I decided to watch this series because I read how huge the entire story is also a very complicated one that you do need to put your 110% attention into it to follow up, lucky me this first episode gives a lot of context but at the same time feels boring without much drama and mostly empire thinking they have the full control of everything, btw dont murder me on a comment if I get a name or a theory wrong this is just a recap post based on my opinion not a lore discussion. The empire is trying to strike back with subterfuge all the while brother Dawn and Dusk are trying to keep things together. Brother Day had transformed completely, for the better from the viewers perspective, he is off on a journey of discovery and reconnecting with nature and people while brother Dawn is in deep reflection mode and brother Dusk is kinetic, solidifying his power base, plotting and scheming. On the other side, the foundation itself is dealing with corruption and inept leadership but showing peaks of hope with new characters introduced, both powers are aware of the Mule, whose terrifying power display is convincing that he can achieve his goal of defeating both empire and foundation. I wonder if the two super powers be able to neutralize this emerging threat? Hard to see that turning out well based on the state of their leadership. The visuals, music, sets and individual performances are stunning and the story telling in this episode is very well paced with both the serious and larger themes being addressed in addition to some lighter moments, I will for sure continue watching and catch up.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0804484/
- Platform: AppleTV+
This entire thing is a crazy universe thats 152 years into the future and honestly the world building is probably the best aspect of the show. The episode titled "A Song for the End of Everything" really sets up everything thats gonna go down this season with the Mule finally making his presence known in the most terrifying way possible, the guy basically walks onto a pleasure planet and just takes it over without breaking a sweat which is both impressive and scary as hell. Digging a bit into the previous season it seems they recast the Mule with this new actor who brings this creepy charisma that makes you understand why people would follow him, the opening scene where he forces that Archduke to bite off his own finger was absolutely brutal and sets the tone perfectly for what kind of villain we are dealing with. The way he can turn entire armies against each other just by using his mental powers shows us that psycho history might not be enough to predict what hes gonna do next, this dude is basically the joker in Harry Seldon mathematical deck and I love how unpredictable that makes everything. The visual effects when showing his powers are really well done too, you can see the budget increase from previous seasons and it shows in every scene from the space battles to the different planets we visit.
There is this interesting event almost like a thicking bomb where Brother Dawn is only ten days away from becoming Brother Day and you can tell hes ready for the responsibility, hes sharp and knows how to work the political game which is a nice change from some of the previous versions we have seen. The galactic council scenes were really well done showing how Dawn can manipulate a room full of politicians and even stage his own protest to get what he wants, this kid is gonna be dangerous when he takes over fully. Brother Dusk spending his time watching old execution videos of previous cleons was dark as hell but it makes sense that hes trying to prepare himself for whats coming, the way they show him being anxious about his upcoming death really adds some humanity to these characters. Then theres Brother Day who has completely checked out and is living his best life with this girl named Song smoking drugs and writing poetry about cloned animals, which sounds ridiculous. The contrast between the three brothers and where they are mentally right now creates this interesting tension that drives the whole empire storyline forward.
The foundation side of things introduces us to some really interesting new characters but also shows us how much the organization has changed over the past 152 years, they are no longer the scrappy underdogs fighting against impossible odds but have become this massive power with 800 planets under their control. What I really liked was meeting Professor Ebling Miss who seems to be the only person who actually understands what Harry Seldon was trying to accomplish, his scene inside the vault with vault Harry was probably my favorite part of the episode because it shows how disconnected the current foundation leadership is from the original mission. The mayor of new terminus is such an incompetent politician who cares more about staying in power than actually preparing for whats coming, which creates this nice parallel with the empire where both organizations are being led by people who dont really get the bigger picture. Han Pritchard seems like hes gonna be our main action hero for the foundation side and I really hope they give him more to do than just chase around these trader rebels, the whole sequence on Haven with the pod racing through those temperature extremes was visually impressive but felt a bit rushed. Demerzel has to be the most fascinating character on the entire show and her scenes with the zephyr priestess were incredible, finally getting some real backstory about the robot wars and how the laws of robotics actually work in this universe, besides she is son beautiful. The garden setting with those poisoned golden apples was beautiful and creepy at the same time, this entire story is so complex and the amount of imagination put into, you can tell the production designers really thought about every detail to make these locations feel lived in and meaningful. The bigger question comes in when Demerzel talks about not knowing what she is without empire, that kind of existential crisis from an artificial being raises so many interesting questions about identity and purpose that I hope they explore more as the season goes on. The way she stores the prime radiant inside her chest look very practical and symbolic showing how shes literally carrying the future of humanity inside her, the special effects for that scene were really well executed.
I though it would be way harder to catch the thread of the series but the episode does a great job setting up all the pieces for what feels like its gonna be a really intense season with the mule as this wild card that neither empire nor foundation can predict or control. Gail waking up from cryo sleep at the end gave that feeling that maybe someone will be able to stand against the mule since shes the only other person with similar mental abilities but even she admits that her powers are nowhere near as strong as his, the Mule remind me Sentry on Thunderbolts, way over powered and who is going to stand against him? and how?. The pacing of this episode felt a bit draggy at times with other scenes that felt rushed, but overall it succeeds in expanding and giving context to the world and introducing new plot threads that have me excited to see where things go next and to catch up with previous season when ever I can. Yes, there was a lot of talking and very little action and might not have the immediate excitement, it does the important work of setting up what feels like its gonna be the most ambitious season yet based on what the little I know about it, I am definitely gonna keep watching to see how they handle the mule storyline and whether empire and foundation can find a way to work together against this common threat.
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