Now that we're nearing the end of Foundation season 2, it's beginning to become clear what the big overarching stories of the season are, and that's definitely the case with episode 9 which includes some significant character decisions and deaths.
Entitled Long Ago, Not Far Away, this episode aired on Friday, September 8, and it's our penultimate glimpse into the universe of Foundation for the foreseeable future. And it really ramps up the stakes ready for the final episode next week.
So that you're prepared for the incoming season finale, this Foundation season 2 season 2 episode 9 recap will run you through all the important plot points from the episode. Check out our guide on how to watch Foundation season 2 if you haven't seen the episodes yet, as we're going to spoil everything!
So here's our Foundation season 2 episode 9 recap.
The real Demerzel
We begin with a flashback to before the genetic dynasty, 610 years ago, when the original Emperor Cleon was a child. He finds the hidden room in the palace (from episode 8), and inside is a deconstructed Demerzel (Laura Birn), a captive from the ancient robot wars.
Demerzel tells this child stories about the galaxy, and continues to do so as he ages into a young man, when his mother dies and he becomes emperor. Years later, Cleon returns and reconstructs Demerzel to act as his advisor, but he doesn't let her out of this hidden prison until he's an old man. At this point, he finally frees her but implants a chip so that she remains subservient to him.
This elderly Cleon also tells Demerzel about his plans to create a genetic dynasty, so she'll work for him forever, something she's obviously not too keen on. He then tells her his plan and marries her, entrusting her with true power of Empire.
In the current time, a hologram of Cleon is telling this to Brother Dusk and Enjoiner Rue, before it traps them in the same laser prison that Demerzel was stuck in.
Things are getting mental(ic)
On Ignis, Gaal (Lou Llobell) is being posessed by Tellem Bond (Rachel House) in the ceremony from episode 8, until Salvor Hardin (Leah Harvey) repurposes the psychic-blocking dishes she was trapped with, to distract the Mentalics. She rescues Gaal and they high-tail it out of there.
Gaal gets to the ship where she's confronted by Tellem Bond, who really got there quickly. They have a psychic battle, which Gaal nearly wins by implanting images of The Mule into Tellem, but the older woman is more powerful.
Salvor has to stop to fight her Mentalic rival, whom she finally kills when she traps him in the ship's airlock and removes the oxygen. She runs to help Gaal, but is overpowered herself.
Before Tellem can kill the two, though, Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) arrives, apparently not as dead as everything though. He brutally kills Tellem with a blunt object.
The war for Foundation
Commander Bel Rios (Ben Daniels) and his ship approach Terminus, where Foundation is based. After briefly questioning captives Mallow and Constant, he has to go to the bridge where Brother Day (Lee Pace) and Demerzel have arrived. Day is determined to land on the planet, against the best wishes of everyone else.
Day meets with Foundation's leader Director Sermak (Oliver Chris) and decides that he wants to conduct the peace negotiations in the settlement's 'chuch'... which is secretly a factory for all the special technology Foundation has been cooking up. He's not impressed.
After mocking and taunting Poly Verisof (Kulvinder Ghir), Day notices that one of the Foundation's techs is personal auras (protective shields), which Foundation has been distributing freely despite them being exclusive to the emperors in Empire. The leader stabs Sermak, and orders his soldiers to kidnap the scientists and kill the priests of the religion.
In space, the Invictus (the ship Foundation won in the first season) and Rios' ship get into a fight, with Rios' husband Glawen (Dino Fetscher) leading the charge with a fleet of smaller ships and Rios organizing them. Glawen realizes that the Foundation's whisper ships are controlled by pieces of brain tissue, and uses this knowledge to get the upper hand, and eventually he manages to take out the Invictus... but as he does so, his ship loses functionality and crashes to the planet.
On Terminus, Day decides to enter the Vault and meet Hari Seldon. He's not impressed, and taunts Seldon that his ending of the genetic dynasty proves Seldon wrong, but the mathematician isn't convinced. He tells the emperor that he's not the outlier he thinks he is. Hari also offers Demerzel the Prime Radiant, as well as all its knowledge.
Shortly afterward Demerzel has to slip off mysteriously, after she's 'called away' to Trantor. As she leaves she apologizes to Day for the fact that he was brought up poorly, implying that he's defective.
Day orders Rios to crash the wreckage of the Invictus onto Foundation, as its special tech would create a wormhole that'd destroy the planet. Despite the fact that his husband is alive on the planet, Rios has to follow his leader's orders and does so. This act kills off the following characters:
- Poly Verisof
- Glawen Curr
- Director Sermak
- Every single person in Foundation (the faction, not the show)
The entire planet fractures as the episode ends, presumably killing everyone there, as Bel Rios' fleet (and Constant and Mallow, as prisoners aboard) watch on. Between that and Tellem Bond, it's a pretty bloody episode!
