Since the very first episode of Foundation season 1, we had no doubts about the fact that the clones of Cleon 1, i.e., Brothers Dawn, Day, and Dusk, were the heirs who were going to carry forward the legacy and make sure that the genetic dynasty keeps on reigning. But it was in the last few episodes that we realized that everybody was just a puppet, and their reins were being pulled by Demerzel. The question was to what extent Demerzel was going to go to save the genetic dynasty, and would she be able to stand against the rebels, who just wanted to see the downfall of the tyrannical rule? So let’s find out in the recap of Foundation Episode 10 if Demerzel is able to protect the dynasty and what Hari Seldon has on his mind.

Spoiler Alert

How did Hober Mallow outplay Brother Day?

Hober Mallow, Bel Riose, and Brother Constant stood on the spaceship and saw Brother Day destroying the Terminus. But Brother Day was still not done, and he wanted to plunder each and every planet that was under the influence of the Foundation. Brother Constant told him that there were seven of them, i.e., Thespis, Anacreon, Smyrna, Sayshell, Konom, Daribow, and Glyptal IV. Day ordered Belrios to carry out an attack and destroy them. Belrios stood up to him and told him that they had already destroyed the Terminus, and now unnecessarily causing such widespread destruction would do no good. He tried to make Brother Day realize that it wouldn’t set a good precedent for the empire, but at that moment, Brother Day wasn’t concerned about the consequences of his actions. He asked Bel Rios to do what he was told, as otherwise he would also be executed, just like his lover, Glawen.

Brother Day ordered the spacers to set the coordinates, but it was then that we realized that the spacers were no longer under his command. Hober Mallow had been able to deceive Brother Day, and he had set the coordinates so that the ships would start jumping into the space occupied by their neighbor, and the subsequent chain reaction would destroy the entire fleet. The escape boats had also been disabled, and there was no way that Brother Day was making it out alive. Hober Mallow, back in the day, had been able to strike a deal with the spacers, as they, too, loved their freedom more than anything else in the world. The spacers who were on board knew that it was a suicide mission, but they were ready to pay that price so that the rest of the clan could live freely. Belrios knew about this for a very long time, but he didn’t inform Brother Day about it. Brother Day and Belrios entered into deadly combat, and it seemed like the latter would be killed. But Bel Rios, with the use of the device that Hober Mallow had once used to escape, castled Brother Day and interchanged his position with him. Brother Day was pushed out of the ship, and he vanished into oblivion.

Did Anyone Survive On The Terminus?

Hober Mallow and Belrios knew that they wouldn’t be able to make it out of there, but they were ready to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. Just sometime back, Belrios had thought that he would die inside the prison, but here he was, standing proudly as the commander of his fleet, amidst a war, and embracing death like a true warrior. He told Hober that Glawen had known from the very beginning that they were doomed, and he was ready to sacrifice his life so that people could get freedom from the Empire. Belrios still had the external cleaning module, and he told Brother Constant and Hober Mallow that he could detach it and one of them could escape from there. Constant wanted Hober to leave that module, but Hober knew that his work was done, and it was Constant who now had to carry the beacon. Constant loved Hober Mallow from the moment she saw him, and it was not easy to part ways, knowing that they would never be able to meet in this lifetime.

After Constant left, Hober Mallow and Belrios opened that fabled wine and made a toast to their victory, though they found out that the wine’s taste didn’t live up to expectations. The warriors knew that their time had come, but they were satisfied that they had accomplished what they had set out for. The spaceship exploded, and both Hober Mallow and Belrios died inside it. Constant, after drifting in space, found herself inside a structure just as her oxygen was about to run out. She realized that she was inside Hari Seldon’s vault, and she saw a familiar figure approaching her. It was Poly, and Constant realized that he was still alive. Hari Seldon had rescued people from the Terminus, as that was his plan all along. He told Constant that Terminus had to be destroyed so that the Foundation could survive. Even Glawen was still alive, and after seeing Constant alone, he realized that his partner would have sacrificed his life.

Were Sareth And Brother Day Able To Escape Trantor?

Demerzel had come back to the Trantor because she had realized that there was a breach inside the hidden chamber. She had come to know that Cleon had told Brothers Dusk and Rue how she had come into being and how she had been pulling the reins all along. Demerzel told Brother Dusk that now that he knew the secret, she would have to inevitably kill him. Demerzel loved Brother Dusk, but she was programmed in such a way that she could not act out her will. She told Brother Dusk that even if he tried reprogramming her, her defenses would go up, and she would end up harming him. Brother Dusk realized that he was not going to make it out of there alive, so he said his goodbyes, and both Rue and him were killed by Demerzel in that chamber.

