The third season of Foundation continues with its second episode, titled “Shadows in the Math.” As the name suggests, the entire episode revolves around our main characters — especially those with access to a Prime Radiant and so able to consult psychohistory directly — realizing that a new crisis is approaching. That something is about to happen, something that has the potential to bring about the end of civilization just like we saw Demerzel warn the Cleons of at the end of last week’s season premiere.
The episode starts with the part I loved the most, actually. After showing us how all major players are doing in “A Song for the End of the World,” this new episode finally brings us back to Gaal and Hari, who have been going in and out of cryosleep for years on the planet Ignis, where they have established the Second Foundation. We are told that both wake for a handful of weeks each year, all to try and get ahead of the Mule and the Third Crisis.
I have to say I’m not the biggest fan of this continued voice-over narration, even though it’s definitely necessary with all the time jumps that happen so that audiences can still more or less find themselves within the timeline, but those complaints faded into the background as I got to watch Foundation reconnect with its emotional heart. The relationship between Hari and Gaal is beautifully written and masterfully acted, and I’m just drawn to both of them every moment they’re onscreen.
That’s exactly why I knew Hari was going to die when he chose to stay behind and let Gaal be the one to go back to cryosleep — he needs to catch the Second Foundation up quicker, but Gaal is too important in the fight they will eventually have with the Mule to risk her. I have a certain experience by now when it comes to “spot the dead character” lines of dialogue. Besides, you’re never really quite sure a character played by Jared Harris is going to make it out alive by the end of the story.
Hari’s exit is predictably very tender and very sad, even though it left me wondering about the identity of this “we” the personification of the Prime Radiant mentions. I really hope this isn’t the last time we see this version of Hari throughout this season. Sure, there’s the part of him that lives within the Vault, which is all sorts of entertaining, but this human, raw, real version would definitely be missed were it to disappear for good.
What’s certain is that Hari’s departure leaves Gaal alone to lead the people of Ignis — now guided by Preem Palver, played by actor Troy Kotsur — as they face the Third Crisis and the Mule. That's a problem that is bothering everyone across the galaxy, from Ignis all the way to Trantor. Reactions are, however, a bit different in the halls of Empire.
This new nihilist version of Brother Day absolutely couldn’t care less about the not-so-remote possibility of a world-ending event, and he leaves almost as quickly as he arrived to return to gambling and his pleasure gardens. I have to say I really enjoy watching this Brother Day wander across the scene, smirking and ultimately lost, as he asks his brothers and Demerzel to “find a way not to” should they need him. Day has always been, in my opinion, one of the most compelling characters on the show, and this new iteration of him gives us a chance to see the person who should be the most powerful in the Empire—the Empire itself, in a way—in a completely new light. What a treat.
Another character that I particularly liked this episode is Brother Dusk, who said it himself last episode: he’s too much of a coward to run from his approaching death like others have done in the moment they became Brother Darkness. But still, it’s clear he fears it, so much so that we see him do everything in his power to delay it. He first tries to sway Demerzel, wanting to persuade her of how inconvenient it would be for her to do without his wisdom right now as the Empire is dealing with events that could potentially bring forth its end. But of course, Demerzel isn’t so easily swayed.
Neither is Brother Day, the second person Brother Dusk hopes to persuade to extend his life. I loved it, I really did. It makes him incredibly human, even for a “ragdoll,” as Brother Day describes all the Cleons. One might say that Dusk’s solution to his impending doom is also incredibly human, in a way: towards the end of the episode, we see that he has commissioned a group of scientists to create a weapon in secret.
That weapon is a black hole bomb capable of destroying planets in the blink of an eye, which is about as subtle a metaphor as a brick thrown to the face. Even Dusk’s motivations in creating it — a way to secure Brother Dawn’s throne and a simple deterrent, hopefully never to be used — are echoed in our own world time and time again, which is of course the hallmark of truly good science fiction. There’s always something current and topical in it, one way or the other. Otherwise it wouldn’t be as memorable, as impactful. And we can be sure that it’s going to be used before the end of the season—it’s got Chekhov’s black hole bomb written all over it.
Before the end of the episode, we also get another glimpse at the man everyone is thinking about: the Mule himself, who’s back on Kalgan and is showing off once more his very freaky powers of compulsion. I have to be honest, I was not completely sure he was not going to make the little girl pull the trigger. He acts all mortified when he asks if the officers that were forced to watch believe he’s a monster who would make a child harm himself, but honestly...he kind of is. The doubt was definitely there.
“Shadows in the Math” also has time to introduce two new characters, newlyweds Toran and Bayta, played by Cody Fern and Synnøve Karlsen respectively. In another incredibly poignant metaphor, Toran and Bayta are rich enough that they don’t care about anything that is happening within the Empire — not the Foundation, not the Mule, not the Traders, to which Toran technically belongs. But I imagine they’ll be forced to care, with the Foundation coming to knock on their door to ask for their help in getting close to the Mule.
The last scene ends with a cliffhanger, as all good episodes should, and promises a twist that is undoubtedly going to drive the plot for the rest of this season. Brother Dawn retreats into his room for a mysterious “appointment,” which is revealed to be with none other than Gaal herself, who clearly intends for Foundation and Empire to join forces to face the Mule.
Episode grade: B+
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