the evil oppressors,

the despotic and irresponsible government,

and the capitalist exploiters, crooks,
and robbers of Russian people."

The Czar, in 1905,

doesn't really understand
what's happening around the country,

and he doesn't understand
how pervasive revolutionary ideas can be.

He believes still in the sacred bond

between himself
and the mass of the Russian peasants.

The war is going badly, disastrously.

There are strikes
in all the big factories.

There is discontent, there is terrorism.

Russia is seething,
on the edge of revolution.

In January, the situation
comes to a head in St. Petersburg.

A huge crowd gathers
to demand better working conditions.

This was a peaceful protest,

and the idea was that the good Czar,
the 'Little Father, '

would smile on them and help them.

That was their dream.

What does Mirsky say?

It's under control.

He called troops
to reinforce the garrison.

Alix wants us to leave St. Petersburg.

You can't.

Alix is at breaking point.

You have no idea
how difficult it's been with Alexei.

The people need to see their Czar.

You must stay and accept the petition.

- It's not that simple, Mother.
- You have to be strong.

You need the people behind you.

Nicky...

you have no choice.

All packed.

Cars are ready.

I don't think we should panic.

The army's been alerted.

We'll stay.

Duty, my dear.

In times such as these,
the Romanovs have to be strong...

Your first duty...

is to your family.

Your children,

your heir...

his safety.

I've heard there are thousands coming.

Thousands of angry peasants and workers.

Why else would the army have been alerted?

- All the more reason why you should stay.
- Oh, what?

Like sitting targets?

As Czarina,

you should be behind
the emperor's decisions,

- not challenging them...
- As Czarina,

I will protect my children.

By all means,

stay if you want.

This is not only a mistake for Nicholas,

this is a huge missed opportunity.

This would have been
an excellent opportunity for him

to symbolically play exactly the character
that he saw himself as.

The divinely appointed 'Little Father'

that listens to the crying pleas
of his people.

He panics, and he leaves the capital.

He should have stayed,
he should have received the protesters,

and he should have received the petition.

He basically hides from the situation
in another palace.

Nicholas decides
to leave behind the regiment of guards

with orders to fire on protesters
that get too close to the Winter Palace.

The protesters
are advancing towards infantry,

the infantry hopes that they will stop
at the stop line,

but they don't.

The crowds keep pushing forward.

The troops fire a couple of warning shots,

and the shots actually hit the kids
who are hiding in the trees,

starting a horrible carnage.

The troops start shooting, and...

at least 1,000 people die.

2,000 more are wounded.

This is a disaster,

and a very, very visible bloodbath
in the streets of St. Petersburg.

They say the people were cautioned
again and again

that they were going to shoot.

So... they were warned?

But they didn't stop.

They say there were thousands running
towards the soldiers,

that there was no way of knowing
if they were armed.

What else are the soldiers meant to do?

Of course they had to shoot.

The people.

Apparently, they were singing
"God Save the Czar."

"Apparently."

Does it say that in the report?

They will never forgive me for this.

Look at me.

Look at me.

You've done nothing wrong.

For every 1,000 that march,

there are 10,000 that look to you
for guidance right now.

Just as I do.

I...

couldn't have survived the last few months
without you, Nicky.

Now it's time to show the people
how strong you really are.

This is
a huge turning point in Russian history.

It becomes known as Bloody Sunday.

This is a moment that leads many people
to lose faith in autocracy altogether.

People start to talk about the need
for an elected,

representative government.
What's called in Russian, a "Duma."

In fact, Bloody Sunday radicalizes

a lot of the political body of Russia.

Russia is now cursed with a plethora

of terrorist organizations,
revolutionary parties,

all of whom are using violence
and terrorism

to destroy society

and recreate a new workers' paradise.

And from now on,

though no one knew at that moment,

you know, politics in Russia would be
a fight to the death.

The people spearheading the revolution

are not the type of people
you might imagine.

These are educated men

that are passionate about the cause

of overthrowing the monarchy
and changing Russia.

They're willing to give their lives.

Men, like Ivan Kalyayev,

he's an educated man,
he's a published poet.

They have taken,

shall we say,
the terrorist-anarchist experience

of the previous 20 years to a fine art.

They're assassinating imperial officials
all over the country by late 1905,

and seriously jeopardizing
the imperial administration

that relied on these officials.

Rubbish.

They'll print any crap.

Don't, darling.

You'll make yourself ill.

Grand Duke Sergei is very much

the greatest nemesis
of the revolutionaries.

As governor of Moscow,

he has hunted down revolutionary groups.

He's a reactionary, brutal,
bloody-minded man.

No wonder
revolutionaries want to kill him.

Fuck!

Fuck!

No, no...

I've done my duty!

Oh, this is dreadful.

After all those years
of selfless public service.

Nicky, is there really no way
we can get to the funeral?

No.

It's not safe. We have to stay here.

My poor sister.

Nicky and Alix understood very little

what was really happening in the streets.

They lived in what today
we'd call a bubble.

Incredibly, Sergei's widow, Ella,

actually goes to see Kalyayev in prison.

She's desperate to understand
why he's committed this atrocity,

which, I think, shows us
how out of touch the Romanovs were

with public feeling at this time.

I want to forgive you.

I don't need your forgiveness.

