[ad_1]
Foundation season 2 has drawn to a close – and what an epic end it was to the hit Apple TV Plus sci-fi show’s latest installment.
The second season’s final episode, titled ‘Creation Myths’, pulled the rug from under us in multiple ways. That’s after its explosive ninth episode, which contained an intense space battle Star Wars would be proud of, had already blown us away visually and emotionally, too.
Foundation season 2‘s’s ending was packed with countless deaths, revelations galore, and plenty of storylines set up for Foundation season 3, which has reportedly been greenlit but nobody can talk about yet. In short: ‘Creation Myths’ delivered a pulsating and highly satisfying end to Foundation‘s latest 10-episode run.
While we wait to hear if one of the best Apple TV Plus shows will return for a potential third season, there’s plenty to discuss about its most recent entry. Below, we aim to answer all of your biggest questions about the Foundation season 2 finale. Our educated guesses are based on what occurred in previous episodes, as well as what we know about Isaac Asimov’s seminal book series, which Apple‘s Foundation TV show is based on.
It goes without saying, but major spoilers for Foundation season 2, including its final episode, follow. If you haven’t watched it yet, bookmark this page for later and then turn back. Otherwise, you’ll have some big moments ruined for you.
Foundation season 2 ending explained: is Salvor dead?
Yes. Salvor sacrificed herself to save Gaal’s life. In a franchise where people have come back from the dead – we’re looking at you specifically, Hari – some viewers may argue that Salvor could return. However, considering she was given a funeral pyre-based send off in ‘Creation Myths’, she won’t be back.
Okay, so how did Salvor die? She was shot by Josiah, one of the Mentalic race’s youngest disciples. Josiah had been possessed by the last remnant of Tellem Bond’s spirit, which hid in him after Tellem was killed by Hari in episode 9. Josiah had been aiming for Gaal but, thanks to Salvor’s heroic sacrifice, he hit her instead.
Initially, it seemed Salvor had stopped Josiah from firing his gun. We don’t actually see Salvor get hit by the bullet – instead, we see Salvor throw a knife at Josiah, which hits him in the chest and, after he explains he had been possessed by Tellem, dies. It’s only after Josiah’s death that we learn Salvor was shot and, moments later, dies in Gaal’s arms.
Salvor’s death isn’t in vain, though. Her demise proves that Hari and Gaal’s psychohistory-based timeline, which was knocked off course by Gaal in season 1, can be course corrected. In Gaal’s vision early in season 2, it was suggested that Salvor would die at the hands of The Mule, an extremely powerful Mentalic who’s sure to be season 3’s primary villain (more on him later). However, Salvor’s death at Tellem/Josiah’s hands reveals the future can be changed, suggesting that Hari and Gaal’s plan to restrict humanity’s looming dark age to 1,000 years can still be successful.
Foundation season 2 ending explained: how did Brother Day die?
He switched places with General Bel Riose during their final, brutal confrontation on the Shining Destiny warship, resulting in Brother Day suffocating in space.
Despite Riose’s best attempts, he’s thoroughly beaten by Day’s superior physique and strength. After pushing Riose into an airlock, Day jettisons the vessel’s commander-in-chief into the vastness of space, presumably sending Riose to his death. However, we suddenly see the pair switch places, with Day careening off into the cold, empty nothingness – with the destroyed Terminus behind him, but more on that shortly – and Riose taking Day’s place back on the Shining Destiny.
How is this possible? As Riose explains, he used Hober Mallow’s castling device – one half of which he slipped into Day’s robes; the other Riose kept in one of his suit’s pockets – to trade places with Day.
Remember, in episode 3, Mallow demonstrated how the castling device worked. Essentially a teleportation device, it allows two people of relatively equal mass and size to swap places. The castling device only moves individuals based on their bioelectrical field, too. That means clothes or other belongings remain in the same space, with only a person’s atoms being switched from one place to the next. That’s why we see Riose wearing Day’s robes once he uses the castling device. Clever, eh?
Foundation season 2 ending explained: are Hober Mallow and Bel Riose dead, too?
Yes. The deaths in Foundation season 2 keep piling up, with Riose and Mallow also sacrificing themselves for the greater good. The pair go down with the Shining Destiny, which is destroyed by another of the Galactic Empire’s warships when the two vessels crash into each other.
Again, a previous season 2 episode explains why this is the case. In episode 7, Mallow made a deal with the Spacers to revolt against the Empire in exchange for their race’s freedom. The Spacers had been blackmailed into helping the Empire hundreds of years prior. However, thanks to a plan concocted by Hari, Mallow convinces the Spacers to help thwart the Empire instead.
To do so, the Spacers embed a device in Mallow’s arm that, when activated, causes the Empire’s entire space fleet to start crashing into one another, destroying them in the process. That’s because the device causes vessels to hyperjump into the slip space of another ship. Two ships can’t occupy the same position as space ‘folds’ around them to allow them to jump to a new location, hence why they collide.
