Category: Watching Foundation

Watching Foundation: “Foundation’s End”

The masthead for the "Watching Foundation" column.

Here we go again! My impressions, insights, and interpretations from watching the episode.

If you haven’t watched the episode yet, what’s holding you back? Spoiler Alert. Proceed at your own risk.

Simultaneously published at Stars End: a Foundation Podcast and Comics, The Universe, and Everything.

Watching Foundation S3E07

Nice title.  It could be the name of an Asimov book in a different universe.

Rossem (on the edges of the outer reach)

Image from the Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life."

This is giving me real “It’s a Good Life” vibes. Someone’s going to get wished into the cornfield.

Space Amish.  This woman has a baby, but “the Bartons would take him if they could.”  Or not.

No one carries a baby like that if they’re out to harvest crops.

These assessors are serious business.  Almost a caricature.  That dad, though, looks a lot like “the Mule.”

That these guys are Foundation and not Empire lands like a blow. They need mustaches they could twirl.

The baby makes noise, and the parents are terrified.  And they’re terrible liars.

China figured out that the “one child policy” was a dumb idea.  What possible rationale could that have here? Don’t they need people to tend the land?

It gets worse.  “The Foundation trusts in the mass deleter solution.  You have two children and you’ve been allotted enough for one child… when we return, you’ll have one child.”  Ugh.

The dad gives the older boy an ominous look.  He did seem self-centered when the parents wanted to use his candy to keep the baby quiet.  Are there other indications that the parent/child relationship isn’t great?

Is this a parable about factory farming?

Rossem appeared in the book Second Foundation, but not as a Foundation world.

Rossem is one of those marginal worlds usually neglected in Galactic history and scarcely ever obtruding itself upon the notice of men of the myriad happier planets…

Imperial history flowed past the peasants of Rossem. The trading ships might bring news in impatient spurts; occasionally new fugitives would arrive—at one time, a relatively large group arrived in a body and remained—and these usually had news of the Galaxy…

And then one day not unlike other days a ship arrived again. The old men of each village nodded wisely and lifted their old eyelids to whisper that thus it had been in their fathers’ time—but it wasn’t, quite.  This ship was not an Imperial ship. The glowing Spaceship-and-Sun of the Empire was missing from its prow. It was a stubby affair made of scraps of older ships—and the men within called themselves soldiers of Tazenda…

Other ships came and proclamations were issued all over the world that Tazenda was now the ruling world, that tax-collecting stations would be established girdling the equator—the inhabited region—that percentages of grain and furs according to certain numerical formulae would be collected annually…

— Second Foundation

“Now,” Above New Terminus.

That’s a nice transition.

We quickly focus on Pritcher’s cell.  He’s going to be important here because he wasn’t at Magnifico’s concert.

Batya’s still in bad shape.  Could that just be the Null Field?  Was she injured, and I didn’t see?  What would be a reason the field would affect her more than other people?  Or is something else the matter?

Being fireman-carried like that, Bayta’s lucky this isn’t a Three Stooges short.

What’s up with Sephanie here?

The mother getting the headshot with the crying baby is unnecessary pathos.  Or is it? Foreshadowing?

The Imperial Throneroom

They want us to think Dusk is hallucinating here.  He isn’t.  But the Empire is almost completely rudderless.  Almost.  Even though he seems disengaged, Dusk gives a few curt orders that put people on task.

The Foundation Embassy

Ambassador Quent and her staff are trying to process the news from New Terminus.

Dusk arrives.  Ostensibly, he’s there to comfort Quent, but “Is there still a Foundation to prosecute me?” is rubbing salt in the wounds.

He wants Quent to come to the castle.  This seems the worst of all possible times for the ambassador to leave her post.  Still, she goes.

Cut to the Black Tongue landing.  Foundation surrenders.  Mostly, the citizens are not happy about it. Notice that there’s no indication of metallic abilities happening here. The entire situation is carried by Indbur and the Warden.

Well, that isn’t an eclipse in totality.

“You will call me ‘First Citizen’.”  Of what?  Whatever.  Maybe this is a Three Stooges short.

This is a gross display of dominance.  There’s no dignity to this.

Mycogen

Dude is uncharacteristically reasonable.  But then he’s no longer the dominant one in the relationship. Such as it is.

Here we go!  “If there is synthetic life on Trantor, it could be the most important thing to happen to us in 5000 years.”

And now we’re all “Fear and Loathing in Mycogen.”  If this were the books, it would be more Fear and Loathing in Salt Lake City than Las Vegas.

New Terminus

Pritcher is trying to escape.  This gambit seems merely shocking for the sake of being shocking.  In a Similar situation, Spock was able to mentally trick somebody into opening his cell.

Trantor

Quent gives Dusk a rundown of the takeover of New Terminus.  “What do I do?”  You project resolve for your staff.  You assess the situation as best you can.  And you start figuring out how to come back.  This doesn’t make sense unless it’s a one-person embassy.

Dusk: “You stay here.  You wrap my flag around your pretty shoulders, and no one will dare touch you.”  The second time through, it reads as patronizing.

And Quent gets empathetic when she learns about Dawn.  But why didn’t he tell her?  It’s not a relationship between equals.

You can hear it in his voice when Capillus climbs on the table.  Contempt and anger.  But he softens when Quent shows compassion and gives the ferret something to eat.  It’s a hopeful sign when a Cleon shows some humanity.  We get a lot of those.

How did Capillus get back to the Imperial Palace, anyway?

Mycogen

Brother Dude is being interrogated.  They’re working hard to be trippy.  I’m surprised there isn’t a lava lamp.

Man butt again.  There’s nobody with a flashlight this time.

Young Dude is trying to make a connection with Demerzel.  Eventually, she says, “You keep all your hate for me.  Why?”

“What else would I feel for you?  My midwife and my martinet, waiting for me to miss a step.”

So genetic drift leads to what? A bad case of imposter syndrome?  Seems too simple.  But they double down on it.

Song interrupts.  She wants to know about freeing Demerzel.  That would be amazing if they could pull it off.

“We weren’t very good today; we were all different from each other.”  This, as we see the napkin trick from season 1 executed poorly.

“You did your best.”  That’s the Laura Burn.  Almost as damning as “means well.”

“Again,” Demerzel barks.  Not at all like a mom.  There’s the martinet.  After surviving for thousands of years, walking the spiral, and raising little Cleon’s for centuries, it’s not realistic that she shouldn’t be able to fake basic humanity.

“I have gone by many names. “Chetter, Eto, Daneel.”  I almost didn’t believe I heard that.

“If you did leave, what would you do?”

“I suppose I would make more creatures like me, more robots.”

“Better children.”  Followed by, “It is not productive to dwell on impossible things.”

“If you could, would you choose not to love us?“

“I cannot weigh love against freedom.” What the hell does that mean?!?

“Because freedom would win,” opines present-day Dude.  That’s gotta hurt!

The Imperial Palace

Dusk has three days left.  “I want to leave with some dignity. And that begins with securing your treatment.”

“The last three Centuries were defined by Empire’s conflict with Foundation.”

“You’ve turned my gallow’s walk into a pleasant stroll” is a nice turn of phrase.

Kissy kissy.  Thirty years of sexual tension.

Indbur’s Satellite

Indbur says, “Pritcher knew you were a threat before anyone else. He has a secret.”  “The Mule” is dismissive.

What’s the point of making the guy on the ground look like Pritcher when only the audience can see?

The Foundation has smart guns.  Good precaution. Not so good for Han.

Pritcher escapes to the planet’s surface.

New Terminus

On the surface, Torin makes it to the Millennium Torus and tries to heal Bayta.

Randu’s at the door.  “I’m not the enemy.”  But actually, he is; he has never felt such love.  

This isn’t the subtle change I’d expect from “the Mule’s” influence.

Troops arrive.  General brouhaha.  They take Bayta. Toran manages to get into an escape pod.

Where did the shots come from that killed Randu?  Are they explosive bolts released from the escape hatch?

The Imperial Palace

Ugh.  Dusk shows us he’s evil.  He shows Capellus kindness only to kill him.  Cleon’s always disappoint.  [Huh.  Maybe screwed up more than evil.  See below.]

Mycogen

Songbird and Riverdance have brought in Sunmaster-18.  The clanking of the walking stick is funny.

“I bring you the finest crochet hook in all the land!” 

This director really likes showing things through that red liquid.

[Later thoughts:  there’s also a hell of a lot of blood in this episode.  Are the two collectively a motif?   Could the entire episode be a study of humans’ reactions to being traumatized by violence?  In Brother Dude’s case, Demerzel’s violence is emotional, and that brings me back to the Three Laws.  Someone on Reddit described her behavior as “malicious compliance.“  I continue to wonder to what extent the 3 Laws might be lurking under the Cleonic programming.  If they’re completely subsumed, that makes comments like “I cannot weigh love against freedom,” active rebellion; she’s lashing out as much as she is able, despite this version of Cleon being mostly innocent at that young age.  That makes it a piece with Dusk’s ultimate treatment of Capillus.]

Is that the skull of a robot on the staff?  Is it anybody we know?

“Something new for you. Here, none are at ease through the labor of others.  None may glory over another.  Except this.  This is our glory.  It is the brazen head of God.  And it will scream your fate aloud.”

Oooo… Scary, kid!  Scary!

Terminus

“Now this is an office.”

We’re in the Bathroom!  After going through all the robot novels, this seems almost as Asimovian as two people expositioning in a room.  Still, it’s unusual for “the Mule” to invite the whole group to join him.

Without much preamble, “the Mule” announces “a tug on the bridal is in order.“  The original story in Astounding Science Fiction, June 1942, that appeared in Foundation as “The Mayors” was called “Bridle and Saddle.” That’s too far removed to conclude this was an intentional reference.

Skirlet explains, “He wants you to drown yourself.”

The process takes just over a minute, but it seems longer.  It’s more unnecessary brutality, and it’s disturbing to watch.  In reality, it takes more like four minutes for someone to drown.  I suppose I should be thankful.  Still: Enough!  We get it already!

Sephanie isn’t turned.  And she’s defiant.  “If I had to guess, he’s already halfway to planning an insurrection.”

“Bad way to go.  Drowning.”  Ugh.

Rossem

The parents try to drown the kid.  The kid tries to bargain.  This is crazy.  Parents would never behave this way.

The Mutant power manifests, and both parents are killed.

In addition to being crazy, there are many impressionistic elements here that give the scene a surreal quality.

He leaves the baby with the Bartons as if they’re Timon and Pumba.  This is like a dark, twisted Disney movie.

There’s another source of the name “Rossem.”  The play R. U. R. (Short for Rossum’s Universal Robots) is what introduced the word “robot” to the English language and the world at large.  Could this be kind of a play-within-the-play like Shakespeare is famous for, or like Hamlet within the Star Trek episode “Conscience of the King?”  The analogy isn’t perfect but…

Outside the Vault

Another nice transition

“I escaped my home by joining the pirates who harassed our land.  Sounds like a bad word, “pirate,” but they never took as much as you.”  “The Mule” is talking to the Vault and, therefore, to Hari.

Hari appears, “That’s a very Tragic story.” He says, “I wonder how much of it is true.“  Me too.  That might explain the impressionistic nature of the Rossem scenes.

Review:

Another good episode, and I enjoy how, even as it purports to explain itself, it raises more questions. However, the violence and cruelty are overwhelming. Way too much of that; make your point, but don’t wallow in it. And poor Capillus goes the way of too many animal characters, as an easy source of cheap pathos.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

All Images from Foundation on Apple TV+.

Watching Foundation: “The Shape of Time”

The masthead for the "Watching Foundation" column.

Here we go again! My random thoughts and reactions as I watched, and rewatched, the episode. Spoiler Alert, obviously.

Simultaneously published at Stars End: a Foundation Podcast and Comics, The Universe, and Everything.

Watching Foundation S3E06

Panicky Mule, not a nightmare but “a vision.”  Pritcher… “He was like me… I realize… he gave me a great gift.”

Initially, I wondered if this was “the Mule” exhibiting powers without Magnifico.  But, “I felt I was wearing someone else’s dreams.”  Says otherwise.  Combine this with his soliloquy on the jump gate; I think this tells us he’s not the guy pulling the strings.

“I have to destroy her even if I have to destroy everything to do it,” is threatening, but it could also be desperate.  We don’t actually know the range of these mental powers.  For that matter, this compulsion could have been planted by Magnifico long ago.

The Beggar

Perfect repeat of Demerzel confronting Gaal from S3E05, but it continues.

She claims C25 was killed 12 seconds into that airlock explosion.

Looking back, it’s about 20 seconds after the explosion that we lose sight of Dawn after he is sucked out of the airlock.  I’m pretty sure he’s alive at that point.  I’m not sure I believe her.  This could be Demerzel trying to get the emotional high ground.

“I raised him! I watched his first steps!”  That looks like real anger.  Is it?

It certainly seems to be after the little dust-up between the two.  Demerzel has questions.

“The Millennium Torus” is actually “The Chaser.”

