Brother Day takes a journey to a distant part of his Empire and Gaal discovers what the Anacreon plan is.

Spoilers

The main thrust of Foundation seems to be the activities on Terminus, with activities of Gaal and the Emperor(s) taking the rear seat. It’s refreshing to see Brother Day (Lee Pace) outside of Trantor, here visiting the habitable moon of the Maiden. There’s the need for a change of leadership following the passing of Proxima Opal, a role being contested by Zephyr Halima (T’Nia Miller) and Zephyr Gilat. They practise the religion Luminism and the Emperor is prepared to build the planet a desalination system if they can find some common ground. Introducing a new planet and religion helps give breadth to the realm of the Empire, and there’s some impressive Maltese location filming for the palace.

Most of the action in this episode is on Terminus where the Anacreons have taken over the colony. Their plan is to pilot a Planet Killer Jump Ship back to Trantor and attack the Imperials who have subjugated them for so long. They don’t have these skills, so use the Deliverance ship’s manifest to identify who will ‘assist’ them, willingly or otherwise. Salvor and her father lead an attack on the Anacreon Corvettes, destroying these key vessels, but it’s a risky raid that ends in tragedy.

The episode concludes with Salvor being in charge of the Jump Ship, and we’re also privy to what exactly happened between Raysh and Hari that ended in the latter’s murder.

Verdict: Is it as Asimov as hardcore fans might have wanted? The debate rumbles on, but it’s continuing to entertain as big budget sci-fi painted on a broad canvas. 8/10

Nick Joy