Based on the award-winning novels by Isaac Asimov, FOUNDATION chronicles a band of exiles on their monumental journey to save humanity and rebuild civilization amid the fall of the Galactic Empire. A television series by David S. Goyer, starring Jared Harris, Lee Pace, Laura Birn, Lou Llobell, Leah Harvey, and Alfred Enoch.
FOUNDATION
David S. Goyer
(2021 / 2023)
Trantor is the capital planet of the first Galactic Empire ruled by The Genetic Dynasty, clones of Cleon I, decanted at different ages: Dawn (Cooper Carter), Day (Lee Pace), and Dusk (Terrence Mann). Yes, infinite cloning of Lee Pace.
Trantor was divided into more than 800 sectors, averaging 50 million people each living under a hundred subterranean levels. The Empire rules the galaxy with the most advanced weaponry and technology including the Jumpdrives which allow Imperial ships to go anywhere instantly.
The Emperor’s Peace
Rupert Sanders (2021.09.24)
Math is never just numbers. In the wrong hands, it’s a weapon. In the right hands, deliverance.
Mathematical prodigy Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell) travels from Synnax to Trantor after winning a math contest to work with Hari Seldon (Jared Harris), a professor of probability theory at Streeling University. Hari develops psychohistory, an algorithmic science that allows him to predict the future on a large scale. Upon the first meeting, Hari tells her that he will be arrested by tomorrow because the Empire doesn’t like the future he predicts. The Empire thinks Gaal is the only one who can prove that Hari is wrong.
Trantor is going to be destroyed. The Empire will fall. Order will vanish. Interstellar wars will be endless. Ten thousand worlds reduced to radioactive cinders. Nothing we do can prevent this.
Dr. Seldon predicts Trantor and the Galactic Empire will be destroyed within 500 years, followed by a Dark Age lasting 30,000 years. He suggests a plan to shorten the Dark Age to 1,000 years by creating an Encyclopedia Galactica to be a foundation which coming generations can build upon.
Gaal is summoned to object Dr. Seldon’s theory but she confirms that Dr. Seldon’s calculations are correct. Brother Dusk wants them both killed. However, their lives are spared by Brother Day after the terrorist attack on Starbridge. Hari Seldon and his followers including Gaal Dornick and Raych (Alfred Enoch) are banished to Terminus where they will build the Foundation.
Preparing to Live
Andrew Bernstein (2021.09.24)
The most advanced math is like a sixth sense. The right calculation can allow us to see over the horizon. And if we’re lucky, it can help us to prepare for what comes next.
Gaal tells Raych that Dr. Sheldon’s psychohistory model is incomplete, she doubts if the missing parts are relevant enough to change the big picture. The Empire fails to identify the link between the terrorists and the person behind the attack. Brother Day orders Imperial Starfleet attack on planets of Anacreon and Thespis killing millions of people, followed by a public execution of all delegates except two ambassadors.
The Mathematician’s Ghost
Alex Graves (2021.10.01)
We can’t provide for every condition or contingency our descendants will face. By the same token, we can’t preserve every innovation, so we have to choose and keep choosing.
Seldon’s followers arrive the Terminus as Dr. Sheldon has planned. They discover something they call The Vault, it’s believed that aliens put it there. Nobody can get close to it, except Salvor Hardin (Leah Harvey). One day Salvor feels the Vault’s field is expanding, she believes it tries to communicate with her. The next day, three Anacreon warships appear in the sky without authorization. Unable to contact the Empire for help, Salvor hopes she can protect them.
Barbarians at the Gate
Alex Graves (2021.10.08)
On you watch, Starbridge fell. And from that scar insurgency was birthed. On your watch, two worlds were incinerated with not a care to innocence or consequence. On your watch, Hari Seldon and his followers were allowed to flee.
