Foundation Season 02 (Apple TV+) - SPOILERS

[Stalker0]

There were times in this episode when it felt just a little deus ex machina,

hehe its not just a little, its basically the literal definition. We have the "god" Seldon inside of a machine!

So I'm calling it, I think Brother Constance is the mule. Her blue eyes reflecting in the "glowing eyes" of the mule. Taking on Hober Malo's name, which is her taking him on as a tribute. The fact we don't have her full name yet to me is the foreshadow. We shall see!

The genetic drift is still a big mystery, I don't see that as Demeziel's work as that would seem to violate her orders (ESPECIALLY as it "corrupted" the original cleon). so there is still that X factor in play.

The other thing we see in this episode, those noble people with demeziel at the end were working for her, NOT the cleons. So clearly there are others in the know, which would make sense, it would be damn hard for demeziel to do everything she does without some direct reports that only listen to her.

I was confused why Seldon and Gaal went to sleep immediately. Gaal's point made a lot of sense, wouldn't taking a year or 2 to train the mentaals be pretty darn useful? Did that actually happen but off camera?

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I was confused why Seldon and Gaal went to sleep immediately. Gaal's point made a lot of sense, wouldn't taking a year or 2 to train the mentaals be pretty darn useful? Did that actually happen but off camera?

Hard to say! I mean, based on the reactions of the people as they went to sleep, it seems like they spent at least a little time indoctrinating training them, right? But there was no explicit indication of that.

Admittedly, they do play the occasional time game. I'm thinking of the fact that they had the various strands of the show during the season in mismatched timelines, which, IIRC, was not clear until Salvor's escape, and then the viewer was let in on the fact that the "Real Seldon" timeline was taking place earlier than the Terminus timeline.

Also also it is still unclear how time operates within the Vault; it is indicated that sometimes it is moving very quickly compared to the outside world, but there are other times when it would appear that it is moving at approximately the same speed. Maybe there are time differentials within the Vault? Or something something SCIENCE!

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

hehe its not just a little, its basically the literal definition. We have the "god" Seldon inside of a machine!

So I'm calling it, I think Brother Constance is the mule. Her blue eyes reflecting in the "glowing eyes" of the mule. Taking on Hober Malo's name, which is her taking him on as a tribute. The fact we don't have her full name yet to me is the foreshadow. We shall see!

The genetic drift is still a big mystery, I don't see that as Demeziel's work as that would seem to violate her orders (ESPECIALLY as it "corrupted" the original cleon). so there is still that X factor in play.

The other thing we see in this episode, those noble people with demeziel at the end were working for her, NOT the cleons. So clearly there are others in the know, which would make sense, it would be damn hard for demeziel to do everything she does without some direct reports that only listen to her.

I was confused why Seldon and Gaal went to sleep immediately. Gaal's point made a lot of sense, wouldn't taking a year or 2 to train the mentaals be pretty darn useful? Did that actually happen but off camera?

I think it's not an "X-Factor" in the sense there is a specific entity behind it, it's just part of what psychohistory describes - galactic social currents moving to undermine the Empire, leading to its eventual downfall.

Some faction opposes the Empire and decices to blow up the Star Bridge. Another faction opposes the Empire and decides to corrupt the genetic dynasty. Another faction opposes the Empire and declares the genetic destiny as blasphemy against the gods. Every individual conflict so far is something the Empire can survive and fight off, typically with great brutality. But the hits keep coming, and it always leaves behind cracks, until it falls apart. The Empire is doomed. But all these factions - they are disparate. They don't form a united front. And so the aftermath will be chaos, because there isn't an "X-Factor" or grandmaster in the shwodws with a grand vision to build something new.

Except the Foundation. It's a way to channel these social currents into something more productive.
The first example might be how the Foundation turned the Anacreons away from a self-destructive last vengeful strike against the heart of the Empire, to instead work with the Foundation.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I'm just catching up with season 2. It's great, it's a shame Apple+ doesn't have enough to make it worth more than one month's subscription per year.

Anyway, just watched the second episode, surprised no one has mentioned that the warden vaporised by the vault looked and sounded very much like William Shatner (obviously it isn't but seems to be a deliberate impersonation). Some sort of weird in-joke?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

If putting the god in the machine is part of the narrative, then it's not cheating when they come out of it!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

So I'm calling it, I think Brother Constance is the mule. Her blue eyes reflecting in the "glowing eyes" of the mule. Taking on Hober Malo's name, which is her taking him on as a tribute. The fact we don't have her full name yet to me is the foreshadow. We shall see!

My take: the Mule is the offspring of Brother Constance and Hober Malo.

Since Gaal pulled the name Hober Malo from her vision, and it was then passed on to Vault Seldon, this would make Gaal responsible for the creation of her own nemesis.

I was confused why Seldon and Gaal went to sleep immediately. Gaal's point made a lot of sense, wouldn't taking a year or 2 to train the mentaals be pretty darn useful? Did that actually happen but off camera?

Gaal suggests that they take a year to train up the mentaals then go into cryosleep together, and Seldon says "yes, we'll do that". We then cut to the cryopods being carried out of the ship. The implication is a year passed in that edit. They don't need to show it because the characters told us what they were going to do. This kind of tight editing is what enables Foundation to do more in one episode than Ahsoka does in a season. If you look closely, they made the girl who leads the mentaals look older in the cryosleep scene.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

This kind of tight editing is what enables Foundation to do more in one episode than Ahsoka does in a season.

Arguably, Foundation can accomplish more in one scene than Ahsoka could accomplish if it was given another season.

If you remove the fan service from Ahsoka, there is nothing left. Foundation may not be perfect, but it is always interesting. Plus I am literally in awe at how Lee Pace made Brother Day similar, yet so different, this season.