Foundation Recap: Paranoid Clone With An Oedipus Complex Makes Things Weird In Season 2 Premiere — Grade It!
Foundation Season 2 kicked off with a bang — literally.
Friday's premiere (now streaming on Apple TV+) wasted no time in making things weird as Brother Day feverishly plowed away at Demerzel, the robot advisor and motherly figure who coached him through every aspect of his life including — gross — sex.
Their incestuous coitus was (thankfully) interrupted by masked assassins, who got uncomfortably close to taking out the emperor. Although Day was severely wounded in the attack (as was Demerzel, who had half her head sliced off), Demerzel's quick intervention ensured both of their survival.
In the century since the events of Season 1, the Empire's reach contracted, with the Outer Reach cut off. The Foundation, however, secretly thrived after leading everyone to believe they simply withered away. To revitalize his power and usher in a new era, Brother Day entertained the idea of marrying Queen Sareth of Cloud Dominion.
Meanwhile, two different versions of Hari Seldon's consciousness currently existed. One copy lived in the Vault on Terminus. Gaal trapped a second version in the prime radiant, a data storage device that held all of Hari's humanity-saving calculations. However, this Hari had been corrupted and needed some repairing. That's why the prime radiant appeared as Hari's life-mate Yanna, as well as the brilliant mathematician Kalle, to aid him in piecing his artificial self back together.
On Synnax, Gaal and her daughter Salvor were getting used to each other but still had a mission to complete. The Second Crisis was coming and if they failed to prevent it, that would trigger a third crisis, which would then spur an unending string of additional crises — undoubtedly catastrophic for mankind.
If they had any chance of saving humanity, though, they needed to get off the underwater planet. That meant swimming to the bottom of the ocean (with Gaal nearly dying in the process) to retrieve Salvor's ship.
The failed assassination attempt on Day left him extremely paranoid, so much so that he requested his brothers Dusk and Dawn submit to an audit of their memories to clear them of any involvement. Because the best way to repair a strained relationship is to show them how little you trust them.
Tension aside, Queen Sareth's arrival brought some much-needed levity. She met Day with a large entourage and thoughtful gifts, including an array of bright pigments for Dusk to use in his murals. Day seemed impressed by her spirit, but before they could go further, Demerzel interrupted their conversation with distressing news.
Commander Dorwin's body was found after floating through space for 100 years, believed to have perished in a mega flare that presumably wiped out all life in the Outer Reach. In Season 1, he was sent by the Empire to investigate the faraway system after communications in the area went dark.
Dorwin's last transmission revealed that he was murdered by an Anacreon war party, who took members of the Foundation hostage and boarded the Invictus, a military ship capable of jumping. With Demerzel's sources confirming that there was no mega flare, the Outer Reach might not be as dormant as the Empire believed. And while there was a possibility that Foundation still existed, Day needed further proof before waging a war. As Dusk aptly put it, he needed to get his house in order.
Back on Synnax, Gaal and Salvor successfully retrieved the ship but were now trapped in a nasty storm. Salvor argued that they should free Hari because he could help get them off the planet, while Gaal remained apprehensive since their last encounter ended poorly. But they didn't anticipate a third possibility: Hari breaking himself out of the prime radiant and looking pissed off right behind them.
What did you think of Foundation's Season 2 premiere? Will you continue to watch this season? Grade the episode below, and then share your opinions in the comments.