Diksha Sundriyal
In the fourth episode of Apple TV+’s ‘Foundation’ Season 3, the Empire goes through a major change as the Cleons reconsider their priorities, while Gaal tries to prepare the Second Foundation for the inevitable conflict with the Mule. The episode begins with a major revelation that rewrites the intentions of the characters and what their true goals are when it comes to the fate of the galaxy. Meanwhile, the shadow of the Third Crisis deepens, as Hari Seldon remains out of the picture, at least so far. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Demerzel Makes a Shocking Confession
The episode opens with Demerzel in the maze with Zephyr Vorellis, where she continues to unburden her secrets without the fear of being found out. This time, she has quite a bombshell. Remember the time in Season 1 when Hari Seldon and Gaal Dornick were thrown in prison for their theory about the end of the Empire and the arrival of the First Crisis, but a massive explosion on the Star Bridge led Day to let them go to Terminus and start their work on the Foundation? At the time, it was believed to be a terrorist attack by forces that wanted to weaken the Empire. But it turns out that it was Demerzel’s doing all along. In her defense, she says that, at the time, she believed that the creation of the Foundation would be an act of preservation of the Empire.
But she couldn’t convince the Cleons of this, so she decided to nudge them in the right direction by an act that would be impossible to ignore. Vorellis, however, believes that this was an act of self-preservation on Demerzel’s part. The robot claims that she did it for the good of the Empire, but it was just a loophole that she exploited so that she could kickstart the end of the Empire, which she knew Foundation would evolve into, and eventually be free of the Cleons and her obligation to serve the Empire. When faced with the truth, Demerzel gets angry and tells Vorellis to leave, but not before peeling away her skin and revealing her true robot form underneath.
Meanwhile, Ebling Mis meets with Indbur and reveals the details of his meeting with Hari Seldon in the Vault. It seems that Hari has an eye for theatrics, so he has decided that he will come out to talk about the Third Crisis when both moons of the planet align. In some ways, it would cast a spotlight on him. This event is marked to happen in the next 75 hours, so they should prepare for it. Another thing that Ebling reveals is that Hari Seldon gave the Prime Radiant to the enemy more than a century back. This information is quickly forwarded to Foundation ambassador Quent, who is shocked to discover that the Prime Radiant was in Trantor this whole time.
Quent doesn’t take a lot of time to run to Dusk and confront him about this. The conversation begins with the talk of Toran and Bayta Mallow turning into fugitives, along with Magnifico. Because they are the citizens of Foundation, Dusk wants to know what they are doing about it. However, Quent counters with the talk of the Prime Radiant. The fact that she knows about it shocks Demerzel and Dusk, but when Quent offers to work together to fight the Mule, Dusk asks Demerzel to give him the Radiant. When Quent sees it in action, she is mesmerised by it, especially since it is considered a holy relic in Foundation. She is so captivated, in fact, that she seems to entirely miss the part where Dusk tells her that the Radiant is not showing anything after four months.
Captain Pritcher’s True Loyalties are Revealed
In the previous episode, Captain Pritcher fled Kalgan after having come close enough to see the Mule but not talk to him. He goes back to report on his experience, but it is not to Indbur or anyone else in the First Foundation. In fact, the last episode confirmed that he, too, is a Mentallic, so it makes sense that he returns to the Second Foundation. It turns out that he has been a spy all along. Not only that, he is also dating Gaal. Without wasting a lot of time, he opens his mind to Gaal and Preem Palver, and shows them exactly what happened in Kalgan. Gaal realises that this is how the Mule found out about her and would come looking for her. Preem also notes that music seems to be a big part of the Mule’s power, and what they know about him now is that he is a lonely person, which drives a lot of his actions.
Later, Gaal and Pritcher spend some time together, and as the time comes for him to go back to the First Foundation, he becomes restless. It turns out that Gaal’s plan is to use Indbur as her chess piece in the fight against the Mule and then have him killed. Pritcher is supposed to do the dirty work, and it doesn’t sit well with him that they have to assassinate someone when there are most likely other ways to get what they want. He also expresses his desire to marry Gaal, but she points out that they don’t really know each other, and it would be foolish of them to focus on a wedding when they have the fate of the galaxy at stake.
Day’s Meeting With Cleon I Reveals Interesting Details
Back in Trantor, Day invokes the memory of Cleon I, asking him about the time he invaded Mycogen. Cleon talks about the Inheritance and how one of his generals led the war against them, trying to wipe them from existence. Day, however, is more interested in Cleon’s personal trips to Mycogen. It turns out that while the Inheritance people were being massacred, Cleon ventured into their church to retrieve an item that he believed would be a great gift for Demerzel. However, the church folks were not very keen on letting him take away something so dear to them so easily, so he had them all killed.
Cleon expresses his hope that Day will finally finish his job of wiping out the Inheritance people while making sure that Mycogen survives because it is responsible for Trantor’s food supply. Day, however, is not interested in any of that. Following this, he goes to Demerzel’s quarters, where she is found fixing herself up, while her head is removed from her body. She reveals that this is basic maintenance, but it doesn’t do anything to make it creepy for Day. He indulges her in a conversation where she tries to tell him that she is more human than he thinks, while also giving an example of how she was never meant to be alone, as robots shared everything with each other due to their hive minds. However, Day continues to mock her effort to try to make herself seem like one of them.
The Cleons Escape from Trantor
His next trip is to Captain Mavon’s house, where he plays with his daughter while the captain’s wife watches awkwardly. This is a power move on Day’s part, especially as he reminds Mavon that they are still on track to flee to Mycogen. Mavon does as planned. He gets Day out of the palace and brings him to a point from where he can escape to wherever he wants. It is also revealed that Day didn’t visit Demerzel’s quarters just to chit-chat with her. In fact, he used the conversation as a cover to steal one of the healing instruments. This was what Cleon went to Mycogen for, and Day intends to use this as an olive branch to extend to the people of Mycogen. As was agreed upon, Day bleeds out his nannites and gives them to Mavon, who puts them in his vehicle. And then, Day shoots Mavon.
It turns out that the captain was still loyal to the Empire, or more precisely, to Demerzel. He gave a sign as they were fleeing, and Day noticed that, which tipped him off about Mavon’s betrayal. At the same time, Day himself had no plan of letting Mavon live. He had planned to give his nannites to the captain to throw Demerzel off his trial. Sure enough, the robot soon gets the news that Day’s nannites have been tracked. By the time she realises what has happened, Day will be long gone. But he is not the only Cleon to escape on the same day. Dawn gets a message from Gaal, and this time, she shows up to meet him in person. She reveals that he needs to come with her if they are to work on the next step of their plan.
Dawn asks her to wait for him to take over from Day, but she points out that even if he decides to put up a vote on the idea of the Enclosure on Kalgan, it would still not work because no one would vote in its favour. Before they can continue talking about the pros and the cons, Gaal notes that Dawn has been followed. As they run, there comes a point when the guards almost catch up with them. But Gaal uses her Mentallic powers to hide her and Dawn, revealing to him that the Mule is not the only one with psychic powers out there. As they run further, they finally end up on the Beggar, which is when Gaal reveals that she is leading the Second Foundation, and that is where Dawn is going with her now.
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