1715, Russia. Rumors about the end of the world and the second coming are circulating throughout the country. The most courageous and desperate preachers claim that Emperor Peter Alekseevich is the Antichrist himself. This idea is penetrating more and more firmly into the hearts and souls of not only the common people, but even the Tsar’s inner circle. So who was Peter for Russia? A great ruler who looked far ahead and managed to force the whole world to respect his state, or a great destroyer, an enemy of everything old, true, who cut off his native, primordially Russian roots with a blunt overseas ax? The contradictory personality of Peter I appears in all its strength and weakness against the background of his complex relationship with his son, Tsarevich Alexei.