Watching Foundation: “Mysteries and Martyrs”

Spoiler Alert: go watch Foundation S1E07 if you haven’t already. We have about two more days here to be ready for season 2!

Joseph’s random thoughts about Episode 7, simultaneously published at StarsEndPodcast.com. Let’s go!

Watching Foundation S1E07 Mysteries and Martyrs

The Anacreonians and their hostages approach the Invictus. Phara is harsh and unforgiving. And sick? Or just beat up?

Great. “The most powerful weapons platform the Empire had ever built.” “A world-killer.” So the Invictus is the Doomsday machine. Where’s Commodore Decker when you need him?

We get an explanation for why they needed Lord Dorwin. Good thing he didn’t die in that spectacular explosion!

Suiting up. And Lord Dorwin has a plan to send a message.

Floaty through space action. Hugo does a Frank Poole imitation. Unlike Frank, I think he’ll be back. But we get some cheap, momentary angst.

They’re going to jump to the Invictus because the outer defense systems can’t recognize anything as small as a human. That’s a plot-driven weakness. “If you miss the outer ring you’ll be lost.”

Above the Maiden. C13 sees Demerzel’s kneeling as betrayal even as she’s trying to cop a lame excuse. “Motherless atrocity that I am.”

C13 points out the obvious contradiction; Demerzel’s faith in Luminism contradicts her very nature.

He also thinks that Demerzel’s actions contradict her programming, which is supposed to be Loyalty to the Cleonic Dynasty.

Demerzel claims that she can’t act contrary to her programming. It’s odd that’s even a point of discussion but it’s also very Asimovian.

Halima is now the front-runner. C13 wants to know “what she actually wants from me.”

On the Surface, C13 and Demerzel approach a tent.

The Luminists are idiots. Sacrificing themselves on a ritual: “Walking the Spiral.” Demerzel claims she did this many years ago.

Negotiations begin. C13 thinks he can still barter his way out of the problem. That already didn’t work once. He’s not even negotiating in the right universe.

Halima wants the end of the Genetic Dynasty. Halima is playing a true believer here. I don’t think that’s sincere. “I don’t claim to see the future.” She turns nasty. “You are the reverberations of a dead man’s ego.“ and “The soulless creature cannot recognize itself.“

She’s haughty when she references Seldon’s “similar observation.” Then calculating and dismissive. Truth to power sure but also obnoxious and self-satisfied. She thinks she has the upper hand. For the moment, she’s right!

Back at the Invictus. Hugo ostentatiously floats away. There’s an obvious way he can get back, but I think the show wants us to believe he’s gone so he can save the day.

Salvor notices (senses?) something. a gun starts shooting. It looks like the gun is firing globs of molten metal. I don’t think that’s what the show intended, but either way, I’m thinking about the special effects and not the story. That’s a bad sign.

And Dorwin throws away his leverage by opening the door. Phara then executes him on the spot. Disconcertingly ruthless and brutal. “He served his purpose.”

Isn’t that dumb? Why wouldn’t the controls have similar safeguards to the door?

“The atmosphere is frozen.” Then what’s suspending the particles all making the light beams visible? They “restore atmosphere” and people take their helmets right off. If the atmosphere is frozen it must be near absolute zero.

The Invictus is randomly jumping. Salvor sounds smart when she puts the story together, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

The “much longer deaths” line is pretty good.

Above the Maiden again. Demerzel thinks Halima is reckless and threatening. C13 reminds us of Seldon’s prediction and refuses to play defense.

I don’t think “I will appeal to your gods” is an argument that will get you there. But Joanne points out Trump.

“I will walk the great spiral and let the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone decide what’s true.”

We get more with C14 and Azura. Sexy time.

She gives him corrective contacts as a gift. Says he can’t wear them because they will attract attention. Like schtuping the gardener isn’t going to attract attention.

He shows her another copy of himself who will take his place if there’s ever an accident. If they know he’s different the other Cs will kill and replace him.

But the interesting thing here is the subtext that Azura is connected to some sort of underground.

You can lose yourself in the scar. “Come with me.”

But it’s a real relationship. C14 and Azura are open enough with each other that it’s dangerous. (Spoiler, I’m wrong here.)

“We are Trantor. Nothing outside the palace walls is relevant.”

On the Raven. That isn’t a hologram, it’s a “Quantum consciousness protocol.” So Hologram Hari is AI Hari.

But if Hari was recorded and placed in the knife, what’s the deal with the Walt Disney coffin?

Hari says “FIRST” Foundation. Gaal was supposed to lead the First Foundation.

The Invictus. Salvor wants to fight. Akiva doesn’t. “I’m the only expert…” is an odd way of praising that thought.

There’s a fight. Akiva is pretty competent at fighting for someone who’s “not a fighter.”

Salvor gets to live because they might need her. Like nanobots guy didn’t have the same potential.

39:57. Strong intense speech from Phara.

Not a bad plan, but it begs the question. Is there a succession plan? All the Cs live in the same place. All the spare Cs are in the same place. The genetic source of the Cs is at the same place. Demerzel who is the only person who might be able to hold things together is in the same place. We never see anyone with any kind of agency except for one ambassador. Chop off the head!

With Hari gone, the Raven is shutting down. But Hari comes back just in time to save Gaal. There’s a lot of convenient timing on this show.

“The Foundation needs more than a man to inspire it. It needs a myth that can endure for centuries.”

“It worked” because the mortality projections were somewhat inaccurate. What was sigma? It’s a ridiculous claim. And reminds me of reactions to Nate Silver and the 2016 election. He wasn’t “wrong.”

Teevee Hari is egregiously arrogant. And he had Lethe Syndrome, which is essentially Space Alzheimer’s. The cognitive decline would have prevented him from becoming the mythic figure the Foundation needed.

Hari was “engineering the narrative.” When he had Raych kill him, he couldn’t foresee Gaal coming to his cabin. That’s a rational limitation of psychohistory.

Hari wants to move toward the debris field. Gaal thinks that’s insane. And it is.

Gaal: “I think I can feel the future.”

That is one tough piece of plexiglass.

From Wikipedia:

In Greek mythology, Lethe (/ˈliːθiː/; Ancient Greek: Λήθη Lḗthē; Ancient Greek: [lɛ́:tʰɛː], Modern Greek: [ˈliθi]), also referred to as Lemosyne, was one of the five rivers of the underworld of Hades. Also known as the Ameles potamos (river of unmindfulness), the Lethe flowed around the cave of Hypnos and through the Underworld where all those who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness. Lethe was also the name of the Greek spirit of forgetfulness and oblivion, with whom the river was often identified.

All Images from Foundation on Apple TV+.

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