Foundation Season 3 Review

Foundation (2021-)

Season 3 - 10 episodes (2025)
Rent Foundation on Amazon Video (paid link)
Created by: Josh Friedman, David S. Goyer
Starring: Jared Harris, Lou Llobell, Leah Harvey, Terrence Mann, Lee Pace, Laura Birn, Cassian Bilton
Rated: TV-14
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Plot
A complex saga of humans scattered on planets throughout the galaxy all living under the rule of the Galactic Empire.

Verdict
This isn't a show where you can just jump in. It's dense with each season building on the last. The long awaited end approaches, and the finale throws so many surprises at you. We watch The Mule steamroll the Empire at every opportunity. He doesn't need much help as Day flees and Dusk is preoccupied with his imminent demise. The big surprise is that while The Mule is the catalyst, Empire might destroy itself on its own with the introduction of Brother Darkness. My main complaint is that I must wait for season four of this epic tale.
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Review
This is inspired by the Foundation series of stories by Isaac Asimov. It's not a direct adaptation, changing locations, characters, and plot elements. While a fourth season is in the works, it's without original showrunner Goyer. He stepped down after disagreements due to the show's increasing budget during season three.

Pilou Asbæk plays The Mule

To recap the previous seasons quickly, in season one clones of Cleon: Day, Dusk, and Dawn rule the empire. They're threatened by the predictions of Hari Seldon who they exile, but he creates a new community in Foundation that has access to the vault, a repository of all human knowledge to be used after the downfall of the empire.
Season two jumps a hundred years later. Foundation thrives with claric's spreading Foundation's mission as a means to convert people to their cause. The current Day wants to marry, but there's also a genetic anomaly in the latest clone. It's part of a long plan to undermine the clones.
Salvor and Gaal team up with Hari, who somehow exists in physical form again. They're trying to gain the support of telepaths while also trying to create a second Foundation. At the end of the season Seldon gives Dermezel the prime radiant in the hopes that she can use it to ensure humanity's future. Then there's the vision of the bad guy in the future that could be the catalyst to everything bad, the Mule.

This season shows off The Mule's (Pilou Asbæk) power early. He can exert control over anyone through telepathy. It's clear he's planning to take over by force, and with his powers that doesn't seem like it will be difficult. Meanwhile Gaal (Lou Llobell) and Hari (Jared Harris) plan to fight The Mule in the future with Hari realizing he must avoid cryo-sleep to better prepare.

Lee Pace plays Brother Day

The problem with The Mule is that he's flat. He exists just to wreak havoc for no reason other than to excite the plot. He's a plot device more than a character, but episode seven provides some backstory and motivation. He was the son of poor farmers under Empire's rule. With a one child policy, his parents have a second kid and decide to get rid of The Mule. This explains his animosity towards Empire and his desire for revenge.

Laura Birn plays Dermerzel

Brother Day (Lee Pace) lives a life of indulgence and drugs as Dawn (Cassian Bilton) prepares to take over. Dawn is concerned about The Mule, but his brothers don't share his belief. Day is more concerned with fleeing responsibility while Dusk (Terrence Mann) is concerned about his end. Dawn does manage to force an enclosure on Kalgan in an effort to contain The Mule, but that proves fruitless. The Mule had already fled the planet. With Empire's ships encircling the planet Kalgan, The Mule uses that to his advantage to stage an attack.

Day's plight to abandon all responsibility ends up with him discovering a robot worshiping cult and that Dermerzel (Laura Birn) may be the prophesied leader of this cult.

Terrence Mann plays Brother Dusk / Brother Darkness

The big surprise this season is Dusk in episode nine. He's mad at his imminent end and mad that the other planets want to sacrifice his planet of Trantor in the hopes of pacifying The Mule. Dusk destroys planets with the super weapon he built for Dawn, partly as a show of power but also to stroke his ego. He built the weapon because he could. Day's leaving left a void, and a bitter Dusk saw an opening to exert his power. Instead of sacrificing his planet, he destroys the others out of spite. The end of Empire was predicted, and it seems The Mule may be the catalyst but not the reason.
 
I take some issue with episode ten. This episode in particular and the series as a whole has built up The Mule. By the end of the season he feels like misdirection. It's similar to how Hari's projection didn't know of The Mule. When the projection was created The Mule didn't exist. Hari predicted the end but not the specifics of how. It seems the end of Empire might be Brother Dusk who now dubs himself as Brother Darkness. It's a great name, and an ominous indicator of things to come in this universe.