The Last Empress

**The Last Empress** is the eighth episode of *Foundation*'s second season on Apple TV+. It aired on September 1, 2023. The episode was written by Liz Phang, Addie Manis, and Bob Oltra based on the novels by Isaac Asimov. Roxann Dawson directed the episode.

## Synopsis

*Enjoiner Rue confides in Dusk about her distrust of Demerzel. Hober Mallow pulls a daring move. Day sets course for Terminus and the Foundation.*

## Plot

On Trantor, Brother Dusk finds Enjoiner Rue in Demerzel's quarters, using a Shadowmaster's silencer to mask her presence. Dusk wants to know how she has knowledge of the servant byways in the Imperial Palace. Rue tells him that they have not changed since her days in the Gossamer Court. Dusk oversaw her erasure and therefore she should not remember any of her time in the Palace, but Rue reveals that the Cloud Dominion has the technology to restore memories. Dusk points out that the knowledge makes her suspect in the assassination attempt on his brother's life. Rue disagrees since the marriage would only advance Cloud Dominion. Wanting to know why Rue is in Demerzel's quarters, Rue makes in clear that Demerzel has revealed herself to be a threat to Queen Sareth I's life. Rue reveals she knows Demerzel is a robot and asks where she comes from. Dusk states that "she will always be here, as she always has been." When he repeats the answer several times, Rue believes that Dusk has had the words programmed into his mind.

At the Mural of Souls, Dusk tells Rue about the history of the Robot Wars, and how they managed to subvert the Three Laws. The wars raged, robots against robots and robots against men until humankind prevailed. Dusk continues to repeat the same phrase and Rue offers to restore Dusk's memories using Cloud Dominion's technique. Dusk notices something on the Mural relating to the Robot Wars; the chroma used on one of the robot images is not moving. Before he can investigate further, Captain Timandra arrives and informs Dusk he is wanted at the execution of the Foundation's emissaries.

On Ignis, Gaal confronts Tellem Bond on the beach, demanding to know where Salvor is. Tellem says that Salvor is hidden away because she discovered that Tellem killed Hari. Tellem tells Gaal to stop pretending; she knew that Hari was dead from the moment it happened. Gaal admits that she felt the water in her lungs and asks why. Tellem wanted Gaal to remove Hari from the equation to save Salvor but when she wouldn't, Tellem did it for her. It is revealed that Gaal is also trapped in a cave, with dishes above her head cancelling out her psychic pitch. Tellem wants Gaal's defenses broken so that she can find out what she is hiding. Back on the beach, Tellem appears unsteady and sick, which is seen by Josiah.

The execution is being broadcast across the galaxy, with viewers watching from Terminus, *Shining Destiny*, and Siwenna. Emperor Cleon XVII gives a speech to a chanting crowd, condemning Poly Verisof and Brother Constant as traitors in the same vein as those who destroyed the Star Bridge. He intends to behead them with the Collar of Typhon, a relic from days past. Day offers Sareth the choice of who is be executed first but she cannot, so he chooses Constant. Placing the collar on her neck, Day listens as she recites a prayer to the Galactic Spirit, asking it to "guide me through the darkness." Demerzel senses something is wrong, and warns Day just as Hober Mallow arrives in the *Spirit Rising*, sending people flying as the ship displaces above the execution.

Hober advances into the mess to try and rescue Poly and Constant. Dusk and Rue find each other, and Dawn cradles an unconscious Sareth. Demerzel lays flat on top of Day as his aura was damaged but he pushes her off. Hober finds Constant with the collar halfway closed. They cannot get to Poly who tells them to get away. Beki enters the fray and chases a terrified Day and bites him, but she is shot by his guards and falls from a great height. Hober and Constant escape into Trantor orbit, but Poly is left behind. Aboard the *Spirit Rising*, Hober manages to deactivate the collar and free Constant. Aboard the *Shining Destiny*, Glawen Curr tells Bel Riose that Hober has proven one thing; Empire can be touched.

In the aftermath, Dusk demands they move swiftly and decisively; the Foundation has effectively declared war on the Empire and Empire should respond in kind. Day is of the opinion that they will destroy the Foundation utterly if it comes to war, but he wants to talk to them instead. He intends to go to Terminus, and Sareth supports the decision, allowing their wedding to be postponed. Day will reclaim what is theirs on Terminus, leaving Trantor in Dawn's hands.

