Mysteries & Martyrs
Salvor and Hugo look over the wreckage of the settlement, which was once a thriving mining colony. Now, there’s nothing left. In fact, the only gravestone is a ruined starship, the “world killer” called Invictus. Salvor and Hugo wonder what could have happened to this place if it hadn’t been destroyed by a natural disaster.
We heard about this last episode and Phara, blinded by power, wants it for herself. Given they have an Imperial on their side, the Anacreons intend to use him to trick the ship’s computers and board. Salvor has her reservations, and with a 10,000 ft. jump to conduct, the pressure is on. Their destination is the inner ring, and it’s one hell of a gamble.
Salvor and Hugo are the only ones on board the Savor when it arrives. Hugo is unsteady on his feet and falls into space. Phara is casual about this though, telling Salvor they have no time to dwell on this right now.
As they approach the front gate, the defence system activates and begins firing on the motley crew. Thankfully, they make it inside… just in time for Phara to shoot the Imperial soldier between the eyes. Phara immediately puts Salvor in handcuffs, taking absolutely no risks. ..
The jump happened sporadically, and the crew didn’t know where it was going to take them. That’s why they were so scared when the lights started pulsing. It seems like this ship has been jumping randomly from place to place, and that’s why the crew is so scared now.
Brother Day is angry with Demerzel for kneeling before Halima, which he interprets as a direct violation of his protocols. However, this android claims that her programming would have stopped her if it wasn’t possible. While they bicker, Day learns that Halima has now become the front-runner in this political game.
Day meets Halima while she’s tending to the people. The sun is harsh, and many have died in trying to reach the Mother’s womb, typified by something called the spiral. Day shrugs this off though and gets straight down to business, trying to strike a deal with Halima and those on Maiden.
Halima is not backing down and is pointing out how Day is losing followers, while she’s gaining them. She also throws shade at the star bridge incident and says that the Genetic Dynasty are just an echo. In essence, Day is in over his head here. ..
Day is interpreting this as a threat and deciding to prove both Halima and Seldon wrong with his next move. He’s going to appeal to the triple goddesses to prove his worth, and that includes walking the Great Spiral to let their deities decide who is right and who is wrong out of himself, Halima, and Seldon. ..
Brother Dawn is growing more and more estranged from the palace gardener, Azura. Azura convinces him to up and leave the dynasty and forge a new life for himself, but Brother Dawn is snapped out of these thoughts by Brother Dusk, who’s continuing to grow suspicious of his younger clone. “Nothing outside the palace walls matters,” Dusk eventually says.
Salvor convinces Phara to release her cuffs and she immediately starts to fight back against the Anacreons. Things inevitably go wrong, especially when Salvor’s subordinates are taken out, so she’s tasked with rerouting the ship. Destination: Trantor. Phara is essentially going to become a martyr; a sacrificial lamb that smashes into Trantor, wiping out the empire while sacrificing themselves in the process. ..
In the wake of all this drama, we cut to “chosen one” Gaal as she continues to talk to Hari Seldon. The fragments of his memory collide together to produce this echo of his life. When he finds out Raych is dead, he glitches out again. ..
Hari’s death galvanized the Foundation and this was the catalyst that helped turn things around. With no Hari there to call an “old crackpot” when things went awry, Hari was apparently orchestrating the narrative to his liking. So what changed the plan? Raych. It turns out Hari used Raych to kill him in order to leave Gaal. Gaal was never supposed to leave Terminus and head off; she was supposed to lead them.
As the pair talk, Gaal realizes that Hari brought her to him because she can predict the future! Oh my! She’s the chosen one! I wonder if she’s also a skywalker too?
The Episode Review
This week’s episode of Foundation features a split narrative across four different areas, with political situations in Maiden and the surrounding area being quite intriguing. However, the scenes we’re given this week add up to a more general feeling of brotherhood.
The show’s plot is convoluted and unoriginal, and its reveal at the end is likely to be met with shrugs from viewers.
The Invictus story is a bit of a mystery, and there are no clear connections between the plot points in the book and those in the movie. The whole Invictus plot feels very similar to the Death Star in its depiction of a planet killing device.
The biggest problem with the show is that it unnecessarily exposition-dumps its characters and plot. It would be much more effective if it didn’t tell us everything about its characters and left it up to the viewers to figure out what’s going on. A lovely tracking shot across the surface of this planet, backdropped by the small ship while showing the skeletal remains of mining equipment would have sufficed to confirm where Hugo came from. Perhaps with a “I used to work there,” uttered glumly?
Brother Dawn and Azura had a conversation about nanobots and the clone’s own purpose in the episode “The Lost Heir.” This entire scene repeats what we’ve already known- that Dawn is different. And by the end of the episode, he still hasn’t made a choice over whether to go or stay! ..
Foundation’s prospects of keeping people around are likely to grow thinner as the number of great TV shows rises.
Episode four was a bit of a let-down. Hopefully the later episodes will pick up the pace a bit. ..
