Foundation (TV series)

Foundation
Genre	Drama Science fiction
Created by	David S. Goyer Josh Friedman
Based on	Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Starring	Jared Harris Lee Pace Lou Llobell Leah Harvey Laura Birn Terrence Mann Cassian Bilton
Composer	Bear McCreary
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	19
Production
Executive producers	David S. Goyer David Ellison Dana Goldberg Bill Bost Robyn Asimov Marcy Ross Josh Friedman Cameron Welsh
Running time	45–69 minutes
Production companies	Phantom Four Skydance Television
Original release
Network	Apple TV+
Release	September 24, 2021 (2021-09-24) – present (present)

Foundation is an American science fiction streaming television series created by David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman for Apple TV+, loosely based on the Foundation series of stories by Isaac Asimov. It features an ensemble cast led by Jared Harris, Lee Pace, Lou Llobell and Leah Harvey. The series premiered on September 24, 2021. In October 2021, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on July 14, 2023.

The first season received some positive reviews, with praise aimed towards its performances (Pace and Harris in particular), epic scale, visual effects and score by Bear McCreary. However, the pacing, specifically of the time jumps, use of narration and complexity of plot were often criticized. The second season received more positive reviews from critics, with many agreeing that it was an improvement over its first season, emphasizing the more accessible pacing, better plot, improved interpersonal characterizations and overall satisfaction with the season's payoff.

Premise

Foundation chronicles "...the thousand-year saga of The Foundation, a band of exiles who discover that the only way to save the Galactic Empire from destruction is to defy it."

Cast and characters

Main

• Jared Harris as Hari Seldon, a mathematician and developer of psychohistory, an algorithmic science that allows him to predict the future in terms of probabilities.
• Lee Pace as Brother Day (Cleon XII, XIII and XVII), the middle-aged member of a series of genetic clones of Cleon I who reigns as Emperor of the 12,000-year old Galactic Empire; Pace also portrays Cleon I in his prime.
• Lou Llobell as Gaal Dornick, Hari's protégée, a self-taught young woman from a planet where the pursuit of knowledge is considered heresy.
• Leah Harvey as Salvor Hardin, the Warden of Terminus 35 years after Seldon's trial, hero of the Foundation's first crisis and Gaal Dornick's daughter.
• Laura Birn as Eto Demerzel, majordomo to the Emperors and one of the last surviving androids from the ancient Robot Wars.
• Terrence Mann as Brother Dusk (Cleon XI, XII and XVI), the eldest member of a series of genetic clones of Cleon I who retired from his duties as Emperor; Mann also portrays an elderly Cleon I.
• Chipo Chung as the voice of the Deliverance operating system.
• Cassian Bilton as Brother Dawn (Cleon XIV and XVIII), the youngest member of a series of genetic clones of Cleon I and the successor-in-training of Brother Day.

Recurring

• Alfred Enoch as Raych Foss, the adopted son of Hari Seldon. (season 1; guest season 2)
• Cooper Carter as the child Brother Dawn/Cleon XIII. (season 1; guest season 2)
• Reece Shearsmith as Jerril, an Imperial agent during Cleon XII's reign. (season 1; guest season 2)
• Clarke Peters as Abbas Hardin, a Seldon follower, the first Warden and first Mayor of Terminus, and surrogate father of Salvor Hardin. (season 1)
• Sasha Behar as Mari Hardin, a Seldon follower and surrogate mother of Salvor Hardin. (season 1)
• Daniel MacPherson as Hugo Crast, an interplanetary trader from Thespis who became Salvor Hardin's lover. (season 1; guest season 2)
• Kubbra Sait as Grand Huntress Phara Keaen, the top military officer of Anacreon who personally leads a raid on Terminus. (season 1)
• Elliot Cowan as Lewis Pirenne, the Director of the Foundation and first successor of Hari Seldon. (season 1)
• Amy Tyger as Azura Odili, an Imperial Palace gardener and love interest of Brother Dawn/Cleon XIV. (season 1)
• Mido Hamada as Shadow Master Obrecht, the Imperial spymaster during Cleon XIII's reign. (season 1)
• Christian Contreras as Commander Dorwin, an Imperial soldier sent to investigate loss of contact with Terminus. (season 1)
• T'Nia Miller as Zephyr Halima Ifa, a senior priestess of the Luminist faith vying to become its next leader. (season 1)
• Nimrat Kaur as Yanna Seldin, Hari Seldon's deceased life partner.
• Ella-Rae Smith as Queen Sareth, ruler of the Cloud Dominion and bride-to-be of Brother Day/Cleon XVII
• Sandra Yi Sencindiver as Enjoiner Rue, Sareth's retainer & advisor.
• Isabella Laughland as Brother Constant, a monk and traveling "magician" spreading the gospel of Hari Seldon.
• Kulvinder Ghir as High Cleric Poly Verisof, Constant's superior and companion, who was a child at the dawn at the Foundation.
• Oliver Chris as Director Sermak, a leader of the Foundation.
• Mikael Persbrandt as The Mule
• Ben Daniels as Bel Riose, a disgraced general of the Empire who has become a prisoner
• Dimitri Leonidas as Hober Mallow, a rogueish trader and conman who is important to the Foundation's journey.
• Dino Fetscher as Glawen Curr, Riose's husband and second-in-command.
• Rachel House as Tellem Bond, the leader of a community of mentalics on the planet Ignis.

