The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov is interwoven with the Great Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon's invading army.

As Moscow is set ablaze by the retreating Russians, the Rostovs flee their estate, taking wounded soldiers with them, and unbeknownst to them, also Andrei. Pierre, dressed as a peasant, tries to assassinate Napoleon but is taken prisoner. As the French are forced to retreat, he's marched for months with the Grande Armée, until being freed by a raiding party. Part four of the four-part adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel.

The plot is inspired by a popular romance of those years. Young Nina loves her fiancé Rakitin. The young couple are drawn to lasting happiness, but first Rakitin has to finish his business in the province, and Nina has to take care of her inheritance. Rakitin leaves. While Nina is preparing for her first independent concert, she is constantly surrounded by her attorney in the matters of inheritance, a certain Gorsky.