Diksha Sundriyal
Apple TV+’s sci-fi series, ‘Foundation,’ creates an expansive world spread through the galaxy over hundreds of planets under the rule of the Galactic Empire. For thousands of years, the system running the galaxy has held everything in place and seems to be working on the surface even now. The problem begins when a scientist named Hari Seldon predicts the fall of the Empire, which would throw humanity into an era of darkness that would last thousands of years.
This prediction and the quest to shorten the length of the darkness drives the show’s events, with Hari Seldon becoming the key to unlocking every mystery. The story takes place over decades and centuries, and yet, we see Hari Seldon playing the same role he did at the beginning of the story. If you are wondering how, if at all, Hari Seldon is still alive and, more importantly, where he is in the first episode of Season 2, we’ve got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD
Hari Seldon: Physically Dead, Consciousness Persists in Vault
Hari Seldon dies early in the first season of ‘Foundation.’ He is stabbed to death by Raych, his adoptive son, but that’s not the end of his story. It turns out that, like everything else, his own death was a part of Hari’s plan. He had Lethe’s syndrome, which meant his mind would deteriorate before his body did. He couldn’t afford that, especially when he knew his followers needed to believe in something more than a mere mortal. So, he planned his death and what came after it.
Before Raych stabbed him, Hari swallowed a pill that contained millions of self-replicating molecular machines. Per his request, when his casket was jettisoned into space, the machines got to work. They broke down his body tissue into its constituent elements and recycled them, in addition to other materials they picked up from space, to create the Vault. All this while, his consciousness was kept intact, though it needed time to develop. For years, the Vault kept Hari’s mind dormant and only made him sentient when the first crisis came knocking on Terminus. This way, even though Hari was physically dead, he continued to live on.
Hari Seldon’s Consciousness Trapped in Prime Radiant by Gaal
While the Vault was an excellent escape plan, it wasn’t the only one Hari had, just like the Foundation. Like everything else, Hari predicted that the first Foundation might not survive the beginning of the fall. As long as the Empire knew about it, the Foundation would be under constant scrutiny and prone to attacks. Hari found a way to turn it into an advantage. While the Empire focused on the Foundation on Terminus, he would create a different version of the Foundation on his home planet, Helicon. It would be kept a secret so that when the first Foundation fell, the second could take its place.
Hari needed to be on Helicon while also being on Terminus to carry out this plan. For this, he had a data unit implanted in his brain before he left Trantor. He synchronized it with the knife Raych later used to kill him. The knife contained everything in Hari’s brain, including his memories of people and his ideas about the Second Foundation. The plan was for Raych to escape in the pod made for him, leading him to a spaceship where the knife would be plugged in to upload Hari’s consciousness on the ship. Hari’s plan went haywire when Gaal took Raych’s place.
When she discovers Hari’s deviousness, she decides not to be a part of it anymore. Instead of going to Helicon, she leaves with Synnax and takes the knife too. She knows that it contains Hari’s consciousness, which cannot be allowed to roam free anymore. When she meets Salvor, who has the Prime Radiant, Gaal traps Hari’s consciousness inside it. In the first episode, as Hari awakens, he struggles to understand where he is and what’s real and what’s not. He sees his wife, Yanna, who’d died years before, and realizes that it must be something sentient trying to converse with him in the form he is familiar with. Eventually, Hari deduces that he is trapped inside the Prime Radiant and finds his way out of it.
Read More: What Happened to Raych? Did Alfred Enoch Leave Foundation?
