In 1939, Wernher von Braun abandons his dream of space travel to work for the Nazi regime, redirecting his rocket research toward weapons as World War II erupts. In the United States, Joan Hinton begins studying nuclear physics and quickly recognizes both the power and danger of nuclear fission, especially as Germany advances its own research. Meanwhile, Nazi expansion across Europe triggers a massive refugee crisis. Golda Meir fights to help Jewish refugees reach the British Mandate of Palestine, but British restrictions force her and her allies to take increasingly drastic measures.

In 1941, Hedwig Höss builds an idyllic family life beside Auschwitz as her husband becomes commandant. News of mass Jewish killings reaches Golda Meir in Tel Aviv, where German advances threaten Palestine and strengthen her resolve to resist. In Kyiv, Nikita Khrushchev is blindsided by Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union and struggles to defend the country while protecting his family.

In 1942, as the Soviets struggle at Stalingrad, Nikita Khrushchev pushes for a counteroffensive while secretly rescuing his granddaughter after his son goes missing in action. Meanwhile, Wernher von Braun achieves a breakthrough in rocket development, only to partner with the SS after Allied bombing destroys his facility, leading to the use of concentration camp labor. At the same time, Frantz Fanon, a young Black volunteer from Martinique, faces racism while fighting with the Free French forces as they advance through southern France.

In 1944, physicist Joan Hinton joined the Manhattan Project and witnessed the first atomic bomb test, later questioning the moral cost of the weapon she helped create. Meanwhile, Frantz Fanon fought to liberate Alsace while enduring racism within the French army, causing him to doubt the cause he served. As World War II ended in Europe, Nazi loyalist Hedwig Höss fled from Soviet forces but was captured by the British and forced to choose between protecting her children or betraying her husband. The war concluded in the Pacific with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leaving the world—and Hinton—shaken by the devastation.

In 1947, Golda Meir sees her dream come true: the newly founded United Nations decides to partition Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state. However, the creation of Israel is to meet with strong resistance in the Arab world.

In 1952, Frantz Fanon became head physician at the largest psychiatric hospital in French Algeria. Shortly afterwards, the uprising for Algerian independence began. In Moscow, the death of Stalin in 1953 heralded a radical change in direction.