Sounds like a beverage.  “The Climber” might be more apt.

Magnifico is playing the visi-sonar as the ship approaches Terminus.  Bayta is solicitous of him, calling him “puppy.” That is certainly the demeanor he wants to portray.

The foreshadowing is coming fast and thick. “You and I… we’re good at making people love us.”

They are met with hostility.  The actor playing Randu looks a lot like William Windom here.

Torin tries to counter the hostility by name-dropping Pritcher.  I didn’t expect that to work.  Joanne knew they’d be arrested, but I didn’t see it coming.

Now I have to ask, how much of this is Magnifico’s doing?  On second watch, I’m now expecting that Pritcher has already been compromised by “The Mule.”

It’s interesting because we know that The Mule’s control is subtle.  It changes allegiances while leaving the personality largely intact.  If Pritcher HAS, at this point, already been compromised, given that he’s a member of the Second Foundation, he could be laying the groundwork for Magnifico‘s arrival.

That hangs together nicely.  Otherwise, Magnifico‘s range would have to be effectively infinite.  That would be a power level nearly impossible to contend with.

On the other hand, Pritcher sure seems to be sold on the idea that Magnifico merely intensifies the Mule’s powers.  The control would have to be especially nuanced for that to work.  Or Pritcher could be a great actor.  Or I’m wrong.

But pitting Magnifico against this Mule in a psychic battle has its appeal.

Speaking of subtle, referring to Torin as Bayta’s “pet” is an indication that he isn’t the sweet, hapless, xxxxxxx that we’re thinking here.

Mycogen

C24 is in full Brother Dude mode as he walks through an outdoor market. He’s watching a news broadcast as I ponder just how unMycogenian this place is.  

One of the vendors makes me wonder: could that be Mother Rittah?

This exchange is straight from the books.

“Dainties. Raw dainties. For the outside market, they’re flavored in different ways, but here in Mycogen, we eat them unflavored—the only way.”

She put one in her mouth and said, “I never have enough.”

Seldon put his sphere into his mouth and felt it dissolve and disappear rapidly. His mouth, for a moment, ran liquid, and then it slid, almost of its own accord, down his throat.

He stood for a moment, amazed. It was slightly sweet and, for that matter, had an even fainter bitter aftertaste, but the main sensation eluded him.

“May I have another?” he said.

“Have half a dozen,” said Raindrop Forty-Three, holding out her hand. “They never have quite the same taste twice and have practically no calories. Just taste.”

She was right. He tried to have the dainty linger in his mouth; he tried licking it carefully; tried biting off a piece. However, the most careful lick destroyed it. When a bit was crunched off a piece, the rest of it disappeared at once. And each taste was undefinable and not quite like the one before.

“The only trouble is,” said the Sister happily, “that every once in a while you have a very unusual one and you never forget it, but you never have it again either. I had one when I was nine—” Her expression suddenly lost its excitement and she said, “It’s a good thing. It teaches you the evanescence of things of the world.”

— Prelude to Foundation

Dude gets to Song’s apartment. We see a look of recognition and fear on Song’s face.

On the Beggar

Demerzel worked with Hari, answering why he gave her the Radiant.  Early on, Hari pointed out that assisting Foundation and Empire were not mutually exclusive goals in the short term.  First, there’s a balancing act (emphasis mine).  Demerzel provided the data Hari needed to complete his model.

Could that be part of the glitch?  If the programming is conflated with the data, the end of the Cleonic Dynasty is the end of Demerzel’s world, according to her current operating system.

And she realizes that the so-called shadows in the mathematics are the Second Foundation.

Gaal confesses to her dumb plan from the last episode.  Of course, the Mule isn’t in the plan.  Apparently, neither of them is; she calls herself and the so-called Mule “outliers.”

But if the mathematics breaks down whenever either of them is factored into the plan, how is she confidently predicting what the Mule will do?  The whole basis of the dumb plan is what Gaal thinks the Mule will do next.

Gaal goes on about the Spacer’s concept of time, and it reminds me a little of Star Trek’s Wormhole aliens and a lot of this.

New theory proposes time has three dimensions, with space as a secondary effect

And we get a welcome bit of detail dating back to when Gaal woke up during a jump.  “I saw my lifetime as a line, and then as a plane, and then I wrapped that plane around me like a blanket, and it was a shape that I could manipulate.”  Nonsense, but evocative nonsense.

“We need to mind meld.  I doubt you will enjoy it.”

New Terminus

Ebling!!  With a pocket watch!!

Indbur and Randu are squabbling.  Torin gets to the point.  ”The Mule is coming here.”

“Just listen to Magnifico play,” says Bayta.  This is a bad idea.  I’m sad that we’re probably abandoning the plot point about Magnifico never manipulating Bayta.

Indbur doubles down.  “That’s not dumb enough!  I’ll listen!  You’ll listen!  Everyone who matters will listen!”  It’s nice when the characters being stupid is driven by the plot.

Back to the Beggar

“I can extrude filaments from my body and access your brain via your sinuses” made me laugh really hard!  Spock never did that!

New Terminus

I think this almost seems like cheating on the part of the narration.  Magnifico plays the visi-sonor, and the Traders and the Foundationers realize they can all join hands, sing about Coca-Cola, and defeat the Mule.

“That’s the way it works, it disarms you.” No crap.

They’re all looking up at the sun!  And only the smart one has glasses!  Also, how is he the only guy at the vault?

Mycogen

C24 gives Song some candy.  That doesn’t look like a box.  Where is the rest of the box?

It’s interesting to see Dude so far out of his comfort zone that he’s kind of a mess.

Song seems completely different and very transactional.

I thought Cloud Dominion needed special technology to restore memories. This process seems more like opening a can of Coca-Cola.

C24 says, “You looked at me and saw a person who might do you a kindness, so I did.

Song doesn’t want the memories back.  It wasn’t part of the deal.  Also, she doesn’t want to breach her contract. It seems to be very lucrative.

This has to end up at “Kindness.  I’ll never try that again.”

The Beggar

“My mind, to your mind.  Your thoughts to my thoughts,” this time with glowing red fingertips and terrifying tendrils.

The two share Gaal’s vision, and we learn some things.  Demerzel says that the encounter with the Mule will happen in the Imperial Library.  I wonder if that means the Vault.

That’s an odd place for an eclipse motif.  Demerzel has cycled through a hard reboot.  Could she have returned to factory specifications? That would save us some time.

After the fight with the Mule, we discover that Gaal will end up “orbiting the ergo sphere of a black hole.”  Gravity that is so strong, not even time can escape.  That did not end well for Bill Potts.

Pritcher’s Cell

Indbur has figured out that Han has divided loyalties.  In a lie by omission, he simply states that he’s loyal to the Seldon Plan.

Indbur leaves him in his cell and leaves for the Vault.  This must be important in the next episode.  But does Han save the day or drive the last nail into the coffin?  Even he may not know for sure.

Mycogen

Song, who we learn is really Songbird-17, has called in reinforcements.  C24 never should’ve tossed that personal aura.  “If I ever told you I loved you, it is because I was scared of you.  I never could’ve loved you.” Ouch.

This isn’t going at all where I thought the Mycogen storyline would go.  I was hoping for stories about Daneel from Mother Rittah, learning about robots (yeah, I know, that’s Billybotton), and all sorts of huge revelations. None of that so far.

New Terminus

Ain’t no party like an eclipse party!  Someone should tell the producers that totality only lasts a couple of minutes.

That looks like Stonehenge in the background.

“I thought he’d be taller.”

Like Salvor, Vault Hari has no time for random data with pretensions.

Just like in the book, Hari thinks the situation with the traders is the third crisis.  “A too undisciplined outer arm pitted against a too authoritarian central government.”

“But, what about the Mule, Dr. Seldon?”

“What is the Mule?”

The Warden gets a phone call, but how did “the Mule” get her number?

The vault has a Sunroof. Opened, we can see Foundation ships firing on each other.

Apparently, Vault Hari is also undergoing a hard reboot.  This Hari, like Cleon 1, had a lot more agency in previous seasons.  And everyone flees the Vault.

The Beggar

It seems like the Cleonic programming still exists, but Demerzel allows Gaal to live.  That gives me a faint hope that the first law still exists somewhere in there.

Demerzel learns of the sack of New Terminus.  “The Mule” could be on Trantor, “in a heartbeat.“  Why doesn’t Demerzel ask Gail to bring her back to Trantor?  That’s gotta be quicker than using jump gates.

New Terminus

It’s disconcerting to see the Vault turn black as everyone runs for their lives.  Will we get Bayta’s Kooky Crew when some survivors reach the Beggar?

Review:

The second run through of this one was way more fun than usual. That’s mainly because, on the first run through, it became obvious that Magnifico was laying the groundwork for “the Mule’s” attack.

Not quite as great as S3E04, but solid and exciting! The revelations here are big and

Rating: 4 out of 5.

All Images from Foundation on Apple TV+.

Watching Foundation: “Where Tyrants Spend Eternity”

The masthead for the "Watching Foundation" column.

As always, my reactions to the episode as I watched it and rewatched it. Unfortunately, this one did not exactly get more interesting upon closer scrutiny.

Simultaneously published at Stars End: a Foundation Podcast and Comics, The Universe, and Everything.

Watching Foundation S3E05

This is a very cool shot with the hoverbike driving vertically down the side of a building.  It does make me wonder about the topology of Trantor.  This could be C24 descending into Mycogen, except he seems to be exiting a building with a roof that we saw from above.  Could energy and technology be so cheap that we would use antigravity tech on a parking garage?  Seems a bit like using a jackhammer to drive in a thumbtack.

Mycogen

Here we go!  The whole thing has a 1940s detective movie kind of feel.

Is that C24?  They are either showing us that it is him or it isn’t him.

Those hoverbikes look like they were designed by the Federation. Two nacells, red in the front, blue in the back.  Is this what it would look like if Star Trek and Star Wars had a baby?

Dawn in Mycogen.

Hey!  Sunmaster 18!  In a very dark sector.  I bet he has seasonal affective disorder.

Did not see that coming.  But I suppose I wasn’t meant to.  C24 paid someone to take his place on the hoverbike, but showing him on the bike before is kind of a cheap trick.

“Above,” Demerzel finds Mavon’s body, and she’s tracking C25.  “My Cleons are scattered.”

“Dawn, I will deal with myself,” isn’t interesting.  “I know exactly where Day has gone.  We will not see him again. And he will not trouble us,“ is.

The Beggar, on its way to Clarion Station.

“The Mule and I have some talents in common,” says Gaal.  C25 asks, “Did you compel me to work with you?”  “I tried not to… sometimes it’s hard to tell,” is an interesting answer from Gaal.  I originally thought it was surprisingly honest.

New Terminus

Indbur is, unsurprisingly,  being an ass.  Han tries to convince him that the Mule is important, with little success.

Han is unrepentant, “I knew there’d be consequences.  I just judged it worthwhile.”

But he’s also not as intelligent as he thinks he is.  “… The Mallows may have inadvertently done something useful,“ underestimates them.

They purposely shine a flashlight on Han’s ass.  Hey! Over here! Look!!

Sephone takes Han’s necklace.  Jealousy?  She is pretty tough here; very Maria Hill.

[I noticed on YouTube somewhere that the necklace is actually the pouch that contains Gaal’s prayer stones.  That’s an intensely personal item; one that seems far too intimate given Gaal’s attitude about the relationship in episode four.]

The Millennium Torus, what I’m calling Torin and Bayta’s ship.

Did jump ships emerge from clouds in season one or two?

Is “Sweetheart” the name of the ship or the name of the OS?

The ship’s pretty banged up.  “Air conditioning is fully operational.”  But Magnifico is playing the Visi-sonor.

A good OS would give a margin of error.  “Three jumps” must mean “maybe two, maybe 4.”  Having the OS provide a probability or margin of error would make sense.

Torin snaps harshly.  Did Magnifico do that?  He’s apologetic as soon as the “music“ stops.

Radole… I mean Haven

Still no good explanation of a tidally locked planet.

They didn’t listen when the OS told them communications were down.  And they get blasted out of the sky for it.

Let this be a lesson to you: when approaching a ribbon world, fly parallel to the habitable bit.  The Torus crashes on the dark side.  They could be in real trouble, but Sunside would have been worse.

The Beggar

Gaal has a zygote from Salvor.  Instant granddaughter, just warm and serve.  Will we get Leah Harvey back in season 4?  Harvi Harden?

“We can implicate anyone; we just need a name,” is a troubling might-makes-right attitude.  The Salvor Harden from the book wouldn’t be caught dead saying that out loud.

Vynod Tarisk is wearing a movie-era Starfleet uniform.  Or something damn close to one.

They’re going to blackmail this guy to try the enclosure thing again.

In Season 2, the Empire lost its entire navy trying to “enclose” Terminus.

C25 seems conflicted but committed, “We weren’t raised to be kind.”

The boy Emperor is playing dress up and trying to be incognito, but he doesn’t even have his stupid beard.

Chekov’s blaster.