Why him?

Why my husband?

Remember the ninth of January?

Thousands marching to see the Czar, and...

That wasn't his fault.

Did you really think
there'd be no price to pay?

He was a good man.

He had blood on his hands.

Like all of you.

I will pray for you.

I don't want your prayers.

Keep them for yourself.

This is just the beginning.

Sergei's death sets off a snowball

of indiscriminate violence and revolution.

And in fact, the whole Russian Empire
now starts to sort of unravel.

Huge swathes of it
start to fall out of the Czar's control.

Nicholas says
to his Minister of the Interior,

"You're talking
as if this is a revolution."

And the minister says,

"Your Imperial Majesty,
this is revolution."

As Russia slips out of Nicholas' control,

the war in the Far East
is going from bad to worse.

They've lost on the ground,

and when the Baltic fleet finally finishes
its epic journey around the world,

to meet the Japanese fleet,

it is defeated in only 40 minutes

at the battle of the Tsushima Straits.

This is a terrible moment for Nicky.

Russia is totally humiliated.

Nothing drives revolution
like political and military defeat.

Riots, and strikes.

Schools and factories shut.

Disorder, bloodshed...

This cannot go on, sir.

We need military dictatorship.

No!

Give the people the government
they're asking for.

This time, it was the Grand Duke.

Who is it going to be next?

But we are a monarchy.

So is England,
but they have a parliament, too.

Hear me out.

You need to have

an elected legislature.

A Duma.

It's the only way.

When I arrived at the palace,

I came as a tutor.

But my role, ultimately,
was to bear witness to history.

Welcome, Monsieur Gilliard.

Your French tutor.

This is Alexei.

This is Olga.

Tatiana, Maria,

and Anastasia.

I expect you all to behave, comme il faut.

- Was that right?
- Absolutement parfait.

Perfect, your excellency.

It is a pleasure to meet you all.

You're not very tall, are you?

Enchanté.

That is when I first met her.

A little girl

with no idea of the terrors ahead.

Her notes.

She said a guard helped her escape?

She says he hid her with his family.

Hm.

Then, the Bolsheviks came,
and he smuggled her to Bucharest.

So, he saved her life.

So she says.

She also says he raped her.

And that they had a baby together.

Then, he was killed by Bolshevik agents,

so she left the child with his family,
and then she ran away.

A week after she arrived in Berlin,
she threw herself off a bridge.

Things she collected.

Photographs, newspaper articles.

It's to remind her of who she once was,

or to help her learn
who she's trying to be.

You think she's another impostor?

They're after the fame and the money.

Many, many people want to make
a claim on that world.

Being rich and famous
never kept anyone safe.

It was a dangerous time,

even before war and revolution.

These elected representatives

will propose and approve law.

They will discuss the work
of the Czar's government,

and they will be able to look
at the budget.

Now, how old you think
they will have to be

to be a member of the Duma?

So, Nicholas is finally convinced

that he has to offer real concessions
to the Russian people.

He promises
an elected representative government,

what's called in Russian, a Duma.

So, this really is a massive concession
for an autocrat to make.

It's the first time that any Czar
has agreed to anything like this before.

What were you doing, agreeing to this?

It's a temporary measure. I had no choice.

No choice?

You're the Czar.

God rules through you.

I had to give the people something.

It starts with something,
but where does it end?

They'll want more.

Be careful, Nicky.

For Nicholas...

the moment when he offers concessions
to the people is a very tragic one.

But on the other hand, the Duma is weak,

and the Czar can ignore its decisions

or veto its decisions at any moment.

The whole Duma business is very risky.

It gives people the taste of democracy,

and there is always the risk
the people would want more democracy.

It's a mess.

The fact is,
the Czar remains the autocrat,

and even though the Duma is elected
by a large electorate,

it actually doesn't have as much power
as it looks like it has.

So, it's a paper tiger.

While the Duma was busy debating,

Nicholas was more interested
in repression,

a ruthless and vengeful crackdown
on revolutionaries.

1905 saw a dramatic rise
in death sentences and executions.

Thousands of revolutionaries
are killed across the empire,

but men like Kalyayev,
who were prepared to die for the cause,

welcomed the death sentence.

He tells his judge,

"Learn to look the advancing revolution

in the face."

- Fuck the Czar!
- Aim, fire!

Towards the end of the year,

Alexei falls and hurts himself,

and begins to bleed internally.

There's terrible swelling in his leg.

The doctors, they try everything.

They're doing everything
they can to help him.

His pulse is very quick.

Let's try and get fluids into him.

Where the hell were you?

I told you! It only takes a second.

Just a second of taking your eye off him!

It's okay.

It's okay, my darling.

The swelling is worse.

His blood pressure is dropping.

All we can do is give him
something for the pain.

Mummy's here.

Mummy's here.

Oh! Christ, my Lord,

who saved Jonah
out of the belly of the whale

and Daniel out of the mouths
of the lions...

You said you know someone.

Deliver us now

from the dreadful darkness
of the Prince of Evil...

We want an introduction.

Right away.

Let not the Devil come
over the deathbed of thy servant.

Oh my Christ,

let not the Devil come
over the deathbed of thy servant.

Oh my Christ,

deliver us now.

Deliver us...

Enough.