Wagner and Cosima are overjoyed by the birth of their son, Siegfried. Meanwhile, Germany continues its war with France, which finally ends months later in January 1871 with a victory for Prussia and it finally realizes Wagner's lifelong dream of a united Germany. Wagner marries Cosima and is ordered by Ludwig to stage his opera Das Rheingold. When Wagner decides to postpone the opera, one day before the premiere, he and Ludwig have a falling out. Wagner is denied access to the theater and decides to build his own opera house in Bayreuth.
