The series starts during the 20th year of the sultan's reign. They are planning a big project, the Hejaz Railway. However, the Sultan's brother-in-law, Mahmut Paşa, the Brits, and Theodore Herzl are trying to sabotage this project. In the harem, on the other hand, a strong rivalry between Bidar Sultan and Seniha Sultan extends to their family. Also, the sultan's brother Murad's daughters come to the palace. His eldest daughter, Hatice Sultan, falls in love with Kemalettin Paşa and plans to marry him while on the other hand Naime Sultan, the Sultan's daughter, also is in love with Kemalettin and tries to win his heart, eventually getting ill. Hatice Sultan with her love for Naime pretends that Kemalettin loves Naime by giving a Naime a letter which Kemalettin had written to Hatice. Mahmut Paşa, Seniha Sultan's husband, piles slander upon slander on Mehmet Paşa, Bidar Sultan's brother, eventually getting him exiled.

The new century begins. Sultan Abdülhamid changed the fortune of the Ottoman, who had not been victorious in the last two centuries, and won the Greek War. The war that ended at the front continues at the table now. Parvus, the vizier of the Global Monarchy, pretends to be an engineer and gets into the palace. The sultan is preparing the state for a great war with his development moves and launches the oil move that starts wars for the new century after the railway move. While Parvus is struggling to end Payitaht with agents spread all over Istanbul under the leadership of Marco, his right-hand man, Sultan Abdülhamid's extraordinary and successful nephew, Murad, fights with his team at the expense of their lives. Sultan Abdülhamid is unaware of the storms in his harem while fighting to protect Payitaht. Entering to avenge the her mother, who was fired from the palace, Firuze helps the enemies in their war against the Ottoman Family.

In the palace, the wounds of the last serious incident are tried to be healed, and the death of Fehim Paşa is mourned. Sultan Abdülhamid ensured Parvus was thrown into the dungeon in England. The partner of this plan, Crowly, is found where he is hiding in Egypt and punished by Halil Halid. Fuat Efendi, the son of a former Khedive of Egypt, comes to Payitaht. Bidar Sultan cannot forget what has happened to her. Moreover, she cannot make anyone believe what he remembers about her accident, which is that it was deliberate and that she was kidnapped and taken to someone's house; everyone just calls it nightmares. Meanwhile, Şivenaz, fiancé of Fuad Efendi and daughter of Mr. Rothschild, comes to the palace and makes problems in harem. The Young Turks become a true organization when Sabahattin goes to Paris and becomes a leader. Sultan Abdülhamid sends Zühtü Paşa, who everyone thinks is a traitor, to Paris as a spy.

The revolution was suppressed and the fire in the palace was extinguished. However, its consequences and destruction continue. Sultan Abdülhamid makes veladet-i humayun celebrations to show that the Ottoman Empire was not destroyed and cannot be destroyed easily. The news of victory from Payitaht brings together the adversaries of Abdülhamid once again. During the celebration, Zuluflu Ismail Paşa is revealed to be the elder brother of Sultan Abdülhamid, surprising everyone including the enemies. Cemile Sultan, who came to Payitaht for Veladet-i humayun celebrations, manages to disturb everyone in harem, causing Seniha Sultan to leave. Meanwhile, Zalman David Levontin comes to Payitaht disguised as Mr. Gustav, making secret moves against Sultan Abdülhamid. Zalman is eventually exposed and punished, so the Brits send William Hechler as an ambassador. He openly becomes enemies with Sultan Abdülhamid, making many moves before being defeated and imprisoned.

Season 5 begins with Ferid Pasha becoming the Grand Vizier. Sultan Abdülhamid's older brother Murad V passes away, leaving behind an heir that will take his place in the Freemasons, which he left in his will in the form of a composition. Ahmed, İsmail and Selim Pasha were ordered to follow that man on a train to Thessaloniki, but he gets killed. Since a meeting for the Masons was held in Thessaloniki around that time, either one of them could have been the Mason Pasha. All three Pashas were questioned. İsmail and Ahmed Pasha called each other the traitor. The season and series ends with Sultan Abdülhamid's dream of walking down a long hall seeing the great pervious Ottoman rulers. The rulers shown were Suleiyman the Lawgiver, Mehmed the Conqueror, and finally, Osman Gazi. Each ruler gives a short message to Abdülhamid. The final scene shows Abdülhamid standing in front of a painting of himself in the hall.