Exiled on Elba, Napoleon Bonaparte spends his time building forts and bridges and courting the loyalty of the local population, all while plotting a return to power in France. This film picks up that plan and follows it to its end, tracing his escape from the island, the rapid collapse of the restored Bourbon monarchy, and the raising of a new army in the space of weeks. The narrative builds toward June 1815 and the field at Waterloo, where the Duke of Wellington's coalition forces and Prussian reinforcements under Blücher meet the Emperor's army in the battle that ends his rule for good. Historians walk through the terrain and the tactical decisions on both sides, using maps, battlefield locations, and period art to explain how a campaign that opened with real momentum turned into a rout. The film treats Waterloo as the last act of a longer story, closing out an account of Napoleon's rise with the specifics of how it fell apart in a single day.