Guest

• Alexander Siddig as Advocate Xylas, the prosecutor in Seldon's trial.
• Ian McNeice as Master Statistician Tivole, the head of the Emperor's personal team of mathematicians.
• Holt McCallany as Jaeggar Fount, a Warden of Terminus.
• Noah Taylor as Hetman, a bandit on the planet Siwenna.
• Jesper Christensen as Ducen Barr, an Imperial loyalist on Siwenna.
• Ed Birch as Keeper Yartell, the guardian of the Empire's memory archives.
• Fiona O'Shaughnessy as Dr. Tadj, the provost of the University of Helicon.
• Philip Glenister as Commdor Argo, ruler of Korell.

Episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	10		September 24, 2021 (2021-09-24)	November 19, 2021 (2021-11-19)
2	10		July 14, 2023 (2023-07-14)	September 15, 2023 (2023-09-15)

Season 1 (2021)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"The Emperor's Peace"	Rupert Sanders	David S. Goyer & Josh Friedman	September 24, 2021 (2021-09-24)
In the year 12,067 E.I. (Era Imperial), the prodigy Gaal Dornick travels from her academically repressive homeworld of Synnax to Trantor, capital of the Galactic Empire, to study under the famed Hari Seldon, the creator of the predictive mathematical subfield of psychohistory, as a reward for solving a complex conjecture. They are both arrested on charges of treason; Seldon because his model predicts the imminent collapse of the Empire due in part to the stagnation caused by four centuries of rule by clones of Emperor Cleon I, and Dornick because the Empire wants her to discredit psychohistory. Dornick instead confirms Seldon's model during his trial and condemns them both, but they are spared by Brother Day (Emperor Cleon XII) after the Starbridge, Trantor's space elevator, is destroyed by apparent terrorists from the feuding Periphery kingdoms of Anacreon and Thespis. Brother Day exiles Seldon and Dornick to the Periphery world of Terminus, where they are to build the "Foundation", a repository of human knowledge that Seldon claims will shorten the dark age after the Empire's demise from thirty thousand years to a single millennium.
2	2	"Preparing to Live"	Andrew Bernstein	Josh Friedman & David S. Goyer	September 24, 2021 (2021-09-24)
Seldon and his followers proceed to Terminus aboard a slow starship, the Deliverance, and prepare for their new lives on the barren world. A year into the trip (12,068 E.I.), Dornick reveals to her lover, Seldon's adopted son Raych, that the psychohistory model is incomplete, alarming him. Meanwhile, the Empire investigates the Starbridge attack but is unable to identify its mastermind, or conclusively attribute it to Seldon or the governments of Anacreon and Thespis. Despite Brother Dusk (Cleon XI) urging that the detained delegations from the two kingdoms should be granted clemency, Brother Day opts for a public execution of all delegates except the two ambassadors, simultaneous with orbital bombardments of their homeworlds. On the ship, Dornick finds Raych fatally stabbing Seldon in his quarters. Raych then ushers the incredulous Dornick into an escape pod with the murder weapon and jettisons her from the ship.
3	3	"The Mathematician's Ghost"	Alex Graves	Olivia Purnell	October 1, 2021 (2021-10-01)
Nineteen years after the Starbridge attack (12,086 E.I.), the genetic dynasty of Cleon I undertakes its traditional transfer of power: Cleon XIV is born as the new Brother Dawn, Cleon XIII is elevated as Brother Day, Cleon XII retires as Brother Dusk, and Cleon XI assumes the mantle of Brother Darkness before being euthanized. In 12,072 E.I., Seldon's followers arrive at Terminus and discover the Vault, an enigmatic artifact guarded by a "null field" that repels all life. In the present day (12,102 E.I.), the Foundation is well-established and Salvor Hardin, a second-generation colonist, serves as Warden of Terminus. Hardin is troubled by the sudden expansion of the Vault's null field, but a larger crisis looms as corvettes from Anacreon appear in Terminus's skies in open violation of Imperial sanctions. In the hours before the ships' arrival, Hardin chases a child into the scuttled Deliverance and finds herself surrounded by an Anacreon landing party.
4	4	"Barbarians at the Gate"	Alex Graves	Lauren Bello	October 8, 2021 (2021-10-08)