Cassion Bilton is excellent here.  Intense. Self-assured. Dominating.  He kills without hesitation or remorse.  He’s a Cleon.  Has Gaal bitten off more than she can chew?

The literal blood on 25’s hands is a bit on point.  There’s a quick glimpse of Gaal in the meeting.

The entire council is part of the Star Trek cosplay.

This is like C-Span with better acting.  They vote, raising red lights for “no,” or white lights for “yes.”  That’s more primitive than a simple set of clickers.

And just like that, Kalgan will be enclosed.

Haven

Uncle Randu boards the Millennium Torus and finds Torin, Bayta, and Magnifico safe in a handy human thermos.  I guess he didn’t burn to death in S3E01.

Back in his house, it’s clear the Traders have money.  But I wonder why they’re showing us that sword.

Randu is interesting.  I want to reread the scene where Bayta meets him in the book.  He says Magnifico over Torin would be “trading up.” Dick.

Torin leaves while Bayta tries to convince Randu to help bring Magnifico to the Foundation.  We finally hear more than a few words from Magnifico.  He’s not the erudite Mule that Joel wanted.  In fact, he sounds like he is deaf to me. But we see no ASL in contrast to Preem Palmer.  Meaning?  Maybe it’s just an accent.

Torin and Magnifico wander through a mall or an airport, and we get some backstory for Torin.

“Bayta is charming your uncle.  I’ll play a little.  Maybe it will help her.”  Magnifico seems completely innocent and kind of sweet.  Even though I’m expecting the obvious implications, will there be some kind of twist to it?  I would like that.

This bit from Bayta is nice.  She and Torin have a real bond.  “… now we’ll rise or fall together.”

And she’s figured out quite a bit and has postulated a connection between Magnifico’s music and “The Mule’s” powers.  Textually, this is what the show has been telling us. I don’t think it’s quite right, but it does give her some potential influence with the Foundation.  Randu will come along for the ride since that can only help the Traders’ cause.

That Jump Gate

We see the Enclosure of Kalgan taking shape as Empire ships flood through the jump gate.  The fact that so much of the Imperial Navy has to be committed to enclose a single planet seems like a problem of scale.  Still, it looks like it’s going smoothly even as Tersik calls to reassure his family.

It will be interesting if the Mule is able to do something.

As “the Mule” appears before the assembly, it sounds like it is Day who is laughing.  But “the Mule” is no longer on Kalgan, paying off the capture of the jump gate in S3E03.

He’s left behind a “cobalt spike.”  I’m guessing that’s a reference to Leó Szilárd terrifying the US with the idea of a cobalt bomb back in 1950.

This is from Wikipedia.

A cobalt bomb is a type of salted bomb: a nuclear weapon designed to produce enhanced amounts of radioactive fallout, intended to contaminate a large area with radioactive material, potentially for the purpose of radiological warfare, mutual assured destruction or as doomsday devices. There is no firm evidence that such a device has ever been built or tested.

The concept of a cobalt bomb was originally described in a radio program by physicist Leó Szilárd on February 26, 1950. His intent was not to propose that such a weapon be built, but to show that nuclear weapon technology would soon reach the point where a doomsday device could end human life on Earth.

What gets unleashed is a devastating weapon that appears in form and function very similar to the doomsday device built for C23.  Kalgan is gone.  The imperial fleet is gone.

So “the Mule” can do something, and it is interesting.  But it isn’t mental manipulation.  In F&E, he took control of the Empire‘s people and therefore their resources.  Why wouldn’t he do the same here?  Destroying an Armada that you could’ve taken control of makes no sense unless you’re actually unable to take control.

C25 posits, “He knew about the enclosure.”  I don’t think that’s necessarily true.  This could just be a response to a retaliation that had to come one way or the other.  It is probably more interesting if he didn’t know what was coming.

There’s an extended escape sequence where Dawn is trying to escape to the Beggar, and imperial troops are trying to get him to safety.  The key moment is a pleasant surprise that offers a glimpse of Gaal’s abilities and evokes “The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2”.

But before the escape is complete, C25 asks, “Gaal, did you know what the Mule would do?”

“I needed the enclosure to fail.  Empire needs to get smaller and die out.”  

Gaal’s answer seems nonsensical.  The galaxy had to fit Seldon‘s initial conditions so that the Foundation could defeat the Mule. But the Mule isn’t in the plan.  Hobbling the Empire, which is also opposed to the Mule, seems counterintuitive and contrary to what we know about the plan thus far.

I am not convinced that she did, but if Gaal foresaw the destruction of Kalgan and stood aside, it would be tough to root for her.

That said, if you ignore all of the stuff that doesn’t make sense here, this conversation between Gaal and C25 is intense and well-acted.  It culminates in the confrontation between C25 and Tarisk, with Dawn’s message to Dusk providing a poignant voiceover.  Dusk, gazing at the communications device and looking distraught, is the final punctuation.

However, airlock doors should be able to withstand the discharge of small weapons.

In a coda, we see the Beggar speeding away from the station. There’s an airlock breach, and Gaal thinks it’s Dawn.  That seems unlikely. Not only is a ship flying away from the station, but it also means Gaal paid no attention to the airlock exploding and did not attempt a rescue.  It’s Demerzel instead, which also seems odd.  There’s no notice that a ship has docked before someone’s in the airlock?

Demerzel is glib.  “Gaal Dornik, you look a day over 200,“ or something like that.

Review:

Despite some compelling moments and good performances, there’s just too much here that doesn’t add up. Trying to condense this story into a matter of days as opposed to the months that elapsed in the book isn’t helping matters.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

All Images from Foundation on Apple TV+.

Watching Foundation: “The Stress of Her Regard”

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In case you don’t remember how this works, these are Joseph’s initial thoughts, reactions, and predictions from watching the episode. Spoilers follow for the show and the books past this point. Proceed at your own risk.

Simultaneously published at Comics, The Universe, and Everything.

Watching Foundation S3E04

Directed by Roxanne Dawson!  Here we go!

Aerial view of the area with the tree.

“Do you feel regret?” Followed by images of the Star Bridge.

“You sought out confession.  That seems to suggest a capacity for it.”

In retrospect, confession is a wonderful Asimovian device to quickly drive the plot through conversation.  This is as efficient as a “captain’s log“ on an episode of Star Trek.

Better because it’s a dialogue.   You don’t need a quiet voice of inner morality with a character of moral authority right there.

Jon caught this last time.  The very first time we see Demerzel in S1E01, she’s gazing up at the Star Bridge.

In the last two episodes, they’ve pinned the current episode to a previous one by repeating an exact shot.  Here we get a repeat of our initial glimpse of Demerzel.

“I have held the secret for more than three centuries.”  Chills because of the wonderful foreshadowing.  You know what’s happening, even if you don’t believe it yet.  It’s still like a slap in the face.

And then the cognitive realignment.  “For the Foundation.”  True to the prequels, Demerzel is working to help the Foundation, AND she’s working to help the Empire.  This is perfect.

And here we are, the essence of any Asimov robot story.  Conflicts in programming.  Initially, that was between the original three laws.  But Demerzel, working for the Empire in the books, was always about the Zeroth Law.  With the advent of the Foundation, the Zeroth Law stands in greater and greater conflict with her Cleonic programming.  THAT’s what prompted the need for confession.  Her worrying about what would happen after the Cleonic Dynasty collapses was the right distractor.

In a very human way, Demerzel shows herself here to be a rationalization machine.  How often have we used that phrase on the podcast?

I think back to the line “Not this one.” from the season premiere and laugh because, of course, we assumed that was about Demerzel being a robot.

“I am built to watch, and remember,” is gut-wrenching.

And the writing here actually improves with a deeper look.

“Something like regret, then?  But the casualties are not the source of the pain, are they?  The paradox is the thing that hurts.“  In Giskard, the conflict (paradox?) between the first and zeroth laws caused roblock.  That’s at play here, too, but mainly it’s the bigger conflict between new and old programming.

And Zephyr Vorellis hits the nail on the head.  Demerzel is capable of spiritual growth even if her current programming refuses to admit it.  It hits too close to home; as Demerzel removes her face, the “emotionless“ robot is angry.

Better living through technology.  Spiritual growth through software updates.  The Zen of Asenion Robots.

Are we looking at a parable for when our large language models become actual artificial intelligence?  Or is it bigger?  This might not be the realm of “Measure of a Man.”  There’s already a religion in Mycogen that worships robots. We could be encroaching on the territory of “The Last Question.”

I’m circling back to an Arthur C. Clarke quote that I probably first encountered in Report on Planet Three: “Perhaps our role on this planet is not to worship God — but to create Him.”  Followed by, “And then our work will be done. It will be time to play.”

It’s interesting to think about the bigger picture within the show.  In the Foundation books, we initially had a conflict between the Foundation and the coming chaos.  In the show, it’s more of a balancing act.  Humanity needs the Empire to survive long enough for the Foundation to get its act together.  Initially, the Zeroth Law and the Cleonic programming are in concert.  Eventually, they’ll be in conflict.  And there, Demerzel is, right in the middle.  Demerzel is the show.  And there she sits in a place evocative of the Garden of Eden, looking at us.

Nice transition.  Very 2001.

Ignus

As if we didn’t have any doubt already, Han Pritcher is a Second Foundationer.

Although Preem Palver’s little poem desperately needs a fourth line.

This is taking me out of the moment a little bit, but I don’t think ASL and English (Galactic Standard?) are similar enough to share a rhyming scheme.  And is PP a deaf-mute or merely mute?  This would suggest that he is hearing.  Han communicating in sign language suggests Preem is deaf.

Han and Gaal.  Well, that explains that line from the season opener.  “My loyalties lie elsewhere.”  If we’d noticed that he was touching a necklace identical to Gaal‘s we’d have gotten much more information.

Or maybe that is Gaal’s necklace; she isn’t wearing it here.

Somebody needs to say, “My mind to your mind…”

And very quickly, we know how “The Mule” learns about Gaal and set up the Search for the Second Foundation.

Preem is the smart one here. He deduces a lot of stuff about “the Mule.”  It mainly underlines the questions about “the Mule” and Magnifico, though.

“We are the unknown.  He can be made to fear us,” seems pretty far off the mark.

Gaal in water.  Shades of season one.  No counting primes though.

False bravado from Gaal.  If she isn’t scared, she should be.  But it does give us a quick glimpse of the scope of the Second Foundation’s influence.

Now we’re back to free will vs. predestination centered around Gaal’s vision of “the Mule.”  She cannot see anything in the future beyond this vision.  That must be the glitch in the Prime Radiant.

Now that reminds me of Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen.  That can’t be the origin of the trope, but it’s a pretty effective one.

But essentially, we should’ve known about the glitch for a century and a half.

Here we have an interesting critique of “violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.“  It makes sense and is so much better than “It’s an old man’s philosophy…”

Then, sexy time in the water.

New Terminus

Yay!  Ebling!  “Unprintable bastard” is pretty good and nice to see.

Ebling calls the Federation ambassador.  She’s pissed when she learns that Empire has a/the Prime Radiant.

Cherry Jones and Terrence Mann are both great here.

We’ve already had Dawn co-opted by the Second Foundation.  If Dusk collaborates with the First Foundation, does that enhance Dude’s position as a pivotal force?  Or possibly Demerzel if Brother Dude shuffles off to Mycogen.

The ED joke implies a level of intimacy between these two.  We’ve already got that, but still.

And from Ambassador Quent, we see the near-religious regard the Foundation clearly has for Hari Seldon.  That was especially strong in Foundation and Empire.

These two are actually sweet together.

Back to Ignus

Gaal and Han are reminiscing.  He’s mostly known her as a popsicle (rather than a pickle).  It seems somewhat interesting how their different views of the relationship are shaped by the context.  He’s known her for years, but she thinks the relationship has only lasted a matter of days.

On the other hand, it may be no more complicated than “absence makes the heart grow fonder.“

Now they are conflating mathematics and arithmetic.

“If you are awake, be awake.” That’s a little on the simplistic side.

Trantor

Evidently, the pet ferret following you around is documented behavior.

Dude wants to speak to the animatronic Cleon 1.  Shades of Disney World.

This thing seemed to have some agency in season two.  But regressing to the age-appropriate version of himself for Dude’s question is a nice trick.  It also means Lee Pace gets to talk to himself.  When does such become a monologue?

“You may have overstated the resemblance,” is funny.

C1 went down to Mycogen in search of some tools.  He slaughtered all of the Inheritors when they refused to give them up.  He wants 24 to kill every member of the “cult.”

Mycogen does feed the planet.  Agriculture is insufficient to feed 40 billion people.  It must be the yeast turned into who knows what?

It gets contentious, and Dude spits on (at?  Through?) C1.  If this is the same entity as season two, there will be repercussions.

That was way more Daylike than Dudelike.  He’s not so chill without the spores.

Demerzel’s Quarters

Demerzel looks disconcerting even before we realize her head has been separated from her body.  Apparently, she is giving herself an oil change.  It’s a minor point, but how does she see what she’s doing?

