Foundation Season 1 Ending Explained | Episode 10 Recap & Review

Episode 10 of the Apple TV+ adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation was the season 1 finale. On Trantor Brother Day (Lee Pace) has to make a decision about what to do with Brother Dawn (Cassian Bilton). He’s no longer a perfect genetic clone of Emperor Cleon I. Brother Dusk (Terrence Mann) wants to have his younger brother destroyed and replaced, but Day has had a change of heart after his trip to the Maiden.

In the season finale, Brother Day confronts Azura (Amy Tyger) and explains what she took away from him. To destroy her legacy he kills everyone that ever knew her or would remember her after she was gone. He then confines her to an automated isolation cell where she will be sensory shrouded but kept conscious.

In episode 10 Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) addresses the Foundation and urges an alliance with Anacreon and Thespis. Salvor Hardin (Leah Harvey) is surprised to learn that he wasn’t behind her visions, and learns that Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell) and Rach Foss (Alfred Enoch) are her biological parents. She decides to leave to look for Gaal and her mother Mari gives her the prime radiant to take with her.

Gaal wakes up 138 years after she left the Raven and arrives at Synnax. When she visits her old abandoned home she notices a beacon under the water. She finds a cryopod and pulls Salvor from it. The mother and daughter meet for the first time and are both surprised that they were able to find each other.

There are still many mysteries and unanswered after the Season 1 finale. The Apple TV+ adaptation has gone in its own direction, but there were many connections to Asimov’s original works in the first season.

EPISODE 10
The Leap
An unexpected ally helps Salvor broker an alliance. A confrontation between the Brothers leads to unthinkable consequences. Premiere Date: November 19, 2021

About Isaac Asimov:
Isaac Asimov was an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He was known for his works of science fiction and popular science. Asimov was a prolific writer, and wrote or edited more than 500 books.

Asimov wrote hard science fiction. Along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers during his lifetime. Asimov's most famous work is the "Foundation" series, the first three books of which won the one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series" in 1966.

Foundation books:

I would recommend reading the series in order of publication as they’re listed here. I would advise against reading the prequels first.

This Foundation video explains everything you need to know about episode 10 of the new series. It explains the ending and what it means for the story. It discusses how it relates to Asimov’s work and draws from the source material, and how it may connect in Season 2.

Foundation TV series official summary:

Foundation stars SAG Award-winner and Emmy-nominee Jared Harris as Hari Seldon; Lee Pace as Brother Day; Lou Llobell as Gaal; Leah Harvey as Salvor; Laura Birn as Demerzel; Terrence Mann as Brother Dusk; and Cassian Bilton as Brother Dawn.

Foundation is executive produced by Robyn Asimov, David S. Goyer (showrunner), Josh Friedman, Cameron Welsh, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Marcy Ross. The series is produced for Apple by Skydance Television.

0:00 Intro
0:57 What Happened to Hari Seldon?
5:37 What Happened to the Foundation?
7:33 What Happened to Azura, Brother Dawn, & the Conspiracy?
12:03 What Happened to Gaal & Salvor?
12:54 Ending Explained
14:54 Review

#Foundation #IsaacAsimov #AppleTV

[PetePeppers]

The performances of the genetic dynasty and Demerzel really stole the show on that side of the story. Some twists I didn’t see coming at all, and not in a bad way. Some stuff that bugs the book reader in me, but a pretty solid ending all things considered. I’ve been working on a Demerzel video so that’s coming soon, and will be putting out a season 2 questions one after I think about it for a few days. Let me know what questions you have for that.

[gp]

The scene with Azura had me glued to the screen.

Lee Pace’s acting in the finale was so strong. The way he was selling his conflicted emotions was so so good.

[anthonymclean]

Lee Pace - He is what I think of when I think of this show. He made the whole Trantor storyline so hooking!

[LMarti]

I agree. The neck-snap was an absolutely shocking turn of events.

[preethi]

I feel bad for brother dawn the most.
1) He trusted azura with his fears and feeling and he got betrayed.
3) He trusted demrezel and confided his fears in her. And she killed him.