The Cleon lineage faces a threat to its legitimacy as Zephyr Halima Ifa, a leading candidate to become the next Proxima of the major religion of Luminism, revives an orthodox, pre-Imperial dogma that asserts clones of an individual do not possess souls. This religious issue and a violent "Sinker" insurrection in the still-ruined lower levels of Trantor fulfill two key portents of the Empire's decline that Hari Seldon related at his trial. Brother Day grows frustrated with Brother Dusk, feeling his elder seeded these problems decades ago by acting impulsively and refusing to heed Seldon's warnings. While Day departs Trantor to attend the Luminist Conclave and back Ifa's competitor, Dusk orders Commander Dorwin to visit the Foundation, which has fallen silent. On Terminus, Hardin outwits the Anacreons and captures their leader, Grand Huntress Phara Keaen, who claims to only want the colony ship's navigation computer so her people can find a new homeworld. Anacreon soldiers surround Terminus City's perimeter fence and assemble a flak cannon. The Vault also begins giving Hardin sporadic visions of a child in Trantor's Imperial Library, where Seldon worked. In deep space, a ship encounters Gaal Dornick's escape pod.
5	5	"Upon Awakening"	Alex Graves	Leigh Dana Jackson	October 15, 2021 (2021-10-15)
In the past, on Synnax, Gaal Dornick is forced to execute her former teacher, who was caught salvaging books from a condemned university. Disillusioned with the Seer's Church, she educates herself in secret and enters a math competition. In the present, Dornick awakens after 34 years of cryosleep and finds herself aboard the fully-automated starship Raven, which had been prepared by Raych. She learns that Raych was executed for murdering Hari, and the galaxy believes her to be an accomplice to the crime. After deducing that the Raven is bound for Hari's homeworld of Helicon, she stumbles across a wounded yet seemingly alive Hari. At Terminus, the Imperial ship Aegis carrying Commander Dorwin enters orbit and detects the Anacreon presence. Dorwin is informed of the captive Phara and demands to speak with her, causing the Foundation staff to bring her from her cell to Foundation Tower. Once inside, Phara disables Terminus City's fence and reveals her true purpose is to destroy the Foundation in revenge for the Empire's neutron bombing of Anacreon, which had killed her parents and brother. The Anacreon soldiers storm the city, and their flak cannon shoots down the Aegis.
6	6	"Death and the Maiden"	Jennifer Phang	Marcus Gardley	October 22, 2021 (2021-10-22)
Brother Day arrives at The Maiden, the holy moon at the center of the Luminist faith. He undermines Zephyr Halima by pledging to build a moon-wide desalination system in honor of the moderate Zephyr Gilat, but Halima gains the upper hand with a galvanizing eulogy of the late Proxima Opal that subtly criticizes Imperial cloning. On Trantor, Brother Dawn pursues a romance with Azura Odili, a palace gardener, and bares his deepest secret: he inexplicably has minor genetic traits, such as color blindness, that differentiate him from all previous Cleon clones. On Terminus, the Anacreons recover Dorwin from the wreckage of the Aegis and round up colonists with the skills necessary to repair and crew the Invictus, a long-lost Imperial warship that Phara's people rediscovered and plan to use to attack the Empire. Salvor escapes the city with the help of two children, and decides to take out the Anacreon corvettes to strand Phara. During the mission, Salvor is struck with a vision revealing the murder of Hari Seldon was part of Seldon's plan for the Foundation, but the escape pod Gaal took had been intended for Raych. In Salvor's absence, her father Abbas sacrifices himself to blow up the corvettes. Salvor and her lover, the Thespin trader Hugo, are later captured by Phara. Salvor is forced to pilot Hugo's ship, the Beggar, to the Anthor Belt with the captive colonists.
7	7	"Mysteries and Martyrs"	Jennifer Phang	Caitlin Saunders	October 29, 2021 (2021-10-29)
Salvor and Phara's party board and explore the 700-year old ghost ship Invictus, but not without casualties; among others, Hugo drifts off during the spacewalk crossing from the Beggar, and Dorwin is killed by Phara after he unlocks the vessel. With the Invictus only hours away from making a random jump to a potentially lethal destination, the dwindling group of Anacreons and colonists proceeds to the bridge to take control. On The Maiden, Brother Day is agitated by his inability to rein in the defiant Halima, but decides he can upstage her by undertaking Luminism's most sacred pilgrimage. On Trantor, Azura asks Brother Dawn, who lives in constant fear of being replaced by another clone should his uniqueness be exposed, to consider running away with her. Aboard the Raven, the living Hari Seldon is revealed to be a digital copy of the deceased Hari's consciousness. The copy had been stored in the knife Raych used to kill him, and then was uploaded into the ship when Gaal was found. Hari explains that Gaal and Raych's unexpected relationship had disrupted his plans for the Foundation: Hari was to commit suicide to mythologize himself, Raych was to bring the knife to the Raven, and Gaal was to lead the Foundation through its first crisis on Terminus. Hari had persuaded Raych to murder him instead in order to force the couple's separation. Gaal's outrage at her mentor's manipulation is momentarily quelled by the revelation that she possesses a latent ability: prescience.