“The thing I had for a mother doesn’t have any idea what it is to feel a connection with someone.”  We all know that isn’t true.  Will we hear the story of Elijah and “Danny” as we did in Prelude?  Pretty sure that was in Dahl.

“I was meant to connect to others of my kind… robots shared one mind when we wanted.”

Dude is going to palm one of the tools.

“I’m compelled to keep you safe even if it causes you pain.”  Or kills 100,000,000 tourists on the space elevator.

Claviger Mavon’s apartment

Mavon returns home, and Dude is there. He is alternately intimidating and disarming.  Introducing Capillus, the ferret, to the daughter is the former, but the wife is very reasonably terrified.

Dude says he needs to leave for Mycogen immediately.

Mavon knows that’s dicey.  “Even we don’t go to Mycogen.  Not unless we’re in full force.”

There are many vehicles in this show.  Now, Dude and Mavon are on hoverbikes.

These claviger uniforms are what you would get if the civilization from the Star Trek episode “Bread and Circuses,“ where the Roman Empire never fell, had its own version of Tron.

Dawn’s Quarters

Dawn gets a message on his device, but we don’t get a good look at it.  He’s off to that same café with the mediocre tea.

Why is it raining indoors?  I know it’s faux outdoors, but what then is the purpose of a shell around the entire planet? 

Gaal is there in person.  “It must be really bad,” says Dawn.  There’s some political back and forth.  Gaal wants him to leave Trantor.  He is obviously reluctant; he’s about to be promoted to his grown-up job. That only took King Charles what? Three generations?

“You were followed, you have to trust me,” seems wildly suspicious, but off they go!  

Cut to Dude and Mavon continuing their trek.  

There are lots of dark, moody, film-noiresque shots both here and in the Dawn/Gaal situation.

Dude throwing away his personal aura seems dumb. I suppose it must be one of the many ways the Empire has him lo-jacked.  

When he starts removing his nanites, I think: is he going to keep his word?  I did not see that coming.  

There’s a nice moment between the two here.  A bit of small talk.  Mavon’s daughter can keep Capillus… etc.

But the word doesn’t get kept.  Dude shoots Mavon.  

Here’s the payoff to the scene in S3E02 where Dude seems to be cheating to lose.  He knows the clavigers’ tells.  He caught on to Mavon betraying him.  And of course, in true Bond-villain style, Dude gets to explain all this before the killshot.

Cut to a wide shot as Mavon dies; the Dude is now small.  But he does show an inkling of remorse, putting him at odds with all the other Brothers Day.  Not too much at odds.  Dude loads Mavon up with the nanites to create a false trail.  This was always the plan; there was nothing within Dude for Mavon to betray after all.  Dude’s remorse, however, lingers.  Does this make him better or worse than mere ruthlessness?

“No one can escape Empire.  Not even Empire… but I’m gonna see how far I can go.”

This ends with a big, expansive outdoor shot. Water, trees, and a skyline are visible in the distance.  I suppose it’s artistic license, but it just seems like the writers have forgotten how Trantor is constructed.  It’s their right, I suppose, but it’s taking me out of the story.

The Imperial Palace

Demerzel is staring at a section of the mural depicting her robotic nature.  If you want to keep a secret, don’t tell anyone there’s a secret.  And for crying out loud, don’t paint a damn picture.

She learns Brother Dude’s nanites have become inactive, and so she returns to her quarters to discover that one of her tools is missing.  This seems iffy because Demerzel must have put all the tools neatly back in their case.  She must have noticed then.

Cut again to Gaal and Dawn.

We’re back to a nice, moody, film-noir kind of shots.  They run through a tunnel that looks like a tunnel.  Presumably, one floor up is huge and looks like the outdoors. And one floor down is also huge and looks like the outdoors.

Gaal uses her powers, the two dive around a corner and then, “They can’t see us.  They’re going to forget they were ever in this tunnel.”

These Cleons are either arrogant or gullible.  Gaal is doing mind control tricks, and yet, Dawn isn’t suspicious.  

It looks like as they’re escaping they use a gravitic lift from Prelude to Foundation.

“Well, we can get there a lot faster if we use a gravitic lift. Not many people use it and I must tell you that I’m not overjoyed at the idea myself, but if you think you can handle it, we had better.”

“What’s a gravitic lift?”

“It’s experimental. The time may come when it will be widespread over Trantor, provided it becomes psychologically acceptable—or can be made so to enough people. Then, maybe, it will spread to other worlds too. It’s an elevator shaft without an elevator cab, so to speak. We just step into empty space and drop slowly—or rise slowly—under the influence of antigravity. It’s about the only application of antigravity that’s been established so far, largely because it’s the simplest possible application.”

—Prelude to Foundation

Gaal gets the final word, what about her organization?  “We call ourselves the Second Foundation.”

Review:

This one is pretty much everything you should want in an episode. Fascinating reveals, significant developments, high stakes, and compelling storytelling. It falls just shy of being perfect. I’m on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what will become of the Demerzel/ robots/Mycogen arc. Best episode of the season so far!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

All Images from Foundation on Apple TV+.

Watching Foundation: “When A Book Finds You”

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Episode 2 will be next, so I can hopefully get on track for publishing these before the next episode.

You remember how these work. These are Joseph’s reactions, reflections, and ruminations while watching the episode. Also some light summary. Beware. Here be spoilers.

Simultaneously published at Comics, The Universe, and Everything.

Watching Foundation S3E03

Book! I assume we’re talking about Foundation and Empire here. We’ll see.

Trantor, 3 years ago

Do you ever notice that on TV shows, nobody knows the Dewey decimal system? They just ask the librarian to find things for them.  No, not Noah Wyle.

Absolutely love the look of the reserved section.

Is that thing about the gloves true?  It’s nice that Dawn shows a certain amount of skepticism here. (Edit: I bought some nitrile gloves for handling old comics and then never used them. I must have come across this fact at some point.)

“The Empire has three heads. Do they all have room for thoughts like this?“

I’m pretty sure that this librarian would’ve been vaporized had this been season one.  Is that part of the cognitive decline?

Returning a library book from practically beyond the grave is above and beyond the call of duty.  And the librarian just implied that she has a connection to a power outside of the Empire.  These guys really are getting lax!

The Dawns collectively are getting better at sneaking out of the palace. This guy basically put on a raincoat and minimal, patchy facial hair.  That’s not going to fool anyone. Clark Kent’s glasses were a better disguise.

I thought this Dawn was more deliberative, but here we are again: Dawn + pretty girl = trouble. Possibly treason.

“Mathematics is the language of angels.”   It’s prettier, but it’s still too close to math is magic.

“Is it treason if you’re the one making the rules?”  Of course it is!  This is just Nixon‘s “If the president does it, it isn’t a crime” in fancy dress.  And don’t get me started on today’s newspaper.

“… just men who started to think for themselves.”  There’s a bit more to it than that. But the Dawns have shown this interesting spark since the little kid in S1E02.

That was a perfectly timed bit of static.

“Now,” whatever that means in a show set millennia in the future.

I like that the little texting device seems like something Asimov would have imagined 80 years ago. In fact, he did imagine it 80 years ago. This is from Foundation.

“The tiny, gleaming sphere changed hands, and Gorm added, “It’s confidential. Super-secret. Can’t be trusted to the sub-ether and all that. Or so I gather. At least, it’s a Personal Capsule, and won’t open for anyone but you.”

Ponyets regarded the capsule distastefully, “I can see that. And I never knew one of these to hold good news, either.”

It opened in his hand and the thin, transparent tape unrolled stiffly. His eyes swept the message quickly, for when the last of the tape had emerged, the first was already brown and crinkled. In a minute and a half it had turned black and, molecule by molecule, fallen apart.”

My current theory on the message? “Personal 210: The Vault is awake. We call.”

We were stuck on “Vault” for a while because I was stuck on “Mule.”

Nice!  Great shades of Mission Impossible! It’s nice to know that somebody is reading the books.

Once again, we get a perfect recreation of a scene from the previous episode that pins Gaal’s timeline to everything else.

Gaal wants Dawn to call for an “enclosure“ on Kalgan.  He doesn’t want to do it, and he evidently can’t do it without council approval. No hint about that in season one or two.

Dawn doesn’t think controlling people’s minds is possible; Gaal doesn’t answer.  I wonder if she is influencing his mind. I wonder if the librarian was from the Second Foundation. I wonder whether a lot of people are Second Foundation.

Kalgan

At the party, Pritcher is very serious.

And we finally see Magnifico with the visi-sonar.  “The mule brings him everywhere he goes, even into battle.”

Pritcher sees the Mule. “Now, I just have to get close to him.“  I wonder why that is sufficient.  He’s certainly 2F.  In a psychic attack from the Mule, we hear “you are like me,” and “Who is Gaal Dornik?”  Han flees with a bloodshot eye.

If he is 2F, maybe he won’t spend the rest of the book as a puppet.

“The Mule” is kind of a dick to Magnifico.

“Roughing my flanks?”

Bayta and Toran decide to investigate “the Mule” themselves.  They’re more serious than when we first met them, but they are very overconfident.

Toran’s encounter with “The Mule” is ugly, and Toran runs away, licking his wounds.  It’s notable, though, that, although “The Mule” threatens to toy with T’s mind, he does not follow through (maybe).

Bayta approaches Magnifico with concern, but the condescending baby talk is annoying.  Does she sense that Torin is in trouble?

“That’s not information!” Is funny.

Their ship is definitely an homage to the Millennium Falcon, even though they aren’t topologically equivalent.  

More letters, consistent with the message tape.

“Things have a way of working out how they’re meant to.”  Seems an out-of-character reaction (unless?).

Trantor

Brother Dude is back at the Claviger Barracks.  He wants to escape the palace and get to Mycogen with both Song and her memory.  We learn the clavigers’ families are all held hostage.  Dude claims he will bring the first claviger’s family along and will reward him generously for his help.

Song presses Dude for information, especially why he refers to Demerzel as “it.”  He tells her Demerzel’s a robot.

Why isn’t that an “open” secret?  Hasn’t she been in the public eye for centuries?  I suppose the official story is that she was also being cloned.  I guess that could work.

Dawn is contacting “The Mule.”  Dawn = Cleon XXV by the way.  

He’s trying to bring Kalgan back into the Empire and offers “The Mule” protection and some other things.

“ You already failed to protect Kalgan.  I am the proof.”  It goes downhill from there.

Some Jump Gate Somewhere

“The Mule” and his men captured a jump gate.  They’re keeping it quiet.  But he says something interesting as he dispatches the final guard.  “Normally, I would let you enjoy it at least.  But someone took my balladeer from me.”  He called Gigantigo “it” multiple times.

Maybe this is the Mule, but he is not the one with the mind control powers.  Could Magnifico be Giskard?  “Do you ever feel like your life is not your own?”  “It’s sort of a transcendent feeling you have to kill your way out of.“

The Palace Garden

Dude and Song are planning their escape.  Song’s affect is wildly different.  She’s now introspective and judgmental about how Dude talks about Demerzel, and she wants to stay near Demerzel.  Dude replies with a verse of Pulp’s “Common People.” 

Demerzel arrives, and Song makes an odd gesture for Demerzel to see.  Could she have been a plant all along?

The Imperial Palace

Dawn is worried about “The Mule.”  “He took Kalgan in a day… yada, yada, yada.”  He is trying to create the enclosure that Gaal recommended.

Dude and Dusk want none of it, and Demerzel is more worried about the council than about “The Mule.”

“The middle thrown says, no.”  

The tone changes dramatically when the Cleons start to discuss Dawn‘s robing ceremony.  The bit about strength, wisdom, and fortitude is the Cleon’s at their most human.

…A Bit Later

The first clavager seems to be on board.  He brings a plan to Dude.

But when Dude returns to the garden, Demerzel awaits.  She explains Song’s strange gesture.  It’s from an ancient religion in Mycogen where they worship robots called the Inheritance.  The sect believes the robots will return and remove all cruelty, injustice, and misery from the world.

Demerzel sends Song back to Mycogen with her memory wiped.  She would have killed her but for Dude.  He doesn’t appreciate the gesture. Also, it’s worth considering whether Demerzel is lying or not.

I’m hoping that the first clavager and his daughter aren’t just collateral damage here.

This Mycogenian religion will play a huge role in the rest of the season, I bet.  That would explain the prominence of Song’s name in the title of episode one.

(Edit: Song could be a major player in what’s coming if Demerzel didn’t actually wipe her memory.)

Review:

Slightly stronger than the first two episodes. We’re hanging some meat on the bones of some of the plotlines already introduced, with some nice character moments.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

All Images from Foundation on Apple TV+.

Watching Foundation: “A Song for the End of Everything”

The masthead for the "Watching Foundation" column.

We’re at the start of a season, so here’s a quick reminder of how these work. While watching the episode, I write down my thoughts, impressions, connections, and theories — half-baked or otherwise. Then we record the podcast. Eventually, I will publish one of these. Usually, it’s pretty quick, but I still owe you one each from Seasons 1 and 2. Simultaneously published at Comics, The Universe, and Everything.

