‘Foundation’ Recap: Season 1, Episode 3 “The Mathematician’s Ghost”

Muriel
6 Min Read
Apple TV+

Last week, the new sci-fi series Foundation premiered with two episodes on AppleTV+.

Foundation is adapted from the Isaac Asimov novels and stars Lee Pace (Brother Day), Terrence Mann (Brother Dusk), Jared Harris (Hari Seldon), Lou Llobell (Gaal Dornick), Laura Birn (Demerzel), Leah Harvey (Salvor Hardin), Alfred Enoch (Raych Foss), and Cassian Bilton (Brother Dawn).

Foundation takes place in a futuristic empire where the government is centralized on the planet Trantor. The Empire is always ruled by three clones of emperor Cleon I since his death. The three clones are at different stages of their lives and are named Brother Dawn, Brother Day, and Brother Dusk.

At the start of the show, Hari Seldon and his protégé Gaal Dornick are arrested for crimes against the Empire. Seldon, via his new psycho-history science, is predicting the fall of the Empire followed by an era of darkness. He asks for the creation of a Foundation which will gather humanity’s knowledge and technology to help reduce the period of darkness.

After an attack against the Star Bridge above Trantor, seemingly carried on by people from the planets Thespis and Anacreon, the Empire’s leaders exile Seldon and his followers on the planet Terminus to start the Foundation project. At the end of the second episode, Seldon is murdered by Raych before reaching Terminus. Raych then send Gaal away from the ship in a cryo tube.

Warning: spoilers for “The Mathematician’s Ghost”

A new cycle begins

Four hundred years in the past, the first Cleon is watching the construction of the Star Brigde and prepares for his death and the start of his dynasty of clones. Demerzel tries to reassure him that his legacy will be assured and that he will not be forgotten. While she is a robot, Demerzel is clearly affected by his impending death.

In the future, 19 years after the bombing of the Star Bridge, Brother Dusk is now preparing to die watching over Trantor with Demerzel from the same window than Cleon I. Brother Dusk is reflecting on his life and is wondering if his brothers and him made the right choices about the Spires and Hari Seldon. The youngest brother is now looking as Brother Day did all these years ago and Brother Day is looking now like Brother Dusk. Brother Dusk shares a last meal with his brothers and they go see the destruction of the last fragment of the Star Bridge. The new Brother Dawn is born and Brother Dusk, now Brother Darkness, meet him before going to his death and is alarmed when he hears the baby cry fearing something is wrong with him. Demerzel then leads him to his death.

A mysterious object is discovered on Terminus

The colonists have finally arrived on Terminus and encounter an hostile planet. They find a mysterious artifact which incapacitates them via a null field. The colonists name it The Vault, first seen in the first episode. A few stories circulate about the object: an alien artifact, a surveillance outpost from the Empire. Nobody knows for sure. The colonists settle to the planet and start to build a settlement. A few years later, a child, Salvor Hardin, is fascinated by The Vault and is not affected by it. Once an adult, she becomes the Warden of Terminus and protects the colony.

The field is expanding and Anacreons come to Terminus

Salvor is making experiments with the Vault and realizes the field is expanding. The colony is now thriving and even has a big statue of Hari Seldon on display. While the work to salvage knowledge is ongoing, Salvor shows that not everyone is not a believer in the work of the Foundation. Salvor shows Mari that the null field is expanding and that they may have to evacuate the city. Salvor thinks the artifact is awakening and it’s a sign that trouble is coming. The woman gets a vision of a child who leads her to notice an Anacreon ship in the orbit of the planet. Soon, three ships are in orbit and Salvor thinks is related to the expanding field is linked to the ships. They try to contact the Empire without success. Salvor has a second vision of a child and, after following him, realizes the Anacreon are already on Terminus.

A new episode of Foundation will be available to stream on AppleTV+ on October 8. Stay tuned for more episodic recaps on Nerds & Beyond.

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By Muriel
I am a legal secretary from Belgium. When I am not working, I enjoy reading, watching movies and TV shows, travelling to see friends and to go to conventions and trying to get better at photography. My main goal is to pet as many cats as possible. Currently obsessed with Lucifer, Game of Thrones, Star Trek Discovery and the Handmaid's Tale.
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