8	8	"The Missing Piece"	Roxann Dawson	Sarah Nolen	November 5, 2021 (2021-11-05)
The group on the Invictus finally reaches the bridge. Meanwhile, Hugo safely arrives at a comms relay and calls for help from his people. Just as the Thespins attack, and Phara and Salvor fight each other, the Invictus jumps into the unknown. On the Raven, Hari divulges his plan to establish a secret second Foundation on Helicon, nicknamed "Star's End" due its orbit around a black hole, but refuses to elaborate. Irate and impatient, Gaal forces Hari to let her leave in the escape pod, and she sets a course for Synnax that will take 138 years to elapse. Brother Day completes the Spiral, a torturous trek to a desert cave pool, and claims to have received a vision of a sacred flower from Luminism's triple-goddess. The Zephyrs interpret Day's vision as a divine pronouncement that he has a soul, rendering any further criticism of Imperial cloning by a Luminist to be sacrilege, and also guaranteeing Zephyr Gilat's elevation to Proxima. Day seals his victory by commanding his robot majordomo, Eto Demerzel, to covertly assassinate Halima. Demerzel is a devout Luminist who respects Halima and is greatly distressed by the command, but she is compelled to obey by her programming. As they leave The Maiden behind, Day reflects on his experience in the cave, revealing he had no vision at all, and a tearful Demerzel signals to him that she is aware of the deception and disapproves.
9	9	"The First Crisis"	Roxann Dawson	Victoria Morrow	November 12, 2021 (2021-11-12)
The Invictus appears over Terminus due to the sacrifice of Foundation director Lewis Pirenne, who plugged himself into the ship's systems at the last second. Salvor joyfully reunites with Hugo, then descends to Terminus to deactivate the Vault, which has enveloped all of the planet in its null field. On Trantor, Brother Dawn realizes Brother Dusk knows his secret and escapes into Trantor's depths to find Azura, but he falls into the waiting hands of a conspiracy. All along, Azura was part of an anti-Empire group that had altered Dawn's DNA, giving him imperfections with the expectation he would one day choose to flee the palace. The purpose of this was to create an opportunity to extract Dawn's Imperial nanobots and implant them into a cooperative, perfect Cleon clone who would then assume Dawn's identity. As Dawn despairs, Dusk arrives with Imperial troops who dispatch the conspirators and their counterfeit Cleon. Dusk leaves Dawn's fate for the returning Brother Day to decide. On Terminus, Salvor solves the puzzle of the Vault, converting it into a portal. Before the gathered Anacreons, Thespins, and Termini, Salvor proposes harnessing the Invictus to give all three worlds leverage against the Empire. Phara tries to destroy the Vault, but is shot dead by Salvor. Before further violence can occur, Hari Seldon emerges from the portal.
10	10	"The Leap"	David S. Goyer	David S. Goyer	November 19, 2021 (2021-11-19)
Hari, a second digital copy of the original, explains the Vault was his casket all along, which transformed after being jettisoned and reached Terminus before the colonists. He also reveals the Foundation's true purpose was not to safeguard knowledge, but to forge a new civilization assisted by Anacreon and Thespis, and suggests using the Invictus to fake a "megaflare" to make it appear Terminus had been purged of life; this would allow the Outer Reach to develop in secret from the Empire. As Hari returns to the Vault until the next crisis, he tells Salvor that her visions were not sent by him. Months later, Hugo is captain of the Invictus, and Salvor is running for mayor of Terminus. When Salvor learns she was conceived by Gaal and Raych and her embryo safeguarded on the Deliverance, before being carried to term by her mother Mari, she realizes her visions are her genetic parents' memories and leaves Terminus in search of Gaal. On Trantor, Brother Day decides to spare Dawn over Dusk's objections, but Demerzel kills Dawn anyway, affirming that her loyalty to the Cleon dynasty supersedes Day's wishes. Day is later informed that the anti-Empire conspiracy also altered the DNA of Cleon I's body long ago, affecting not only all extant replacement clones, but also Day himself and possibly his predecessors. In 12,240 E.I., Gaal lands on Synnax, and at the ruins of her hometown, she finds another pod underwater and awakens Salvor, who tells her she is Gaal's daughter. Salvor then gives her Hari Seldon's Prime Radiant.