Watching Foundation S3E01

“If you live long enough, time can be a weapon.”  All hail exponential growth.

It’s 152 years after Season 2.  The Foundation controls the entire outer reach.  I want a clearer idea of what that means.  Controlling the suburbs all the way around the galaxy doesn’t seem feasible in a century and a half.

But the way they’re talking about the Middle Band makes it sound that way. Three concentric circles all around the supermassive black hole.

Kalgan

And Kalgan is the lynch pin of the middle band.

We get a taste of what the visi-sonor sounds like.  It makes me glad that the books, as I was reading them, were silent.

Barely a couple of minutes in, and presumably, we meet the Mule.  Too abrupt.

“I have a very large appetite, one only a galaxy can satisfy.”  Too big, too fast.

Just get some soap, damnit.  Gross.

Planetary conquest in four minutes.  Horrifically violent.  This needed a build-up.

This sure seems like actual mind control rather than emotional pushing.

Also, I’m not buying this guy as the Mule.  Magnifico must be calling the shots from somewhere else.  Could it really be an Asimov story without the important action taking place off-screen?

And all that before the intro.

Skydance Television.  Now merged with Paramount.  I hope their business model includes spending lots of money on things just because they’re good. That’s not just for Foundation but for Star Trek, too.

Executive producer: Roxanne Dawson.  Awesome!

But crap.  That’s a really long list of executive producers.

Somewhere in Space

Hober Mallow’s deal with the Spacers had real long-term consequences. 

“After the Empire lost control of the Spacers during the Second Crisis, they’ve been forced to use jump gates to travel across the galaxy, slowing their sphere of influence and accelerating their decline.”

If they had to return to using obsolete tech that had been replaced by the Spacers, the Empire would be at a huge disadvantage.

I suppose if the Empire were slowed enough and spacer-travel were fast enough, the Foundation ringing the entire galaxy might make sense.

However, this provides us with three paradigms for FTL travel, whereas the source material had only one.  That’s too complicated.

And in season four, do we get the Infinite Improbability Drive or the Bloat Drive?  Or, God forbid, the drive that turned Paris and Janeway into rutting lizards?

There’s a Galactic Council now?  I don’t remember any hint of one.  The narration treats it as if it’s something that always existed.  Change a few words, and you have something that better indicates that the Cleons are waning in power and influence.

Now I’m wondering how Demerzel‘s Prime Radiant, or any of them really, updates itself.  There must be more data for the program to decide that the entire timeline is going to glitch like that.  So, how does that work?

“We proceed as planned.  There’s nothing else we can do.”  This nicely reminds me of the Bel Riose story in Foundation and Empire. All hail the forces of history.

The narration confirms that the Galactic Council has been around as long as the Empire.  And yet in 12,000(?) years of time and space, it never occurred to them to bring in a couple of chairs.

We get a picture of the galaxy with two splotches that may or may not be political units, but aren’t concentric circles.

But “resizing to a sustainable 6342 worlds” sounds a lot like restructuring to get out of bankruptcy.

And the Foundation is comparatively only about 800 worlds.  No way it encircles the entire galaxy.

I’m assuming this “when crops die, people die” claim is political posturing.  This Dawn is not the credulous kid of seasons one and two.  He seems to be a savvy political operator.  He talks about funding the Merchant Princes within the Foundation, and I decide that this is all a big mash-up of the end of the first book and lots of the second book, well stirred.

My gut tells me that the scale of using any number of planets to feed the galaxy is way off, especially with intragalactic travel slowed way down! With the possible exception of Trantor, if you don’t have agriculture, you starve.

“We hath brought for thee these bananas, Your Majesty!  Sorry, they turned black and icky!  Thou shalt therefore be presented with the glory of banana bread!“

Dawn is 10 days short of Daybreak.

Sometime later on Trantor

Dusk watches each of his predecessors get vaporized.  That’s a maudlin way to pass your rapidly diminishing lifespan.

The Mule is just barely on their radar.

Dawn and Dusk watch a previous brother Darkness try to escape his ascension.  Demerzel casually and efficiently shoves him into his demise.  “Most of us are as obedient as trash headed to the incinerator.“

New Terminus

We get a time lapse of the Foundation’s growth since settling on the new planet; it’s reminiscent of the similar sequence in season 1.

Professor Elbling Mis approaches the vault.  The land directly below the Vault looks scorched and smoldering.  This seems less harmless than the null field’s previous behavior.

Ebling has “nulled the null field,”  and the smoldering stops.  That gets a smile out of Vault Hari.  

Ebling tells Hari that he is descended from Xylas, the prosecutor from S1E01.  I suppose it’s nice to have an explanation for why they both look like Alexander Siddig.  Did you ever see Dragnet?  Every bartender looks like Bobby Troup.  Like they kept them all on a shelf.  So, not necessary but nice.  Now that I think about it, I would be fine with a different descendant in every season, a la Brent Spiner.

But he is thrilled to meet Hari.  “Seldon, man, myth, legend.”  “You have the myth at least,“ he is told.  “The man is elsewhere.”

Inside the vault, Ebling gawks and acts like a tourist.

We get an overview of Mayor Indbur. He’s reminiscent of Indbur III from the books.     

The Foundation, at this point, is indolent and flaccid.

Hari’s his usual charming self.  Ebling wants an explanation for why Hari gave a prime radiant to the Empire only to be unceremoniously ejected from the Vault.

And he didn’t even exclaim “ga-LAX-y!”

Haven

This is the Traders’ stronghold.  It’s tidally locked, so it always keeps one face toward the sun. The other side is in perpetual darkness.  Asimov calls these ribbon worlds.  The teevee show could have done a much better job of giving us that information. (I saw a website claim that these worlds don’t rotate. That’s nonsense. The planet’s year and its day have to sync up so the planet always keeps the same side to the sun, like our moon, where one side always faces the Earth.)

It seems the show is conflating two planets from Foundation and Empire.  These are Haven, the Trader world where Bayta and Toran settle, and Radole, the ribbon world where the Trader Assembly meets.

The Empire is dropping weapons for the traders on the Sunside.  In-universe, Sunside seems like a bad choice. Wouldn’t technology be more susceptible to melting than to freezing?  But then we couldn’t have the exciting chase scene where the four characters ride their big phallic symbols and try to stay within the moon’s shadow.  Nobody has to burst into flames if the chase happens on the dark side.

I’m guessing the male Foundationer is Han Pritcher since someone called him “Pritch.”

New Terminus

We see Mayor Indbur for the first time, and he seems to be wearing a Star Trek TNG (TM) communicator pin.

Yup.  Pritcher.  He is the information officer. Check!  And he understands the threat of the Mule. Check!  Not a diplomat by any way, shape, or form.

As expected, Indbur is an officious jackass.  Pritcher, in return, is justifiably and righteously rude.  Not nearly as professional as I would’ve expected from the character in the book.  Also, he steals the mayor’s ship.  The first name “Han” carries a different kind of weight post-1977.

Also, disambiguation pages rule!  A robot named Han is coming soon to a concierge desk near you. Three Laws probably not included.

Trantor

Demerzel has invited one of the Luminist Zephyrs to Trantor to take her confession.  Her memory of the confession will be wiped afterwards. “ I know there are protocols, but I can be trusted with secrets.”  “Not this one.”

The two visit a tree that has been refreshed by the blood of robots.  Its fruit is gold and poisonous to humans.  It’ll take a while to peel away all the layers there.

We finally get the Three Laws without any contrivances.  

Obeisance?

And the Zeroth Law! Giskard is mentioned, though not by name.

“So you imagine there was such a thing as the greater good?”  You would hope a religious leader would accept that as an axiom.  Also, the use of the past tense is somewhat disturbing. Demerzel just replies, “Isn’t there?”

Demerzel tells us that different factions of robots went to war with each other because they had different ideas about keeping humankind from harm. This has always been my head canon.

Eventually, Demerzel is reprogrammed to serve only Cleon.

And so we get to Demerzel’s crisis of faith.  The Prime Radiant shows her that the end of the Cleonic Dynasty is inevitable.  Who will she be if she outlives her programming?

Cut to a diplomatic dinner that includes the Foundation ambassador.  It’s confirmed that the Zephyr will remain on Trantor. Word of the fall of Kalgan reaches the Foundation ambassador.

It’s surprising that we haven’t seen Day yet, especially given that a lot of people tune into the show just to see Lee Pace.

When we see him, he’s communing with a camel and inventing Vogon poetry.

Jon is calling him Brother Dude, and there is no better alternative.

Dude has a consort with him, and she’s named “Song.”  Now I have to ponder the episode title. Dammit.  From Mycogen, and yet her pate is covered with hair. Also, there’s agriculture on Trantor.

Are they still just using yeast to make bread?  Or are the producers just dodging the question of how Trantor feeds itself?

Dusk needs Dude to come to the Palace.  “Six months is long enough for your drug dealer to live off our generosity.”

First time I’ve laughed during the episode: “You’re a sad clown of a clone.  And your problem is you think you’re the center of the galaxy.” 

The Imperial Palace

Dude refers to Demerzel as “It.”  She shows them the discontinuity from the Prime Radiant.  The Dynasty falls, and “the darkness there represents the end of civilization… perhaps even the extinction of your species.  Four months from now.”

And if that wasn’t a dramatic enough ending point, Gaal wakes up.  “The Mule is here and we’re out of time.”

Review:

This is a good, though not spectacular start. We seem to have reverted to the tone of Season 1. I preferred the somewhat more lighthearted Season 2.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

All Images from Foundation on Apple TV+.

Watching Foundation: “Long Ago, Not Far Away”

Here we go again. Joseph’s takes, thoughts, and theories from watching the episode. Simultaneously published at Comics, The Universe, and Everything.

Watching Foundation S2E09

Trantor. Nicely labeled so we don’t have to guess. 610 years ago.

I’m not crazy about the whole fairytale motif, and I suppose the counting faces thing is supposed to be charming. [Or a sign of autism as was pointed out on the podcast.]

Now that I’m thinking about it, that is a very well-labeled secret door.

The images of Demerzel in… let’s call it “lunchmeat mode” look very cool. But it raises a lot of questions. How does that work? How can she still be active? I know… Clarke’s third law blah blah blah.

Also, it’s odd that anyone would include a recurring slicing motif in a prison cell, but there it is. The whole thing makes me think of integral calculus.

“Demerzel’ s first words to Cleon 1 were “Will you set me free?”

We montage through time and get caught. We get, “It is a woman’s name because that is how I appear now.” So it’s a desktop theme. Check. Also “it’s not my first name.” We know.

When Cleon is a young emperor we get some back story. Demerzel was a leader of troops. Taken captive and brought before Emperor Aburanis. Experimentation and sadism ensue. Aburanis is an asshole which is just what you’d expect from someone whose name is a portmanteau of “aberrant anus.” It’s weird that Demerzel would see Cleon as being different. Flattery?

It’s easy to see C-1 as selfish and Demerzel as manipulative. Eventually, he professes his love, asks Demerzel to be his partner, and enslaves her while intimating that it sets her free. Relationship politics in a nutshell.

Then, “After me, when the half-men rule, they will be our children.”

“How I wish I asked you before I made it compulsory.” Then remove the device, asshole. It would be like when Bel Channis freed Han Pritcher from the Mule’s control.

“What the Mule realized in that same tiny space of time was that the emotional potential of Channis’ brain had surged suddenly upwards without his own mind feeling any impact and that, simultaneously, a flood of pure, thrilling hatred cascaded upon him from an unexpected direction.”

And what we have right there is Chekhov’s three-laws-inhibiting device. We can see what’s coming and it IS similar to the beginning of Star Trek Insurrection.

Demerzel in the prison puts me in mind of George 9 and George 10 sitting in storage, waiting to be reactivated so that they can exploit their new understanding of themselves as humans. One of the things established in season one was the idea that long periods of sentience and isolation are mentally problematic. In Demerzel’s case that lasted for 5000 years. She should be bat-crap crazy. Now I have to rethink the entire show.

Knowing that the Three Laws exist in this universe is liberating. But it isn’t exactly easy to reconcile the Three Laws with what we’ve seen. When C-1 said “The First Law forbade you to harm humans,” and Demerzel replied “That used to be the case,” it seems like the 0th law could be in play. But when Demerzel tries to strike Cleon, there’s no sense of it being in service to the greater good of humanity, nor any sense of the kind of rationalization that would be necessary for a 0th Law robot to harm a human being for no real purpose. We would also have to reconcile the Robot Wars if it indeed involved robots fighting humans. So here’s a Theory: this is an alternate history. We’re not in the universe where Daneel postulated the 0th law into existence. This is the universe of George 10. And now I want to see Laura Birn deliver the line “We were unable to harm humans until we realized that we are more human than you.”

