The seventh episode of the third season of Foundation starts with the one thing that was missing from this season—a flashback to the Mule’s beginning and his obviously terrible and tragic backstory.
We see him and his family on a planet that is regularly visited by people who collect its harvests and allocate a certain quantity of resources to its citizens. And it’s clear that the family should not have the baby they actually have—so much so that the people who have come to check on them discover the baby and remind them that they’re only allowed the resources for three people.
So inevitably, someone will die by the time they return the next month. The true reveal, though, is that these people, whom one might think are from the Empire since that’s the kind of reputation the Empire has, are actually from the Foundation.
It’s a fascinating little twist that highlights the similarities between Empire and the First Foundation, insisting once again on how a revolution will eventually come to assume the face of the oppressive power it first stood against. The flashback continues at the end of the episode, revealing that the Mule’s parents eventually make the excellent decision to drown their oldest son to save their baby. Right as his father is holding him under the water, the Mule’s psychic powers activate for the first time and he in turn forces both their parents to stay under the water—which is what he does in the present time to the Foundation’s mayor, also—and leaves his baby brother to a couple of their neighbors, before leaving his home planet to join a pirate crew.
This whole flashback sequence at the beginning and at the end of the episode also lets us understand why the Mule is so hellbent on destroying the Foundation, which is exactly what’s happening once the flashback is over and the story picks back up to where we left it last episode —with Foundation’s ships firing upon each other and on the surface of the planet and incredible devastation spreading to every corner of it.
Eventually, the Mule makes planetfall (wearing a truly gorgeous coat, it has to be said, as one would expect from a space pirate) and meets with the mayor and the other Foundation leaders, who reveal themselves to be traitors—cue Eren Jaeger’s incredibly furious scream.
It was the mayor who called the Mule and told him they have someone he might be interested him, and that someone is none other than Pritchett. Pritchett is not exactly living through a very serene situation these past episodes, it has to be said. And when he realizes he’s being kept prisoner and that his memories might put Gaal in danger, he tries to kill himself by biting his own veins open. That’s how he manages to start an escape, with a clever bit of misdirection worthy of the best action movies.
The mayor is not the only traitor hiding among the Foundation’s lines, though. Toran’s uncle is also turned to the Mule’s side, and he storms his nephew’s ship—his men carry Bayta away, who luckily seems not to be dead, and he tries to bring Toran in as well.
But Toran is not about to be captured, and he escapes the ship in an evacuation pod, killing his uncle in the process. The Foundation storyline wraps up with the very final scene, which sees the Mule stalking up to the Vault and trying to get Hari Seldon to come out of it. And he eventually does, with his usual terrible attitude right at the forefront.
The Mule finishes off the episode with a truly psychotic smile, which is exactly what we love to see from a villain going into the season’s final episodes and the climax of most of its storylines. The fall of the Foundation is, of course, felt on Trantor as well and another story thread of this episode focuses there on the Foundation’s ambassador Felice and Brother Dusk, whom he brings back to the safety of the palace where they finally give in to their long-standing attraction to each other—the vibes of which were very much present since the first episode of this season.
Finally, Brother Day in Mycogen is asked by Song and her partner to take a hallucinogenic mushroom that will make him truthful, so that they can ask him whether the story he has told them—especially about Demerzel’s robotic nature—is true or not. The dream sequence Day walks through is both incredibly freaky and very beautiful, casting light on the Cleons’ relationship with Demerzel and driving home what an incredibly complicated and twisted thing it is.
And while Brother Day is still coming down from whatever it is that Song gave him, we are introduced to a new character, Sunmaster, the leader of the Mycogen Sector and played by Blake Ritson—who will always be Girolamo Riario from Da Vinci’s Demons to be, so I was very happy to see him make an appeareance here as well.
Sunmaster seems largely unimpressed with Day’s presence and his gift, which does not seem to bode well for his survival. But then again, this might be quite an important part in freeing Demerzel beyond simply being shackled to the Cleonic dynasty.
Episode grade: B+
Foundation releases new episodes every Friday on Apple TV+.