Season 2 (2023)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
11	1	"In Seldon's Shadow"	Alex Graves	David S. Goyer & Jane Espenson	July 14, 2023 (2023-07-14)
A digital copy of Hari Seldon within the Prime Radiant tries to find his way out with the help of what seems to be the manifestation of the radiant itself. Gaal and Salvor, on the ocean planet Synnax, work to re-activate the Beggar so they can return to Terminus. Brother Day (Cleon XVII) survives an assassination attempt and plans to wed the queen Sareth of the Cloud Dominion to end the genetic dynasty and change the direction of the Empire; but his bride-to-be doesn't appear to be impressed with the arrangement. Empire finds out that Terminus wasn't destroyed as they supposed (the matter was never fully investigated) but decides to gather more information before acting. Hari reveals himself to Gaal and Salvor in a projection.
12	2	"A Glimpse of Darkness"	David S. Goyer	Jane Espenson & David S. Goyer	July 21, 2023 (2023-07-21)
Hari informs Salvor and Gaal that establishing a second Foundation is crucial for the survival of the first but that plan was interrupted when Gaal fled the ship en route to Helicon. Poly Verisof, a cleric from the Foundation, and Brother Constant learns that the Vault has re-opened and return to Terminus to witness it. The warden approaches the vault and gets incinerated before the name 'Hober Mallow' appears written on the outside of the vault. Gaal peers into the future and is strangled by a telepath called the Mule just before she sees Salvor dead beside her.
13	3	"King and Commoner"	David S. Goyer	Leigh Dana Jackson & Jane Espenson	July 28, 2023 (2023-07-28)
On behalf of Empire Lady Demerzel recruits Bel Riose, an imprisoned former general, to investigate the resurgent Foundation. Riose meets with the emperors and then is reunited with his husband Glawen Curr before them leading a fleet to investigate the Outer Reach. Hari leads Gaal and Salvor to a desert planet, where his consciousness is transferred into a body with the help of Kalle, who calls herself a friend of Hari's. Autonomous mining machines reactivate and attack the Beggar and the crew, while they make their escape from the desert planet. Hober Mallow, a con man and master trader, steals the Eye of Korell by switching places with Commodor Argo using a teleportation device. He is captured and sentenced to death, but escapes using the same technology and then leaves in the ship Poly and Constant arrived in.
14	4	"Where the Stars are Scattered Thinly"	Mark Tonderai	Leigh Dana Jackson & David S. Goyer	August 4, 2023 (2023-08-04)
Sareth and Dawn bond over their mutual distrust of Day and their possible involvement in the assassination attempts on each other. Dusk and Rue reminisce about their tryst in the past and Dusk shows Rue recordings of their encounter. Riose and Glawen infiltrate Siwenna to meet with the informant Ducem Barr, who reveals information about the 'Magicians' and their advanced technology. They escape after a local mob tries to break-in and Barr poisons himself before Bel delivers a coup de grâce. Poly, Constant, and Hober enter the Vault on Terminus and meet with Hari Seldon, who gives them different missions to prevent a war with the Empire. Hober leaves with their ship while Poly and Constant stay behind.
15	5	"The Sighted and the Seen"	Alex Graves	Joelle Cornett & Jane Espenson	August 11, 2023 (2023-08-11)
Hari dreams of Raych stabbing him on the Deliverance and awakens aboard the Beggar and meet Raych's apparition, which dissipates after a brief confrontation. The Beggar enters Ignis' atmosphere, hit by ions and crash land on the planet after which Salvor leaves the ship to investigate a possible observer. Sareth seeks to uncover information on Cleon XVII's assassination attempt and via inspecting a caregiver's memory audit Demerzel's robotic nature is revealed. Dusk confronts Demerzel about Day's authority on conducting memory audits on him and Dawn. Salvor reunites with Hugo Crast on Ignis, alive despite his presumed death. He is revealed to be a telepath, and alongside other telepaths assault the Beggar. Salvor, Hari, and Gaal are captured. Ignis' leader, Tellem Bond, reveals Ignis to be a refuge for telepaths and seems already aware of Hari's plan.
16	6	"Why the Gods Made Wine"	Alex Graves	Story by : David S. Goyer Teleplay by : Jane Espenson	August 18, 2023 (2023-08-18)