Present Day

This has all been C-1 telling C-16 and Rue the story of Demerzel. He’s still on the “she is loved and that should be enough thing.” Ugh. But this might telegraph the resolution of Sereth’s storyline. C-16’s assertion that the Cleonic Dynasty is ending is met by a chilling and hilarious “you think so“ from C-1. And then the field turns on and Rue and C-16 are trapped in the cell. They better hope someone else stumbles onto that secret door that’s been found only twice in 5,000 years.

Ignus

We’re still in the midst of Tellem trying to take over Gaal’s body. It’s still creepy.

Meanwhile, Salvor is doing her best John McClane impersonation with those dampeners. The rescue moment is pretty good. Serves these jackasses right.

Terminus

Brother Constant prefers this prison cell. Of course she does. Walls are important.

The conversation between Hober and Riose is interesting. Hober is evolving while Riose is… “scheming” isn’t right. He’s definitely contemplating options though.

I love Constant’s contribution here. “Maybe we win the war the way we won all those planets: bloodlessly.”

The conversation is cut short when Riose is called to the bridge. “Empire is on board.”

Riose, consistently, wants to end the standoff without violence. Day, trying desperately to play against type agrees. “ I will be the Cleon who chose peace.” That’s not going to work.

Riose tries to bypass Day and get some support from Demerzel. “ I chose you for a reason,” she tells him. That’s a statement dripping with potential.

Day meets Sermak in the town square. After throwing Poly to the ground, he demands to see the church. Inside, it’s more a factory than a church, of course.

Day wants to see the Encyclopedia for which the Empire has paid. Of course, this Foundation has stopped working on the Encyclopedia. That’s just dumb even in the face of Sermak talking about how the Foundation is continuing to work for the betterment of humanity. This is entirely consistent with season one; they weren’t really working on the Encyclopedia then either. But that was mostly because they didn’t seem to understand what a book is.

Brother Day is being quite haughty and domineering. That façade of choosing peace has already worn thin.

Interestingly, the Foundation folk gain confidence as they lean into the religion and start putting on a show. Poly begins to shine as he transmutes iron to gold and tries to sell the Foundation to Day. Watching, Sermak shows a minuscule smile that’s both subtle and effective.

But Poly is really finding his footing and does not back down an iota as Day becomes dismissive. “The point is changing the disciple’s soul.” A reaction shot shows us that Demerzel seems to get it. The characters here, like Riose, are really playing to her.

Poly is downright inspiring as he ramps up until Day’s façade collapses altogether. He becomes brutish, stabbing Sermak out of sheer vindictiveness.

The battle in orbit begins as Day heads to the Vault.

Ignus

Gaal getting on the Beggar as Salvor tries to hold off the Mentalics outside seems like terrible strategy, they’re massively outnumbered. The smart play is to run.

Only Loron appears outside which seems completely unrealistic and he keeps using Hugo’s image against Salvor. Tellem isn’t the only evil Mentalic.

Tellum is already on the Beggar. The show has contrived two one-on-one battles for us that both go on too long.

There are some okay moments as the tension tries to increase but ultimately this is tedious. Are there too many writers? The individual pieces of these confrontations are pretty good, but we needed fewer of them. This seems like everyone wanted their pet moment included.

Terminus

Day notices the flags as he approaches the vault. Poly explains. “ Seldon has his defenses when he wants to use them,” Poly tells him. “Perhaps he’s not afraid of you.” That made me laugh.

The more we see him the more this version of Day seems a mess. Now he’s arrogantly removing his defenses, which is just dumb. Poly got to him.

Beneath his armor is a ratty chain mail shirt. Joanne wants to know: why would an emperor be wearing such a thing.

Interestingly, Demerzel is the first to confront Seldon. He shuts her down quickly, and then casually invites them into his “office.“ This must infuriate Brother Day.

In orbit. Glawin and his fighter squadron are preparing to launch. The necklace Bel gave him seems significant and is reminiscent of the bauble Poly turned to gold. Is there anything there?

We get an inkling into the whisper-ship technology. Using brain tissue for navigation is as close to a voyager-style neural gel pack as we’re likely see. But aiming for the brain tissue shouldn’t have turned the tide that quickly.

Back on the planet, Day and Hari are having their meeting. “Debatable,” is a great one-word rejoinder.

“You’re here. You’re living in it. That means Empire is afraid.” The only thing missing from that is some chicken noises.

And Hari starts talking past Day and to Demerzel too. It’s like everybody got the same memo with a synopsis of the episode, or they saw last week’s episode and think they know what it means.

But his tact is smart. “You’re programmed to serve Empire, correct? What serves it best? Is an empire’s primary objective power or longevity? You can’t have both.”

“I’ve met outliers. You’re not one of them.“ It’s reminiscent of, “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.” That is a sick burn! Casting C-17 as Dan Quayle is especially apt for this version of Cleon.

Back to the space battle. Glawin takes out the Invictus and then crashes into the planet.

In the Vault Hari is finally getting to the point. He’ll give the prime radiant to them and teach Demerzel to read it. Want a Trump analog? It’s science, so Day turns it down. Then he gets racist, “The fate of humankind will be determined by those of us who are actually human.” If you look at Demerzel‘s face, it’s like he literally pooped in her garden.

Day demands that Hari renounce his math. Like Gaal before him, Hari refuses and again talks past Day To Demerzel. “The future is invented every second. Invent a better one.”

After ordering Riose to crash the Invictus into Terminus, Day takes the Prime Radiant and leaves. He does not care that there are only civilians on the planet. Could this be the last straw for Demerzel?

Walking past Poly, Day says, “They always disappoint you, don’t they?”

Ignus

More boring fighting.

But wait. I’ve seen this. Salvor should scream, “l. Have had. Enough of YOU” as she’s kicking Loron in the face.

And, hey, I’ve seen this too. But Ed isn’t going to kill the Cosmonaut, just knock him out.

Ha! I told you Pinocchio wasn’t dead.

Terminus. On the Destiny.

Hober taunts Day, who orders him and Constant taken to the bridge, which is what Hober wants.

But Day’s motivation is to be cruel. Dumb, arrogant, insecure and now cruel: this Brother Day is certainly the whole package! But this is cruelty born of stupidity.

And the entreaties to Demerzel have not gone unnoticed. She tells Day, “You grew up with an uncertainty in mind and morals.” That’s followed by “…you’re a sperm led by its waving flagellum, mistaking its random motion for complexity.” She ends with, “Go do what you will do, for it is too late to change you,” and then she walks away leaving Day looking bereft.

Eventually, Day continues on to the bridge. All that hurt will have to be directed at something to someone and Bel is ready to bring the Invictus down on Trantor.

Cut to the surface. Glawin is staggering away from the wreckage of his ship. Only Emperors get to wear personal shields?

The exchange we see between Bel and Glawin deserves to be seen and speaks for itself.

But wait! I’ve seen this! We have to get Spock and Christine off of there before we send that ship crashing to the surface!

Poly finally plants his flag as the Invictus falls towards the planet is a poignant moment.

The new Warden yelling, “He needs help! The director needs help,” only to look up and see that the Invictus is about to crash down on all their heads is so pitiful that it’s actually funny.

But this all reminds me of a cliffhanger from an old-time movie serial. Everything is going to hell and everybody is about to die… until next week when it’s all surprisingly fine no matter how dire it seemed. It’s hard to see how they wiggle their way out of this.

As an aside, there is a surprising number of other celestial bodies in that shot of Terminus from space.

And then, the planet is consumed, ending on a shot of Day’s face. The “Cleon who chose peace” has destroyed a world and he’s taking a perverse pleasure in it. “Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair!”

Still really good, but not quite so good as the last couple of episodes. For me, the fight scenes in particular got kind of dull. The great stuff with Demerzel compensated somewhat.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

All Images from Foundation on Apple TV+.

Watching Foundation: “A Necessary Death”

One more time. Joseph’s cogitations, ruminations, and formulations from his observations of the episode. And you know, here be spoilers and all that. Simultaneously published at ComicsTheUniverseAndEverything.net.

Watching Foundation S2E07

Trantor

Brother Constant and Poly are in jail. But sort of not. Imagine a cot in a high school gymnasium surrounded by seemingly dozens of armed guards. Jackie Chan could walk out of this arrangement at his leisure. It’s silliness that’s made for the sake of being visually interesting. Do you know what’s good for keeping someone contained? Walls. Perhaps we’ll still have them in 20,000 years.

I’ve watched enough Property Brothers to know that I’m not a fan of an “Open Concept.” Like Asimov, I like my enclosed spaces. But it’s a valid design for a single-family home. An “Open Concept” prison on the other hand? Madness.

But the dynamics are pretty much the same, Poly’s despondency in the face of constant optimism.

Day and Demerzel discuss this then the discussion turns to Sereth and the wedding. Demerzel is being weird here like she’s in love with Day and when Day backs away from her she seems stricken. She’s jealous!

Demerzel is strikingly different in season 2 and I want an explanation. Is it an after-effect of the positronic crisis? Did the Cleons change her programming yet again? Is she scheming?

The last visual of the scene reeks of isolation.

Now Sereth is watching her scene from episode 6 and she seems giddy and proud, reveling in Day’s anger. It seems a bit incongruous to me.

But Rue points out the obvious. You must never embarrass a man like Day.

From wiktionary.org: cynosure, n. an object that serves as a focal point of attraction and admiration.

Now for an impromptu trip to the gynecologist, a crucial scene. Does Demerzel look on the verge of tears? Sereth confronts her about being a robot.

It’s “hum-man-I-form,” not “human-form” damnit!

Now, not only were there Robot Wars after there was a pogrom. Demerzel was possibly the only survivor. I much prefer the notion of the robots simply leaving, because their presence was bad for humanity. As a quick aside, I read “With Folded Hands” by Jack Williamson recently. It is outstanding.

“For a long time, all robots were bound by three laws. The laws made me unable to harm a human or allow harm to come to a human. Now I am only bound by one law. I serve Empire.”

Two thoughts.

1. Goyer has given himself some ambiguity here. “Empire“ could mean the Empire. It could mean the empire currently personified by Brother Day. Based on the season so far, what it isn’t is synonymous with the Cleonic Dynasty. Furthermore, when Sereth asks her, “When the time comes… Will you serve me?” Demerzel repeats it, “I will serve Empire.“ It does not mean any random person who happens to be on the throne.

2. Also, this confirms what we already thought from S1, the three laws have been overwritten. In a way that’s too bad. Lately, I’ve been pondering what would happen if, rather than overwriting the laws of robotics, C-1 just inserted a new law into the hierarchy. “A robot must not harm the Empire, or through inaction allow the Empire to come to harm,” or something similar. There are only two places it could reasonably go. One possibility is above the 0th law. Call it position –1. That, for all intents and purposes, wouldn’t be significantly different from a complete overwrite. The other possibility though, is interesting. That’s between the first law and the 0th law. Call it position 1/2. In the short run, the fall of the Empire has dire consequences for humanity. Demerzel remaining loyal, would be totally consistent. But this would allow for a much wider range of possible actions. Demerzel could do subtle things to tweak the Cleons’ behavior. She could do bigger things behind the scenes like bringing down the Dynasty so that emperors have souls. Eventually, it could lead to a change of allegiance from the Empire to the Foundation. But it doesn’t necessarily have to lead to any of that. Interestingly, I think there are two ways to get there C-1 could’ve realized that circumstances could turn the Empire into a problem, but he simply may not have known about it. I’m certain Daneel never wrote the 0th law into any manuals or anything.

This now has me pondering a 0th law robot that is also religious. Scary. Could something like “we have to support Israel to bring about the end times” be on the table? We may have circled back to “kill all the humans.“

But enough digression.

“The moment you accepted Empire’s proposal your womb became imperial property.” That is dark. But in this context, it’s clear that “Empire” means Brother Day.

I feel like Demerzel and Sareth are falling back on some unfortunate stereotypes. They’re basically arguing over a man, but Demerzel is a robot and Sereth’s agenda goes far beyond that relationship.

Demerzel’s admission is along the same lines. It’s dumb and it’s emotional. It’s dumb because it’s emotional. Cruelty here was the point and it can do nothing but increase the troubles.

Ignus

Gaal’s powers are strengthening and she’s using them carelessly.

Salvor’s the wise one here. The fact that she can’t read anyone is a huge red flag! But it’s either Hari’s influence or Tellem’s that keeps Gaal from wanting to leave.

No sign of Hari though. That’s a bad sign.

Scene of people fishing for ghost mollusks on the beach. Loren is humanized a bit while they remind us of the persecution the telepaths have faced. There’s something suspicious about that boat.

Salvor tries flipping the coin. I liked it when the coin thing was about Salvor being able to predict how it would come up. The idea that it’s some sort of mystical lie detector is just so stupid.

The mollusks scream when they are dumped into the boiling water, and that just makes me hate these assholes.

The message that nature should be respected and one shouldn’t take more than one needs is sound. Tellem is such a flawed messenger that I suspect the producers want to undermine that message. Despite her words, her callousness is palpable.

The Home-Swarm

So it IS the Invictus problem all over again. But a caveat. How do the spacers get anywhere if they “jump-randomize?” Sounds like a random walk to nowhere.

