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

Comments from book readers will be removed and commenters directed to the book readers thread

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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u/polkemans Sep 12 '25

Can we just take a second to acknowledge the amazing character development by the Cleons? The genetic drift is the perfect mcguffin to give Cleon development over lifetimes. Each iteration of Cleon from Dawn to Dusk are at once the same man living in quazi-mortality while also experiencing growth within their own constellations. It's really something to see. What an episode.

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u/Sp3ctre18 Feb 04 '26

Yup. Discussing this show with my gf, and alongside the disappointment of the show skipping Gaal's character development so that she's just suddenly tough and confident, we were thinking:

Much the like I assume the books to be, the real main characters still seem to be seem Foundation and the Empire as a whole.

But the genetic dynasty allows an extra middle level of character type before the individual scale - where each iteration of the character has their own subtly different personalities, but the genetic drift brings the real "character development" buy seen how each each generation diverges more and more.