Anyway, with Mallow’s device also disabling life pods on board the Shining Destiny, Riose, Mallow, and its crew can’t escape their inevitable demise. In short: Riose, Mallow, and company go out in a blaze of glory, taking down the Empire’s whole space fleet as they perish. Well, except for one individual…
Foundation season 2 ending explained: how did the Vault survive? And who else is alive?
Let’s start off with the person who survived the Shining Destiny’s destruction. That’ll be Brother Constant, who left in the ship’s external cleaning module. This vessel remained fully operational as it’s a non-life pod, so it wasn’t disabled by Mallow’s device.
While she’s the sole survivor of those on board the Empire’s fleet, she isn’t the only person who lives to fight another day. Thanks to the Vault, Terminus’ entire population – who we thought had died when the planet was ripped apart by the crashing Invictus – actually survived. The Vault, which is a 4D structure existing in a 3D space, carried everyone to safety, although it’s unclear how it did so and how it survived Terminus’ destruction. Those who survived include Poly Versiof, Constant’s dad and brother, and Riose’s boyfriend Glawyn Curr.
On the Empire’s side, there were mixed fortunes for this season’s Cleon clones.
For Brother Dusk and Queen Sarth’s chief advisor Enjoiner Rue, they met a sticky end at Demerzel’s hands. The pair were killed after they learned too much about Cleon I’s plan. Millennia ago, he installed Demerzel as the Empire’s shadow ruler and, as part of her new robot-based directives, puppeteer the Cleon clones that followed in Cleon I’s footsteps. While that would be enough of a reason for Demerzel to bump Dusk and Rue off, the duo also found out Demerzel was behind the Blind Angels’ unsuccessful attack on Brother Day in season 2’s opening episode. In short: they stood no chance of making it out alive.
On the flipside, Brother Dawn managed to escape with Queen Sareth. Demerzel indicted Sareth in Day’s murder attempt, but Dawn foils her plan to have Sareth executed. That’s because Dusk left a green chroma-based mark on Demerzel’s neck before he died. Earlier in the season, we learned that green chroma is the sign of a betrayer. Its presence on Demerzel’s neck alerts Dawn to this, resulting in him rescuing Sareth and fleeing Trantor with his wife-to-be.
Interestingly, as they leave the Empire’s main base of operations, they tell Demerzel – via comm-link – that Sareth is pregnant with Dawn’s child. Looking ahead to future seasons, this could have big ramifications if Dawn and Sareth’s child, who is technically now heir to the Empire’s throne, returns to Trantor and ignites a civil war for the royal seat. That could destroy everything Cleon I and Demerzel have built. However, Dawn makes clear that his and Sareth’s child doesn’t have to be the Empire’s new leader in order to make a difference in the universe. So, there’s every chance their first-born may not return to Trantor, and this could be the last time we see Sareth and this iteration of Dawn in the entire series.
Foundation season 2 ending explained: what is Demerzel’s plan for the Galactic Empire?
The sheer number of crises Demerzel has to deal with in ‘Creation Myths’ would be enough to cause an emotional breakdown. Rather than break under the pressure, though, her resolve has never been stronger.
So, what’s her plan of action? First, decant new incarnations of Dawn, Day, and Dusk. This new batch of Cleon clones will maintain the Empire’s status quo and rule in their departed brethren’s stead.
More importantly than that, though, Demerzel has a new ace up her sleeve: a copy of Hari’s Prime Radiant. Remember, in episode 9, the Vault-based version of Hari tried to show Demerzel how the Prime Radiant worked, but he was stopped by Day. However, it seems that Demerzel swiped this Prime Radiant without anyone knowing, and has brought it back to Trantor to study its math and inner workings. If she learns how it operates and the Foundation’s wider plan, this could pose a huge threat to the non-Vault Hari, Gaal, and the rest of the Foundation’s hopes to bringing down the Empire and ushering in a new age for humanity.
Foundation season 2 ending explained: why are Gaal and Hari entering cryosleep?
– Hari survived drowning as Gaal telepathically linked to him; ‘used’ nearby guard to save Hari (who’s then beaten up by Hari/Gaal connection; some thanks eh!); Gaal telepathically masked dead guard’s body to look like Hari; hence who Salvor, Tellem etc saw ‘drowned’
– After Salvor death, Gaal needs to be frozen in time for 150 years so she can face The Mule, another Mentallic in a showdown i.e. the Third Seldon Crisis; Gaal convinces him to enter cryosleep with her (in separate pods; there are two on the Beggar, Salvor’s ship) so they can face him & other Crises together; in the meantime, Mentallics will learn about psychohistory & hone skills for the battle to come
Foundation season 2 ending explained: who is the wicked-looking man at the end of episode 10?
– The Mule, aka the Warlord of Kaglan, who’s played by Michael Persbrandt in flash forward sequences early in S2
– See him at end of S2 finale, which is set 152 years later as he prepares to find Gaal & kill her; pulled directly from books as powerful mentalic mutant and conqueror; being set up as primary antagonist for S3, which us yet to be greenlit
You might also like
[ad_2]
#Foundation #season #explained #biggest #finale #questions #answered