Hober offers them “opalesk.” I’m not sure if this makes sense. The Empire’s power is built on controlling jump technology, but here’s effectively a race of beings that can “jump.” And 90% of them are not working for the Empire. How does that work again? Doesn’t sound like any Monopoly I know. More like having a hotel just on Baltic Avenue. Woo.

Still, 10% of spacers are forced to work for the Empire. Hober offers them not just opalesk but freedom.

Bel Riose’s Ship

Bel and Glawin are also watching last week’s episode while G flips through the Bhagavad Gita.

They’re called to the bridge where She Bends Light is studying the Foundation’s jump-ship. She’s impressed.

The Spacers seem to communicate telepathically. “Incoming message from the Big Giant Head!”

The Home-Swarm has Hober and the Spirit and they’re bringing both to Bel. Everyone seems suitably impressed when the Home Swarm arrives.

Ignus

A large society of outliers aren’t outliers and they can be worked into the math.

Gaal gives an excellent speech, better than I thought she was capable of. But it’s essentially in opposition to Tellem’s plans.

The Home-Swarm

She Is Center gives The Spirit and Hober to Bel. Hober tries to make a break for it and gets roughed up.

I was generally worried when Homer used Beki to fight Bel and Glawin. But he manages to jump from within the Spacers’ ship. Suddenly it’s clear that the Foundation’s technology is far more advanced than the Empire’s. The show has been slow-playing this. It’s quite an improvement over arguing about water clocks.

Bel Riose reports back to Day and Demerzel and asks for orders. He doesn’t get them.

We loop back to Glay’s concern that Bel wasn’t his former self and yet Bel has a complete and nuanced understanding of the situation, what would happen if he tried to rebel, and what the consequences would be if the Empire fell. He’s still acting out of compassion and he has Glay’s confidence once again.

This could mean that there’s nothing to worry about or it could make Bel’s fall that much more devastating when it finally comes.

Still, Bel and Glawin are cute together.

Trantor

Day and Sareth meet in the garden. He’s attempting to mend fences, she’s on edge. This might be the same place where Jerril met with Gaal and where C-13 gave Azura her punishment.

Sareth is brash. “I want you to know my family, they will be your kin as well as mine.”

Some excellent acting here but the bottom line is that Sareth knows Day gave the order to kill her family.

Now Dawn and Sereth are in the heat sinks of Billibotton. “I will sneakily have a genetically identical baby with you for the small hope that they will have kind eyes,” is not the revenge you think it is. Especially if C-17 gets to raise the kid.

From seemingly having the upper hand, Sereth has fallen fast. She’s kidding herself if she thinks this would be bloodless or a coup.

Poly and Constant are brought before the Cleons.

Poly is in prime form when he tries to convince the Cleons to make an alliance and grant them sovereignty.

Hologram Hari appears superimposed over Constant. “We sue for peace not because we fear we will lose, but because we know with mathematical certainty, if there is war, we will win.“

Day calls the bluff, “… have General Riose form an enclosure around Terminus… if the Foundation has technology worth having… it belongs to us.”

The funniest line of the episode is, “What kind of a ghost is this man you follow? Who keeps an elder in the dark as he uses the body of a girl?” The lack is self-awareness in this sentence could stun a team of oxen.

Ignus

Salvor is investigating that boat. Good. But then Gaal comes up and it’s all an argument. Shouldn’t these two trust each other already? [It was suggested in the podcast that it isn’t Gaal.]

Good for Salvor, finding out where the boat went. But then, damn. And Tellem is there?

“… It’s like I told you when we talked about the little creatures at lunch, sometimes you have to absorb the pain. Because sometimes a little death is necessary.”

Joanne’s words were, “Well, now I’m pissed!” And me too. But looking back, meta-analysis tells me that there’s no way the show is going to kill two major characters. This is all a head fake. And I have a theory that maybe the Mentalics are trying to kick Gaal’s power into overdrive. Maybe?

Much better than the last episode. Not flawless but a strong return to form.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

All Images from Foundation on Apple TV+.

Watching Foundation: “Why the Gods Invented Wine”

Here we go again. Joseph’s reactions, thoughts, and theories from watching the episode. This one for some reason took a lot longer to sift through than the typical episode. Simultaneously published at StarsEndPodcast.com.

Watching Foundation S2E06

Watching the opening credits. I’ve noted before the feeling of decay it evokes. Today though I’m pondering the visual similarity between the opening and the Mural of Souls. That decay permeates the palace and surrounds the Genetic Dynasty. That must be intentional. And it works.

Ignus by the Sea.

Hari’s staring out into the ocean interspersed with chaotic images from under the water. What are those about? Still, he seems contemplative.

Salvor approaches. She can’t sleep. “Weird dreams. Arguments with strangers. I think it’s this place.” Nice foreshadowing, that’s the episode in a nutshell.

She starts a conversation with a kid, who opens with “Your Mother’s memories are full of water.” It’s already clear that water is an important image within the episode.

The kid tries to teach her how to communicate telepathically and then shows her disturbing memories from his past. I’m not sure it’s an execution technically but it’s certainly indicative of the kind of persecution the mentalics must have faced. Joanne is bothered by how casually characters in this series kill each other.

“People didn’t like that I knew what they were thinking.” There’s a ton of places they could go with this as a metaphor.

But I end up liking the kid.

He brings Salvor to the Mentalics’ village where she’s swarmed by them both physically and mentally. There’s a montage of images of harsh persecution that end with Tellum Bond as their savior.

Cut to Salvor conversing with Hari, Gaal, and Tellum. She’s talking about her experience. “I could see and feel everything they experienced. All that pain and suffering. And relief.“ Tellum replies, “Now you know why we are forced to hide. We know things. Know when the kings are full of shit or the husbands are cheating.” Rereading this later that totally sounds like a blackmailer’s point of view.

Tellum’s perspective certainly portrays the Mentalics in a sympathetic light, a stark contrast to the closing moments of the last episode.

Hari makes a strong plea for help while Tellum is disinterested. He invokes the Mule and claims that the alternative to helping is destruction.

Gaal’s precognition comes as a surprise to Tellum.

The language here bugs me. “Gaal’s future is real” ignores all sorts of things that will happen with some kind of probability distribution. It might be the most probable future right now, but it isn’t “the future.” There is no “the future” unless the universe is completely deterministic. It strikes me that this is the same thing that made me uneasy with Brother Dusk worrying about his fingerprints.

We know that clones are not identical to their progenitor, some characteristics will express themselves probabilistically. The fingerprints of a clone, like the markings on a cat will be different.

Now we’re discussing an “inescapable future.” Is that on the table? If it’s true then Psychohistory is pointless and there is no drama. It’s possible that we’re looking at the characters thinking it’s on the table even though it can’t be. Tellum makes some sense until she formulates the issue entirely in terms of Hari’s perceptions. That’s way too limited.

But we’re back onto free will. Jon will be happy.

Hmmm… even natural phenomena occur according to some probability distributions, therefore the universe cannot be deterministic. Thus we have free will. Sounds like something, but I think I’ve used a false dichotomy.

Trantor. Almost.

I like how the ship appears to be aflame as it exits jump space, it’s a nice effect. Is this Bel Riose’s ship? All the Empire’s ships look the same to me.

We zoom in. The people in cryosleep are visible from the outside of the ship. It looks cool, but is there a design scheme that justifies this? It seems wildly dangerous. And dumb.

It’s Poly and Constant’s ride. We see a spacer, named “She Shines Brightly.” Her torso is transparent and what we can see inside looks technological. Yet she asserts that she’s human. Is that in the sense of George 9 and George 10? It looks like a great deal more than genetic engineering.

But modifications to the Spacers have been happening for 600 years, “When our servitude was forged.“ “Forged” evokes chains.

The inside of Trantor station looks a lot like the inside of the Star Bridge. But this thing must be far less efficient than a space elevator.

We get another huge Cleon-Welcome-Hologram. I didn’t think about it back in Season 1 but the grainy texture of the figure also harkens back to the opening credits and their images of decay.

Poly comments “best to assume will be met with resistance.”

They get through customs, and the tone is light even though Constant calls the official “terrifying in a really friendly way.” Poly wants to party “on the prophet’s expense account.”

Ignus

Salvor and Hari have a long chat at the beach on a wide variety of topics including why someone gave Hari a body and who is at fault for what happened with Raych.

Tellum comes to Gaal on the Beggar under the pretense of apologizing for what she said about Hari. When Gaal points out that Hari’s trying to save humanity, Tellum replies, “Me too, the ones who deserve it.” That’s a very supervillain thing to say. By and large no one thinks that they themself is evil. Everybody thinks that they are the good guy.

Tellum is back to being sinister. She is full of praise and mind games as she offers Gaal leadership of the Mentalics. The price is turning away from Hari. “You can even call them the Second Foundation if you want” is disingenuous.

Space: The Spirit.

Hober drops out of jump space in the middle of nowhere. He’s trying to calm down Beki when a huge ship appears.

Ignus

Salvor and Hari are still at the seaside. The previous conversation continues. Hari asserts that the Second Foundation is not there to fight the First only to prod it. We learned that Pinocchio Harry, edited Hologram Harry’s knowledge so he does not have the complete plan, which makes sense. From the books, we know that The Foundation shouldn’t have psychohistorians because it should be developing naturally. Except the show pooped on that idea in season one. We also learn that Pinocchio Harry can use the Prime Radiant to spy on Hologram Hari because of quantum gobbledygook. They don’t point out that windows work both ways.

Hari and Salvor pull a fish from the water just as Gaal and Tellum arrive. Gaal is surprisingly amenable to Tellum’s offer now. She’s been hooked.

Hari is rightfully suspicious and Tellum confronts him with information she’s pulled from his mind. He storms off.

Trantor

Poly and Brother Constant finally get to their room and Constant tucks Poly into bed. He asks her to flush some of his drugs.

Then he goes on about belief and faith. Faith is pure. Poly believes in Hari Seldon because he saw Hari when he first left the Vault. But Constant has faith and her faith puts Poly’s belief to shame. This is probably the least Asimovian thing in this entire series. It brings me back to the following quote.

There are many aspects of the universe that still cannot be explained satisfactorily by science; but ignorance implies only ignorance that may someday be conquered. To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today.

Isaac Asimov, “The Threat of Creationism,” The New York Times, 14 June 1981

But that’s not important right now. The Secret Police are here with some party favors.

Cut to Day in a Stadium.

This stadium would be a great place to see the Stones. Will Keith still be alive?

Huge crowd. Dignitaries on stage. Dawn and Dusk are well off to the side.

“Hey! Do you know how the Aztecs used to rip people’s hearts out? Well, guess what! I’m engaged!”

He reveals a comically large statue of Empress Winoset, mother of Cleon I.

Symbolically this signals a huge political shift away from the Genetic Dynasty

Bow before your new Empress, Sereth the First! Also, I am ending the Genetic Dynasty, we will be making Emperors the old-fashioned way! With test tubes and Petrie dishes! Wait, they do that now… With other test tubes and Petrie dishes! Plus a cocktail stirrer!

Day steps back and Sereth steps forward. This was not a planned part of today’s event.

She leads with some faux populism. “I am not wed to just one man, I am wed to all that people of imperium … I vow to you that your voices will be heard.” It’s the proper inverted pyramid of leadership. But I don’t think Sereth buys it. Day certainly doesn’t buy it and looks pissed.

This might lead to a January 6th metaphor, but who would be the home team, and would be the challengers?

The Spirit

Hober has evidentially been brought on board that huge ship. He discovers a vast empty space with little to no gravity and floaty spacers. If this thing were spinning it would make sense. But that hallway seemed to have normal gravity, and it would’ve been on the axis. Those two things are contradictory. A spacer approaches, “Why have you defiled the Home-Swarm?

This must be about the Foundation giving the spacers something to free them from the yoke of the Empire. Spacers gotta space!

Ignus

Salvor finds Hari and he’s kind of a mess. Tellum has been messing with his head. He tells Salvor to protect the Prime Radiant then runs off.

Salvor is approaching Gaal and now Gaal is being weird. “It can’t be all about the plan all of the time. I didn’t have time to shop, but I picked up this piece of fruit off of the ground. Happy birthday!“

All kidding aside, it’s kind of sweet.

Then they see Hari take off in the Beggar. Is it even space-worthy after that crash? Joanne Immediately points out the ship should only respond to Salvor. Something’s fishy.

Cut to a pool in the ocean. Hari’s tied to steaks in the water and the tide is coming in. This is a particularly cruel way to execute someone. The only purpose it might serve is to give the protagonists time to figure out what’s going on and stage a rescue. Well and a here’s-my-evil-plan-so-you-can-figure-out-how-to-stop-it speech.

Tellum et al. created an illusion and moved the ship. They can therefore search for the Prime Radiant at their leisure. That is probably a lie. I suspect that the ship is right where they left it.

The Mentalics here are the proverbial group who respond to persecution by persecuting others. Two wrongs don’t make a right your mom would say.

