Following an interregnum when he was a child ruler, Mehmed II inherits the Ottoman throne at the age of 19 in 1451. His Grand Vizier is Halil Pasha. The Ottoman capital at the time is Adrianople.

The Greek-speaking eastern Romans in Constantinople nurture Prince Orhan who is a claimant to rule the Ottoman Empire.

Mehmed II orders the "Throat-Cutter Fortress" to cut off all supplies and military aides from the Roman allies in the Black Sea.

Loukas Notaras, the Grand Duke under Constantine XI, distrusts the Catholic Church based in western Rome under the Pope's control. The Eastern Romans have had―for over 400 years―their own Greek-speaking Orthodox Church following the East–West Schism in 1054.

After claiming the Ottoman throne, Mehmed II sends an unmistakable signal to Byzantine emperor Constantine XI. Genoese mercenary Justinianus comes to the aid of the vastly under-staffed Eastern Romans with barely 7,000 troops to defend 14 miles of Theodosian Walls.

Unlike the dis-united Crusades from western Europe to Jerusalem, the Ottoman army was highly centralized under the leadership of Mehmed II focused on breaking into Constantinople.

Mehmed II uses the Basilica cannon to penetrate the Theodosian Walls.

In a flashback to Mehmed's childhood, the narration goes back to when Murad II appoints his teenage son as the governor of the Amasya Province. Afterwards, Mehmed II starts with first reign of the Ottoman Empire at the age of 13—becoming the youngest king in Ottoman history. His ministers (viziers) informed him that John Hunyadi is a major threat in the west.

Mehmed launches an ambitious siege to break through the walls of Constantinople, but Giustiniani's mercenaries manage to forestall the Janissaries.

The Galata Tower is a colony of Genoa serving as a watchtower over the Golden Horn.

Baltoghlu, an Ottoman admiral, wants to stop the reinforcements from Genoa.

John Grant susses out the localities of the Ottoman sappers undermining the city walls. Upon locating the Ottoman tunnels, Grant and his men torch them with Greek fire.

Đurađ Branković, the ruler of Serbia, is hosting her daughter Mara who is also Mehmed II's stepmother.

Mehmed's men dig underground tunnels in an attempt to shatter city walls. The tides turn against the Ottomans when a naval blockade founders.

The Eastern Roman Empire is essentially the walled-off city-state of Constantinople in 1453.

Mehmed moves his ships overland to the Golden Horn in a daring, visionary feat. In the shadow of betrayal, Giustiniani attacks the Ottoman fleet.

Amid a spiral of brutality and low morale, Mehmed makes Giustiniani an enticing monetary offer.

The coffers of the city-state of Constantinople have become empty since the last ruler John VIII; the old hub of the Roman Empire can't trade to generate any revenue. Constantine XI can't pay the few remaining soldiers fighting to keep the Roman Empire afloat while no aid arrives from western Roman Catholics. Constantine announces that "God will pay" the soldiers, ordering a raid on the assets and artifacts of the Greek Orthodox churches.

The grand vizier urges Mehmed to seek a truce with his rival.

Ottoman cannons reduce the city walls to rubble, and Venetian reinforcements arrive too late.

Catholic Europeans don't answer the Crusade calls of the Greek-speaking Romans in Constantinople (although back in 1203 when the 4th Crusaders arrived, they overthrew the Roman Emperor to set up the Latin Empire.)

Mehmed II named himself the Caesar of Rome since Constantinople had become the new Roman capital a 1,000 years prior. Mehmed orders the execution of Notaras. Finally, Mehmed executes Halil Pasha, his Grand Minister, for not believing in him when he was a teenage king.

Mehmed II solidifies his reign, but in nearby Wallachia, childhood friend Vlad the Impaler gains notoriety and seeks to challenge Mehmed's hegemony.

Hamza Bey is dispatched to forcibly bring Vlad to Constantinople.

Vlad travels to Buda to solidify a military alliance with Matthias Corvinus.

Mehmed sends Mara to coax Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus into an alliance.

Mehmed's forces reach the port city of Nicopolis; an epic battle along the Danube River looms, and Vlad has the upper hand.

In a flashback, Radu and his brother Vlad the Impaler are being raised by Murad II in Constantinople to ensure that their father Vlad II Dracul doesn't join forces with Hungary to fight against Ottomans.

In June 1462, Mehmed II's troops have crossed the Danube River into Wallachia; As the night attack at Târgoviște unfolds, Vlad employs guerrilla tactics to weaken his rival. A threat lurks in the imperial palace.

Radu, Vlad's brother who was raised in the Ottoman royal court, is in Mehmed's camp.

As the war drags on and resources dwindle, Vlad wages biological warfare on Mehmed's army.

Radu closes in on Vlad's castle to take Anastasia, Vlad's wife, hostage. However, she commits suicide.

Mehmed prepares to strike a fatal blow to Vlad's army. A spy is found in Mehmed's camp. Vlad launches a nighttime attack, but a surprise awaits.

Vlad and Mehmed face off. Mara and Gülbahar foil the Wallachian plot. Ottoman troops march into a scorched Târgoviște and face a gruesome sight.

Vlad impales Hamz Bey.

Radu is crowned in Wallachia after Vlad Dracula flees to Transylvania