Last week on Foundation, we saw Hari and Gaal reunited on the Raven. Hari explained his plan to Gaal and learnt what happened to Raych. Brother Day made a move against Halima. Brother Dawn and Azura are getting closer and we learned his secret. You can read our full recap of the episode here.
Warning: spoilers for “The Missing Piece” below!
Gaal and Hari go on separate paths
Still making their way to Helicon, Gaal and Hari discusses her abilities. While her premonitions often come to her as feelings, sometimes she has dreams. Gaal explains to Hari that she turned to mathematics after dreaming of a wave submerging her planet. She wanted to prove herself that her dream was wrong. Her powers are troubling Hari and he thinks it could threaten the Foundation.
The young woman wants to know why they are going to Helicon and Hari reveals that a second Foundation is there. The Foundation on Terminus was supposed to take the hits from the Empire allowing the one on Helicon would thrive. Hari wants to study her abilities after arriving on the planet, which doesn’t make Gaal happy. She wants to leave the ship since Hari won’t tell her her role in the plan. Since he refuses, she breaks the heat transfer system which means she will die before reaching Helicon, unless Hari lets her leave. He finally lets her go and Gaal embarks on the cryo pod, after getting Raych’s knife, setting course for a 138 years journey to Synnax.
Salvor tries to save Trantor
In Anacreon’s past, we see two children playing in a forest just before the Empire’s attack. Phara is telling Salvor the story of the day her brother died. The Warden tries to reason with her saying that if she attacks Trantor, the Outer Reach will suffer like Anacreon suffered. The Great Huntress doesn’t care and tells Salvor that she needs to help her or the Anacreons will destroy Terminus.
Back in space, Hugo survived and reached a comm station which he uses to contact Thespis and asks for help. On the Invictus, time is passing quickly and Salvor is now trying to reason with Rowan saying she see doubts in him when she only sees darkness in Phara. Finally, they reach the bridge, but a security system activates and kills Jacenta. Phara orders Salvor to draw the fire to her while she destroy it with her bow. They encounter another barrier and Salvor disarms it. She finds a gun and shoots the Anacreons while she brings Lewis with her on the bridge.
On the bridge, they find the captain who killed herself after writing the word “Exo” with her blood. They speculate about what the crew saw before dying and starts looking for the navigation system. Lewis realizes that, since the old jumps ships didn’t have Spacers, the lights were there to tell the crew they had to find a jump cradle. After finding the navigation system, Lewis explains the science behind the jump and how the navigator had to be hardwired into the ship and could direct a jump with a wish.
Salvor wants Lewis to link her to the ship so she can bring it to Terminus and stop the Anacreons’ plan. Before Lewis is able to do that, the Anacreons make their way onto the bridge and shoot him. The Thespin ships arrive and start shooting at the Invictus. Rowan uses the weapon systems to fight back while Phara and Salvor fight each other with the former hurting the Warden. The ship finally does a random jump since they weren’t able to take control of the ship.
Brother Day embarks on a spiritual journey.
Brother Day and Demerzel discuss the clone’s decision to do the Spiral walk and the rules. He has to leave his protective shield and his nanobots behind. Someone can help him if he stumbles and put a knee on the sand. If he puts both knees on tit, nobody can help him and his journey will end. At the end of the path, he will find a source of water in a cave called the Mother’s womb and will receive a vision.
The clone is now on the Spiral walk and the hardship of the journey is showing on his face and body. He starts talking with another pilgrim who advices him to take it slow. They exchange their stories, but Day lies about his identity. It’s the first time the pilgrim travels outside his planet. The clone is more and more struggling and finally bend one knee. He is incapable to continue until his new friend helps him stand up saying they are close.
Later, it’s the pilgrim’s turn to falter. He bends one knee and Day moves to help him which he refuses. He ends his journey by putting a second knee on the sand. Before leaving, Day shows compassion by putting his body on a rock. Finally, he arrives to the Cave and goes in the water. Later, he describes his vision to the Goddesses’ representatives: the sand moving to form a stem with three petals. They ask the clone about his knowledge of the birthroot flower. They thinks he had a holy vision and it’s the sign Day’s soul is not in stagnation. Before going to his ship, he thanks Halima for inspiring him to make the walk.
Next, Demerzel talks with Halima. The robot seems very troubled. They talk about Brother Day and Halima still thinks he is a monster. When Demerzel reveals that she walked the Spiral 11,000 years ago, Halima realizes the true nature of the woman and that Day sent her to kill her. She forgives Demerzel when she sees how remorseful she is and tells her she believes the robot has a soul.
Back on the ship, Demerzel tells Day she is glad he had a vision, because the one she had changed the way she sees the world. Brother Day can’t hide his surprise. Before leaving to prepare for the jump, she adds she wouldn’t wish anyone the emptiness coming from a lack of vision. Later, the Spacers are preparing Day for the jump while he remembers what really happened in the cave and we realize he didn’t receive a vision. The episode ends with Brother Day shedding a tear before for the jump.
In this episode, Brother Day seems to show real compassion leading us to think that maybe he was changed by the pilgrimage only to discover he faked the vision. Still, at the end of the episode, he shows a real emotion after realizing he is the only one not receiving the vision. Are the clones really soulless monsters like Halima said? Will Brother Day be changed by what he learned on the Spiral walk? What is going to happen to Gaal? And where is the Invictus headed? Stay tuned for more Foundation recaps on Nerds & Beyond!
A new episode of Foundation is streaming on Apple TV+ every Friday.