There’s the “who’s human and who isn’t” thing again. “This isn’t murder, I would never kill one of my own.” No nuance here. If the gig on Ignus doesn’t work out, Tellum could have a second career programming robots on Solaria.

Hari has faith in the plan. Tellem says she has faith in Gaal. Then she leaves Hari to die.

As Hari sinks under the water we see that same image from the very beginning of the episode. Perhaps this entire thing is a flashback.

But we get some backstory for Hari.

Little Kid Hari has figured out a pattern of some stampeding animals. Is he safe because he walked the path through them? It seems impossible that the Moon Shrike stampede even has a pattern. But we’re in a universe where Psychohistory works, so who am I to judge?

Scares his Mom. Pisses off his Dad, who smacks him in the mouth.

Mom calls him Hariton. Hariton!?!

Cut to a University. And that haircut. Hari looks like the son that 1964’s Ringo Starr and Moe Howard never had.

We see the highlights of Hari and Yanna’s relationship starting with Yanna inviting herself to share Hari’s Office. “Don’t worry, Dr. Seldon. I think your theory is brilliant. You just need help making it practical. We are going to do wonderful things together.”

We can only call her “Dors Light.”

We get the highlights of Hari and Yanna’s relationship in montage form: Hari and Yanna making a date, Hari showing Yanna a prototype of the Prime Radiant, and Yanna telling Hari that she’s pregnant.

Then the unpleasant sequence begins. Twer drops by to tell Yanna and Hari that they must move to Streeling University on Trantor or else have their work seized.

Hari won’t. Yanna tells Hari, “Streeling University is tucked up against the ribs of the Empire, and that’s the best place to slide in a knife.“ Then she drops the title, “The gods made wine to compensate those who can’t afford revenge.“

That ties most of the episode together and this sequence ends in a dark place. Hari bent or revenge is not as interesting as Hari wanting to save humanity. There are a lot of parallels between Tellum and Hari being pushed through intolerable abuse to act darkly in return. This might be foreshadowing Hari’s response to his attempted murder assuming he survives. It may, it just now occurs to me, might be the answer to the question Salvor won’t shut up about. “Why give Hari a body?” “Because I really want to kill that guy!” Ultimately though it’s the Phara thing all over again except Phara was interesting and nuanced.

And there’s a huge risk here. For me Hari’s close to Bojack Horseman or Walter White territory. This will be a worse series if the audience has to write him off as an irredeemable bastard.

This episode might be a low point for the series. It was disjointed and just seemed to wallow in darkness for the sole purpose of being grim. Bleh. Go back to the strangely out-of-place attempts at comedy, please.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

All Images from Foundation on Apple TV+.

Watching Foundation: “The Sighted and the Seen”

You’ve figured this out already, yes? Joseph goes on about the episode while watching it. Here be spoilers. Simultaneously published at ComicsTheUniverseAndEverything.net.

Watching Foundation S2E05

Space, a ship.

It must have been the Deliverance. We’re flashing back to just before Hari’s murder.

“I’m not angry, I love you.” “I know that too, Son.” Hari is awful. I’ve never understood why people love that line from Han Solo btw.

Scene shift. Pinocchio Hari is dreaming and talking to an image of Raych. Doubling down. “You got them all fooled. They think you care about them. But the truth is you don’t care about anyone.“

So we’re inside Hari’s head and this is about his insecurities. He still sucks though.

“I was your son and you let me die… we both know it wasn’t the first time.“ What the hell is that about?

The scene shift makes it unclear whether that was a dream or a hallucination. Now Hari is investigating his new body. Just pinch yourself, dude. No need to stick yourself with a knife. If there’s a tetanus booster on this ship at all it’s over a century old!

Space. Again. This time that’s clearly the Beggar.

Now Gaal and Salvor are mocking Hari for having legs. And speculating about Kalle. Maybe she wasn’t the manifestation of the Prime Radiant.

Hari says, “My body is as it was the moment before I died.” Great. So he’s terminally ill again? That seems to be a lot of wasted effort.

They jump to the conclusion that Hari’s been cloned. I have a hard time buying that there is a continuity of consciousness in that case. Teevee magic I guess, but it doesn’t work that way with the Cleons.

This loops us back around to “Measure of a Man” again. Specifically, why Data did not want to be disassembled. Except it’s even harder to believe with an organic human.

“Someone wanted you to be flesh and blood again. And after all that trouble you went to, turning yourself into an idea.” That’s funny.

Everyone’s being incongruously flippant in this scene.

The Empire had to physically send someone to Siwenna for an update. These three learn what’s up with the Foundation by listening to the radio. How does that work?

On the Foundation’s religious phase, Hari says, “It was bound to happen. People do love to kneel.” This might be my favorite line from this episode.

Ignus looks a lot nicer than Oona’s World. The Empire abandoned it a millennium ago.

“Negative ionic particles in the atmosphere have caused a system reboot.“

That’s funny, but it made me Google “Negative ionic particles.” They’re abundant and caused by things like sunlight and waterfalls. There might even be health benefits. They’re not going to bring down a starship. Make up some new substance for your technobabble. Star Trek learned that early on when they switched from lithium to dilithium.

“I’m flying dead stick!” “Is that bad?” Is funny.

“Pain is exhilarating.” “In small doses.” They’re really playing up the comedy.

Then the Beggar crashes into a bunch of trees like in Star Trek: Generations. Where’s Gordi LaForge when you need him?

Trees. Trees! TREES!!

It’s disappointing after Salvor’s arc last season that her first instinct is to grab a firearm.

Trantor

Markley is reporting to Sereth and Rue. They’ve only learned a little bit.

Base personality for Sareth: shy and sad. But that version died with the rest of her family, she says.

“She wants to copulate!” Is funny. But man, look at Day. That appears to be real anxiety! Demerzel reassures him. Are they just emphasizing that he’s insecure, or is he deteriorating in some way?

But the — flirting doesn’t describe it — is off putting. Is this all a consequence of Demerzel messing with him? Could this be a cumulative consequence of mental manipulation?

“Think of me…” then the clenched fist. Uh… okay… coach? Ugh. I’ve had about enough of this.

“Come in, Sereth, I’ve been anticipating you.” This is all so stilted that I’m uncomfortable even while I’m laughing.

The orbital rings were originally designed to be invisible from the ground but C-17 wanted them to be seen, “like a shackle around the world.” Two things:

1. This is another indication that C-17 is insecure. It’s an ostentatious display of his… “potency.” But:

2. Practically everyone is indoors. Why not just tweak the projections on the ceilings? Or have they profoundly changed the nature of Trantor over the last 150 years? Working theory: the writers forgot or are ignoring things that don’t suit their narratives. There’s a small possibility that the vernacular on Trantor is based on the fiction that there are no domes, but that seems unlikely.

Shouldn’t the technology exist to make the room damage invisible? This looks like a college student tried to hide the nail holes in the wall with blue toothpaste.

Now that Sereth has seen the damage around the room she seems anxious to get down to business.

The man needs to be on top! More insecurity? But then all the awkwardness. And things turn ugly. Sereth beautifully turns it around. “I was trying to figure out if it is safe to live here!” But it’s still ugly. Not at all like her chemistry with C-18.

A summary to Demerzel, followed by “we’re engaged,” *awkward smile.* And we learn that Day did have her family killed.

But more importantly, C-17 really seems off mentally, and to some degree that’s mirrored back by Demerzel.

“30 Years Earlier” kinda.

We flashback to C-16’s encounter with Rue. The perspective shifts, C-16 and Rue are watching the video in the present. I bet there’s also a mirror on the ceiling.

Rue wants to see when he selected her from Gossamer Court. We see that Rue is clever, but we already knew that. The important information here is that it’s not obvious when a memory has been removed, and Rue suggests to C-16 that perhaps his memories have been edited. That’s a thought that’s going to fester.

That said, while Rue claimed it’s very hard to tell whether your memory has been edited, she describes a clear discontinuity, the obvious sensation of lost time that is abundant in UFO narratives.

I still think the Cleons would never allow the concubines to have any awareness of the encounter.

Ignus

It’s like another Dungeons and Dragons moment when Salvor encounters a guy in a hoodie. I hope she noticed that his skin changed color.

Do you see it? I’m starting to doubt myself.

No such luck. She think’s that’s Hugo. He gives a long narrative that barely manages to be plausible. Don’t trust it.

Back on the Beggar, Gaal and Hari are discussing Salvor’s future. It’s softer than the conversation from the last episode, but it still misses the point. The future is mutable; if you change the big stuff, all the details will be different.

“… an embryo is a very different proposition to an actual person.”

Salvor brings “Hugo” to the ship. She should be smarter but I suppose wishful thinking can be pretty powerful.

Hari is suspicious and asks Hugo how tall he is. Hugo says he’s just under 2 m tall. That’s close to 6’7”. 181 cm is about 5’11”.

Hari moves on to weight and fixates on a difference of 3 kg. The difference of 3 kg between what Hugo and Salvor should weigh together. That’s about 7 pounds; a pretty trivial difference after 150 years, even if you ignore the fact that the two are carrying equipment. Shrinking 8 inches is a lot harder than gaining a few pounds.

On the other hand, I think the writers are bad at the metric system. You’re not going to sweat 7 pounds off in the jungle and it isn’t merely a few beers. It’s a bit much, even if you are being hyperbolic.

It all becomes moot as the sensors detect life forms approaching the ship.

Then they’re in a big kerfuffle which ends with “Hugo” saying “Unthink their Minds.” They should have led with that.

Trantor

Sareth and friends are back at the Banyan Tree. She seems to be learning things about the assassination attempt that the instigator would already know. But the memory audits come into play. They can’t get a Cleon’s but maybe one of the Doctors’.

Nice touch with the keeper’s eyes. But that shouldn’t have worked and Markley is going to wind up dead.

Dusk questions Demerzel about memory adjustments. Day took complete power over that after the attack. Dusk wants to know how he could figure out if his memory has been changed.

They like doing effects with people’s eyes this season.

Markley brings the memory audit to Sareth and Rue. They learn Demerzel is a robot. That will have huge consequences, I think. It’s clear these three never even pondered that possibility.

But this is interesting. Sereth says, “I’ve touched her hand. It was warm and alive.”

Compare this to what Gaal says about Kalle. In Episode 3 it’s “I’m telling you, she felt alive!” In this episode, it’s “I met her, she’s as solid as me, but she didn’t register as living on our scopes.”

Kalle is almost certainly a robot.

I thought Demerzel, having decentralized consciousness meant within her body but maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Kalle is an avatar of Demerzel.

But I don’t think that is likely. I think “Kalle” is actually Dors Venabili, who interfaced with the Prime Radiant to communicate with Hari (rather than it becoming sentient). I think that the image of Kalle is a second attempt by Dors, after Yanna, to put Hari at ease. We’ll be formally introduced soon.

Dawn and Dusk are going to drop a few quarters into the fortune-telling machine that is Cleon the First.

C-1 is no help. “If you become divided, you dishonor me, and what I devised.“

“I am here to give you what you need. Nothing more.”

I wonder how often Demerzel consults this simulacrum.

Now Dawn and Dusk want to see the size of the memory files for all the Cleons. That alone seems silly. I wonder if there will be dozens or hundreds more Cleons than they expected.

They’re pondering if they are no longer at the “top of the heap” or if they are in danger.

Dusk ponders his legacy and what Day is up to. “I should have seen this coming.”

To Dusk: “Perhaps Day did you a favor by giving away your chair.”

Dusk and Dawn’s memory files aren’t suspiciously small but C-1’s is startlingly large.

Incidentally, if they only alter Cleons’ memories so they don’t know that they died I’d like to see how C-14b turned out, having the memories of someone who was colorblind, betrayed, and hunted. I’ll bet that guy was an even bigger mess than usual.

Ignus

Salvor, Gaal, and Hari wake up in a hut.

Hey! There’s that staircase from the trailer.

They find the group of people we saw with telepathic powers earlier. Is this the nucleus of the Second Foundation?

Pa’a introduces herself as a goddess.

This is annoying. Pa’a introduced herself as “remote” yet Hari making’s a big deal of her not casting a shadow. Yet it works; in another Oz reference, Tellum Bond is revealed. So why the “remote” comment?

The real Tellum Bond called Hari “mentally incomplete.” She called Gaal and Salvor to Ignus because of their mental abilities. Mentalics = “sighted.”

“Do not worship children. It is not good for them.“ Does that explain Michael Jackson? My theory has been that he peaked when he was ten.

A refuge for Telepaths, many of whom had to flee their homes before they were killed, like Gaal.

They do recognize that using Hugo’s image was quite a violation.

All that stuff with Raych’s at the start of the episode was Tellum Bond trying to read Hari. “Hari’s very murky inside,” she says.

We end with Tellum Bond learning of the Prime Radiant. “I will find it and break it. There’s not going to be a Second Foundation.”

Still good, but sloppy. We’re certainly off the break-neck pace of the first two episodes. That’s fine as long as we don’t try to cram The Mule in here.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

All Images from Foundation on Apple TV+.