Dhruv Trivedi
‘Foundation’ follows the epic saga of mathematician Hari Seldon’s followers as they try and salvage all of humanity’s collective knowledge before the predicted fall of civilization. Episode 7, titled ‘Mysteries and Martyrs,’ finds the show’s multiple complex storylines beginning to merge into a truly spectacular and ominous image of the galaxy. We also get some intriguing insight into the Cleonic Dynasty and why ruling the galaxy is not as enviable a task as it appears. There is a lot that ‘Foundation’ episode 7 throws at us, so let’s take a closer look and make sure we’ve caught it all. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Foundation Episode 7 Recap
The episode opens with Salvor and Hugo, who are still prisoners of the Anacreon leader Phara and her men. Flying on Hugo’s ship, they enter a debris field inside which they discover the ancient and powerful space vessel called Invictus. Along with the other engineers abducted from the Foundation on Terminus, Phara forces the Warden and her accomplice to enter the ship. However, the ship’s defense systems are still active, and the group suffers casualties while boarding.
Meanwhile, Emperor Day grapples with an upheaval amongst one of the galaxy’s most popular religions— Luminism. Their new prospective leader continues to announce her disdain for the Empire’s artificially created rulers and challenges the Emperor’s legitimacy. In response, the ruler decides to undertake one of Luminism’s hardest trials of devotion and once and for all prove his worthiness to the people. However, his advisor Demerzel remains skeptical of whether her leader will succeed.
Foundation Episode 7 Ending: Did Hari Seldon’s Plan Fail Because of Gaal?
We are then briefly taken to Trantor, where the young Brother Dawn continues his affair with a palace employee. He reveals to her that he is colorblind and will be replaced by a clone if he reveals his imperfection to his clone brothers Day and Dusk. The episode then closes on the Raven— a ship headed to Hari Seldon’s home planet, Helicon.
Onboard, Gaal learns from a hologram of Hari that she was meant to be on Terminus instead of aboard the ship. As she and Hari’s likeness discuss the events of the fateful day when he was killed, Gaal begins to realize that she can feel events before they occur. In the end, she realizes to her shock that she can perceive the future.
Through Gaal’s discussion with the digitized version of Hari’s consciousness, we find that she was never meant to be aboard the Raven. Instead, it is supposed to be Rayche who is on the ship. When Hari finds out that his loyal assistant is dead, he realizes that things have not gone according to his plan. This worries him because, without Gaal on Terminus, there is seemingly no one to help the Foundation team with their predicted crises.
The end of the episode reveals that Hari’s plan is off-target, most likely because he didn’t expect Gaal to be able to perceive the future. According to his plan, on the night of his murder, she was supposed to be swimming. However, Gaal followed an ominous feeling and went to Hari’s cabin instead, where she saw him getting murdered. Therefore, Hari’s plan is, in fact, off-track, because of Gaal’s newly discovered ability.
Keep in mind, however, that neither Hari nor Gaal knows about Salvor. The Warden of Terminus is a similar anomaly that was not predicted by Hari’s strategy and could possibly cancel out Gaal’s departure from the plan. Though not yet elaborated, the fact that both Salvor and Gaal are anomalies of the plan could be the reason why they keep having visions of each other.
What is Invictus? What Will the Anacreons Do With It?
Invictus is revealed to be an ancient ship that is also the most powerful weapons platform ever created by the Empire. However, many years ago, the ship disappeared and could not be located again (until now). Widely considered to be a “Ghost Ship,” the Invictus has the ability to jump across space instantaneously, making it extremely powerful in the hands of the Anacreons. In fact, it is mentioned that the Galactic Empire has strict protocols to avoid “jump” technology from falling into enemy hands. This is why the Anacreons are forced to capture one of the Empire’s commanders and use the nanobots in his blood to access the ship.
This episode also lays out the Anacreon strategy in all its devastating simplicity. According to Phara, the plan is to take control of the Invictus and transport (or jump) it instantaneously to Trantor, giving the Galactic Empire no time to react to the attack. The rebels then plan on using the ship to destroy most of the planet, leaving it in a similar state to how the Anacreon planet was after it was attacked by Brother Dusk many years ago. Phara’s commander claims that none of them (including Salvor) are ever leaving the Invictus as they all plan on dying while completing their mission to “bring the Empire to its knees.”
Read More: Where is Foundation Filmed?