Salvor wakes up early and talks with Hari and one of the Mentalics, getting the boy's story of persecution. He takes her back to town, where a crowd shares their stories with her through visions. Gaal shows Tellem her visions of the future, which convinces Tellem that her powers are real and that Gaal is a very powerful Mentalic. Tellem trains Gaal, and offers her the leadership position of the Mentallics when Tellem dies. Hari realizes the Mentalics are looking for the prime radiant. Hari is upset and appears to leave the planet, but in actuality he was captured and chained in a tidal pool. As the water rises, he has visions of his past as a boy, his early research, and a former partner, who was expecting his baby but died in Empire's custody due to Hari's early work. Brother Day introduces his bride-to-be to the people of Trantor, but Sareth speaks after him, winning the crowd and making Brother Day jealous of her natural charm. Hober Mallow goes to the location Hari specified. At first it appears empty, but a ship of Spacers arrive and bring him aboard. Constant and Verisof arrive at Trantor, overwhelmed by its complexity and beauty. After seemingly passing through security, they enjoy some of the planet's pleasures, but are arrested afterwards.
17	7	"A Necessary Death"	Mark Tonderai	Eric Carrasco & David Kob	August 25, 2023 (2023-08-25)
Wedding preparations continue, with Sareth undergoing a mandatory medical inspection to verify her fertility. Resulting Sareth's verbal provocations, after the procedure Demerzel admits to orchestrating her familys' murder. Hober Mallow approaches Empire's navigators, the Spacers, with an offer to free them from their servitude to the Empire, but after weighing out the risk of the offer the Spacers turn him over to General Riose. Hober with the help of Beki escapes the home swarm in his whisper ship while demonstrating Foundation's technological advancements. Bel Riose at the behest of his husband debates their options for going against Empire. Constant and Poly remain in custody, having been given the mission of opening diplomatic relations between Empire and the Foundation. Constant unwittingly carried an interface of Hari Seldon, which confronts Empire and unnerves Brother Day, causing him to order a blockade around the Foundation. Salvor remains suspicious of the Mentallics' motives and Hari's sudden departure. She continues to investigate and discovers Hari's drowned body only to get caught by Tellem who after saying that death is necessary at times, seemingly kills Salvor.
18	8	"The Last Empress"	Roxann Dawson	Liz Phang, Addie Manis & Bob Oltra	September 1, 2023 (2023-09-01)
On Trantor, Brother Dusk discovers Enjoiner Rue in Demerzel's quarters, revealing her knowledge of Imperial Palace servant byways. Rue explains the Cloud Dominion's memory restoration technology. Dusk suspects her involvement in the assassination attempt on his brother but Rue disagrees. They discuss Demerzel's threat to Queen Sareth I. Dusk shares the history of the Robot Wars with Rue at the Mural of Souls. They notice a strange anomaly in the mural. Captain Timandra interrupts them with news of an execution. The execution is disrupted by Hober Mallow, and chaos ensues. Dusk and Rue reunite, and Dawn cares for the unconscious Sareth. Poly and Constant are in danger. Day plans to visit Terminus and talks with Sareth. Rue expresses her love for Dusk, and Sareth manipulates the Cleon dynasty. On Ignis, Salvor communicates with Hari Seldon in the Vault, revealing a Second Foundation. The Spirit Rising reaches Terminus, surrounded by Imperial ships. Sermak confronts Hari, and they discuss psychohistory. Constant and Hober grow closer, while Dusk and Rue investigate a hidden chamber. Dawn and Sareth suspect Demerzel's true role as eternal Empress.
19	9	"Long Ago, Not Far Away"	Roxann Dawson	Jane Espenson & Eric Carrasco	September 8, 2023 (2023-09-08)
In the distant past, Cleon I of the Entung Dynasty found a hidden passage in his palace and encountered Demerzel, an ancient prisoner with tales of Robot Wars. Cleon freed Demerzel, who served the Empire under a compulsion chip. They had a complex relationship, and Cleon asked if she would love him before he died. In the present, Cleon I tells Cleon XVI about Demerzel's ongoing influence. On Ignis, Gaal Dornick and Tellem Bond attempt a body-switching ritual but are interrupted by Salvor Hardin, who rescues Gaal. The Foundation prepares for the Imperial fleet's arrival at Terminus. Meanwhile, Hober Mallow and Brother Constant are prisoners on Bel Riose's ship. Bel learns about Foundation technology. Day meets the Director on Terminus, discovering the Foundation's secret weapons. He orders the fleet to attack the Invictus. Bel plans to board the Invictus, but Whisper-ships arrive, leading to a battle. Day meets Hari Seldon, and they discuss the fate of the Empire. On Ignis, Salvor and Gaal confront Tellem and Loron. Salvor kills Loron in airlock, but is injured by Tellem. Suddenly, an alive Hari intervenes, killing Tellem. Demerzel, leaving for Trantor, admits her role in Day's life but says it's too late. Day orders the Invictus to be brought down, which causes a cataclysmic event on Terminus.
20	10	"Creation Myths"	Unknown	David S. Goyer & Liz Phang	September 15, 2023 (2023-09-15)

