Opening: November 3, 1903. Philippe and Colonel Shaler face a Colombian firing squad. Tension peaks, then cut to black.
Flashback: Paris, 1881. Young Philippe, brilliant but insecure, hears Ferdinand de Lesseps present on the Panama dream. His hunger for glory is revealed.
Voyage: Philippe dazzles Jules Dingler and meets Pauline aboard ship. Seeds of love and ambition are planted.
Parallel thread: Senator JT Morgan begins plotting for Nicaragua; Isaac and Rebecca Turner are persuaded to emigrate.
Closing beat: Philippe arrives in Panama, gazing at the daunting jungle that will define his life.

Philippe impresses Dingler with his skill; gets command of the toughest excavation site.
Pauline’s husband dies, and she is left destitute. Philippe hires her as a secretary.
Dr. Amador and nurse Maria are introduced in Colón hospital; Philippe bonds with them through his concern for workers’ health.
In Paris, the middle-class mania for canal shares grows, Maurice gets a big role at Credit Lyonnais.
Tragedy: Dingler loses his family to disease and commits suicide. Philippe is promoted to chief engineer at only 26.

End: Philippe stands before thousands of workers, determined but terrified.

La Veille, French Consul-General, doubts Philippe but becomes impressed after witnessing his tireless work. He recommends him for the Legion d’Honneur.
Workers’ suffering deepens: the Turners lose a child, Isaac is injured, conditions are hellish.
Philippe and Pauline grow closer—he rescues her from xenophobic riots.
Conflict: De Lesseps grows jealous of Philippe’s rising stature.
End: Philippe is nominated for the Legion d’Honneur, but De Lesseps plots to humiliate him.

The Turners’ arc darkens: Isaac dies, Rebecca struggles for survival.
In Paris, rumors of overspending spread. Newspapers abroad print the truth, while French papers remain corrupted.
Philippe, La Veille, and Amador risk their lives rescuing Pauline and Maria from riots.
Climax: De Lesseps visits Panama, demotes Philippe in front of journalists. Demoralized, Philippe contracts yellow fever.
End: Pauline rescues him and nurses him back to health on the voyage home. They fall in love, and Philippe reveals his shame about his parentage.

In Paris, Philippe debates staying with Pauline or resuming his dream. Bigelow urges him to embrace the American model of free enterprise.
Philippe gambles everything, buying a contractor with his brother’s name and money. Maurice is furious but trapped.
Philippe tells Pauline he must return to Panama. She refuses to follow. Their hearts break; she burns his letters.
Two innovations are dramatized: evacuation bridges and underwater explosives. Philippe risks his life during a dive surrounded by snakes.
End: Financial collapse in Paris - accelerated by JT Morgan’s trick - destroys the Canal Company. Eiffel is disgraced; Philippe and Maurice are enriched but tainted.

Philippe shifts focus to the U.S. canal debate. Nicaragua is favored thanks to Morgan’s manipulations.
Philippe tours America, captivating businessmen with warnings of volcanic disaster in Nicaragua.
Morgan ambushes him in public, goading him about his illegitimacy. Philippe lashes out, and the scandal makes headlines.
Senate commission still leans Nicaragua—until Philippe executes his masterstroke: sending telegrams to all newspapers, saying there has been a volcanic eruption in Nicaragua, while also sending postcards of erupting Nicaraguan volcanoes to each senator on the day of the vote.
End: Senators panic, the vote flips to Panama. Morgan is humiliated, but Philippe’s triumph is tenuous

Colombia demands $10 million; Roosevelt refuses. Morgan pushes Nicaragua again.
Philippe conspires with Amador to launch a Panamanian independence revolt, relying on bribes and U.S. Marines to protect the railroad.
November 3, 1903: Colombian reinforcements arrive early. Philippe and Shaler are captured, marched to face execution—the cold open returns.
Climax: Philippe tricks Colombian officers onto a train; they are overpowered. The U.S. warship Nashville arrives, Marines land, Colombians retreat. Panama declares independence.
End: Philippe, already named Panama’s ambassador, rushes to Washington and signs the infamous treaty granting the U.S. sovereign control of the canal zone before Amador arrives.

Philippe is wealthy but haunted. Maurice runs their newspaper empire, but Philippe longs for something more.
Panama is free but shackled by an unequal treaty. Roosevelt basks in his triumph; Morgan disappears in disgrace.
Resolution: In Paris, Philippe lingers in Les Halles market. Pauline notices exotic Panamanian fruit at a stall. She turns to find Philippe waiting. They reunite in tears—his greatest victory is personal, not political.
Final image: The canal under construction, a monument to ambition, betrayal, and love.