Many years have passed, Dawn becomes Day and he blames Dusk for the problems he seeded decades ago by refusing Seldon’s warnings. They learn that Zephyr Halima Ifa (T’Nia Miller) has become a competitive candidate to Zephyr Gilat (Julia Farino) whom they support as the successor of the next Proxima. Dusk wants to attend Proxima Opal’s ceremonial funeral but Day doesn’t allow. On Terminus, Salvor Hardin uses the Vault to capture Grand Huntress Phara Keaen (Kubbra Sait) and tries to figure out why Anacreon soldiers are here. Dusk sends Commander Dorwin (Christian Contreras) to investigate on the Foundation on Terminus after the communication bouy has gone dark.
Upon Awakening
Alex Graves (2021.10.15)
As a child, I had nightmares of Black Holes. I used to imagine what it would be like drifting towards something miraculous, bearing witness to something most minds could never even comprehend, then realizing too late that you had reached the point of no return.
Half of the episode tells the backstory of Gaal Dornick which doesn’t move the story forward at all. Gaal Dornick finds herself aboard in a fully-automated starship Raven which Seldon has prepared for Raych Foss. She realizes that she was in cryo-session for almost 35 years before waking up in 12102 Era Imperial. She discovers Helicon (Hari’s homeworld) is the starship’s destination. Meanwhile on Terminus, Phara successfully disables Terminus City’s fence and destroys the Imperial ship.
Death and the Maiden
Jennifer Phang (2021.10.22)
Our lives in these bodies may be brief, but our souls are endless. And as we shape and sculpt our souls into a never-ending quest for holiness, remember this. This will not always be your life. But it is your life now. Your choice now. Your change now. Make it count!
Day arrives at The Maiden, the holy moon at the center of the Luminist faith to attend Proxima Opal’s ceremonial funeral, hoping to support Zephyr Gilat to become Proxima with a moon-wide desalination system. On Terminus the Anacreon soldiers recover Commander Dorwin from the Imperial ship’s wreckage. Phara reveals her true purpose of using a long-lost Imperial legendary destroyer Invictus to attack the Empire. Salvor Hardin is struck with another vision revealing Hari Seldon planned his own murder.
Mysteries and Martyrs
Jennifer Phang (2021.10.29)
The Invictus, the crown jewel of Emperor Taurelian’s fleet. They say, in the her day, the Invictus was the most powerful weapons platform the Empire had ever built. She disappeared without a trace 700 years ago. No debris, No distress signals.
Phara and Anacreon soldiers successfully board Invictus using Imperial nanobots embed inside Commander Dorwin which allow him to access any Imperial vessel. They realize that Invictus is programmed to jump periodically, they must take control of the ship before it takes another jump or they probably will die.
Brother Day decides to walk the Spiral, Luminism’s most sacred pilgrimage, to prove that he’s worthy among them. Brother Dawn feels his differences would deem inferior to his brothers and Empire, Azura (Amy Tyger) convinces Day to run away with her.
Gaal Dornick meets a digital copy of Hari’s consciousness on the ship traveling to Helicon. It has been a part of Hari’s plan all along except the part that Raych sacrificed himself to help Gaal. Hari discovers that Gaal possesses the ability to feel the future before it happens.
The Missing Piece
Roxann Dawson (2021.11.05)
I used to dream about a wave. A wave so big… all I could do was hold my breath and let it take me. I knew it would crush my home, my family, my whole world. I could never get rid of that dream.
Hari reveals he had another Foundation secretly built on Helicon. Although he doesn’t fully trust Gaal, he believes her prescience ability potentially can disrupt his master plan if she knows everything. Gaal decides to take an escape pod and set course to Synnax.
Brother Day completes the the Spiral and is accepted by Luminist. To ensure his victory, he orders Eto Demerzel against her will to covertly assassinate Halima.
The First Crisis
Roxann Dawson (2021.11.12)
A wise man once said, “A people without history is like a tree without roots.” What’s missing from the wise man’s history? When did story replace record? When all the facts fall short of believability, fantasy feels reassuringly sold.
Brother Dawn escapes from the palace to find Azura after Brother Dusk has discovered his secrets. The Invictus makes the jump to Terminus where Salvor reunites with Hugo.
