Episode 1 of the third season of Foundation opens with Gaal's narration, claiming to have managed to stay alive for 300 years through constant cycles of cryosleep. 152 years have passed since the Second Crisis. During this period, the Foundation's growth has been directly proportional to the Empire's decline. It therefore controls the entire Outer Rim and is advancing toward the Central Rim, made up of a group of planets once loyal to the Empire but now operating independently. Of these, Kalgan is the most important.
Now, the Empire and the Foundation have unsuccessfully competed for its control, thus preventing them from taking control of the Central Rim and, subsequently, the rest of the galaxy. And this is where the Mule enters the scene. He has apparently kidnapped Archduke Bellarion's daughter and plans to hold her hostage until she relinquishes control of Kalgan to him. Since the Mule is only a man, Bellarion underestimates him, and it is then that the Mule unleashes his mentalic powers, resulting in the deaths of much of the air force, ground troops, and the Archduke himself. Before Bellarion's death (it's a shame Ralph Ineson died so soon; hopefully he'll be revived as a clone), the Mule removes his signet ring, making him ruler of Kalgan.
Creators: Josh Friedman, David S. Goyer
Stars: Terrence Mann, Laura Birn, Cassian Bilton
During the Second Crisis, the Empire lost control of the Spacers, the species that operated the Imperial jumpships. Therefore, Imperial forces now use jump portals to travel the galaxy. Apparently, this process is relatively slow and is further affecting the Empire's ability to surpass the Foundation in influence and power. This has also affected the Cleonic Dynasty's control over the Galactic Council, thus preventing it from making key decisions about the galaxy. Brother Dawn and Demerzel, on their way to a meeting with the Council, analyze the Primordial Radiant, which Demerzel obtained from the Vault in the second season.
They note that of the many branches exposed, one is glitching, signaling the coming of the Third Crisis, also known as the Seldon Crisis. Since it appeared just before the Council meeting, Dawn assumes the two events are somehow connected. But Demerzel tells Dawn that a political summit probably can't affect the "scale of psychohistory," so it doesn't make sense to cancel it. The reason for the glitch is something else; well, that something is probably the Mule. Since the Empire doesn't have enough information about it yet, they head to Clarion Station, headquarters of the Galactic Council, where they are faced with protests against the high tariffs the Foundation imposes on agricultural planets. Dawn uses this anger against the perceived corruption and greed of her opposition to convince the Council to punish the Foundation, or at least reprimand them. She suggests that the Council contact the Trade Princes, a Foundation faction similar to the Traders, and convince them, since they are seeking to abandon their masters anyway. This will weaken the Foundation and allow the Empire and the Council to aid the farmers' cause.
Since Dawn is not yet Emperor (he will be in the next 10 days), her words are met with disdain by some Councilors. So, she basically threatens them that if they don't make a decision soon, she will return 10 days later as Emperor and announce major reforms to the Council that will please no one. The Councilors and the President cave in to the pressure and agree to carry out Dawn's order. Back on the jumpship, Dawn reveals that she did what she did because Dusk advised her to. Apparently, he also organized all the protesters outside to strengthen Dawn's appeal to the Council, while Dawn himself provided them with incriminating information to throw at her. She's saddened that Dusk's time is up, meaning she'll no longer have access to all the knowledge he brings, and that Day has renounced all forms of politics, thus depriving Dawn of anyone (other than Demerzel) to rely on. With that, Dawn, Demerzel, and the rest of their entourage return to Trantor.
On Trantor, Dusk is seen playing recordings of his predecessors' deaths as his own life nears the end. When Dawn arrives, she wastes no time complaining about the 17th Cleon for ruining the deal with the Spacers, since, as mentioned, the loss of the Empire's ability to move quickly across the galaxy severely affected its reach and power. So Dawn immediately shares the good news that her tactics have forced the Council to fall in line, and that they don't have to worry about the Foundation for now, as they'll be busy sorting out all the internal conflicts this political maneuvering will cause. The topic of Kalgan then comes up, and Dusk believes the Mule won't be able to hold on to the planet for long. Well, he says that because he hasn't seen what the Mule is capable of.
He probably won't be around to witness it, but Dawn certainly will. And since Dawn believes she'll have to overcome the Seldon Crisis, she highlights it during their conversation, but Dusk doesn't seem very determined to prioritize that issue, believing that the Empire is on the right track and that all the anomalies shown by the Prime Radiant will be resolved over time. Dusk then begins to pontificate about his death and compares the Cleons to garbage pushed into a compactor, while Demerzel's image looms over them. This makes me think that the Cleons are beginning to realize that they are the puppets, while Demerzel is the puppeteer. Speaking of Demerzel, he meets with a Foundation envoy, Zephyr Vorellis (played by Rebecca Ineson, daughter of Ralph Ineson), to vent. With strong references to another Isaac Asimov classic, I, Robot, Demerzel begins to talk about the war between robots and humans that lasted almost two centuries, also under the tree where the AI sympathizers were hanged.
This tree is nourished by liquid iridium (robot blood), which makes its apples golden and unfit for human consumption. Yes, a very Garden of Eden mystery. Anyway, getting to the heart of the matter, Demerzel pulls the Prime Radiant from his bosom and laments how he can predict the fall of the Empire, but not tell him how to stop it. Vorellis relates this to the biblical nature of the location where they are having this conversation and refers to the Prime Radiant as an apple that Demerzel can have, but not eat. Demerzel expresses his fear that if the Prime Radiant's prediction turns out to be true and the Empire comes to an end, given that he has been programmed to focus all his actions on the Cleons, he doesn't know what he would do if all these dynasts disappeared. Perhaps he is sowing the seed of his intention to work for the Foundation, or perhaps it is a ploy to get the Foundation to let down its guard in the hopes of using Demerzel against the Empire. Well, we don't get to the heart of this conversation, as the scene shifts to Dawn and Dusk's dinner with Foundation ambassador Quent, also attended by Demerzel and Vorellis. However, even that is interrupted by news of the Mule's takeover of Kalgan.
