Foundation S3E3 Recap and Analysis: Best Laid Plans

The following recap contains spoilers for Foundation S3E3, “When a Book Finds You” (written by Eric Carrasco & Greg Goetz and directed by Tim Southam).

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Welcome, dear reader, as we continue our review of the third season of the Apple TV+ series Foundation with Season 3 Episode 3: “When a Book Finds You.” This week we put both the First and Second Foundations on the shelf, focusing in on the action on Kalgan and Trantor. Though by “action” here we mean a lot of plotting and planning, maneuvering more pieces into place on the board.

In fact, it’s really the plans that don’t come to fruition that drive the episode. Gaal’s plans to use Brother Dawn against The Mule are thwarted by galactic politics. Pritcher’s plans to spy on The Mule are rendered ridiculous when the tables are instantly turned on him. And Brother Day loses his planning partner when he makes the mistake of revealing one secret too many.

An Unlikely Alliance

Another episode, another flashback. This time we start out three years ago, and Brother Dawn has come to the Imperial Library in search of information about psychohistory. Specifically, he’s looking for Kalle’s “Ninth Proof of Folding,” the bedrock inspiration for “Raven” Seldon’s heretical work. Not only does the Rare Books collection have the volume, this is the original that should have been lost to time along with Gaal Dornick.

Turns out Gaal Dornick is the one who brought it back, instructing that if anyone were to ask after that particular book, anyone at all, she would like to meet them. And so, it’s a date. Maybe even an actual first date, as they banter back and forth, getting to know each other. I’d ship them.

They are both taking risks being here. Each has information for the other. He informs her that Vault Hari gave Demerzel the Prime Radiant. She warns him of The Mule. Most importantly, she can offer him an escape hatch. All they have to do for now is agree to keep talking. Perhaps this is even why Hari gave the Prime Radiant to Demerzel. Not to snag the robot, but rather to someday snag an emperor.

Enclosure

Picking up where we left off last week, Gaal wants Dawn to make himself useful by calling for an Enclosure on Kalgan. For this brief moment, The Mule is isolated. If they act now, while they can, they could contain him. She warns him though to not communicate in person. The rumors about him being able to control people with his thoughts are true.

Dawn engages The Mule via a tight-beam channel first, overriding Dusk’s insistence that diplomacy should be done in person. He proposes a good faith discussion of the terms of Empire’s vassalship over Kalgan. There would be expectations, but also advantages. He offers access to the jump gate network, not knowing that The Mule has already secured his own access to the network, thus the worrisome screams in the background.

After that failure, Dawn brings the three brothers together to discuss Enclosure. He asks for Day to call an emergency session of the Galactic Council, giving the reason that he’s trying to figure out why their dynasty is going to end in four months. Ultimately though, there’s no guarantee that The Mule will harm them, whereas it is guaranteed the Council will, using this as leverage against the Dynasty. The middle throne says no.

The Heist

At The Mule’s party, Captain “you’re just my ticket in” initially takes the lead, drawing Toran and Bayta through the crowd to The Mule at the center lounge. He doesn’t manage to get within a hundred feet of his target however, when The Mule intrudes into his mind, bringing him physically to his knees, and plucks out the name “Gaal Dornick.” Pritcher realizes too late that he shouldn’t have come, and flees with his proverbial tail between his legs.

Toran and Bayta take it upon themselves to get some information on The Mule. Bayta targets the balladeer while Toran distracts The Mule with his charm. And liquor. Toran’s demeanor comes off as…demeaning, but no worry. The Mule rescues the awkwardness by insisting he continue and insult him again. They have a tradition on his planet, flyting, which is a game of insults.

Toran does well, keeping the smile on The Mule’s face, even if his underlings don’t share his mirth. Then Little Bread Roll hands The Mule a potato peeler, and oh golly. Here’s an enactment of the universal fear that everyone who has ever picked up one of these things has felt. Now The Mule’s henchmen are smiling.

Toran maneuvers the scatters to flash blind The Mule and makes his escape. Outside, he picks up Bayta and their new plus-one, Maggie. They take off in their ship, slapping on sleep patches all around, and make the jump just in time. The Mule isn’t worried about losing Magnifico. They’ll catch them or they won’t. Things have a way of working out how they’re meant to.

The Escape Plan

The running theme throughout this episode is Brother Day and Song planning their escape to Mycogen. First stop, they need to recruit Commander Mavon. Away from the card table, his appetite for risk is low, but Day sweetens the pot by offering his imperial nanites to cure the Commander’s daughter. They let him sleep on it, but worst case, he’s not wrong about his family being held hostage.