Dawn’s DNA was altered by the member of the anti-Empire group giving him imperfections. Azura has been working as a decoy to manipulate Dawn to make him choose to flee the palace. Their plan is to replace Dawn with a perfect Cleon clone created by the anti-Empire group.
Salvor opens the Vault which turns into a portal, a copy of Hari Seldon’s consciousness appears in front of everyone.
The Leap
David S. Goyer (2021.11.19)
We could put back together what Empire has broken. If both your peoples will set aside hatred in favor of strength, as those poor newlyweds did, then you’ll find here the skills necessary to build more ships. For the Plan to succeed, the Foundation needs three pillars, just a stool needs three legs. It needs all the children of the Outer Reach.
Hari believes Anacreons, Thespins, and members of the Foundation will become a powerful force that can take down the Empire.
My mother used to say that going to sleep was a leap of faith. Our souls wander when we dream, or so she told me. And if we say our devotions, our souls wll find their way back before we wake.
Salvor leaves Terminus to search for Gaal after learning that Gaal and Raych are her biological parents, it’s the reason why Salvor frequently has strange visions. Salvor’s ship is crash-landed on Synnax, she has been in cryo for over a century until Gaal rescues her from the wreckage under the water.
In Seldon’s Shadow
Alex Graves (2023.07.14)
It had been 173 years since the Foundation had been exiled to Terminus. And just like Synnax, the dark waters were now rising everywhere. The Foundation had flourished, but a flourishing Foundation posed a threat.
A digitized consciousness of Hari Seldon is trapped within the Prime Radiant, by Gaal Dornick. The Prime Radiant takes on the form of Hari’s late wife, Yanna (Nimrat Kaur), to assist him in finding a way to escape from the four-dimensional prison.
On Trentor, the Blind Angels launch an assassination attempt on Brother Day. The mission fails, and Brother Day orders everyone to submit to the inquisitors’ interrogation to determine whether it was due to gross negligence or whether the Blind Angels had an inside accomplice.
The Blind Angels are a highly skilled and secretive terrorist organization that is considered to be the best assassins in the galaxy. They are trained in the dark sector, where they learn to use advanced weapons and technology. Their communications are psycho-encrypted, making them nearly impossible to intercepted.
Against the will of Dawn and Dusk, Brother Day plans to marry Queen Sareth (Ella-Rae Smith) of Cloud Dominion in the hopes of changing the course of the Empire and ending the presumably corrupt genetic dynasty.
On Synnax, Gaal Dornick learns that Salvor Hardin is her daughter, born of a brief but passionate encounter with Raych Foss on Trantor. The Prime Radiant, reveals that it has been 138 years since the first crisis, and that the second crisis is now imminent. Hari’s plan is veering off course. If Gaal and Salvor cannot find a way to handle it, the age of darkness may never end. However, their immediate concern is to escape this ocean planet before a hurricane strikes and kills them both.
A Glimpse of Darkness
David S. Goyer (2023.07.21)
Hari Seldon’s digitized mind breaks free from the Prime Radiant. With his help, they are able to escape Synnax. Hari is enraged with Gaal, as she is the one who has caused The Plan to go awry. Hari’s calculations were based on the assumption of a Second Foundation.
Poly Verisof (Kulvinder Ghir), the High Claric of the Church of the Galactic Spirit, and Brother Constant (Isabella Laughland) are on the Outer Reach, spreading the word of the Galactic Spirit, when they receive word that the Vault has reopened. They are immediately summoned back to Terminus.
Gaal agrees to Hari’s suggestion to use her ability to peer into the future 150 years from now, at the turning point where chaos consumes everything, hoping to find a new path. There, she is hunted by a man who calls himself the Mule, who possesses the same ability. The Mule is desperately searching for the Second Foundation. Salvor, Gaal, and Hari set course for Ignis, the planet where they believe the Second Foundation is located.
King and Commoner
David S. Goyer (2023.07.28)
There may be infinite ways to arrive at the inevitable.
Hari Seldon lands the Beggar on a desert planet that Gaal Dornick and Salvor Hardin believe to be Ignis, the location of the Second Foundation. However, Seldon reveals that the planet is in fact Oona’s World, an abandoned Imperial mining site where the Prime Radiant has requested his presence.
