The Empress gracefully made its way to Netflix on September 29, 2022, and won the audience over with its one strike. The German political drama is now one of the top series on the OTT platform right now, and rightly so. Its gripping narrative of Empress Sisi’s life story is beautifully brought on-screen with a cast that raises your expectations exponentially.
With six episodes covering the plot over the first season, the historical drama was co-created by Katharina Eyssen and Lena Stahl and stars Devrim Lingnau as the titular protagonist, Philip Froissant as Emperor Franz Joseph I, Melika Foroutan as Archduchess Sophie i.e. the Emperor’s mother, Johannes Nussbaum as Maximilian i.e. the Emperor’s brother and more.
Netflix’s official synopsis of the series reads:
WHEN ELISABETH UNEXPECTEDLY FALLS IN LOVE AND MARRIES EMPEROR FRANZ JOSEPH, SHE ENTERS A WORLD OF GROWING TENSION AND INTRIGUE AT THE VIENNESE COURT.
-The Empress Ending Explained Contains Spoilers-
Following the marriage of Sissi and Emperor Franz Joseph, the former must assume a status of authority owing to her title. However, the Archduchess has her own agendas to fulfill and isn’t ready to slacken the ropes of her own command of the kingdom yet. She simply can’t accept Elisabeth’s rebellious ideas of mingling with the common folk and tries her all to berate her position.
The Archduchess isn’t the sole bearer of such schemes seeking to plot against Elisabeth. Maximilian, Sissi’s brother-in-law, who also fell in love with her during the initial course of the episodes, has his own vengeful cards up his sleeve, in the hopes to overtake his brother’s reign.
The last concluding arc of the finale episode titled The God Who Us Has Freedom Sent knits together a complex map interweaving each character’s finality, leaving no stones unturned. We must scour the complications to understand all that happened in the end, and that’s what we’re going to do.
The Empress Ending Explained
Johannes Nussbaum seamlessly stepped into the shoes of the Emperor’s conspiring brother. He expended all his sweat and tears in his attempts to overthrow his brother’s rule. Alas, in the end, he’s met with a miserable response from all sides. Franz uncovers the truth about his facade and the Tsar’s army retreats on the other side.
There’s no doubt that he’s committed treason and is arrested for the same as well. So, his schemes didn’t fare well in the end, after all, resulting in an even worse disposition than before.
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As far as the Archduchess is concerned, her plans pay off (at least for a while) as Elisabeth decides to return to her home ground, eliminating the “distraction” interrupting Franz’s “leadership”. However, as her things are being packed, she discovers that she’s pregnant after several attempts to fulfilling her “sole duty” as pronounced by the Archduchess. She keeps it a secret, revealing the truth only to Countess Apafi i.e. Ava.
The Archduchess had also previously condemned Countess Esterhazy, her lead lady-in-waiting to accompany Elisabeth out of the kingdom and stick by her side, owing to her failure of pushing Elisabeth into pregnancy. She’s removed from her reputable post and despite the multiple pleadings and her outrightly begging to let her stay beside her, Archduchess Sophie shows her no mercy.
On the other hand, Countess Amalia (Hanna Hilsdorf) was hellbent to expose Ava’s true identity but in a tussle, the former falls off the railing and dies on the spot. Ava even gets her partner Egon killed as she alerts the Emperor’s man-in-waiting about the assassination attempt, and it looks like she’s decided to stay behind as the false lady-in-waiting but one who shares her conscience with Elisabeth.
As the common crowd charges to the gates of the regal palace, Franz orders the guards to eliminate them all, which the Archduchess finds quite delightful as she finally sees him take control as the Emperor she always wanted him to be. Simultaneously, Elisabeth approaches the iron gate in her carriage as she was meant to leave. However, upon hearing the cries of an infant in the crowd, she is again taken over by a sense of empathy for the people, reminded by the thought of her own soon-to-be-born child.
Defying all norms, she steps out and the pain in her heart surges to the peak as she firmly exclaims “I see you”, in hopes of making their pain and affliction feel validated. As she’s announcing her own pregnancy for the first time to the public, Franz also reaches the location, descending from his uplifted and privileged point of standing. Elisabeth embraces the people in the crowd, establishing her own presence and stance in the kingdom with poise, and gaining the people’s trust at the same time.
The Empress Season 2: Has the Show Been Renewed For Another Run?
Now reigning in the top 5 shows on Netflix, the series hasn’t been officially renewed yet. No word from the horse’s mouth has reached our ears, but with time we hope for The Empress to return simply because it would be a tragic failing if it doesn’t. Netflix shows often take their own time to settle in but with the period drama having been released only a week ago, it’s already garnered so much positive acclaim. It would be a shame to not bring back our beloved members of the Viennese court at this point.
Some other series saw the light of the day with the announcement of their sequels only after a month’s time. Maybe, Devrim Lingnau’s royalty will tread on the same path.
If and when we receive the news of the show coming back for another installment, we hope to see most of the former characters resume their respective journeys in Season 2, except maybe Countess Amalia (Hanna Hilsdorf), since she’s obviously dead.
In terms of what direction the sequel may head into, it’s likely to pick up upon the revelation that Elisabeth is in fact with a child. Her final acknowledgment and acceptance of the public as her own is also bound to overturn the royal house’s chain of command. Her original plan was to leave for her maternal home and by the end, she’s still cross with her husband as well.
Her relationship with both Franz and Sophie is going to assume a novel route without a doubt. The Archduchess seemed to have been relieved upon Elisabeth’s exit but now that she has indeed fulfilled her ostensibly ‘sole duty of producing an heir’, she won’t be able to assert her demands on Sissi anymore. Moreover, Maxilian’s ulterior motives have also been divulged to Franz, which is also going to switch the pace between the two brothers as Franz’s perception of Maximilian was already gradually souring up.
Each of these dynamics will take its shape once the second season is confirmed for good. Till then, all we can do is hope for the best.
All six episodes of The Empress are streaming on Netflix.
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