In her quarters, Sareth and Rue talk about how the Cleons are fragmenting and how Sareth is inserting herself between them. As they talk, it is clear that Rue is in love with Dusk, just as Sareth is in love with Dawn. Rue reminds Sareth to think of the Cloud Dominion, and that she can dispose of Day later and will be Empress whether it is as a wife or a widow. Sareth says that while she values Rue, she is also the queen and the choices are hers to make.

On Ignis, Josiah delivers food to Salvor's cell. She asks about Gaal and is told she is alive and being readied for the table, which is a great honour. Salvor realises that something is inherently wrong when she can't move the coin between her fingers easily, and Josiah points out the psychic dampers. She doesn't understand what the numbers mean, but Hari would if he was here. Josiah leaves, and Salvor remembers Hari's words about protecting the Prime Radiant. She went to the *Beggar's Lament* and retrieved it before the ship left, and it had been flattened to disguise it. Retrieving it from her jacket, Salvor activates the Radiant and uses it to communicate with the Hari Seldon in the Vault on Terminus. The other Hari realises that there is another copy of himself out in the galaxy, that information had been purposely withheld from him and that a Second Foundation was always planned.

The *Spirit Rising* arrives at Terminus to find hundreds of Imperial ships forming an enclosure around the planet. The ship was designed for stealth, so Constant shuts down all the systems and hopes they were not detected. On the surface, a drunk Sermak goes to the Vault and talks to Hari who appears before him. Sermak never wanted Constant to wear the robes or be one of Seldon's dupes. Angry at Seldon, Sermak tells him that he doesn't care for individuals, just the history. Hari admits he can't predict the fates of individuals, but that psychohistory is made up of their choices and stories. He hopes Constant is alive and when asked by Sermak what they do now, Seldon replies "We do the hardest thing there is. We wait."

Aboard the *Spirit Rising*, Hober apologises to Constant for not being about to save Beki and Poly. Constant tells him that Poly was the reason she joined the Church of the Galactic Spirit. That he kept the spark alive for over a hundred years and then faltered, and she was unable to help him.

On board a shuttle on route to the *Rubicon*, Day talks to Poly about the Church. Poly says that underneath it all, the Church is science. Day believes that knowing the predictions mean they can affect them and change the outcome. Poly tells him that there is a saying among Wardens: "violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." Day concedes that he might be right about that.

Salvor and Hari talk in Vault, but Hari says she shouldn't know this information. Salvor tells him she is trapped and needed help; if Salvor can be in the Vault, then Hari can reverse the process and is now in prison with Salvor. He recognises the dishes as encephalic sensors and describes how they work and that Salvor could readjust the frequencies to break rocks. As Hari goes to leave, Salvor asks if the Second Crisis has begun, but Hari says it is up in the air at the moment. When he won't answer whether or not Terminus will survive, Salvor tells him about Hober Mallow, and that Gaal said he would "pierce the hide of Empire." Hari says he cannot use that information, but Salvor points out she is an outlier and to not let morals stand in the way of doing what is right. Back in the Vault, Hari reasons that what is the use of a left hand having a thumb if it doesn't get to be put on the scale. He writes "Hober Mallow" on his desk, and outside the Vault, the words appear at Jaegger Fount screams his name and dies.

Aboard the *Spirit*, Constant and Hober seize the moment and act on their mutual attraction by having sex. On Trantor, Dusk surprises Rue using the Shadowmaster's silencer and says that with Day off-planet, now is the perfect time for them to continue the investigation they began before the execution. Over Terminus, Constant and Hober's post-coital bliss is interrupted when General Riose finds them and takes them captive. Dusk takes Rue back to the Mural of Souls where the inactive chroma they found is located. Dusk believes there is a hidden message in the aberration, and activates the old chroma with new chroma. The Mural shifts, and a passageway is revealed. Dawn and Sareth walk through the heat sinks with facial scramblers, and Dawn agrees to Sareth's proposal as it is all he has thought about. He uses the machine to reverse his own sterility and then they have sex in the heat sinks. Beyond the passageway, Dusk and Rue find a set of stairs he has never encountered before. Dusk feels like a stranger in his own home.

Salvor pulls the sensors off the ceiling and manages to retune them. The resulting frequency blasts open the roof of her prison. In the abandoned palace, Gaal is on the Table, surrounded by the Mentalics. Tellem plans to force her own consciousness into Gaal's body and take over, much as she has done for centuries with other victims. Tellem's powers grow with each transference, and it was Tellem who put the thought into Gaal's mind to leave Synnax a century ago. As the ceremony begins, the Mentalics unite their whistles to begin the transference and tune Tellem and Gaal's minds.