Oona’s World is a desert planet with a thin crust and deep canyons. It was once home to a thriving mining operation, where the Galactic Empire used autonomous mining machines to extract palladium. The planet was abandoned after the palladium was exhausted in 9240 Era Imperial, and the Galactic Empire turned the machines on the population. By 12240 Era Imperial, the planet was uninhabited.
My plan makes small changes in the present to adjust large events in the future. You want to observe one very small event in the future, the death of a specific human being, and apply massive forces in the present to avert it.
Lady Demerzel, the Empire’s most trusted advisor, has been dispatched to the opalesk mining prison camp on Lepsis to recruit Bel Riose (Ben Daniels), a celebrated general who has been imprisoned for disobeying the orders of Emperor Cleon XVII. Riose is offered a pardon and a chance to redeem himself if he agrees to lead a special mission to investigate the resurgent Foundation on the Outer Reach and determine if it poses a threat to the Empire. Riose initially declines the offer, but he later changes his mind when Lady Demerzel reveals to him that his husband, Glawen Curr (Dino Fetscher), whom he believes was killed by the order of the Empire six years ago, is still alive.
It’s not a single path, but it is a landscape that sometimes narrows into a dangerous mountain pass that can’t be avoided. That’s why we call it a crisis.
Poly Verisof and Brother Constant are traveling to Korell in search of Hober Mallow, a former member of the priesthood who has turned to a life of deception by selling religious paraphernalia and fake relics. Their mission is to return Hober Mallow to the Vault on Terminus, where they believe he may hold the key to preventing an impending crisis.
Where the Stars are Scattered Thinly
Mark Tonderai (2023.08.04)
Dawn and Sareth find common ground in their shared distrust of Day. Dawn suspects that Sareth may have been involved in the Empire’s assassination attempt, but Sareth denies the allegation. Sareth is convinced that Day had her family killed in order to clear the path for her ascension to the throne of Dominion.
I was a million steps from the throne. And not a single person in the line of succession ahead of me would’ve made this alliance. And then one mysterious crash later, and suddenly there I am. The weakest member of my family ruling a weakened Dominion.
Bel Riose and Glawen Curr infiltrate the planet Siwenna to meet with the informant Ducem Barr (Jesper Christensen) and assess whether the Magicians pose a threat to the Empire. They learn that the Magicians have a device that is similar to a personal aura, a protective shield that can deflect kinetic energy and protect an individual from harm. They also discover that the Magicians’ ship is capable of folding space.
The church will fall away with time and be replaced by another mechanism. But your skepticism will serve you well on this mission. The person who extends an open hand in friendship had better have a blade in a fist behind his back.
Poly Verisof, Brother Constant, Hober Mallow (Dimitri Leonidas), and Sef Sermak (Oliver Chris) enter the Vault on Terminus and encounter Hari Seldon, who tasks them with different missions to avert a war with the Empire. — Why does Hober Mallow remind me so much of Jack Harlow? XD
The Sighted and the Seen
Alex Graves (2023.08.11)
With the help of Kalle (Rowena King), Hari egains his physical body. The Beggar crashes on Ignis. Salvor leaves the ship to investigate and reunites with Hugo Crast (Daniel MacPherson), whom she thought was dead. She brings him back to the ship. Hari suspects a trap but it is too late.
Sareth sends Claviger Markley (Afolabi Alli) to retrieve the Asclepium’s memory audit from the archive, hoping to learn how Day survived the assassination attempt. However, Sareth and Enjoiner Rue Corintha (Sandra Yi Sencindiver) instead discover that Demerzel is a machine, a technology that has been proscribed for millennia.
Why the Gods Made Wine
Alex Graves (2023.08.18)
Salvor, Gaal, and Hari now find themselves on Ignis, a planet inhabited by the Mentalics, a group of people with the ability to read and shape the minds of others. The Mentalics are led by Tellem Bond (Rachel House), their most powerful member, whose voice summoned Salvor and Gaal across the universe. Tellem desires Gaal to lead her people. However, she also harbors a covert objective.