Before dying, Brother Dusk had put green paint on Demerzel’s neck without her knowing about it. He knew that Dawn would look at it and realize that she had killed Dusk. That green mark was the reason Dawn and Sareth were able to get a head start and escape Trantor before Demerzel could get to them. Demerzel had told Dawn that she was going to have a conversation with him in his chambers, and she would have probably gotten him killed there. But before she could come, Dawn used face scrabble and deceived Demerzel to buy some time. While the people thought that Dawn and Sareth were addressing them, the actual ones had been able to escape from there. Demerzel established contact with Dawn’s spaceship and told him that now she would have to hunt him down as there was no other option left. But Dawn didn’t have any bitter feelings towards Demerzel and told her that she had been like a mother to him.

Sareth revealed that she was pregnant, and that’s when Dawn got to know that he was going to be a father. He told Demerzel that he hoped that she would find peace and happiness and quit this endless quest to be the guardian of the genetic dynasty. But Demerzel was programmed in such a manner that she couldn’t override her commands, and in the season 2 finale, we saw that she created all three clones, i.e., Dawn, Day, and Dusk, at the same time. Demerzel had the prime radiant with her, and she told the clones that the future held great things for them and the empire. We are very sure that Demerzel, in Foundation season 3 (if there is one), would perceive Dawn’s offspring as a threat to the genetic dynasty and would try to find and kill them. It would also be interesting to know how Demerzel puts the prime radiant to use and if, through it, she is able to figure out Harry Seldon’s and Gaal’s whereabouts.

Is Tellem Dead Or Alive?

Hari and Gaal explained to Salvor how the miracle had happened and how Hari had come back to life when his dead body could be seen floating in the water where Tellem had killed him. Gaal said that she and Hari had a bridge of shared sensations where they could feel whatever was happening with each other. Due to this link that had been established, Gaal realized that Hari was drawing in the water. She reached there and created a “need” inside the guard, who was left there by Tellem to keep watch. That guard went inside the water, and his voice was suppressed by Gaal so that Tellem couldn’t hear it. But then, too, the entire thing wouldn’t have amounted to anything if Salvor hadn’t come at the very last moment and saved Gaal.

Tellem was trying to take her powers, but Salvor didn’t let that happen, and eventually, we saw in the previous episode of Foundation that Hari Seldon killed Tellem with his own hands. But Tellem was still alive, as just before her death, she latched onto Josiah’s subconscious. In the 10th episode, we saw that Josiah tried to kill Gaal because his mind was being controlled by Tellem. But before he could do that, Salvor came in between them and killed him. The poor boy met an unfortunate end, and he told Hari that he could feel Tellem dying inside him. Josiah had fired at Gaal, and Salvor had come in between and taken the blow. Salvor sacrificed her life so that Gaal could live and implement Hari Seldon’s grand plan. Though Josiah did say that Tellem was dying, we don’t know for sure if she hasn’t already entered the mind of another one of her Sighted.

Can Hari Seldon’s Plan Still Work?

Gaal wanted to know if Salvor’s death had any positive impact on the psycho-historical calculations and if the world had come back on track. Gaal was grieving, and that’s when Hari came and told her that the impact of Salvor’s death would not be visible to them in the present but would surely have a huge impact in the future. Through Salvor’s sacrifice, they had learned one thing: the future could be changed, as she had died in Gaal’s arms, whereas Gaal, in her vision, had seen the Mule taking her life 150 years ahead.

Hari’s plan was that he would make Gaal go inside the cryosleep chamber while he would stay at Ignis and teach the sighted psychohistory and hone their abilities so that when the time came, they could stand for themselves. But Gaal didn’t want that, as she knew that if Hari didn’t enter the cryosleep pod, then a day would come when she would be alone in this battle and Hari would cease to exist. She didn’t want to lose out on the only family she had, and she convinced Hari to enter the pod. Hari had told her that many times a person wants to give up, and that’s when the memories of his loved ones keep him going. He said that they would have to use the pain to propel themselves forward, as that’s how they would be able to honor the memory of those who had left them.

The season 2 finale also gave us a glimpse of what was about to come. We saw the Mule, 152 years in the future, sensing that Gaal was approaching him. He looked intimidated, and he said that Gaal Dornick had visited him in a thousand dreams. The Mule knew that he had to find Gaal before she did and destroy her at any cost. The Mule was ready to go to any extent to do that, and in Foundation season 3 (though there hasn’t been an official announcement, we believe that there will be one soon), we will get to know if he is able to kill Gaal or if she gets the better of him and triggers the event that brings the world back on track.