Foundation Episode 2: Ending Explained Gaal Dornick Has Left The Foundation

Foundation is available on Apple TV +!  If you want to know the explanation of the end of episode 2, read on! Foundation Episode 2 continues to develop its expansive saga, with tumultuous changes in the Galactic Empire, as Hari Seldon’s team goes into exile. The screen adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s famous book series spans over a thousand years and is slowly starting to reveal its many moving elements.

The dramatic ending of Episode 2 of The Foundation launched Gaal Dornick on an unexpected journey – and set in motion the downfall of the Galactic Empire. Inspired by the novels and short stories of Isaac Asimov, the David Goyer Foundation brings a sprawling sci-fi epic to the small screen. It presents viewers with a distant future timeline in which humanity had long left Earth, establishing an empire that spanned the entire galaxy. Like all the best sci-fi ideas, the story is taken from real life – in this case, the end of the Roman Empire, which ultimately collapsed and ushered in the so-called ‘dark ages. “.

In Foundation, mathematician Hari Seldon predicts the end of the Galactic Empire. He masters a science called psychohistory, which allows him to analyze the behavior of societies and accurately predict events; Using these mathematical principles, Seldon created a model of the entire Empire and scanned the future, predicting the collapse and the dawn of a dark age of 30,000 years. Although Seldon believes the fall of the Empire is inevitable, he believes specific steps can be taken to manipulate the future and prevent the Dark Ages from lasting so long – reducing them to a single millennium. Needless to say, the Emperor is not very happy to hear Seldon’s predictions, but after a terrorist attack on the galactic capital Trantor, he chooses to exile Seldon to the distant planet Terminus on the Galactic Rim, where Seldon’s new “Foundation” can continue its work. without disturbing the galaxy.

But Foundation episode 2 ends with a shocking twist, as Hari Seldon’s mission to Terminus is disrupted by tragedy. The events are entirely original from the TV series, and aren’t taken from the books at all, so it makes sense that even viewers familiar with Asimov’s books didn’t see this coming – what’s going on – he?

Hari Seldon Was Murdered – By His Best Friend

The David Goyer Foundation is more of a character study than anything else, and Hari Seldon’s protégé Gaal Dornick is the beating heart of the first two episodes. Gaal was dragged into this case against her will, manipulated into joining the Foundation by being encouraged to arrive on Trantor just as things got worse, but she is an adventurer at heart and she accepted her place in the foundation. She even began to build a life for herself, becoming the lover of Raych, Hari Seldon’s best friend. But Gaal’s world collapses once more at the end of Foundation Episode 2, when she enters Hari’s room to find him lying dead on the floor, after being murdered by Raych.

Episode 2 of The Foundation doesn’t explain Raych’s apparent betrayal, but it does suggest that Raych and Seldon’s relationship has been deteriorating for some time, with Hari attempting to force Raych to do something against his will. The most likely reason for the murder is that Seldon wanted Raych to kill him, as his presence in the Foundation was a variable he hadn’t expected – he had predicted his own death, but the Emperor had defied his calculations. It’s likely that Hari Seldon felt he had to be a martyr for the plan to work, and so he pushed Raych to do the deed. Gaal’s presence at the crime scene was all about unfortunate timing.

Gaal Dornick Has Left The Foundation – But Where Is She Going?

Raych – and presumably Hari Seldon – had clearly planned the murder carefully, as they had prepared an escape pod. But Gaal’s involuntary interruption changed everything, with Raych pushing Gaal into it because he feared she was now involved in the crime. This likely means that Raych did indeed kill himself because of his love for Gaal, as he will undoubtedly be executed for the murder of Hari Seldon. For its part, Gaal was propelled into space in cryogenic suspension. Nothing in the Foundation is a coincidence, so it is likely that she will be picked up by another ship – but where will she be taken, if not to the Foundation? Episode 2 offers no clue on this point, but the books themselves may provide a clue. In the Asimov Foundation series, Hari Seldon had established a second secret Foundation on the other side of the galaxy. It could be that he wanted Raych to go there, continuing to play his part in Seldon’s plans – and now Gaal Dornick to go instead. It would certainly put the TV series in a very different direction, giving its writers plenty of creative opportunities.

Cryogenic suspension can be significant given the nature of the Foundation, however, as a number of scenes took place 75 years after the Foundation left Trantor. Asimov’s original stories span a millennium, and many of them are short stories rather than novels, with few treasured recurring characters; the cryogenic suspension could be a clever plot device to allow Gaal to continue to be important to the ongoing narrative of the TV series, allowing him to reappear decades later.

Hari Seldon’s Psychohistory Is Flawed

As shocking as the events of Foundation Episode 2 may be, the most disturbing element is not Hari Seldon’s death but Gaal Dornick’s realization that there is a flaw in his calculations. That’s what prompted Gaal to rush into Seldon’s room in the first place, and if she’s right, the whole Foundation project is flawed. It is not known whether Hari was aware of these flaws or not; he may not have been honest, instead he carefully narrowed down crucial information to make sure his plans come to fruition (which he did in the books). But if he’s not quite the master of the psychohistory he thinks he is, and if he miscalculated, then Hari could have played the spell of the entire galaxy – and lost.

The Galactic Empire Begins To Crumble

Meanwhile, back on Trantor, the Emperor’s emotional reaction to the terrorist attacks may well have doomed his Empire. Blaming two conflicting worlds for the destruction of the Sky Bridge, he has his armada for brutal revenge, as he assassinates citizens and ambassadors of these planets. It’s just the kind of despotic reaction guaranteed to incite rebellion, and it seems more than a small coincidence that it happened just when Hari Seldon needed something like this in order for the Emperor to come down. feels anxious enough to actually consider his psychohistoric prophecies. It’s possible that the tragedy was actually designed by Hari Seldon, and everything that happens is according to the mathematician’s plans.

One of the worlds attacked by the Empire is Anacreon, a key planet in Asimov’s books. There Anacreon rebelled against the Empire, its secession one of the first events to mark what has come to be known as the Fall. This caused enormous problems for the Foundation on Terminus, disrupting essential trade routes that passed through Anacreon’s space, and ultimately forced them to support the enemies of the Empire – as Hari Seldon had intended. It’s possible that something similar is also happening in David Goyer’s Foundation series, with the emperor’s overbreadth-driven uprising.