Constant and Poly Verisof arrive at Trantor. They are here on a mission of diplomacy, tasked by Hari Seldon to delay the inevitable war for as long as they can.
Brother Day introduces Sereth, Queen of the Cloud Dominion, to the people of the Imperium as his bride-to-be and their new Empress. He also announces the end of the Genetic Dynasty.
A Necessary Death
Mark Tonderai (2023.08.25)
Hober Mallow steps aboard the Home-Swarm, which has appeared at the coordinates that Hari Seldon sent him. She-Is-Center, the leader of the Spacers, is curious about how he knew the location of their Home-Swarm and is prepared to kill him. However, Hober offers her synthesized opalesk, a micro-nutrient that the Spacers depend on due to their genetic modifications. The Galactic Empire maintains its control over the Spacers by regulating the distribution of opalesk. In exchange for the synthesized opalesk, the Spacers must align with the Foundation.
Constant and Poly Verisof are taken into custody by the Imperium soldiers and brought before the Empire. Constant carries a thin sliver of Hari Seldon’s digital copy and projects it as a hologram of Hari himself. Hari warns the Empire that the Foundation is preparing for war and that they will win.
Salvor Hardin remains distrustful of the Mentalics. She persists in her investigation and ultimately uncovers that Tellem Bond was responsible for Hari Seldon’s death.
The Last Empress
Roxann Dawson (2023.09.01)
Brother Day commands a live broadcast to every corner of the cosmos to broadcast the public execution of Constant and Poly Verisof as a warning to those who would dare defy the Empire by allying themselves with Anacreon and Thespis.
Imprisoned by the Mentalics, Salvor Hardin uses the Prime Radiant to communicate with a digital copy of Hari Seldon in the Vault on Terminus. She implores his aid in escaping, as she believes Gaal Dornick to be in grave danger.
As Brother Day and Demerzel board the ship bound for Terminus, Brother Dusk and Rue discover a hidden pathway behind the Mural. The pathway leads them to a secret chamber that they never knew existed. There, they learn the true identity of Demerzel.
Long Ago, Not Far Away
Roxann Dawson (2023.09.08)
In a bygone era, Cleon I, heir to the last emperor of the Entun Dynasty, stumbled upon a hidden passage behind a mural in the palace. There, he encountered Demerzel, the last of the mechanical people, an ancient being 18,000 years of age. Cleon I kept his discovery a secret, drawn back time and again by her captivating tales of the Empire. Demerzel, once a general of robotic soldiers, had been captured and brought before Emperor Aburanis after the Robot Wars.
On Ignis, Salvor Hardin rescues Gaal from Teller’s ritual, which attempts to transfer her mind from her deteriorated body into Gail’s. Stranded on a hostile planet, they must find a way to escape.
Day and Demerzel arrive at Terminus and uncover the Foundation’s arsenal hidden in the church. The imperial flagship engages in battle with Whisper-ships in an attempt to seize control of Invictus. They succeed in disabling Invictus’ engine clusters. However, Glawen’s ship sustains damage and crashes onto Terminus’ surface. Day orders the destruction of Invictus, triggering a cataclysmic event that annihilates the planet and its inhabitants.
Creation Myths
Alex Graves (2023.09.15)
What happens after we die? Where does our energy go? And what about the universe? Can it die? How was it ever born? How could there be nothing and then suddenly something?
The Mentalics are grateful that Gaal, Salvor, and Hari have liberated them from Tellem’s mind control. Hari and Gaal must teach the Mentalics and prepare them for the Second Foundation in order to prevent the next crisis in 150 years upstream.
Demerzel is revealed to be the true heir of Cleon I, having shaped the Empire for thousands of years in accordance with her directive to ensure its prosperity and the genetic dynasty’s survival.
