By 1809 Napoleon Bonaparte has reached the height of his power, but this episode traces the cracks already spreading through his empire. The Battle of Wagram delivers a costly win over Austria, one that drains French manpower even as it looks like victory. In Spain, the guerrilla war historians call the Spanish Ulcer keeps bleeding French troops and morale with no clear front line to fight on. The film lays out how the Continental System, Napoleon's attempt to strangle British trade, starts failing as smuggling and resentment spread across Europe, and it follows the family dramas inside Napoleon's court that weaken his political footing at home. Using period art, maps, and expert commentary, the episode builds the case that 1809 to 1812 is when the myth of Napoleon's invincibility starts to crack, years before Russia. It sets up the disaster to come by showing the empire was already hollowing out from within.