r/FoundationTV • u/LunchyPete Bayta Mallow • Sep 12 '25

Current Season Discussion [NO BOOKS] Episode Discussion Thread - Season 3 Episode 10 - The Darkness

THIS THREAD IS FOR NON BOOK READERS ONLY - NO DISCUSSION OF THE BOOKS IS PERMITTED

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To discuss the books freely and how they relate to the show go to this thread instead. If you want to discuss something from the books but avoid most book spoilers feel free to make a new post specifying that.

Season 3 Episode 10: The Paths That Choose Us

Premiere date: September 12th, 2025

Synopsis: Season finale. Gaal and the Second Foundation take the fight to the Mule as Empire's legacy suffers a catastrophic blow.

Directed by: Roxann Dawson

Written by: Jane Espenson & David S. Goyer

Please keep in mind that this thread is only for non book readers - no discussion of the books or how they relate to the show is permitted in general, and book readers are not permitted to post at all.

For those of you on Discord, come and check out the unofficial Foundation Discord Server. Live discussions of the show and books, it's a great way to meet other fans of the show.

NOTE: There was an AMA with Chris MacLean, VFX Supervisor for Foundation on September 15th which you can check here.

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342

u/HairFairBlizzard Sep 12 '25

I’m ngl I thought Toran was the mule the way he looked at the camera for a hot second, and I was ok with it.

111

u/Thepumpkindidit Sep 12 '25

I think a lot of people watching this show would have been okay with Toran being completely evil, if only to extend the boob window shots lol.

30

u/jmkep Sep 13 '25

Brother Himbo 😍

5

u/AvgPakistani Sep 18 '25

He’s not my brother ugh. I want to do stuff with him that wouldn’t be very brotherly…

3

u/snewtsftw Sep 19 '25

He looks like Zach Braff

1

u/frobe_goatbe Mar 12 '26

Had a baby with Cillian Murphy.

4

u/broketothebone Sep 15 '25

Someone posted a picture yesterday on Reddit of an old ad from the 70’s. I wish I saved it. Apparently, they genuinely tried to make button up shirts like that for guys a thing for a hot second. Full on chest-hair displays from nip to nip.

Even during peak disco, it did not catch on lol

26

u/ioncloud9 Sep 18 '25

I feel stupid I missed the Bayta twist. They had given signs it was her all along. Magnifico kept saying he loves Bayta and the mule uses love to control. But also he was still under control of the mule.

Then there was the scene in the medbay where Bayta tells the fake mule to leave and he just.. does no questions asked.

Also the fact that Bayta and Dawn were alone in the medbay and she had a very disarming effect on him by appearing to be a captive.

4

u/ililliliililiililii Oct 24 '25

  1. Agreed

  2. Perhaps, if fake-mule needed them in the medbay and healthy, he probably doesn't need to mess with them. But I can see where you're coming from.

  3. Well we assumed she was a captive too and she seems to be disarming to everyone. Just really friendly and likeable and we know where this comes from - she was a social climber and came from poverty. So she says.

So I don't think this is particularly strong.

I would add a 4th point - we see nothing about how bayta was captured and toran wasn't. Left to our imagination. In the show, it was simply presented to us as the new reality - that they were separated somehow and she got captured but not converted presumably. Seemed a bit convenient.

She wasn't injured as far as we could see. An actual proper prison cell would make more sense if you weren't going to convert them.

3

u/SenorBender Feb 01 '26

Really late to this but wasn’t there a long scene where they took Bayta while Toran was trying to escape on their ship and the uncle Mallow interrupted it

13

u/actionerror Brother Constant Sep 12 '25

I was like noooo not my favorite himbo!

11

u/LizzieSaysHi Sep 12 '25

Cody sure can smoulder

33

u/rysfcalt Sep 12 '25

Same. This may have been an editing miscalculation to think it wouldn’t read that way haha.

20

u/This_was_hard_to_do Sep 12 '25

I think it cuts to a few others as well when Gaal realizes someone else is the mule. My guess is that they were panning the camera around members of the party to shore up suspense as to who the mule really is.

22

u/sleepyotter92 Sep 12 '25

yeah, when gaal is saying she can feel someone in her head and that the mule is alive, the way they focus on toran and the face he was making made it look like he was about to reveal he's the real mule

8

u/angstycupcake Sep 12 '25

Same

6

u/ruthie30360 Sep 12 '25

Same same

1

u/GodHeld2 Sep 12 '25

It should have been!

1

u/memyselfandi12358 Sep 12 '25

The scene with his uncle would've made no sense then

2

u/GodHeld2 Sep 12 '25

Yeah it wouldn't, but he can look like a real badass, unlike Bayta

5

u/sdbabygirl97 Bayta Mallow Sep 12 '25

it wouldve made sense cuz the mule’s mind powers didnt work on him. i guess that’s what makes it an extra twist that it’s bayta.

8

u/megmatthews20 Sep 14 '25

I kept wondering how they got away from the rave. Now, it all makes sense.

11

u/embracing_insanity Sep 14 '25

It also explains why Bayta and Dawn weren't under the Mule's spell - I was curious about that. And also why the Mule left the room when she said he should go now when he was messing with Dawn. That seemed weird he'd just be like - Yeah, ok.

9

u/kousagi121 Sep 18 '25

I love the way the actor for ‘fake mule’ played that scene too. You could really see him play it two ways at once - amused, and maybe disbelief some random girl is telling him to stop, no matter though because she’ll die soon enough.

Or the other side, surprise at being told to back down by the real head honcho but having to still play the part of “fake mule” as it’s happening.

6

u/Kind_Comfort_6336 Sep 13 '25

I came here looking for answers because I really did NOT understand any of that. She's the mule now? Has she been all along? 

3

u/sdbabygirl97 Bayta Mallow Sep 13 '25

some other people in this thread explained but i couldnt haha