FOUNDATION is an American science fiction television series created by David S. Goyer for Apple TV+, based on science fiction book series Foundation by American author Isaac Asimov, first published as a short story in Astounding Science Fiction, May 1942 issue. Eight short stories had compiled and turned into a trilogy: Foundation (1951), Foundation and Empire (1952), and Second Foundation (1953). It won Hugo Award for “Best All-Time Series” in 1966. Isaac Asimov also wrote two sequels: Foundation’s Edge (1983) and Foundation and Earth (1988), and two prequels: Prelude to Foundation (1988) and Forward the Foundation (1993).
With so many changes, it is clear that FOUNDATION television series does not try to stay true to the original source which could be a good thing for storytelling. We all know that not everything from the book potentially works on film.
The Prime Radiant is a powerful supercomputer that allows the user to access and manipulate four-dimensional space. It was created by Gaal Dornick, a brilliant mathematician who was exiled to Terminus by the Galactic Empire. In the novels, the Prime Radiant is created by Hari Seldon, the founder of the Foundation. It is a more powerful device in the novels, and it is used to help Seldon create the Foundation, a group of planets that will eventually save humanity from the collapse of the Galactic Empire. The changes made to the Prime Radiant in the TV series make it a more personal device for Gaal Dornick.
In the novels, the Prime Radiant is a large, stationary computer that is housed in a special facility. In the TV series, the Prime Radiant is a smaller, handheld device that can be easily transported. It is also more difficult to use, the Prime Radiant is only accessible to a select few people who have been specially trained to use it.
Starbridge doesn’t exist in the book, it’s the one and only gigantic elevator connected Trantor’s surface to the space station. The existence of Starbridge makes no sense at all, Trantor doesn’t seem to have an impenetrable deflector shield covered the entire planet like Scarif.
FOUNDATION is an epic saga that spans centuries, so the main protagonist must change over time. In the novels, Dornick is a celebrated male mathematician who helps Hari Seldon establish Terminus before disappearing from the story. In the television series, Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell) is a female mathematical prodigy from a remote and superstitious waterworld who plays a more central role in the narrative.
In the novels, Salvor Hardin is regarded as one of the greatest mayors to ever govern over the planet Terminus. He is known for his deft handling of foreign affairs. In television series, Salvor Hardin (Leah Harvey) is the Warden of Terminus, who possesses foxlike cunning and a mysterious connection to the Vault. She is the only person on Terminus unaffected by the null field.
In the novels, Eto Demerzel (an alter-ego of R. Daneel Olivaw) is a robot whose human disguise presented as male. He is an extremely important character, being responsible for the creation of the Galactic Empire, Gaia, psychohistory, and the two Foundations. In television series, the character’s gender is changed to female. Demerzel (Laura Birn) is a robot, but somehow she looks more like an Imperial chief of staff who lives to serve forever. However, Eto Demerzel’s character development has immensely improved throughout the series.
Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) is the hero of of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series. Hari predicts the collapse of the Galactic Empire and an ensuing period of barbarism lasting 30,000 years before a new empire arises. Knowing that the Empire’s collapse is inevitable, Hari Seldon uses Psychohistory to deflect events just enough to limit the intervening dark age to a 1,000 years. He establishes the Foundations, two groups of scientists and engineers tasked with preserving science and civilization to become the basis of the new empire.
Hari Seldon’s adopted son, Raych Seldon, in the novels is renamed Raych Foss (Alfred Enoch) in the television series. Additionally, Raych and Gaal Dornick never meet in the original works, much less have a romantic relationship.
Season 1 of FOUNDATION uses Isaac Asimov’s novels as its structural framework, while creating a new story within the Foundation universe that has the potential to be a successful television series with compelling protagonists and antagonists.
Foundation, a collection of stories spanning nearly a millennium, features a shifting cast of main characters, as the focus lies more on the grand sweep of the known universe than on individuals. This makes a faithful adaptation challenging, as good literature doesn’t always translate well to film.
FOUNDATION Season 2 unfolds a leisurely narrative, introducing a plethora of new characters with intricate subplots. Their motivations, opaque at first, become clear as we discern that most players remain unaware of the grand scheme. Those who persevere through the series’ leisurely pace are rewarded with a mind-bending twist in the season finale, a spectacle that surpasses all expectations.