On Trantor, Dawn tells Sareth he does not want Day to raise their child. Sareth proposes killing Day and all of the exponents. Dawn says Demerzel will stop them, its in her programming. Sareth asks who programmed Demerzel in the first place. Day prepares to leave Trantor on the *Rubicon* with Demerzel as Dusk and Rue find a hidden chamber and a digitized projection of Cleon I who says that the room has been many things, but it began as a prison. Dawn and Sareth come to the realisation that the Genetic Dynasty are just puppets and that Cleon I's true heir is Demerzel: his forever Empress.

## Cast

### Starring

* Jared Harris as Hari Seldon (Vault)
* Lee Pace as Brother Day (Cleon XVII)
* Lou Llobell as Gaal Dornick
* Leah Harvey as Salvor Hardin
* Laura Birn as Demerzel
* Cassian Bilton as Brother Dawn (Cleon XVIII)
* Terrence Mann as Brother Dusk (Cleon XVI) and Cleon I

### Guest Starring

* Ben Daniels as Bel Riose
* Isabella Laughland as Brother Constant
* Dimitri Leonidas as Hober Mallow
* Ella-Rae Smith as Queen Sareth I
* Sandra Yi Sencindiver as Enjoiner Rue Corintha
* Rachel House as Tellem Bond
* Dino Fetscher as Glawen Curr
* Oliver Chris as Sef Sermak
* Kulvinder Ghir as Poly Verisof

### Co-Starring

* Haqi Ali as Handman Hahn
* Kit Rakusen as Josiah
* Eva Bradley Williams as Varia
* Michael Akinsulire as Loron
* Isabel Adomakoh Young as Timandra
* Luis Torrecilla as Pater
* Wade Briggs as Brigadier Manlio
* Anthony Barclay as Councilor Sutt
* Petra Van Der Voort as Councilor Twer
* Noah Taylor as Hetman
* Sandra Guldberg Kampp as Thalis
* Jordan Stephens as Jori
* Michael S. Siegel as Councilor Garrow
* Emily Stott as Oreen
* Mahmoud Aldachan as Ferzan
* Francis Terry as Sailor (Shining Destiny)
* Sofia Mayorga as Worker #1
* Raphael Ruiz as Worker #2
* Sam Barlien as Worker #3
* Tereza Feserova as Worker #4

## Appearances

**By type**

Characters

* Tellem Bond
* Brother Constant
* Cleon I
* Cleon XVI
* Cleon XVII
* Cleon XVIII
* Rue Corintha
* Glawen Curr
* Demerzel
* Gaal Dornick
* Ferzan
* Jaegger Fount
* Garrow
* Hahn
* Salvor Hardin
* Hetman
* Jori
* Josiah
* Loron
* Hober Mallow
* Manlio
* Oreen
* Pater
* Bel Riose
* Sareth I
* Hari Seldon (Mentioned only)
* Hari Seldon (Raven) (Mentioned only)
* Hari Seldon (Vault)
* Sef Sermak
* Sutt
* Thalis
* Timandra
* Twer
* Varia
* Poly Verisof

Creatures

	+ Beki

Events

* Bombing of the Star Bridge (Mentioned only)
* Execution of Anacreon and Thespin delegates
* Execution of Poly Verisof and Brother Constant
* Robot Wars (Mentioned only)

Locations

* Ignis
* Siwenna
* Synnax (Mentioned only)
* Terminus
	+ Terminus City
		- Four Moons
	+ Vault
* Thespis (Mentioned only)
* Trantor
	+ Imperial Palace
		- Gossamer Court (Mentioned only)
		- Mural of Souls
	+ Star Bridge (Mentioned only)

Organizations and titles

* Foundation
	+ Church of Galactic Spirit
	+ Warden
* Galactic Empire
	+ Genetic Dynasty
		- Brother Dawn
		- Brother Day
		- Brother Dusk
	+ Shadowmaster (Mentioned only)
* Mentalic
* Second Foundation

Sentient species

	+ Clone
* Robot
* Spacer

Vehicles and vessels

* Imperial warship
	+ *Shining Destiny*
* *Rubicon*
* Whisper-ship
	+ *Spirit Rising*

Weapons and technology

* Collar of Typhon
* Encephalic sensor
* Facial scrambler
* Jumpdrive
* Nanobot
* Shadowmaster's silencer
* Sleep patch

Miscellanea

* Chroma
* Erasure
* Locris wine
* Psychohistory
* Three Laws