‘The Great’ Season 3: Elle Fanning, Nicholas Hoult on [Spoiler]’s Fate

The following incorporates main spoilers from The Great Season 3, together with the finale. Proceed accordingly.

Peter III (performed by Nicholas Hoult) survived a coup and an assassination try by his spouse Catherine (Elle Fanning), solely to be taken out by… skinny ice.

The Great, which launched all Season 3 episodes on Friday, killed off the discontented former emperor in Episode 6 with out a lot fanfare. As Peter bade farewell to Catherine on horseback, he and the stallion fell by means of ice, by no means to be seen once more. His sudden demise could have caught the empress off guard, however portrayer Nicholas Hoult says he was conscious of his character’s destiny beforehand.

“[Showrunner Tony McNamara] had prepared me for when he was going to die, and so I wasn’t shocked by how,” Hoult tells TVLine. “There had been rumors, I guess, circulating about how he would die for a while.”

Before Peter took his deathly ice plunge, he and Catherine argued over his plans to invade Sweden in what amounted to a ridiculous energy seize that might have been disastrous for her reign. As he crossed the ice, he paused briefly, and it seemed like possibly he modified his thoughts. But Peter slipped by means of the floor earlier than he might end his sentence, leaving his ultimate ideas a thriller.

“I think it summed up Tony’s writing perfectly that the last words that Peter says, ‘Actually, I…’ and you’re not quite sure what that could have been or what he was thinking and where things would have gone had that not taken place,” Hoult explains. “So it was emotional to read and emotional to film and tough to say goodbye to the character, but beautifully done.”

After Peter’s demise, a grieving Catherine emulated her late husband by means of impulsive selections like asserting plans to invade Sweden and sleeping with a stranger as a result of she felt prefer it within the second. Towards the top of Episode 10, she pulled herself collectively and confirmed indicators of the good chief she’s destined to turn into, all whereas nonetheless grappling with loss. The empress wrapped the season with a euphoric dance to AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” after killing a would-be murderer and ordering Archie to be buried alive. (Unbeknownst to her, Marial pulled him from the grave alive.)

“I think it’s the most important relationship in her life, and that will always be there. But I do think that for her to step into her power and truly be the leader that she feels in her heart is her destiny, Peter has to not be there,” Elle Fanning, who performs Catherine, notes. “In some ways, they were both holding each other back. As sad as it is, it had to happen, and I think she is almost reborn in that last scene. It’s a new Catherine, but also a Catherine with weight and history.”

“I think in the first season, she’s a girl that doesn’t look like she really has a past. She hasn’t experienced much life yet,” the actress continues. “At the end of Season 3, she’s seen so much and lost so much and experienced that pain. You have to experience those things to be able to relate to your court and your people and have empathy in a different way. I’m hoping that she’ll step into that leader we want her to be because she hasn’t quite gotten there yet.”

As for the AC/DC music, that was all Fanning.

“I picked it,” she shares. “I go home a lot after work and dance alone to let off steam. There are certain songs I listen to, especially when my adrenaline’s high and it was a good day or a bad day. That’s one of the songs, and so I was thinking about the dance and what I wanted it to be, and I just I love that song so much. I also love the juxtaposition it brings the show. We always have a little needle drop at the end, so that was our needle drop. And then the credits are silent. That was a choice.”

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