[comedyfish]

Demerzel shocked me twice in this episode - fascinating character

[susen]

The way brother day carried brother dawn dead body. Broke my heart

[kilgary]

It’s funny because throughout the season I was way more invested in the Cleons (who are the “villains” of the story) than the Foundation-ites on Trantor with their skirmish with the Anachreons and their lying AI messiah. Everyone in the Empire seems to be trapped - the Cleons have to follow their birthright or get swapped out for a clone who will and Demerzel has to keep the trains on the tracks - even if it means killing the boy she raised and loves. They are all kind of prisoners of the original Cleon - even though he died 400 years ago. Tragic and fascinating at the same time.

[lendial]

theyre making it so hard to dislike brother day even after all the horrible things hes done. dusk set them on a path of ruin, day was able to see it in time and tried to cultivate the seed of change in dawn only for things to end horribly for all 3.

[basslinr]

The addition of the genetic dynasty was a stroke of genius... The problem with turning this story in to a tv series was always going to be the spanning of thousands of years... Meant they cannot build the connection with strong characters which is necessary for any good story.... However they solved that by creating a mix of consistent characters that will always be around... There is the robot who is immortal.. and there is now Harry who is now a digital conciousness projection - also immortal... And of course the genetic cycle Cleon... Who are new people but the same character on going...
Brilliantly solving the consistent character building we needed.
Of course with Gaal they have thrown her and salvor in to cryosleep for hundreds of years to allow them both to pop in and out of certain points of the ever expanding years this story goes for.

[TheThreebucks]

The genetic dynasty wasn’t part of the books? 🤯🤯🤯 Major respect to the writers! That is a stellar feature of the tv story!

[lichenmoss]

It turns out the Cleonic dynasty storyline was the better part of the series. Hopefully it continues.

[susen]

I fell so bad for bother day. He was really trying his best to change the empire. I wonder how brother dawn would have reacted had he known brother day though of him as his son too.

[aliasmargta]

I know it he is minor character but Hugo's despair as Salvor leaves once again broke my heart.

[jojoadeyemi]

I think Demerzel realized that keeping Dawn alive would cause too much strife with the Cleons and bring about the fall even faster. She made a hard decision hence her scream of frustration at the end. Maybe revenge against Day played a part but I think it was more about keeping immediate stability.

[waynerogers]

Dermezel for me has been the central figure and most captivating story line throughout the series. A seemingly sentient AI, she has been around for several millennia watching humanity rise and fall and rise again. At the beginning of this series we find her 400 years into an engineered program designed to maintain and promote a "peace" and well being for the human race that is diverse and spread out over the vastness of a galaxy. She is aware of the dynasty's shortfalls and its successes. Was the dynasty her brain child or was she just the designer and architect of the cloning program? One thing we don't know is what Dermezel thought of Hari Seldon and the Foundation. It seems to me She is the "living" embodiment of the prime radiant. Dermezel has personally experienced a very large sample of humanity's existence and history and she never forgets anyone or anything. I would guess her computational powers would far exceed those of a Gaal Dornick or Hari Seldon making her a better predictive modeler. Dermezel"s shedding/shredding of her human facade, I believe, is her overwhelming frustration for the failure of the dynasty and her deep seeded love for humanity.

[EricMBlog]

Wow, I didn't realize the genetic dynasty was an addition to the show (haven't read the books). I really like the show, but the genetic dynasty is by far the most fascinating and engaging story arc to me!

[Kharnan]

This and last episodes are one OH MY GOD moment after another. Epic series.

[iveshot]

I appreciated that Easter egg of our solar system displayed on demerzel’s desk! I wonder if they will elaborate further on the ‘mystery’ of Earth in later seasons.. if the later books are anything to go by.. Or it could just imply she is the only being that remembers Earth/the Sol System.

[sterasigma]

Pace's brief break in his voice when he exclaimed "No!" highlighted XIII's shock, grief and despair over XIV's death for me, thanks to the culminating emotions around XIV's fate.