Production

Development

On June 27, 2017, it was reported that Skydance Television was developing a television series adaptation of Isaac Asimov's science fiction book series Foundation with David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman serving as the production's writers. At the time of the report, the production company was in the midst of closing a deal with Asimov's estate for the rights to the book series. On April 10, 2018, it was announced that Apple, through their Worldwide Video Unit, had bought the series and put it into development with the potential for a straight-to-series order. It was further announced that Goyer and Friedman were also expected to serve as executive producers and showrunners. Other executive producers announced included David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Marcy Ross.

On August 23, 2018, it was announced that Apple had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes. It was also announced that Asimov's daughter, Robyn Asimov, would serve as an executive producer. On April 18, 2019, Josh Friedman left as co-writer and co-showrunner. On July 28, 2019, it was announced that Troy Studios in Limerick, Ireland, would host production of the show. According to Screen Ireland the series would create more than 500 production jobs at the studio. Asimov's daughter, Robyn Asimov, provides familial assistance to the series. Goyer pitched the series in one sentence: "It's a 1,000-year chess game between Hari Seldon and the Empire, and all the characters in between are the pawns, but some of the pawns over the course of this saga end up becoming kings and queens." On October 7, 2021, Apple TV+ renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on July 14, 2023.

Writing

In January 2021, Goyer stated "with Foundation we can tell the story, hopefully, over the course of eighty episodes; eighty hours, as opposed to trying to condense it all into two or three hours for a single film". Goyer said that this format might not succeed, but if it did it would be unique. David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman were set as the production's writers; however, Friedman left as co-writer in April 2019. Goyer also noted that telling a story that took place over 1,000 years was something a film could not accomplish and would have been a harder story to tell in that format.

Casting

Lee Pace and Jared Harris play Brother Day and Hari Seldon, respectively. Lou Llobell stars as Gaal Dornick, a mathematical genius from a rural, repressed aquatic planet. Leah Harvey as Salvor Hardin, the protective and intuitive warden of a remote outer planet. Laura Birn stars as Eto Demerzel, the enigmatic android aide to the Emperor of the Galaxy. Terrence Mann stars as Brother Dusk, the eldest living member of the ruling family. Cassian Bilton plays Brother Dawn, the youngest living member of the ruling family and next in line to be Brother Day. In a June 2021 trailer, Alfred Enoch was announced as part of the cast. New characters Brother Day, Brother Dusk, and Brother Dawn are original characters created for the series. Each is a different-aged clone in the "genetic dynasty" of the Emperor Cleon I: the youngest clone is called Dawn, the middle clone and reigning emperor is called Day, and the emperor emeritus is called Dusk. For season two, Isabella Laughland was cast as Brother Constant along with Sandra Yi Sencindiver, Ella-Rae Smith, Dimitri Leonidas, Ben Daniels, Holt McCallany, Mikael Persbrandt, Rachel House, and Nimrat Kaur.

Filming

On March 12, 2020, Apple suspended production of the show in Ireland due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On October 6, filming was resumed. On January 27, 2021, Goyer announced that after quarantining and receiving special waivers from the government of Malta, cast and crew members were allowed to start filming on the island. Goyer noted, filming was always planned to be conducted in Malta; however, due to new restrictions imposed in London, they moved significant portions of production to Malta. Filming in Malta concluded in February 2021. Filming in Tuineje, Fuerteventura (Canary Islands) was already wrapped by March 2021. The production team worked in volcanic landscapes such as the Caldera de los Arrabales and Granja de Pozo Negro. The production team then moved to Tenerife, where filming resumed on March 22, 2021. Filming concluded in April 2021 after 19 months.

The second season began filming in Prague, Czech Republic, on April 11, 2022.

The third season began filming in late May 2023 in Prague. Filming was halted on July 14, 2023, due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes.

