Reinhard Heydrich is serving as an officer in the German Navy. After beginning a relationship with Lina, he is court-martialled for breaking his word to another woman he had been having sex with. He marries Lina and follows her in joining the Nazi Party and idolising Adolf Hitler.

He meets Heinrich Himmler and is appointed head of SS counter-intelligence, working with Heinrich Müller to fight Communists in Weimar Germany. After Hitler is appointed Chancellor, Heydrich becomes Chief of the Gestapo.