Foundation 2.8: Major Revelations!

Well, finally an episode of Foundation -- 2.8 -- that's really firing on all cylinders.  By which I mean, the Trantor parts and the other parts were nearly equal in power, and that power was impressive, answered all kinds of questions, and stood on the verge of answering more.  So, good thing that two more episodes await us this season.

Here are some of the major revelations, as I see them:

[Spoilers of course are ahead ... ]

1. The opening conversation between Dusk and Rue gives us some essential info about Demerzel and her origin, but not yet the complete story.  By the end of the episode, Dusk tells Rue that Empire is doing Demerzel's bidding rather than vice versa.  Yes indeed.

2. Hober's attack on Trantor, and his rescue of Constant, was literally a much welcome merger of the Foundation and Empire stories -- and indeed, we heard that phrase later in the episode -- and it was good to see Hober and Constant carnally together after they were off the planet.  Lots of good sex in general in this episode, including Dawn and Sareth.  Will be interesting to see the impact of the child they engendered.

3.  We learned more about the Second Foundation, most importantly from the conversation between Salvor and one of the digital Haris.  And the most important takeaway from that conversation is that Hari's idea is that both Foundations were intended to be mutually ignorant of each other.  This is a divergence from Asimov's trilogy, in which the First Foundation was ignorant of the Second, but the Second knew just about everything about the First.  Which is ok by me, at this point,

4. I remain in strong dislike of Tellem, which of course we're supposed to be.  She seems on the verge of inhabiting Gaal, which is repulsive.  And apparently she did kill the corporeal Hari -- though if new flesh-and-blood Haris can be created, that may not matter.

So, good job, and I'm looking forward even more than usual to the resumption of this riveting story next week.

See also Foundation 2.1: Once Again, A Tale of Two Stories ... 2.2: Major Players ... 2.3: Bel Riose and Hari ... 2.5: The Original Cleon and the Robot ... 2.6: Hari and Evita ... 2.7: Is Demerzel Telling the Truth?

And see also Foundation 1.1-2: Mathematician, Man of the People, and Cleon's Clones ... Foundation 1.3: Clonal Science Fiction, Hari Seldon as V. I. Lenin ... Foundation 1.4: Slow Hand, Long Half-Life, Flipped Coin ... Foundation 1.5: What We Learned in that Final Scene ... Foundation 1.6: Folded Variations ... Foundation 1.7: Alternate History/Future ... Foundation 1.8: Divergences and Convergences ... Foundation 1.9: Vindication and Questions ... Foundation Season 1 Finale: Right Up There