Reception

Critical response of Foundation

Season	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic
1	72% (88 reviews)	62 (25 reviews)
2	100% (25 reviews)	79 (6 reviews)

Season 1

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 72% approval rating with an average rating of 7.1/10, based on 88 reviews for the first season. The website's critical consensus reads, "Foundation's big-budget production and impressive performances are a sight to behold, but it struggles to wrangle the behemoth that is its source material into a fully satisfying series." Metacritic gave the first season a weighted average score of 62 out of 100 based on 25 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com considers Foundation to be "the type of sci-fi series that truly warrants being called an event", a "grandiose sci-fi with limits". He writes that the show is "huge in numerous senses", praising its world building as "always impressive with its grandeur that's both practical and also created with IMAX-worthy special effects". He also praised Bear McCreary's score as "essential and so effective in making certain story developments seem larger than life". Allen highlighted Lee Pace's performance as "magnetic". He concludes that the show has a potential to "become another landmark series for Apple TV+", and that its best feature actually is that "it’s not for everyone" because "it's fairly set in its pacing that favors heady, dense character building" that will favor subscribers "hungry to enter new sci-fi worlds not just for the action".

Film reviewer Rob Bricken of Gizmodo was less impressed with the series, suggesting that it could be much better, and stating "Honestly, after most of the second episode, the show and the books are pretty much unrecognizable", as well as that the original source material of Foundation may not be filmable after all. Judy Berman of Time called the series "gorgeous, expensive, potential-packed but initially quite confusing" and noted "how beautiful every single frame is."

The Verge's Chaim Gartenberg and Andrew Webster weighed in at the end of Season 1, with Gartenberg opining "the 'genetic dynasty' of a succession of Lee Pace's ruling the crumbling empire with an iron fist is the show's highlight, thanks in no small part to Pace's dynamic performances as the cloned Brother Day. And Salvor Hardin's cat-and-mouse game on Terminus with the Anacreons is enjoyable sci-fi fare, too. Meanwhile, the third leg of the story, the prolonged drama of Gaal's shuttling in cryo from place to place as the show hints at her mysterious powers, is... less compelling" and Webster stating that "once all of the initial worldbuilding and discussion of future-predicting math was out of the way in the first few episodes, Foundation really picked up in a lot of ways. The worldbuilding remains incredible throughout. All of the many cultures and planets have a depth to them that is quite frankly astounding."

Season 2

On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 8/10, based on 25 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "With its complicated bedrock now established, Foundation spreads its wings in an improved sophomore season that rewards viewers' patience with a brainy sci-fi epic of genuine grandeur." On Metacritic, it has a weighted score of 79 out of 100 based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Art Directors Guild Awards	March 5, 2022	Excellence in Production Design for a One-Hour Period or Fantasy Single-Camera Series	Rory Cheyne (for "The Emperor's Peace")	Nominated
Visual Effects Society Awards	March 8, 2022	Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode	Chris MacLean, Addie Manis, Mike Enriquez, Chris Keller, Paul Byrne (for "The Emperor's Peace")	Won
		Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project	Samuel Simanjuntak, Melaina Mace, Benjamin Ruiz, Alessandro Vastalegna (for Trantor Cityscape)	Nominated
		Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project	Giovanni Casadei, Mikel Zuloaga, Steven Moor, Louis Manjarres (for Collapse of the Galactic Empire)	Won
Golden Reel Awards	March 13, 2022	Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Series 1 Hour – Comedy or Drama – Dialogue and ADR	Tyler Whitham, Paul Germann, Dave Rose, Steve Baine (for "The Emperor's Peace")	Nominated
American Society of Cinematographers Awards	March 20, 2022	Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Motion Picture, Limited Series, or Pilot Made for Television	Stevie Annis (for "The Emperor's Peace")	Nominated
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	September 3–4, 2022	Outstanding Main Title Design	Ronnie Koff, Zach Kilroy, Danil Krivoruchko, James Gardner, Brandon Savoy	Nominated
		Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or a Movie	Chris MacLean, Addie Manis, Mike Enriquez, Victoria Keeling, Chris Keller, Jess Brown, Nicholas Hernandez, Richard Clegg	Nominated

Release

On June 22, 2020, as part of its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple released a teaser trailer for the series. In February 2021, it was reported that the series would premiere in late 2021. In June 2021, Apple announced that Foundation would premiere in September 2021. Later that month, Apple released a second official trailer and confirmed the premiere date as September 24, 2021. The series premiered with a two-episode release, with the remaining eight episodes scheduled to be released weekly.

The second season premiered on July 14, 2023.

External links

• Official website
• Foundation at IMDb