Gaal's narration informs us that, although the Empire destroyed Terminus, a new Terminus has emerged a few parsecs from that planet, which has been central to the Foundation's prosperity for the past 150 years. Due to their expansionist ambitions, divisions have begun to form, and the Traders (or Trade Princes) threaten to secede, thus threatening to erase all the progress the Foundation has made over the past three centuries. Professor Ebling Mis has been studying this division for years and believes it will lead to the Third Crisis. In fact, he is so convinced of this theory that he approaches the Vault, deactivates its null field, and forces Hari Seldon's AI to speak with him. Before broaching the subject, Ebling mentions his resemblance to Xylas, i.e., the man who hunted the human version of Seldon when he used psychohistory to predict the fall of the Empire.
This likely doesn't affect Seldon's AI emotionally, as he knows he is not the man Ebling is referring to, but a replica of the "legend." Thus, the focus of their conversation shifts to the predicament the Foundation is in because of the Trader Princes, Mayor Indbur, and his office, which is apparently in some sort of geosynchronous orbit with the Vault to keep an eye on Foundation activities. Ebling informs Seldon's AI that the Traders do what they do because they are on the Empire's payroll. This leads AI Seldon to understand that the Empire is working according to the analysis of the future of the Primordial Radiant, an artifact that AI Seldon himself gave to Demerzel.
Speaking of Traders, the episode focuses on Haven, where a civil war is raging, essentially funded by the Empire (I guess there are no real-life parallels). The planet's climatic conditions are very harsh, very Dune-esque. The sunny side of Haven is 260 degrees, and the shadow side is -180 degrees. Only when the moon eclipses the sun, which apparently happens very often, does the temperature drop to a tolerable 55 degrees. In any case, if you go out without proper protection and transportation, or even if you go out with them, you're dead. Still, because the situation is desperate, Captain Pritcher of the Foundation and his girlfriend set out to capture a trunk full of weapons that an Imperial ship has dropped on the planet, bring it back to the Foundation, and expose the Empire's role. However, before they can arrive, Randu Mallow, leader of the Traders, arrives at the loot drop-off point, prompting the duo to hop aboard their speeder bikes (yes, they look like the ones in Star Wars) and embark on a high-speed chase. They fail to secure the cargo, but they do kill Randu in the process.
Will this end the Empire's meddling in Haven's affairs? Probably not. They'll find another puppet. But for now, these two Foundation representatives can enjoy this small victory. Or so they think, because, first, they have no "credible" evidence of the Empire's involvement in Haven, and second, they've received word that the Mule has taken over Kalgan. Therefore, Pritcher has no choice but to infiltrate Mayor Indbur's office and speak with him about the latest developments. Indbur insists that if they don't have the cargo the Empire delivers to the Traders, they can't deal with the Vault. Pritcher says the Empire-Traders issue is a distraction from whatever the Mule is doing. Indbur suggests they should focus on the Traders and then deal with the Mule, which infuriates Pritcher. So he steals Indbur's keyring to circumvent his limited interstellar travel privileges and travel to Kalgan to assess the situation. I haven't read the books, but I'm guessing this guy will play a major role this season, right?
At the end of Foundation Season 3, Episode 1, we finally meet Day, who's lounging around a villa with his consort, Song. However, their psychedelic sessions and sexual escapades are marred by Dusk, who arrives to let him know he's needed at the Imperial Palace because Demerzel wants to talk about the upcoming world-ending event predicted by the First Radiant. Obviously, Day isn't in the mood to resume his imperial duties, so Dusk tells him he can either go to his office on his own or be forced to. On his way out, Dusk expresses his hatred for ferrets.
What's wrong with ferrets, man? They're so cute. Besides, that ferret is albino, which means it's probably deaf, which is probably great because then it won't have to listen to Dusk's hateful words. Yes, I know, ferrets don't understand English. But what if this one, which has been "recreated" based on information available in the genetic library, does? Anyway, back to Day, he finally decides to go to the palace, where Demerzel informs him that the Third Crisis will occur in the next four months. According to Demerzel, this cataclysm will not only affect the Cleons, but also their entire species. Since Seldon's model has begun to fail, it means that something (the Mule) is having such a massive effect on the future that it is invalidating the predictions of psychohistory.
Given the episode's ending on Gaal, it's pretty obvious that she's the only one who can stop the Mule from heralding the end of the Empire and the Foundation. She's on Ignis. So I'm guessing she'll also become a full-fledged mentalic, which will give her some advantage before her inevitable confrontation with the Mule. As far as I know, no one will be able to stop the destruction of the current Foundation, which will lead to the creation of the Second Foundation, something the Mule can be heard screaming about in Gaal's visions.
I believe this season will end with the creation of this Second Foundation and the fall of the first, something that will undoubtedly benefit the Empire. What I find interesting is that, initially, this Foundation was positioned as the "cure" for the Empire. But now the Foundation is becoming like the Empire, making it seem more peaceful by comparison. This proves that political ideologies become irrelevant when power becomes the highest priority for leaders. Until we understand that, there will be nothing that can save us from our doom.
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