When Day and Song stumble upon Demerzel in the Gardens, Song presses him on why he’s so scared of her, and why he keeps calling her “it.” He lets her in on the secret that Demerzel is a robot, the last of her kind. Later while packing, Song suggests that perhaps they need to stay near Demerzel if it really is going to get as bad out there as he says. Demerzel turns out to be near indeed, having arrived to take Day away to meet with Dawn. As they depart, Song makes a small hand gesture, and with that gesture her future is foretold.

After Dawn’s failed attempt to call for an Enclosure, the three brothers have a moment alone. Day realizes he had forgotten Dawn’s robing ceremony. While Dusk filled in, he failed to do “the thing,” the most important part of the ceremony. Always prepared, Dusk pulls out a flask, and the three of them reenact a toast that has been handed down since Cleon VII. It’s one of the most charming moments of all three seasons so far, the three of them yucking it up with each other like true brothers.

In a jovial mood, Day runs into Commander Mavon on his way back, and he is a yes. Things are looking good for the escape plan, but when he arrives home, Day finds Demerzel waiting for him. Song’s gesture was a blessing of an ancient religion called the Inheritance. An illegal faith that worships robots and is punishable by death. Demerzel exercised what little freedom she had for Brother Day’s sake, sparing Song and only wiping her memory. Day is not grateful for the mercy.

Quick Takes

A couple of quick takes on the rest of the episode:

• Obviously, the Imperial librarian is a Second Foundation agent, since she calls Gaal a colleague.
• I wait for some intrepid Redditor to tell us the deeper meaning behind the five oyster shells on the teahouse table. There’s gotta be one.
• When Dawn tells Gaal that Foundation will see an enclosure around Kalgan as an act of war, Gaal replies that she can handle Foundation. The Second Foundation must have deep hooks in the hierarchy of their sister organization.
• Interesting to note that The Mule brings Magnifico everywhere, even into battle.
• The Mule communicates psychically with Pritcher, telling him “You’re like me.” So, Captain Pritcher is a Second Foundation mentalic, planted within the First Foundation. Perhaps that’s what was meant when he caressed his necklace and said his loyalties lie elsewhere in Episode 1.
• I love that Skirlet has become The Mule’s little mascot. His “drunken toddler” (no, I don’t think she was actually drunk; we established he’s not a monster last episode). Her running to catch up with him and the two henchmen as they leave the dance club is terribly cute.
• Twice in this episode, The Mule wants to make his victim enjoy the pain he is inflicting upon them but does not. He also expresses, “Do you ever feel like your life is not your own? Like it’s been overtaken by some holy spirit? It’s sort of a transcendent feeling you have to kill your way out of.” Something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
• We also get some more hints at his background in this episode. He’s seen war, apparently all his life. He learned to kill as a boy. He’s taken other territories, though never been called a warlord.
• Brother Dusk says that Brother Day’s saying ‘no’ to the Enclosure request is the “smartest thing he’s said in twenty years.” So, that implies that the Ascension cycle for the Cleons is now set to 20-40-60 years of age.
• Brother Dawn introduces himself to The Mule as Cleon XXV. That makes Day Cleon XXIV and Dusk Cleon XXIII. Good to finally know our numbers for this season.
• The Mule’s henchman was planting a bomb inside the jump gate control room.

Best lines of the episode:

• “Huh. The actual touch of my hand is more benign than the hot breath of my bodyguards.”
• “Dawn, I was never here to begin with.”
• “You know, button, this particular Mule has been roughing my flanks ever since he stole our sunshine.”
• “I bring wine and entertainment, and I’m encouraged that you all smell better than I’ve been led to expect.”
• “Welcome back. Shall I make drinks?” “Yes, please.”
• “Some things are just…pre-or-dained.”
• “What is your current appetite for risk?”
• “There are only three people in the galaxy who know it, and we’re all named Cleon.”
• “If the world’s going to end, why keep secrets?”
• “They send the understudy?”
• “Are you feeling all right, darling? You’ve hardly touched your drugs.”
• “Strength! Wisdom! Fortitude!”
• “You do inspire some small amount of loyalty.” “I live for faint praise.”

Conclusion

Now The Mule finally knows of Gaal Dornick, as she has known of him for centuries. He doesn’t seem too surprised to find out there are other mentalics like him out there, since he allowed Pritcher to get away, but now his guard will be up when the Second Foundation does make their move against him. And what will Brother Day choose to do with his remaining time on the middle throne, now that his escape plan has been scrapped? Likely what he always chooses.

That’s all for this week. Please let us know your thoughts and feelings about this week’s episode, and any theories you have on what’s to come, in the comments below. Remember that TV Obsessive will provide continuing coverage of Foundation throughout Season 3 and beyond.

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All images courtesy of Apple TV+