‘Foundation’ Recap: Season 1, Episode 7 “Mysteries and Martyrs”

Muriel
10 Min Read
Courtesy of Apple TV+

In “Death and The Maiden” last week, we left Gaal landing on a mysterious ship, Brother Day failing to consolidate Zephyr Gilat’s position against Zephyr Halima, Brother Dawn and Azura getting closer, and Salvor being forced to leave Terminus by the Anacreons. You can read our full recap here.

Warning: spoilers for “Mysteries and Martyrs” below!

Brother Day makes a bold move

After the Proxima’s funeral, Brother Day confronts Demerzel and questions her loyalty. She assures him she was bowing to the Mother — not to Halima — and that she is faithful to the dynasty. Day reminds her she is like him, and that she should keep in mind that won’t reincarnate. Demerzel tells him that she is programmed to be faithful to the Empire above anything else and, if it was disloyal, she would not have been able to kneel. Day looks doubtful, and they are interrupted by the news that Halima is now the front runner for the election. 

Brother Day goes to Halima to find out what she wants. The Zephyr is taking care of pilgrims trying to do the Spiral ritual to honor the Proxima after her passing. Day is surprised to learn that Demerzel did the ritual years ago. While Brother Day says he respects her power play during the funeral, Halima is very careful to not use his title, but his name Cleon. The clone proposes, in addition to the desalination system, to build a security system to protect the planet in exchange for her support. Halima is very clear: she wants to end the Cleon dynasty. She doesn’t do this for power, but because she thinks the clones are wrong. Finally, she threatens him by reminding the clone of the numbers of followers the Luminist religion has.

Later, Brother Day asks Demerzel what are her feelings now about Halima. She agreed that the Zephyr threatened the Empire and proposes to tighten the security measures at the Palace and to filter the communications. The clone thinks back to Hari Seldon’s words announcing troubles with a religion. He later addresses the conclave and shares that Halima thinks he is soulless and incapable of growth. He wishes to prove everyone she is wrong and will submit himself to the judgment of The Triple Goddesses by attempting the Spiral walk.

Brother Dawn shares his secret with Azura

The two young people are getting closer and closer. They meet in a greenhouse and finally have sex. After, Azura gives his lover a color correction device which will allow him to see red and green. Brother Dawn can’t accept them because it will show everyone how different he is and everything will come undone. The young woman is hurt and starts to call him Empire. He immediately told her to call him Cleon and explains all the little things making him different from his brothers leaving out his love for her. 

Since Azura doesn’t understand the problem, he decides to show her. Dawn leads the woman to the room where additional clone are kept. These replacements are fed thoughts and memories of the living clones via a chip so they can be activated if one of the brothers is killed or damaged. Dawn explains that if the other clones realize he is different, he will be replaced and killed. Azura urges him to flee, but he thinks it’s impossible. She disagrees and says a face can be changed and his nanobots can be purged. 

Later, she goes outside the Palace while Dawn watches her via a sophisticated camera. She talks to him about the outside world until he is surprised by Brother Dusk because he missed dinner. The older clone is more suspicious than ever.

Salvor and the Anacreons land on the Invictus

The ship arrives at the Anthor Belt. The Anacreons are looking for the Invictus, a jump ship who went missing 700 years ago during Emperor Taurelion’s reign. Salvor asks if it’s safe to approach, and Phara answers that the security systems are still active and that’s why they need the imperial commander. They all go to put space suits on to be able to jump towards the ship. Salvor jumps first, and they arrive safely on the hull of the Invictus except Hugo. His suit malfunctions and he is left drifting in space to die. Salvor is devastated, but Phara tells her to grieve later.

The security systems start to attack everyone until the commander opens the door. Since he is now of no use to her, Phara shoots him. Inside the ship, cadavers of the crew are floating around. Phara cuffs Salvor because she can’t trust her. The atmosphere is frozen due to a leak, so they start looking for a regulation panel. Jacenta, one of the Foundation scientists, repairs the leak, and the atmosphere and the gravity are back.

Phara wants the internal security off and the team heads off to the bridge. Lewis is preoccupied by the pulsating lights. They seem to indicate that a countdown is in place on the ship. Phara reveals it’s a countdown to the next jump. The ship has been jumping randomly for 700 years. According to Lewis’s calculations, they have four hours to gain control of the ship and shut down the random jumps.

Salvor notices something on the wall. It looks like a barrier, but she is able to override it after Phara uncuffs her. The team enters a room with cooling pads. Salvor, with the scientists’s help, tries to overcome the Anacreons, but it fails. It leads to the death of one of the scientists. Then, she tries to reason without success with Rowan. The Anacreons reveal that they don’t ever plan to get off the ship. If they can disable the random jumps, they will make the ship jump in the center of Trantor to destroy the planet. 

Gaal and Hari reunite

Hari’s projection is still reliving his last moments. The computer reveals that it’s Quantum Consciousness Protocol who has been activated when she entered the ship. The transfer of the neural uplink is incomplete which causes Hari’s problem. Gaal, by talking to him, is able to stabilize him. Hari tells her he had the data unit implanted before they left Trantor and that Raych’s knife activated it. When he realizes 34 years have passed, he tells Gaal that she shouldn’t be there, but she should be leading the Foundation during its first crisis. Hari wants to know where Raych is. The link fails again when she explains what happened to him.

The systems are failing and the oxygen is dropping when finally Hari comes back. He explains to Gaal that the Foundation needed a martyr to be able to succeed, so he planned to kill himself before arriving to Terminus. He was suffering from Lethe’s Syndrome and was not going to be an able leader with his debilitating illness. Raych knew everything and was supposed to meet him on the Raven. 

The ship is approaching Helicon and is now facing debris on its way. Hari continues his story. Raych couldn’t leave Gaal behind so he changed the plan. Raych was going to flee after killing him. Gaal is angry with him because Hari didn’t let them be together. For Hari, she is not an innocent; she chose her path when she put her name on the submission for the Abraxas problem. Hari wants to know why she deviated from her routine the night of his murder. She says she has a sense of doom. Gaal is becoming very stressed about the debris, and we see scenes from past episodes where she shows some precognition. Protecting herself from a chunk of debris that pierced the hulls, she realizes she can sense the future.

What does Gaal’s new abilities mean for the Foundation’s future? Will Brother Day prove Halima wrong? Will Salvor be able to stop the Anacreons plan? Stay tuned for more Foundation recaps on Nerds and 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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