Episode list

It is 1914. Willem, Gerhard and P.G. are discontent with their circumstances at home, their dismal wages at the mine and the British government ruling their country. Bennie desperately tries to persuade his father not to send him the seminary in Holland. The friends make clever plans to try and multiply the little that they have and to stint the powers of the day, but this, inevitably, is not enough. With the start of World War I, the four are forced to join the Boer Rebellion. Their futures appear bleak until they decide to swear a blood pact with one another.

Because of Willem's lack of income, his family is evicted. After he meets J.B.M. Hertzog, he decides to become a volunteer for the National Party. Bennie has to face the wrath of his father and decides to start his own charity organisation. Here he meets Ina, but is soon deterred by her condescending parents. As a favour to Bennie, P.G. has some flyers printed, a deed that might start a career for P.G.. Gerhard returns to the mines where his unique opinions regarding the unions start to draw attention.

It is 1915, election year. When poverty becomes too pressing for Willem, he decides to collect money from the party supporters and is discovered. He is left with no choice but to enlist to fight in World War I. As Gerhard's viewpoints regarding the leadership in the mine-workers' union gains more support, the resistance towards him becomes increasingly violent. He becomes romantically involved with Jacqueline. Ina pays a visit to Bennie and allows him to kiss her. After both of them are seriously reprimanded about this, he ends all contact with her. P.G.'s relationship with Mister Cohen grows deeper and he becomes an apprentice at the printers. P.G. also meets Ingrid and the are immediately in love.

Dit is 1922, the great mining strike has commenced. Jacqueline begs Gerhard not to participate, without realising that this will be the biggest learning curve of Gerhard's life. Willem and Soekie's affair develops quickly in the midst of his responsibilities at the Republikeinse Leër and his unique involvement with the strike. After Bennie's father is killed, Bennie decides to it is time to take action against violence. He organizes a peaceful protest, but his naivety is not well rewarded. The assistance P.G. gives Bennie by printing his posters is also punished and leaves him in quite a predicament.

The dust has settled after the strike and the bloedbroers now have to carry the consequences. Gerhard is arrested, but the seed of equal rights has already been planted in his brain. Because of this reason he cannot reconcile his differences with Willem and it seems that their friendship might not survive their fall out. Henry threatens Ina and Bennie to stay away from each other, but Ina still goes to find him. They admit to each other that the flame from years ago is still burning and Ina decides to leave Henry for Bennie. P.G. urgently needs capital to buy a new printing press and receives it from the Broederbond by giving them a larger share in his business. They almost immediately start to censor the content and P.G. decides that it is better to lose his business than to betray his conscience. He, however, quickly makes a new plan for his future.

It is 1929. Gerhard has started working at the Communist Party of South Africa and recruits a young member of the ANC, Abraham Mpubani for the party. Meanwhile, Willem admits to the Republikeinse Leër that his former best friend is a communist upon which they ask him to spy on Gerhard and the party. He, thus, makes peace with Gerhard under false pretenses. Ina's cousin, Marika, comes to stay with the Naudé's for a while while she finds her feet in the big city. The relationship between Ina and Bennie are, however, not as rosy anymore due to Bennie's appointment to the Nasional Party. Bennie's new appointment puts him in the position to procure P.G. the necessary capital for the party members in order to expand his business. P.G. wants to start a family magazine, but Ingrid persuades him to consider a women's magazine of which she will be the editor.

Willem makes it his mission to infiltrate the CPSA. He pays Gerhard a visit at his office, meets Abraham and invites them to come for dinner at his house. Soekie, Gerhard and Jacqueline are dumbfounded at Willem's actions. Soekie, however, quickly discovers Willem's motives and also finds out what Willem actually does for a living. The poor economic climate forces P.G. to abort his plans to launch a women's magazine. This is a huge set back for Ingrid, but she is consoled by law on voting rights for women that has been passed. Bennie and Ina's relationship deteriorates even further as Bennie's power grows in the Nasional Party. When Ina loses their baby, she blames it on Bennie as is punishment from God.

Ina still resents Bennie for her miscarriage and pushes him even further away. After Ina gives Bennie the cold shoulder again, he makes advances on Marika with catastrophic consequences. Ingrid tells P.G. that she intends to run for parliament, but he refuses to let her. Bennie and the N.P. shareholders pressurizes P.G. to print propaganda and threatens to fire him for not cooperating, but P.G. will not stand for this. Willem is busy with even darker and more dubious deeds when he visits Gerhard and Abraham at the CPSA.

It is 1939. War has broken out in Europe and influences each of the bloedbroers and their families in a unique manner. Willem has joined the Ossewabrandwag Stormjaers, but is under a lot of pressure form the N.P.. Bennie approaches Willem to be a NP spy in the Stormjaers, but Willem refuses. This leads to him being arrested and taken to a concentration camp. Gerhard is also arrested and taken there on account of his Communist convictions. This time Jacqueline has to take action to protect the identity of the party members. P.G. takes it upon himself to ask Bennie to use his influence to release Gerhard and Willem from captivity, but Bennie refuses. P.G. retaliates by publishing an article that hurts the N.P.'s cause. He is arrested because of this. Ina argues with Bennie about his actions, but collapses in the process.

Ina is not well. The doctor ascribes her illness to female hysteria and prescribes Laudanum. Bennie quickly discovers the power of this opioid to control Ina. The other three bloedbroers are still in captivity. In the concentration camp, Gerhard is attacked by two Stormjaers, but is saved by Willem, who denies his involvement with the organisation. Odendaal convinces Willem to give his permission to have Gerhard killed. The truth is soon exposed and the friendship is finally over. Ingrid finds out about Bennie's affair and love child. She uses this information to blackmail Bennie into having the men released from captivity.

It is 1948. Ina is now addicted to Laudanum and Bennie's political power, as well as his power over her, has grown exponentially. Truida realizes that something is the matter with her mother's medication and she also find out about her father's infidelity and illegitimate child after he unexpectedly shows up at Bennie's house. She manages to save Ina from Bennie's control. Ingrid decides to stand for a position in parliament, but believes that an article placed by P.G. caused her to lose her candidacy. She is furious with him and bans him from their bed. The National Party decides to withhold all funding from the Stormjaers. Willem's son, Marthinus, and Gerhard's daughter, Antoinette, are secretly in love. Willem finds out and forbids the relationship, managing to drive Marthinus away. Jaqueline now works with Gerhard for the CPSA where they are once more arrested.

P.G. apologizes to Ingrid for his actions, but she is not ready to forgive him. When Ingrid's candidacy is restored she finds out that P.G.'s newspaper want to promote her. She does not want to win through his charity. When she goes to talk to him about this, she finds him busy vacating his office. He explains that that he sold the paper to the SAP on the condition that Ingrid's candidacy be restored. Ina is recovering well at Truida's house. Bennie finally realizes the error of his ways after an unexpected visit from Henry. He writes a letter to Ina asking for her forgiveness. Willem warns Antoinette to stay away from his son. She is preparing to elope with Marthinus when Jacqueline tell her the truth about Willem's past. The Pretorius family is struggling financially and Willem asks Soekie to start singing again, but her return to the stage is a huge failure. Marthinus confronts Willem about his past and writes his entire family off. Willem decides to blame everything on Bennie and prepares to take his revenge with catastrophic consequences.